'The Rabbit and the Shadow' by Mélanie Rutten

Childhood is filled with loves, fears, ambivalences and incomprehensible impulses, all of which are facets of the same developmental imperatives. The same could well be said of parenthood. Dependence is both comforting and smothering; independence is both exciting and terrifying. In this this beautifully illustrated, thoughtful book, Stag cares for Rabbit. Stag fears Rabbit growing up and leaving, and Rabbit fears Stag growing old and dying. When they are separated, Rabbit meets a group of other characters – the child ‘Soldier’ who is full of anger, the ‘Cat’ who dreams of happiness, the ‘Book’ who wants to know everything, the mysterious ‘Shadow’ – and climbs the terrifying volcano, a shared adventure during which the participants reveal their fears and learn to trust each other. Different children will respond to different aspects of this story at different times, depending on what is (subconsciously) relevant to them. Don’t tell my niece, but she is getting a copy of this book for her birthday.

(Dec 2014)