Tag finding your purpose

The Snowflake

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The Snowflake
Benji Davies
Harper Collins Children’s Books

Benji Davies has created yet another heart-warming and absolutely beautiful picture book about on the one hand, a little snowflake and on the other, a little girl, named Noelle. The former, as the story opens, is in the process of falling, albeit rather reluctantly at first. Far below, the second is returning home through the city with her grandpa, Pappie, wondering as she walks about the possibility of snow that night.

As the snowflake falls, she wonders about where she will eventually land and where she truly belongs, but the choice isn’t hers to make as her fate is controlled by the wind that bears her drifting and swirling towards the bright lights as they get ever closer. Both child and snowflake are drawn by a wondrous sight – a large Christmas tree that glistens and sparkles in a window, the one wishing for such a tree for herself, the other wanting to be the star atop that tree.

Then close to home, Noelle finds the perfect little tree of her very own, while far above, the snowflake is still wondering where she might find to land.

Back home, Noelle’s mother gets out the decorations and together with Pappie, the child sets about adorning the little tree. 

Eventually Noelle puts it outside on her windowsill; but goes to bed feeling that the tree is lacking something special. But what? …

A magical, truly memorable, heart-warming Christmassy tale about finding your true purpose. It’s Benji’s art that really steals the show here: it’s full of glorious, festive details on the one hand and on the other, those wintry skyscapes are simply superb. When you share this, like the snowflake aglow on the final spread, everyone will be left with a wonderful glow within.

The Ear

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The Ear
Piret Raud
Thames & Hudson

Suppose you are an ear and wake one morning to find you are no longer attached to a head. Then what? Do you any longer have purpose or meaning? “I am no one,” weeps the headless Ear contemplating possibilities – ear mushroom. fish. butterfly.

There follows an encounter with a gloomy frog that asks if he can sing for her and the result is a positive outcome for both parties.

Thereafter the Ear listens to an elephant’s tale, followed by a confession from a hare that’s consumed a snowman’s nose. Gradually the Ear gains a reputation as the ‘best listener in the land’: A purpose at last.

Then along comes a spider, one with a honey-sweet voice and an evil intent that entraps the Ear in a web of unkindness.

With no head to come to the rescue how can the listening organ escape this entrapment? Could it be that those she’s helped can in turn help her?

This story is somewhat surreal to say the least. We never discover how the ear/head separation came about although at the outset we’re shown clues to it‘s identity. There’s a bearded man, then a wooden chair with cane seat and a vase of sunflowers which many adult readers and children will associate with van Gogh.

Raud’s soft colour illustrations of the characters are strange indeed: there’s Ear with her slightly unnerving eyes while those she encounters are, with their swirly interiors, weirdly complex creatures.

With the importance of listening and feeling empathy at its heart, this story is certainly one to get listeners pondering and would work particularly well as the starting point for a community of enquiry.