Is It Asleep?

Is It Asleep?

Olivier Tallec

Gecko Press, 2025

27pp.,  hbk., RRP $A27.99

9798765670521

Each day, Squirrel and his mushroom friend Pock like to sit on the old stump and watch the birds flash by. And when they’re tired of watching, they wander through the woods to the yellow meadow to listen to the beautiful song of the blackbird.  But one day, there is no song and, after a lot of searching, they find him lying on his back on the path, silent and still.  At first they think he is asleep so they keep very quiet and wait for it to wake. But as time passes and it shows no sign of waking, not even when they whisper, then clap their hands and shout, they call on their friend Gunther the mouse to help.  And although they don’t want to believe that something that sings so gloriously can die, the prospect arises that perhaps they have heard its last song… But what do they do now?

For adults life cycles of anything are part and parcel of living but for young children death ca be very confronting so this is a beautiful introduction to the concept that everything has a life span.  And while that might be hard for them to accept, there are things we do that ensure that even if their bodies are not here, the memories are.  And that our lives will continue – maybe listening to a different bird’s song. 

Tallec has not only approached this tricky subject in a way that little ones will understand, but his choosing to set it in Autumn so that the illustrations are all in those warm, comforting tones that we associate with that time wrap themselves around the reader like a warm hug,  Because neither Pock nor Squirrel knew Blackbird well -his music was their only connection – their observations of his body, its weight – too heavy to lift into the tree to see if it could still fly – and its temperature – lukewarm so maybe it’s only a little bit dead – Tallec is able to sensitively deal with the inevitable questions about how do we know something is dead without a lot of emotion, honouring the child’s curiosity and intelligence while still showing compassion.

This is the second story featuring Pock and Squirrel – the first is A Better Best Friend –  that focuses on those big issues that our littlies have to deal with as they learn to navigate the wider world but does so without being either over0emotional or hitting the young person over the head with the message so that the joy of the story is lost.

Another one for my Friday preschoolers.