
My Big Secret
My Big Secret
Felice Arena
Penguin, 2025
32pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99
9781761349706
Everyone, and that means EVERYone in Piggy’s family go for the red team. Mum, dad, brothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, even his guinea pig… they all like the red team. It’s a family tradition.
But Piggy likes the blue team.
He has to sit there silently cheering for the blue team because to show his preferences might mean they won’t love him any more. Until the day when the blue team beats the red team in the dying seconds of the game and…
As footy season begins once again, this is a story that will resonate with many as memorabilia and merchandise appear and families again begin to follow their favourites. And little ones are expected to follow the family allegiance, regardless of who their particular heroes are, fearing rejection and exclusion if they don’t conform . Inspired, by his own childhood experiences, Felice Arena says he wanted to create a story that would show children that they are loved and accepted for who they are even if their interests and feelings are different to those around them, and that compassion and understanding and love are bigger than that.
While for younger students this may be about supporting a particular team and being fearful of the family’s reaction, for older students it could be about any number of deeper things such as gender identity, religious views, their moral compass, or any number of diverse beliefs and values and so as well as the teachers’ notes expanding the story for younger, on-the-surface readers, there are also opportunities to approach those bigger picture issues with those who are more mature, including encouraging them to put themselves in the place of the one who is “different” and thinking about their thoughts and feelings. Using anthropomorphism is a clever technique to put the characters at arms length so discussions are safe and not personal, but nevertheless give readers an opportunity to think about and respond to “What if…?” as they also begin to explore the concept and impact of peer and social media pressures, and develop strategies to withstand them.
The best picture books span all age groups, and this is definitely one of those. A hidden gem for those prepared to look.