Far Apart, Close in Heart by Becky Birtha

Quiet, emotionally resonant text is paired with grayscale drawings accented with red in this thoughtfully layered exploration of coping with tough emotions, and taking time and space to heal. When she notices a twig in his hair, he is ready to talk about the tunnel and finds warmth in her gentle acknowledgment: 'You came back.' The boy emerges into his room just as Mom peeks in. He notices familiar details and tunes into his senses. But the quiet distance also gives him the space he needs to see his family's love and start returning home.Īs he heads back, the journey upward is different. Out there, far from the lights of the house, it's dark enough that he could disappear. So he picks up a shovel and starts digging a tunnel from his room, deep down and into the backyard. Mom and Aunt Cheryl try to talk about it, but he feels like running away.

Valérie Fontaine and Nathalie Dion have created a powerful, moving story about violence in the home that ends on a note of hope.Ī spare, powerful story about taking space to process difficult feelingsĪfter something bad happens, a boy feels sad and gray. How will she and her mom cope as the wolf becomes increasingly fierce? Whenever the yelling begins, she hides under the covers in her room.

The girl is careful to clean her room and brush her teeth and do everything to keep the peace, but the wolf is unpredictable, throwing plates on the floor, yelling at her mother and holding the girl's arm so tightly she is left with bruises. From that day on her mother doesn't smile anymore. When her mom arrives home late one day, the wolf suddenly hurls angry words and terrible names at her. At first the wolf is sweet and kind to her mom, though the girl notices the wolf's cold eyes from the very beginning. The young girl tells us that her mom's new friend is just like the big bad wolf. 'The Big Bad Wolf in My House,' by Valérie FontaineĪ young girl describes what it's like when her mom's new friend comes to stay - a moving story about domestic violence that ends on a hopeful note.

Far Apart, Close in Heart by Becky Birtha