Twig
(Scholastic, 2016)
written and illustrated by Aura Parker
Tags: Picture books, Reading, Insects, being invisible, friendship,
This is one of the books I brought home from the Kids & YA Festival at Writing NSW 2018 that made me all excited to go home and read. Funny thing was, I saw the author, Aura Parker, at the first panel session I attended. She stood in the corner, drawing a picture on a paper that was propped up on an easel. I wasn't sure why she was doing that. The other four panelists, Paul Russell, Dub Leffler, Kirli Saunders and chairing Sarah Davies were having a good time talking about all sorts of themes picture books tackle these days, including dementia identity and freedom., while she was quietly drawing in the corner. I mustn't have paid attention, because after ten minutes or so, Dub Leffler swapped places with her. (I think people could win them in the raffle tickets at the end of the day. I bought some but didn't stay till the end and so I'll never know - I could have ended up winning one of them!). I realised later, Aura standing in the corner, isolated and seemingly not part of action like the rest -- mirrored, uncannily, Heidi, the heroine of her delightful picture book.
The Plot
"Nobody saw her at lunchtime. Nobody saw here, here... there...or anywhere."
Heidi is not included in the learning, the playing or anything else around the school grounds, which makes her sad. She remains invisible until she gets mistaken for a twig to be used in a school project, she finally speaks up:
"I'm NOT a twig. I'm me! Heidi!"
and ta-da! She speaks up and is no longer invisible. She makes sure that everyone will notice her from now on and the whole school is in on it and all the forest children weave a scarf as a welcome gift and as a way to de-camouflage Heidi! Now she can join in the playing and learning and discovers her hidden talents along the way.
Theme(s)
Being different and shy at the same time can be overwhelming -- especially on your first day at a new school. Yet, sometimes you gain more by stepping forward and make your voice heard!
Heidi doesn't get only overlooked because she looks like a twig and blends in in the woody environment too well. The reason why nobody notices her is because she doesn't make an effort to stand out.
"Bug school is abuzz with hundreds of shiny, scurrying shapes.
But not one bug noticed the new girl, Heidi,
tall and long like the twig of a tree. "
Heidi's story shows that sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone and speak up - even if we are shy, every now and then, we need to do things differently to what comes natural to us. And once people get to know us, being different can come in handy for all--and well, 'bridge'- building when we need one!
The start of any friendship takes one step. Sometimes this step needs to be ours. And when we do, we get rewarded with new friends --and when we're super lucky with a new scarf!
Pictures
The world of Heidi's new school of bugs is softly painted in pastel tones. The school yard in the woods, is filled with life, fun and games and invites to look for where Heidi might be 'hiding'.
This is nicely contrasted with Heidi's inner feeling of loneliness, depicting her and her shadow surrounded by nothing but white space:
"One, tow, three. One tow three. Why won't someone play with me?"Bug school looks like so much fun and there is so much detail that it's easy to get lost in the delightful images.
Words
Hiding Heidi -- is there a better name?
TWIG is a beautiful book - to read and to just look as the pictures on each page tell their own story. It is a book that I wish one could physically dive into and play with all those cute little bugs of all sizes, shapes and colours in this perfect little bug world. They look like they're having the best time of their lives!
Here are fun links to the fabulous book trailer and Aurora Parker drawing Heidi the stick insect
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