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meena/characters who are not what they seem
There’s this one house on Fly Street. That’s where Meena lives. The neighborhood kids, Klaas Thomas, and Christa, are convinced Meena’s a witch.
I have to thank Lindsey at A is for Aging for introducing me to Meena, a picture book originally from Belgium, by Sine van Mol, illustrated by Carianne Wijffels.
Not only does it show that not all old ladies are witches(!), it’s a gorgeous book that explores fears of the unknown.
The neighbor kids fully convince themselves Meena is a toad-eating, blood-drinking witch; they’re terrified of her. Their fear comes out as vile meanness toward the old woman: plans to ruin her, terrible notes, w-i-t-c-h spelled out in front of her door.
Then another girl visits Meena and the kids are sure she’s walking straight into a Hansel and Gretelesque gingerbread house. She claims she’s visiting her grandma. But the other kids just know Meena’s put her under a spell to make her say that.
Things change with a fresh-baked pie, a loyal granddaughter, and one boy being brave. But all the way until the conclusion, the children’s fear spills from the pages. Fear of all the places their wild imaginations take them. Fear of stereotypes, that the old woman with a wart who lives alone must be a witch. And Wijffels’s turquoise and red illustrations drip with what’s in the children’s minds. The art is full of surprises too.
And as it turns out, wouldn’t you know it? None of the kids’ conjecture is true.
Thanks to Eerdmans Young Readers for the images.
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I love a full of surprises character like Meena. So I’ve compiled a list of some other characters like that who come to mind, all by the way, from wonderful books. But my list of three can’t be complete. Who’ve I left out?
BOO RADLEY IN TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Harper Lee‘s elusive Boo is feared and fussed about by Scout and Jem. He’s a scary figure, a recluse surrounded by rumor. But no, that’s not who Boo Radley is at all. And his name isn’t Boo, it’s Arthur. He is a recluse, but a tender-hearted one who looks out for Scout and Jem. He even saves them in the end.
The book/ Robert Duvall as Boo Radley in the 1962 film.
RENEE IN THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG.
Renee in The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery is concierge for a French apartment building. She has been for 27 years. “I have always been poor, discreet, and insignificant…I correspond so very well to what social prejudice has collectively construed to be a typical French concierge that I am one of the multiple cogs that make the great universal illusion turn…”
She affects all the stereotypical trappings of someone in this job, hiding her intellect, love of literature, and fondness for Ozu films. Until she, twelve-year old Paloma, and the new Japanese man upstairs connect.
GLORIA DUMP IN BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE.
Because of Winn Dixie is classic Kate DiCamillo, her debut and most enduring book. At one point, main character, Opal’s dog named Winn-Dixie lunges into Gloria Dump’s yard. Some boys tell Opal Gloria’s a witch who’ll eat the dog.
“I finally decided that I was more afraid of losing Winn-Dixie than I was of having to deal with a dog-eating witch, so I went through the gate and into the yard.” Thus, Opal discovers Gloria Dump may not have any teeth, but that does not make her a witch. She’s a super nice lady who feeds Winn-Dixie peanut butter and dispenses kindness and wisdom to Opal for the rest of the book.
(This one’s been made into a film too! I have yet to see it.)
Okay, who’d I miss? Any similarly surprising characters come to mind?
garmann’s secret + secrets shared
Garmann’s Summer was recommended to me by Kate Hosford. (Remember Infinity and Me and red shoes?) It’s the first in Stian Hole’s picture book series about Garmann: Garmann’s Street followed and Garmann’s Secret is the latest. And these books just get better and better.
Stian Hole is a Norwegian illustrator and his digitally collaged books have a look like nothing else. Same goes for the story. It too is kind of bizarre in a wonderful way. It meanders and goes beyond a traditional story arc. There’s so much there! Bullying. Twins who look the same and are assumed to be but are vastly different in character. How to pick people. Growing up fears. First love. The small start of independence from one’s parents. And of course, SECRETS.
Johanna’s character has evolved through the series in surprising ways. Now she and Garmann become friends. She shows him her special place in the woods. Her secret. “You’re the only person I’ve shown this to,” Johanna says. “I think it was a space capsule.” The two of them pretend and ponder spacey things in their secret place in the woods.
Their relationship is a secret because Johanna’s twin sister wouldn’t approve. And Garmann’s visits to the woods become his first secret from his parents. Not because it’s wrong necessarily, just because it’s private. It’s part of him growing up. Even his mother admits, “Everyone has secrets…”
images via Eerdman’s Books for Young Readers.
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Sometimes we need secrets. And sometimes we need to tell them because we’re bursting, but there’s no one to tell. Perhaps this is one reason people journal. Here are two ways to share a secret while it still remains a secret, if you want it to.
You guys know about PostSecret, right?
“PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.”
Some are heartbreakingly sad or painful. Shocking. Scary. Revealing. A few funny. There’s a new batch every Sunday. It’s been going strong for a number of years. And there are books too. And an archive to browse.
And then there’s 2046 by Wong Kar Wai. It’s a follow-up to one of my favorite films of all time: In the Mood For Love. It’s super bizarre compared to Mood, but wonderfully Wong Kar Wai too.
There’s this concept in the movie that people with a secret once climbed a mountain to find a tree. They made a hole in the bark and whispered their secret into the hole, then covered it with mud. That way, they could tell it with no one else never knowing:
