Toon Tellegen (text) and Marc Boutavant (illustrator), No One Is Angry Today, Gecko Press, September 2021, 72 pp., RRP $32.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781776573455
Translated by David Colmer
Toon Tellegen’s books are considered classics of Dutch children’s literature. And Marc Boutavant’s illustrations fill the pages of many French children’s books and comics. Together they have created a peculiar collection of absurd, thought-provoking tales in this publication by Gecko Press.
Despite the title, anger is not the only emotion delved into in this collection of tales. Themes of empathy, sorrow, suffering, selfishness, and the frivolity of social norms are addressed, often in the most eccentric way. For example, the titular protagonist of The Grasshopper, who owns a coat shop, attempts to convince everyone in the midst of a balmy summer that it is actually cold so she can sell coats. She fails in this and gives up hope, finally covering herself in all the coats until she pants and suffers under the heavy load. The ambiguous ending sees her comment, they can’t blame me. She is the cause of her own suffering and meets a dismal end.
The Squirrel and The Elephant paints suffering in a different light as an act of selflessness, something one endures for a friend. This tale sees two unlikely friends dancing with each other, one thoroughly enjoying himself at the physical expense of the other. Clumsy, excitable Elephant stomps and flings fragile Squirrel to and fro, causing injury and discomfort. Yet Squirrel declares he would go on forever in this role, bearing misery to ensure his friend’s pleasure.
My personal favourite is The Bear. Cricket is inviting everyone to his party, everyone except Bear. He writes a letter to Bear explaining the ruthless truth about why he is not invited. Cricket includes such things as, you shove food down your throat and you give presents that are no use to anyone. The list of complaints is comprehensive and quite humourous. It concludes with Cricket giving up and declaring, just forget it. Come anyway. It would actually be really lovely if you came. This tale taps into the devilish desire to tell people the harsh truth about what you think of them. Only that once it’s out it can’t be unsaid.
Aesthetically, the book is beautiful, a hardcover, thick pages, and classic design. It has rich language and meaningful imagery.
On first reading this collection I was unsure whom it could be recommended for or whether I enjoyed it or not. I read it to my children and discussed it with friends and found that I liked it more and more. It’s absurdity, dark lessons, relatable themes, and eccentric nature left me pondering what I was meant to take from each tale. I would use this collection with an upper primary class to analyse themes and investigate untraditional narrative tropes.
Reviewed by Katie Mineeff
