Hope is a feeling that is in short supply these days. The Covid-19 curve only seems to be interested in ascent. The sky has turned a dystopian orange in some parts of the world. Governments say that ‘there is no data’ and use the pandemic to detain those who dare voice dissent. Optimism has been shoved to a corner by fear, distrust and guilt.
Our children ask when they can go back to school, when they can see their grandparents, when things will be normal again. And the adults have no answers. We’ve possibly never had the answers, but once upon a time at least we could Google them. It is into this landscape that renowned Irish author-illustrator Oliver Jeffers brings out a new illustrated book, What We’ll Build: Plans for Our Together Future .
Modern family
Build. Together. Future. Words that connote the very hope that has been relegated to a corner. Jeffers’ latest is dedicated to his two-year-old daughter, Mari. I loved the lyrical quality of his writing and the illustrations that invoked a sense of familiarity.
I asked the writer if he’d felt a certain pressure to write a book for Mari, after publishing Here We Are for his son, Harland, in 2017. “It occurred to me that I’d make a book for her before she could speak, so I thought I’d have enough time before she asked for a book,” he says. “I didn’t really know when I’d write a book for her, but as soon as she came along, I found myself in a similar although different situation as I had been when Harland arrived. Without intending to, I started thinking some of these thoughts and writing them down.”
And from those thoughts emerged What We’ll Build .
An illustration from the book.
Jeffers says that there’s been a shift in mindset around his own understanding of what a family is, between these two books. “I was grappling with the reality of explaining the world as it is right now to my children. What We’ll Build has a central idea of a partnership between two people looking towards the future together. If Here We Are is about explaining the world as it is, [this book] is about how we change it.”
The multi-hyphenate acknowledges that it is definitely more difficult to feel hopeful right now than it has been in the past. And while parents and educators often use his books as a starting point for conversations around grief ( The Heart and the Bottle ), greed ( The Fate of Fausto ) and friendship ( Imaginary Fred ), in his own home, books are very much in the realm of classic storytime. He shares that his children are more interested in spontaneous stories told on the fly and that his partner is much better at the form than he is.
An illustration from the book.
Shouldering the responsibility
Jeffers is one of numerous children’s book creators who offered joy, comfort and pleasure to many during the initial months of the pandemic through his online storytelling session (#StayAtHomeStoryTime). Creators like Mac Barnett, Carson Ellis, and #ThodaReadingCorona sessions in India have been viewed by thousands of children, providing some respite in the otherwise long, seemingly never-ending days, and a break for their caregivers.
To me, these thoughtful sessions and their warm reception drove home the point of just how essential creators of children’s literature are in today’s world. And yet, they are rarely given the importance and respect they deserve. Creating books for children is still seen as a hobby, something ‘cute’ one does on the side.
An illustration from the book.
Jeffers admits that he’d gotten used to hearing such comments himself, and what really made him look at things differently was a conversation with Bono. Yes, the Irish singer-songwriter-philanthropist. He shares an anecdote from a time he was collaborating with U2 and the singer didn’t know who he was. “He asked what I did and I said I write books for kids. I was used to the ‘Oh, that’s sweet’ reaction, but without missing a beat, Bono said, ‘Oh, what a huge responsibility!’ I was like ‘Excuse me?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, you are a human being’s first counterpoint to their cultural world. That’s a huge responsibility’.”
If he feels the weight of that responsibility, Jeffers doesn’t show it in his new book. It has the lightness, beauty and deft touch of humour that we have come to look forward to in his work.
My favourite lines from the book are:
A place to stay when all is lost, to keep the things we love the most.
We’ll put these favourite things beside, the earlier love we set aside.
I think that we may want them later
When times are hard and needs are greater.
Those hard times are now. And What We’ll Build is just the book we need for it.
Published by HarperCollins, What We’ll Build is scheduled to be released on October 25. At ₹799, it is available for pre-order now.
