Every week, a reader reviews a favorite. Today, a children’s book about an apprentice ballerina.
Nouchka has always wanted to dance. This new school year is looking promising since her mother has finally agreed to enroll her in the school at the end of Rue des Moineaux. She says: “This dance class, I’m sure, is the most breathtaking there is, it makes sparks on the ceiling, fireworks in the heart and gold ribbons on the tutus for the end of year show.” Her mother is radiant because she is expecting a baby, the little girl is delighted to be a big sister even if she finds her less attentive to her. In addition to that, Nouchka does not think she is up to par as a dancer, the other little girls are much more gifted than her… It seems that they have “escapes from a music box”they fly in the air with their “delicate slippers on the feet, perfect buns on the head”. But one evening, after a lesson, she understands through the eyes of her father who came to pick her up “the main thing”. “The Crumb has abandoned us. She took off on a tangent, she went to see elsewhere, no brother in sight. She must have thought that we weren’t worth the detour as a family. Dirty quitter!”
Nearly 200,000 women in France undergo a “natural termination of pregnancy” – or one in four pregnancies. This woman imagined by Anne Rehbinder is far from being an isolated case and yet, there are few examples in literature, few stories to be able to evoke it to the youngest. Losing an unborn child is a painful ordeal for the whole family and the helplessness, both of the father and Nouchka, to comfort the mother is particularly touching. However, by adopting the child’s point of view, Anne Rehbinder – whom I discovered with Breton butter and Afghan sugar (Actes Sud Jeunesse, 2021) – colors his story with worry, courage and hope, far from any pathos. The poetic and pictorial writing reflects the overflowing imagination of children to sublimate a sometimes cruel reality. At the end of our reading, we remember that love, the attention of our loved ones and enthusiasm allow us to achieve small victories, often heralding a much brighter future.
