The Magic Cap

Written by Mireille Messier

Illustrated by Charlotte Parent

Milky Way Picture Books

978-1-990252-21-1

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

May 2023 

 

Oh, to have a magic cap that could fix everything! 

When Isaura and Arlo's pet hedgehog, Crispin, falls ill, the two children do everything to make him feel better. "They made him his favorite slug soup, brewed pots of cucumber tea, and even took turns rocking him for hours under the moonlight." Isaura is convinced that if they could find a gnome, it could heal Crispin. But how to lure a gnome?

From The Magic Cap by Mireille Messier, illus. by Charlotte Parent

Because food is rare, they give up the last of their milk to lure the gnome. Heading into the woods, they place the milk out and wait. And they wait and they watch. The bowl of milk becomes very popular, with visits from a deer, a squirrel, a badger, a frog, a fox, a boar and even an insect. Sadly, all the milk is gone, and no gnome has visited it.

From The Magic Cap by Mireille Messier, illus. by Charlotte Parent

The next day, hungry and with no food to offer, the two head out to search for some food, and, though they collect numerous berries, a hungry frog eats them all and leaves only a red-capped mushroom. So, with a lone mushroom as incentive, the children wait. And wait. And then they nap, along with all the animals who'd been keeping them company.

From The Magic Cap by Mireille Messier, illus. by Charlotte Parent

As they sleep, a red-capped gnome appears and is quite taken with the mushroom that offers shelter from the rain. In exchange, she leaves them two gold coins. Though that will help sustain them for a very long time, it won't help poor Crispin who is still unwell and shivering.

From The Magic Cap by Mireille Messier, illus. by Charlotte Parent

Unbeknownst to them, while they're out looking for something to warm their friend, a gnome offers its red cap to a bird to take down to the listless hedgehog. When the children return, still disappointed at never spotting a gnome, they are delighted to see Crispin wearing a jaunty red cap and feeling much better.

From The Magic Cap by Mireille Messier, illus. by Charlotte Parent

This is a picture book that will charm in every way. From the heartfelt wish of hungry children to heal their friend, to the numerous undetected gnomes that populate the woods, and animals who are community to Isaura and Arlo and Crispin, Mireille Messier's story feels like a fairy tale, and not the kind that scares. Mireille Messier's stories always have heart but here she gives us children living independently in the woods, managing with what little they have, and problem-solving how to heal their dear pet. And she gives us the magic and the happy ending. With a sweet story about benevolence, The Magic Cap is the best kind of fairy tale.

Bringing colour and shape to Mireille Messier's story are Charlotte Parent's coloured pencil illustrations. The detail and lushness of the art, from patterned clothing and quilts to verdant forest rife with textures of leaves, flowers and wildlife, takes the story from the page to a cottage in the woods where magic happens. 

We may not all have access to a magic cap that can heal, but Mireille Messier and Charlotte Parent's The Magic Cap can still transport us to a place where kindness prevails, community gathers, and small, mythological beings delight and do good.

 

• • • • • • • 

The French-language edition, Le Bonnet Magique (comme des géants, 2023), is also available.

Ojiichan's Gift

Written by Chieri Uegaki

Illustrated by Genevieve Simms

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-963-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2019

When Mayumi was born, her grandfather built a special rock garden to celebrate.  Then each year, she would visit him in Japan for the summer months, spending time with her Ojiichan while learning to tend to the garden, including how to weed, water, prune and the all-important raking of the gravel. Over this task, grandfather and granddaughter would bond.

From Ojiichan's Gift by Chieri Uegaki, illus. by Genevieve Simms

Amidst the bustle of her own city, Mayumi would recall those special times and that Zen garden by studying her tin box of treasures: dried leaves, tiny pine cones and smooth rocks.

From Ojiichan's Gift by Chieri Uegaki, illus. by Genevieve Simms

But with time, things change. Little girls grow up and grandfathers grow older.  The summer comes when Mayumi's parents must visit Japan to pack up Ojiichan's house which, like his garden, cannot be cared for by the now wheelchair-bound man. Frustrated by her Ojiichan's new circumstances, Mayumi's tries to take on the garden. But it's only when she concedes, creating a Zen garden for Ojiichan in a lacquered bento box, that Mayumi can find calm again.

Chieri Uegaki has honoured her Japanese heritage once again, having already helped showcase it in Suki's Kimono (Kids Can Press, 2003) and Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin (Kids Can Press, 2014). In these previous stories, a young girl looks up to her Obachan who gifted her with a kimono or to a grandfather who plays Second Violin in a symphony orchestra. In Ojiichan's Gift, a girl is again looking up to a grandparent, here a grandfather who has gifted her with a garden that celebrates her birth. But when he can no longer care for that garden, that little girl, not so little anymore, gifts him with a portable garden that would enshrine his original forever.

... if she closed her eyes and listened, she was certain she could still hear the pebbles' soothing chatter.

From Ojiichan's Gift by Chieri Uegaki, illus. by Genevieve Simms

Genevieve Simms creates that same distinction of adoration and respect in her illustrations. While her artwork goes beyond the garden, including spreads of air travel and life in a Canadian city, it's Genevieve Simms's illustrations of the garden that favour Chieri Uegaki's message of serenity and connection. The rocks and the shrubs, the trees and gravel, bamboo and sparrow all create a living world in a dry landscape. It's a world perfect for meditation and companionship.

The garden may have been Ojiichan's gift to Mayumi and her bento box garden may be the gift she presents to him, but the greatest gift is the relationship between Ojiichan and granddaughter and that's something special to contemplate.