German / Germany
Zorilla
(Zorilla)
Bücker, Jutta
(text/illus.)
Mannheim: Kunstanstifter, 2019. – [36] p.
ISBN 978-3-942795-71-5
Outsider | Prejudice | Rumour | Xenophobia | Picture book
Reading age: 6+
White Ravens issue: 2019
Zorilla, the marten, is an outsider. He is fairly new to town. The other inhabitants watch him with suspicion that soon turns into outright hostility. Rumours abound: What is it exactly that this Zorilla does? He walks the streets at night collecting glass; he buys screws and nails. The town people indulge in the most horrendous speculations – until one day they can’t take it anymore. They simply have to see what’s going on. However, when they arrive at Zorilla’s workshop, he has disappeared. He has built himself a huge ship-in-a-bottle to cruise around the world. No malicious intent whatsoever; instead it is wanderlust, eagerness to explore, and a general longing that carry him away. Jutta Bücker tells this story about xenophobia in expressive pictures that deliberately set readers on the wrong track, because Zorilla is not depicted as the classic hero for whom readers feel sympathy. Thus, (many adults’) expectations are challenged and the readers’ prejudices revealed. Cleverly done!