Dutch / Belgium
Ik ben heel veel liefde
(I am a lot of love)
De Doncker, Wally
(text)
Ramos, Fatinha
(illus.)
Antwerpen: Davidsfonds Infodok, [2017]. – [40] p.
ISBN 978-90-5908-823-8
Love | Family | Silence | Generation | Picture book
Reading age: 7+
White Ravens issue: 2018
Where do I come from? Who was there before me? What of them do I have in me? These are just some of the protagonist’s questions featured in this philosophical picture book. Luna’s parents were deeply in love and that’s why Luna was born. But what would have happened if her father and mother hadn’t ever met each other? Probably she would be quite different from what she is now. And what aspects of her grandfather and grandmother are part of her? And what of generations long ago? Maybe she has a knight as an ancestor, or a real prince. This is a philosophical and at the same time light-hearted story told in poetic language about family, love, and the question of how former generations remain part of us. The dreamy illustrations in warm autumn colours possess a surreal radiance. The books of Wally de Doncker, former president of IBBY, always have a philosophical undertone, and many of his books have been adapted into musicals and theatrical plays. “Ik ben heel veel liefde” was nominated for the SABAM award for children’s literature.