The White Ravens Database

Presented by   Internationale Jugendbibliothek / International Youth Library

French / Belgium

Bien fait!

(Well done!)

Oshka, Jane (text)
de Narváez, Paola (illus.)
Bruxelles: Versant Sud, [2017]. – [36] p.
(Series: Les pétoches)
ISBN 978-2-930358-79-6

Bird  | Rage  | Revenge  | Self-control  | Picture book

Reading age: 6+

White Ravens issue: 2018

OPAC

Little Nils is pushed to the ground by a schoolmate in the schoolyard. He is hurt, but no one helps him; in fact, some schoolmates nearby even snigger. Nils feels an explosive mix of sadness and rage rise in him. Suddenly a swarm of dark birds appear in the sky, and a red bird separates itself off and divebombs Nils’s attacker, injuring the boy’s cheek. Later, a similar situation unfolds at Nils’s house. Nils feels himself unjustly treated yet again, and again “his” birds appear and frighten Nils’s family. Do these birds really exist or are they just an expression of the boy’s overwhelming emotions? Author Jane Oshka adeptly leaves this question open. The large-format water colour paintings of Paola de Narváez expressively portray how difficult it is to learn to control dangerous emotional cocktails of frustration, sadness, and aggression.