German / Germany
Tomke gräbt
(Tomke digs)
Hach, Lena
(text)
Dürr, Julia
(illus.)
München: Mixtvision, [2025]. – [26] p.
ISBN 978-3-95854-222-8
Picture book | Playing | Garden | Hole | Digging
Reading age: 3+
White Ravens issue: 2025
Tomke goes into the garden and starts digging. Grandma and Grandpa ask if she (or he, since Tomke is a name given to both boys and girls) wants to plant flowers. Dad asks if she is setting a trap for a dinosaur. Mum is sure that Tomke is searching for a treasure, while her brother believes she is excavating a pond. Well, it could be all those things. Or maybe not. Because Tomke is digging. Just digging. It seems the whole world thinks they know the reason behind Tomke’s digging, but they don’t even consider the idea that someone might just be digging a hole – simply because that’s what they want to do: dig. In both text and pictures, Lena Hach and Julia Dürr have created a fabulous character in Tomke, who is completely at ease with herself and won’t let herself be deterred. Hence, this picture book is a tribute to purposeless activity and to being in the moment – something children (unlike adults) master perfectly. [IG]