Elérhetetlen

Separate worlds, together...

Are we ever truly able to let other people in to our world? Màray Mariann´s book "Elérhetetlen" ("Unreachable") poses some really big questions.

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The endpaper and the first full spread sets the tone. First we se a collection of moths, all beautiful, all different. At the half-title page we are introduced to a baby and a caterpillar sitting inside a glass dome, and the first full spread is a plethora of babies and a few moths in glass jars, domes and vases. Mariann guides the reader throught the book by making us watch the baby grow up, and she lets us see who he lets into the dome, who is not, when he wants to be in the dome but cannot, when he wants to be let out but is trapped.

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Mariann´s illustrations perfectly capture the complexity of the questions raised. We see fear, doubt, joy, love and loneliness. She is a master of portraying feelings by body language, not only the characters facial expressions.

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In our time of social media, this is an important book. We use our phones and screens like a bubble, making our own separate worlds. The questions this books raises are relatable to all ages.  I think it would be a perfect conversation-starter for a group of teenagers, that time in our life where we both long to be in our "dome" and outside it at the same time. I also look forward to using the book in a multi-cultural setting, I am sure that the view of the dome might differ according our cultural backgrounds and life stories.

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Màray Mariann is a very accomplished artists that has published 22 books, with some silent books in the portfolio. She has won several prestigious prizes. I have more of her titles in the library, so look out for more reviews of her work!