Bigger than a Dream

A boy hears a girl calling him one morning. Is it his sister, the sister in the faded photograph on the wall? He never knew her, because she died long before he was born. But now she is calling her little brother because she wants to go out on her bike. This is the beginning of an unforgettable adventure. They take a heart-warming trip to special places she wants to show him. The next morning the table is filled with a tasty breakfast. The boy has learned to cope with the sense of loss and grief that afflicts his home.

Jef Aerts and Marit Törnqvist have created a beautiful book about death. It is emotional without being sentimental, stepping smoothly back and forth between magic and the literalness of childhood. Aerts chooses words that are poetic but never too nebulous, and always just right. It is astonishing to see how he manages to make the mystery of mortality so tangible and deeply affecting. There is a rare and remarkable symbiosis between the text and the subdued, atmospheric drawings. Törnqvist’s rather dreamy style is ideally suited to such a sensitive subject as a sister’s death. She captures the atmosphere completely with her perfectly judged colours and brushstrokes.