Darling

Pablo is a word doctor. His room is full of little beds for the words that he’s caring for. Doctor Pablo collects all the words himself: wrongly pronounced or wrongly understood words, words that say something just slightly different from what you mean or words so old that nobody understands them anymore. Right on the top floor of the hospital are the ‘almost forgotten words’. That’s where the most special word of all is lying, a word that needs extra care: Darling. It was the pet name his parents used for each other, but it hasn’t been spoken for a long time. Can Pablo still cure it?

‘Darling’ is a multilayered picture book about a child who sees his parents grow apart and wants to do something to help. It shows the power and fragility of language, and invites children to look at words, expressions and their own emotions in a new way. Jef Aerts’s rich, poetic language fits seamlessly with the sensitivity of the story. The drawings by Hanneke Siemensma – in charcoal, chalk, stamped designs and pencil – are restrained, atmospheric yet subtly fleet-footed. ‘Darling’ has everything it takes to make countless people fall in love with it.