Down Day

Gaston lost his best friend on the day he accidentally dropped Fons’s hamster. He wants to make amends but doesn’t know how. It’s hard for him to turn to his parents, because they’re too busy with their course of fertility treatment. He finds a new best friend in a duckling that he’s given as a present by his grandpa, and after a lot of thought he calls it Fons. As his duckling grows, so does his mother’s tummy, at last. When the duck gets too big for her pen and flies to the park to build a nest there, Gaston has to say goodbye to her. Fortunately he finds his friend Fons again in that same park and everything seems to be working out fine once more. But then Gaston gets the sad news that his unborn sister has died. The ending, when Gaston makes a warm bed of duck down for his dead sister, is truly moving.

Dieltiens tells this story of loss with great feeling, with perfectly chosen words, plenty of room for suggestion and wonderful characterization. The different storylines are woven together brilliantly, so that the story never feels too grave despite the many themes that Dieltiens touches upon. The subdued pictures in soft colours by Jeska Verstegen fit with the story seamlessly. Gaston, drawn in shades of grey, contrasts with his colourful surroundings. The images depict the insecurity of the central character in a way that is quite remarkable. Gaston moves through the story like a ghost, in the hope that he too will be seen.