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The Goblin and the Girl ISBN: 9781848860780
Irani, Neil and Yun, Park
Published by Maverick Arts Publishing, 2012
We never learn the girl's name, but we know that each time she looks in a mirror, she sees a goblin. Such is her low self-esteem that she hides away and won't play with other children. She even wears a large hat to school to hide her face. Her loneliness is obvious in both text and picture, and while we see a pretty girl, she sees only a goblin. One day the hat blows away, and she is so horrified, she runs away into the forest and gets lost. When it begins to rain, she begins to cry and doesn't know what to do. A boy walking his dog comes along and is kind and helpful. When she finally is able to look at him, she finds that he sees her as she really is and that there is no goblin in his eyes. They chat inconsequentially on the way home and she can look forward to seeing him at school the next day. The goblin is no longer in the mirror. It is the pictures that make this book special. Delicate and evocative, with solemn and muted colours, the accent on loneliness, and details such as stark trees in the woods and the rain coming down hard make us believe in the girl's view of herself. A very special production.
Age: 6+