Philautus nepenthophilus is a small frog species native to the Borneo rainforest. She lives dangerously, one might think: namely in the middle of a carnivorous plant. Their fishing cups hang from the trees like pitchers, and a liquid ferments inside, which decomposes all the insects and small animals that fall into it. Only this frog she doesn’t destroy. Its tadpoles grow protected in the cups, they live with the pitcher plant in an amazing symbiosis. Two young representatives of Philautus nepenthophilus are the heroes of this beautiful, large-format picture book written and painted by Dutch author and illustrator Linde Faas.
On each side you have to look for the protagonists, the big and the little frog brother, in the crowd.
The misty watercolor abundance of the rainforest with its flowers, lichens, tree trunks, lianas, insects and birds appears in different colors on each page, and on each page you first have to look for the protagonists, the big and the little frog brother in the crowd. At the beginning the little brother looks anxiously out of his cup, the big one is already outside. He wants to lure him – out into the beautiful, wide world. But the little one doesn’t want to, so the big one makes off on his own. “Just a minute, I’ll be right back,” he says. But the big brother stays away. And because he can’t stand that even more than leaving his flower, the little one crawls and hops higher and higher, because the big one must be there somewhere. Linde Faas paints the plains of the rainforest with a bright lightness that takes away the horror of the little one’s lonely search. Butterflies fly past yellow daisies, brightly colored birds and even a large, dark, woolly bear encourage the frog until it has made it to the top and is finally free, without fear. The publisher recommends the book for children from the age of four, but if being left alone still scares you too much, the search game that is possible with it will help: the big brother is hidden on every page, he accompanies the little one on his way from the teapot comfort zone to amazement and joy in the colorful world of the rainforest.
Linde Faas: Where are you, big brother? Translated from the Dutch by Kristina Kreuzer. From Hacht 2022. 32 pages, 14 euros.