In his new picture book “A Day with Friends”, Philipp Waechter spreads a noticeable amount of summer joy in the search for eggs, ladders and other stuff.
Reading, a bit of exercise – or baking, an apple pie, for example, can help against acute boredom. You need eggs for that. But there are no more raccoons in the fridge. So he goes over to Fox, who keeps chickens (roaming free). Fuchs has other worries right now because it is raining in and he lacks a ladder to get to the roof. Raccoon suggests a visit to Dachs, who hoards all sorts of stuff and can safely serve with what is needed. The two of them find Dachs sitting desperately at a crossword puzzle: “Honey wine with three letters, what is that supposed to be.” Fuchs recommends going to Bär, who is known to be familiar with honey.
So it goes on, the crow joins them – until the five friends forget their original intentions and spend a wonderfully carefree day at the lake together.
Longing as the initial spark. During the Corona lockdown, Philip Waechter missed being with friends spontaneously. The idea for “A day with friends”, a celebration of life, lightness, joy in movement and of course friendship arose from the feeling of lack. There is a remarkable amount of summer lust in the current picture book by the author and illustrator, who was recently awarded the Children’s Book Prize 2021 of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia for “Toni wants to go to the sea”. Maybe because he drew history in winter? That’s true, says the artist, “in winter, the longing for summer, warmth and brightness is really particularly great”. And immediately reveals: “The best thing for me is to ride my bike through a deserted city on a mild summer night.”
In the end, the friends take care of everything that was left behind – from repairing the roof to baking.
Waechter is a philosopher among picture book makers. How is it better to live? What is it really about? His personal insights into these questions often flow into his works. This is also the case here: active leisure time activities are more enjoyable than passive ones. Community lifts the mood. With united forces, projects can be put into practice more easily. In the end, the friends take care of everything that was left behind – from repairing the roof to baking.
Philip Waechter does not use a computer for his illustrations. First he draws the picture with black fine ink liner and makes a black and white copy of it. He then colors these with marker pens and draws out details with colored pencils. For the background, he applies colored ink to the paper with small sponges. (from 4 years)
Philip Waechter: A day with friends. Beltz & Gelberg 2021. 28 pages, 14 euros.