If you want, you can not only recognize a story about an extraordinary friendship between a very large and a rather small animal in “Bear and Duck”, but also a parable about the strange times in which humanity is currently stuck. Because what else is the pandemic than a gigantic hibernation program that orders everyone into their apartments as soon as it gets cold and where they have to kill their time alone until the first rays of sunshine lure them outside again?
At least that’s how it is for the tired bear in the beautifully illustrated picture book by the French children’s book author May Angeli. It’s just that it’s not the sun’s rays that lure him out of his cave, but a tremendous noise. The duck triggered it because instead of flying into the sky, it landed with a loud bang in the dense brambles. “crumpled and in a bad mood, the bear crawled out of its den. Despite its pain, the duck bravely called out: If you come near, I’ll eat you!”
How the bear doesn’t do this – because he hardly has any teeth anymore, but above all because he is happy to have company – Angeli tells in wonderfully poetic woodcuts, which in their reduced coloring and clear design are a little reminiscent of the great masters of the reminiscent of Japanese color woodcut art without imitating it. Looking at the pictures is almost meditative – until you discover a detail that makes you smile as much as the words of the courageous duck.
What is striking is how the bird, whose slender head always stands out in bright red in the scenes, also provides the splash of color in the life of the bear. The duck splashes with the bear in the river and then, while sunbathing, tells him about her adventures, how she escaped the hunters again and again. Courage can also be very sociable, especially if you don’t want to brag about it, but want to entertain your friend.
The book thus gives hope: for a spring after hibernation and a time when the lonely existence in a cave is over and we can all warm up again in the company of others.
May Angeli: Bear and Duck, Magellan PublishersBamberg 2021, 32 pages, 14 euros.