YOU ARE THE LOVELIEST

A beloved collection of 23 poems from the Netherlands receives an English translation.

The poems, unpunctuated and uncapitalized except for the word I, convey the perspective of an often solitary light-skinned, blond-haired child. They tend their large contingent of toys, stuffies, and dolls, indoors and out, while astutely observing nature, their family, and the world around them. Törnqvist’s sensitive illustrations create a world around the child, visually celebrating their determined agency. Ineffability is a recurrent theme, as in “Invisible”: “sighs are invisible / just like the wind / night is invisible / when daytime begins / …but what I make up / is all visible / when I close my eyes.” In “Real” the child squeezes their sleeping mom’s ear “to tell her how I feel / wake up, mom/ I want a mom who’s real.” Törnqvist extends this beautifully telegraphed child’s-eye experience of parental unavailability in the bedroom tableau: The many draped and scattered toys tangle with mom’s castoff bra and clothing, suggesting both maternal exhaustion and a long morning of solitary play. “Freesia” is both ode and antidote to a baby’s bouts of stinkiness: “in a vase beside your bed / change it every hour / even if your diaper’s full / you’ll smell like a flower.” The child hoists the flower, leading a parade of marching toys, everyone’s noses securely pinched. Other poems investigate animal tracks, grandparents, stars, clouds, dreams, new shoes, and more. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A symbiotic, child-affirming union of poignant verse and charming illustrations: lovely, indeed.