LETTERS TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE
by Toon Tellegen and illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg & translated by Martin Cleaver
In a set of surreal, mostly epistolary vignettes, Elephant begs permission to stand on Snail’s house (Snail politely declines), Crow writes a gloomy letter to Sparrow and gets a heartening response, Carp pens a prayer addressed: “Dear Stranger,” Squirrel writes to his table and also to the very letter he’s writing and on the last day of the year all of the animals get together to send a “cordial begging letter” to the sun, who answers “See you soon.” It’s hard to know what young readers will make of these and the other dozen or so exchanges; the prose has an introspective, dreamlike quality, but unlike Tellegen’s Squirrel’s Birthday and Other Parties (2009), there’s no clear linking theme to compensate for the lack of a plot arc or line, and the characters are etched in low relief at best. The author has been popular in the Netherlands for many years, but this outing is unlikely to extend the borders of his fan base. Illustrations not seen. (Belles lettres. 9-11)