'Fox’s Garden' - and the power of silence.

Fox’s Garden by Princesse Camcam (Enchanted Lion 2014) | Illustration © 2013 by Princesse Camcam

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

— Martin Luther King Jr

When I’m illustrating a picture book, one thought usually crosses my mind: I wonder if I’d be allowed a silent spread?

Wordless (silent) spreads are, to me, the Holy Grail. They create a pause in a story, allowing the art to shine - and speak. 

“Words are left out - but the picture says it,” said Maurice Sendak. “Pictures are left out - but the word says it.”

Financial constraints mean they rarely happen. But when they do, the picture book is elevated to new heights. (Think of Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are which has three (count them!) incredible wordless spreads which describe the wild rumpus - through the art alone.)

Perhaps even rarer than picture books with wordless spreads, are those with no words at all. 

Wordless books “prompt questions on the direction of [the] narrative and what’s happening on the page,” said publisher Marc Drumwright, of Enchanted Lion. “It’s a kind of engagement [with reading] you don’t often see.”

That engagement takes effort on the part of the reader - including the adult who may be sharing the book with a child. When it came to his own wordless offering, Clown, Sir Quentin Blake noted this made some parents dissatisfied:

 

“…[E]ffort, however, is always called for, especially in a collaborative reading; and one of the incidental interests of [wordless books like Clown] is perhaps that it prevents you from assuming that you know a book because you have recited the words, in the same way that people assume they have grasped the Mona Lisa because their gaze has passed over its surface.”

- Quentin Blake, Words and Pictures

 

Wordless books demonstrate exactly why illustrators are as much the author of a picture book as the writer using words.

(For more on this, take a look at my previous article, Why I dislike the word ‘Author’.)

This is reading - visual literacy at the zenith of its powers!

So of course, my Good to Read recommendation this week has to be a story with no words - Fox’s Garden by Princesse Camcam (Enchanted Lion 2014).

 Initially published in France as Une rencontre, Fox’s Garden was translated and released to a broader audience by Enchanted Lion, a small, independent publishing house in Brooklyn, N.Y.

It ‘captures an unofficial credo of Enchanted Lion: kids crave more visual and literary spiciness than they’ve been served.’

Ears back, tail between its legs, Fox slinks between skeletal winter trees.

Ploughing ahead - despite the deep, drifting snow.

 

Fox’s Garden by Princesse Camcam (Enchanted Lion 2014) | Illustration © 2013 by Princesse Camcam

 

It instantly reminded me of a moonlit winter walk that I took Noah on when he was about seven. We don’t often get snow here, so it was a Significant Event - and a full moon made for a truly magical experience. 

Beautiful, mysterious and dreamlike.

Like the magical atmosphere created by Slava’s Snow Show.

These are the sensations and experiences conjoured by Fox’s Garden!

The illustrations make this wordless story rather unique, too [1]. Camcam created cut-paper dioramas, which were then skilfully lit and photographed.

 

Camcam lights her paper work beautifully..., almost as if it were a stage. She conveys the welcoming warmth of the light in the village, the yellow of the windows lit against the storm. More subtly, she plays with shadows and underlighting in specific scenes, showing the cold and the night clearly.

- Wakingbraincells.com

 

Crisp foregrounds contrast with out of focus backgrounds, creating tremendous depth of field that pulls the reader in - just as the fox is drawn down to the warm glow of the village. 

 

Fox’s Garden by Princesse Camcam (Enchanted Lion 2014) | Illustration © 2013 by Princesse Camcam | Image source: Enchantedlion.com

 

The Fox is not a welcome visitor. Chased away, it creeps into an icy-cold greenhouse. I can imagine the painful cold of that frosted glass.

Camcam’s art is intricate and delicate. The background sky swirls wildly, like van Gogh’s starry nights. The russet fox pops against the haunting lilac and blue backdrops. ‘[E]ven the flowers in the greenhouse are rendered in wintry blues and grays that make the glow of lights seen through windows seem achingly warm but remote’.

No wonder Fox’s Garden was recognised with a 2015 USBBY Outstanding International Book award.

Fortunately for Fox, someone else is watching. Someone with a warmer heart - a little child.

 

Fox’s Garden by Princesse Camcam (Enchanted Lion 2014) | Illustration © 2013 by Princesse Camcam

 

Wrapped up warmly, with basket in hand, they head out to the fox.

 

Fox’s Garden by Princesse Camcam (Enchanted Lion 2014) | Illustration © 2013 by Princesse Camcam | Image source: Enchantedlion.com

 

The next spread is so good! The child peers into the moonlit greenhouse, with its icy flowers and gardener’s tools. Viewed from a low angle, adjacent to the sleeping fox, we watch as the child crouches. They gently push the basket and its offering towards Fox. Alert now, with ears pointed forward, Fox watches. Look closely! Do you see the four, suckling kits?

I get the impression the child knew there was a family to care for. Back in the warmth of his room, above his bed, is a drawing of the fox. I know if I had been that child, I would have been watching ever so closely.

Now here’s the magic: as the child sleeps, the vixen leads her family towards the sleeping house. Each fox carries a greenhouse flower in its mouth. The floral banners are held high, transforming what has been a believable scenario into something somewhat dreamlike. The foxes jump in through the child’s bedroom window - and when they awake the following morning, they discover their own patch of flowery garden, growing from the bedroom rug. A ‘thank you’ from the foxes.

Perhaps it is a fond farewell too, as the story ends with the vixen leading her kits up into the hills and the birch woodland. And that is the joy of wordless stories - they are open to interpretation.

As Emily Dickinson wrote, Saying nothing sometimes says the most.

 

Fox’s Garden by Princesse Camcam (Enchanted Lion 2014) | Illustration © 2013 by Princesse Camcam

 

Wordless stories are organic and living. They place the reader in the role of storyteller, empowering them to collaborate with the author. This book is a teacher’s dream: Give Fox’s Garden to a group of kids, and each will tell their own variation of events. There is no right or wrong - leaving plenty of room for speculation and discussion.

And that is a powerful experience for any child.

 Notes[1] Take a look at Lauren Child’s The Princess and the Pea and The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas for similarly created illustrations.


See more from Enchanted Lion

GOOD TO READ

Wordless picture books

Clown by Quentin Blake (Jonathan Cape 1995)

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs (Hamish Hamilton 1978)

Fox’s Garden by Princesse Camcam (Enchanted Lion 2014)

The Chicken Thief by Beatrice Rodriguez (Gecko Press 2009)

(Almost) wordless picture books

Hug by Jez Alborough (Walker Books 2000)

Banana by Ed Vere (Puffin 2007)

Sourceswisdomquotes.comEssay |Enchanted Lion by Jude Stewart (DesignObserver.com, November 23, 2018)Fox’s Garden by Princesse Camcam (Enchanted Lion 2014) Review: FOX’S GARDEN BY PRINCESSE CAMCAM (Wakingbraincells.com, November 12, 2014) Review: Fox’s Garden (Kirkus Review, August 12, 2014) © 2020 BY TIM WARNES (UNLESS OTHERWISE ATTRIBUTED)****USE OF THIRD PARTY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL FALLS UNDER FAIR USE/FAIR DEALING PRACTICE.