Keepsakes {Barbara Lehman}

Is an excursion, outing, or holiday ever complete without a little keepsake to return home with? Are not souvenir shops located strategically at the exit of zoos, often to the chagrin of parents who, more often than not, find themselves having to prise little hands off yet one more stuffed penguin or tumbler with wild animal print? Do not the suitcases of adults themselves burst at the seams, stuffed with momentos from their escapades to foreign lands?

These are for real-world trips. But what about journeys of a different kind: those not determined by the adult-in-charge, where the child is a mere tag-along, but boldly embarked upon by the child himself, which lead inevitably to worlds unbeknownst to the adult?

Barbara Lehman seems to understand this fact: that children go on journeys to where not all adults can follow. Their steps may begin by taking them to familiar places, but soon, we find that we have entered a different world we insist cannot be real. And so, when the child emerges back into our world, clasping a precious keepsake from that journey, we tolerate it as child's play, but we cautiously maintain that boundary between fantasy and reality.

In Barbara Lehman's wordless picture books, however, that line between the imagined and real world is erased, and it is left up to the reader himself to decide just where that line should be drawn. But as it is for mystery stories, there are clues, which are meant to lead the reader to the intended conclusion. And it is possible to insist on our own way of seeing things, which would lead to plain puzzlement, as was what happened when I first read The Secret Box. Unless we choose to fully enter into the world of the child's imagination.

I read and re-read, following the main character closely from frame to frame, but couldn't make the book make sense to me. The pictures were describing a world I thought I was familiar with, paths and places commonplace enough, and nicely fitting into the schema of a child's world - beachside amusement parks, vacant lots in a city, and explorable canals. Little did I expect to be taken on a magic carpet ride, only to wake the next day with the ticket for the ride still in my pocket.

A school trip to the museum, a train ride with parents, or an afternoon out exploring with friends all seem commonplace enough, but in all of these Lehman's child-travellers show that the imagination is limitless, and better yet, they always end up with a keepsake as proof that their journeys were real. And if you look carefully, you'll see that the child is by no means alone. There're others who've made that journey too. Have you? 

Spot the main character?

Teaching Tips : 

The Classroom Bookshelf has some great ideas with using The Secret Box  in class.

 I'd also like to suggest that many of Lehman's books could be used as a springboard for discussing the idea of keepsakes. Children could be asked to bring their favourite keepsakes from their school excursions, family trips, or those collected while exploring their neighborhoods. They could then share via show and tell, journally, or even through doing an art-piece on what had been memorable to them about their trips, and what the keepsake has meant to them. 

My little keepsake from an adventure to Cape Hatteras on a lighthouse-chase