the heart and the bottle by oliver jeffers

The protagonist accepts her grief and returns to doing what she was most comfortable with – appreciating the beauty around her and filling her head with wonder. She misses her old self but can’t get her heart out of the safe place, until one day, a small creative girl much like herself, reminds her how.

When she unfortunately goes through a terrible loss, the girl finds it easier to lock her heart away in a safe place so it doesn’t get hurt anymore, but this results in her losing her thirst for knowledge. The protagonist is a young girl who has a wild imagination and is always curious to learn more about the world around her. While it definitely looks like an ordinary children’s story at first glance, one may discover that it talks about certain emotions that everyone experiences, which makes it relatable for all ages. The book that stands out most to me, out of all his works, is a moving story called The Heart and the Bottle. One of my favourites is Oliver Jeffers, an incredibly creative individual who not only writes the storyline for his picture books, but also creates the artwork. Having been exposed to some great picture books as a child, I was keen to find out more about different, new authors and illustrators. I was surprised when I learned how much planning and intricacy was involved in creating the perfect picture book, and soon found myself taking interest in the field of children’s literature.

Watching my mother teach kids in kindergarten and seeing the adorable picture books she would bring back home was fascinating. Though I consider myself a geek when it comes to English literature or anything poetry, there will always inevitably come a time when I need some kind of a break.

The heart and the bottle by oliver jeffers