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Ik wou
Een reeks krachtige kinderportretten van Ingrid Godon Toon Tellegen liet zich inspireren en schreef er korte teksten bij. Het zijn stuk voor stuk mijmeringen en uitspraken vanuit het standpunt van de figuur op het portret, die de lezer raken, doen glimlachen en aanzetten tot nadenken. Luxueus uitgegeven. Aangevuld met schetsen.
90 pages, Hardcover
First published April 26, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
October 2, 2020
Like many of the books I take out of the library, nobody has taken this out before and I suspect nobody will take this out again. You wouldn't want to read this to a child the illustrations are too scary and they'd be bored senseless.
This book was inspired by old and unsmiling portrait photographs. I really like the illustration style, but it does make these old faces look scary, with their wide spaced eyes and blank expressions. I love the idea that someone has imagined their thoughts as the photograph was taken, their fears and dreams, their petty wants and desires and their philosophical thoughts on why we are here. I like the idea of trying to get across the captured moment, the way a photograph can show you someone in their youth who now may be old or long gone, photographs have an eerie magic.
This book was inspired by old and unsmiling portrait photographs. I really like the illustration style, but it does make these old faces look scary, with their wide spaced eyes and blank expressions. I love the idea that someone has imagined their thoughts as the photograph was taken, their fears and dreams, their petty wants and desires and their philosophical thoughts on why we are here. I like the idea of trying to get across the captured moment, the way a photograph can show you someone in their youth who now may be old or long gone, photographs have an eerie magic.
November 22, 2019
A great coffee table book, or perhaps a book to give to your favorite pediatrician to have in their office. There are wonderful old-fashioned portraits of Dutch children, reminiscent of Vermeer’s paintings from the Baroque period. The portraits created by Ingrid Godon and based on old-fashioned portraits, all have a measure of inscrutability that accompanies beautifully the prose/poems written by Toon Tellegan and translated by David Colmer. Just looking at the portraits can be mesmerizing. The longer you look, the more you wonder what is happening behind those eyes.
That’s where the prose/poems come into play. As you read, you can hear the child’s voice, sometimes using very adult words and voicing very adult thoughts. Those thoughts range from a desire to go back, all the way back in time, sometimes to take a different path, sometimes just to be the only one who has been forward and then back to a more child-like thought of having a rhinoceros for a pet.
Throughout reading the short pieces that accompanied the portraits, I was struck by the honesty that you would expect from the mind of a child, often with a child’s egocentricity. What was unusual, and yet no less believable were the adult themes such as death and dying, belonging, being a part of something, or wishing to disappear. The thoughts, accompanied by the drawings made you want to stop and think, feel the emotions that were being expressed before moving on to the next one.
It was easy to forget the words had been written by an adult as you read and delved into the portraits and rather believe they had been written, or at least thought of, by a child. There were segments that made you smile, some that made you think, and others that were simply echoes of thoughts you have had, perhaps when you were a child. Most of them are thoughts you know will always remain inside for fear of being ridiculed or simply because the thinker wanted something that was just their own.
It’s the kind of book you might pick up at moments of introspection or simply quiet times to help foster thoughts of your own. It’s not designed to be read from beginning to end, non stop, but to return to again and again, when the mood strikes and you are looking for something just a bit different. My thanks to Elsewhere Editions of Archipelago Books and NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Digital Reader copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
That’s where the prose/poems come into play. As you read, you can hear the child’s voice, sometimes using very adult words and voicing very adult thoughts. Those thoughts range from a desire to go back, all the way back in time, sometimes to take a different path, sometimes just to be the only one who has been forward and then back to a more child-like thought of having a rhinoceros for a pet.
Throughout reading the short pieces that accompanied the portraits, I was struck by the honesty that you would expect from the mind of a child, often with a child’s egocentricity. What was unusual, and yet no less believable were the adult themes such as death and dying, belonging, being a part of something, or wishing to disappear. The thoughts, accompanied by the drawings made you want to stop and think, feel the emotions that were being expressed before moving on to the next one.
It was easy to forget the words had been written by an adult as you read and delved into the portraits and rather believe they had been written, or at least thought of, by a child. There were segments that made you smile, some that made you think, and others that were simply echoes of thoughts you have had, perhaps when you were a child. Most of them are thoughts you know will always remain inside for fear of being ridiculed or simply because the thinker wanted something that was just their own.
It’s the kind of book you might pick up at moments of introspection or simply quiet times to help foster thoughts of your own. It’s not designed to be read from beginning to end, non stop, but to return to again and again, when the mood strikes and you are looking for something just a bit different. My thanks to Elsewhere Editions of Archipelago Books and NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Digital Reader copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
September 17, 2020
The books for children I love best are the orphans. The books that have no equivalent, parallel, or comparative equal. They are the books deemed “special”. Often “too special”. Sometimes imports (often imports) they refuse to slot into those neat little boxes where the forgettable children’s books go to live and die. These books won’t be demanded by hundreds of thousands of American children. Generally, they appear on the shelves of cute specialty stores and quirky bookshops. You might see them in a museum gift shop, if the shop manager was feeling particularly adventurous in their ordering. They are purchased by aunts and uncles that want to give their nieces and nephews something cool and weird and wonderful. Something that kid might pick up again, years later, and take to college, where they read passages aloud with friends late into the night. Or, in the case of I Wish, you might have parents with quirky kids that love words, handing them this book because it is poetry (is it?) and Dutch. Don’t all the cool parents give their kids Dutch imports? I Wish isn’t going to sit quietly in a category. It’s the kind of book that would rather wander off and make up its own categories, expecting you to follow dutifully behind. And you will, because it is strange and wonderful and ultimately very very memorable. Can so many other books out there say half as much?
This is the part of the review where I summarize the book. I can do it, but bear with me a little. You see, to understand where I Wish is coming from, you have to begin with its artist. I say “artist” rather than “illustrator” because what is going on here blurs the very definition of those two terms. An illustrator works in the service of a book or story. Yet in the case of Ingrid Godon, the art came before everything else and, even now as I look at the book in its final product, it stands apart from its text. After looking at all those old-fashioned photographs that exist out there of serious children, staring intently into a camera lens, Godon created portraits of fifty-six people, as well as some light sketches. Old and young, they stare out at you, their expressions shifting ever-so-slightly. And so author Toon Tellegen gives voice to the closed mouthed and tight-lipped. The press for this book calls these poems “confessions”, and there may be something to that. Many begin with “I wish”, though some do not. Every one gives you that brief white-hot glimpse into another person’s mind. By the end, you know these people, who do not truly exist, better than you probably know some of your friends and neighbors.
If you are lucky, you will reach a point in your life where you can say to yourself (without inebriation), “I do not know what is going on right now and I am okay with that.” I suspect that there are some out there for whom this book is a supreme irritation. But for people who just sort of know how to let go, and float along with wherever it is this book takes them, “I Wish” is a deeply pleasant journey. What caused the Flemish Ingrid Godon to create the art for Ik Wou (I Wish), the portraits, is unclear. Certainly the book is not going to give away any of its secrets for free. I page through these portraits, not reading the words, just looking at the people. Godon’s style is distinctive and of a type that I can only describe as “European”. Alas, it is a style that turns off American audiences some of the time. It’s hard to say quite why. Is it to do with the amount of space between the eyes? The great, gaping foreheads? Yet the longer I look at this art, the more convinced I become that it will mostly be adults that are turned off by it. Babies, we know, love faces. Children love them too, and there is such variety here (though it is pretty clear that they’re all white Dutch people, so not THAT much variety after all). I think that American kids paging through this book may react with disgust, then curiosity, and then finally sheer fascination. Once you’re inured, you cannot look away. It’s just that kind of book.
And the poems. The poems, the poems, the poems. I read through them then come back later and read through them again. They vary in length, though none are too long, and they seem to specialize in jolts of recognition. Here’s how one starts: “Whenever something terrible happens, I immediately think: it’s my fault.” Or how about this one: “I want to fight something, but I still have to decide what. Not injustice, anyway. Everybody’s already fighting that.” One more: “I believe in God, but I can prove he doesn’t exist. Everyone believes me: ‘Yes, you’re right, he doesn’t exist… That argument is watertight… How could we have been so wrong…’ Then I have God all to myself.” As with any collection some are stronger than others, but for first sentences, Tellegen is a master in his field. You find yourself reading through the book faster and faster, even as you have the sickening sensation that you’re getting too close to the end. When it’s over, you’ve lost something. But the comfort is that you can just begin again, because it’s guaranteed that you’ve forgotten one of the poems entirely already. That thrill of discovery will always be there for you.
You will note that I recommend this book for kids 9 and up. I’d stand by that. There’s a level of sophistication to Tellegen’s writing (and, I should note, to Colmer’s EXCELLENT translation!) that will appeal to a certain, artsy kid. Consider Emma’s poem. It reads:
“I have a little list of conditions I have to
fulfill to be satisfied with myself.
When I read that list, I think,
there are two things I can do:
either make a list that’s even shorter
or never be satisfied with myself.
What should I do?”
Tellegen may be Dutch, but his work is not unknown to American audiences. Years and years ago, way back in 2009, I was entranced with his little early chapter book called The Squirrel’s Birthday and Other Parties, which some genius had handed to Jessica Ahlberg to illustrate. Of that book I wrote, “I hesitate to say that the stories bring to mind The Little Prince because I feel like they’re more child-friendly than that, but there’s certainly a similar mindset about children and the degree to which they can understand a story.” If Tellegen was challenging the bedtime set with his sweet stories of, for example, a cake that appears with a note saying it can only be consumed by “someone who doesn’t feel like cake”, imagine what he can do when given this blank canvas. Each person on these pages is looking at you. They may not be making eye contact, but they’re there. And it takes someone like Toon to bring their words to life. I imagine it must have been a lot of fun to write these poems. Fun, and maybe a little draining. He’s saying something about the human condition with each one of these thoughts and queries and ponderings. Even when they don’t say a word out loud.
Imagine the writing assignments you could attach to a book such as this though! Imagine that you make the kids pore through some fashion magazine, where the models’ bored expressions compete with the people in this book for sheer ennui. Imagine having the kids draw one of those faces on a full 9” X 11” piece of paper. Make sure they are honest, but not overly kind, to this face. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be present. Now they must write an accompanying poem and in that poem the person they just drew must say something about what they wish for. Extra points if the thing that they are wishing for is a bit on the oblique side of things. “I wish I was a cinnamon stick”. “I wish that every time I saw a dog it would run up and try to bite me, just so I don’t have to guess.” “I wish the stardust in our veins had the guts to sparkle just a little, once in a while.”
According to the Dutch publication Tzum, this book, “has gone through reprint after reprint and was nominated for the prestigious Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2013”. You have to admire a nation where this is the case. Moreover, you have to admire the publisher Elsewhere Editions for making the attempt to bring it to American shores. Note the care with which they made sure to include plenty of transparent pages (even the cover!). The risk they took in presenting something this abjectly and unapologetically European on the American market. Translations of children’s books too often disappear without so much as a blip. But if ever there was a book worthy of a Batchelder Award, or some similar medal for translation and writing, it is this. A strange, melancholy, oddly hopeful book for our strange, melancholy, oddly hopeful little world. Must be read to be understood.
For ages 9 and up.
This is the part of the review where I summarize the book. I can do it, but bear with me a little. You see, to understand where I Wish is coming from, you have to begin with its artist. I say “artist” rather than “illustrator” because what is going on here blurs the very definition of those two terms. An illustrator works in the service of a book or story. Yet in the case of Ingrid Godon, the art came before everything else and, even now as I look at the book in its final product, it stands apart from its text. After looking at all those old-fashioned photographs that exist out there of serious children, staring intently into a camera lens, Godon created portraits of fifty-six people, as well as some light sketches. Old and young, they stare out at you, their expressions shifting ever-so-slightly. And so author Toon Tellegen gives voice to the closed mouthed and tight-lipped. The press for this book calls these poems “confessions”, and there may be something to that. Many begin with “I wish”, though some do not. Every one gives you that brief white-hot glimpse into another person’s mind. By the end, you know these people, who do not truly exist, better than you probably know some of your friends and neighbors.
If you are lucky, you will reach a point in your life where you can say to yourself (without inebriation), “I do not know what is going on right now and I am okay with that.” I suspect that there are some out there for whom this book is a supreme irritation. But for people who just sort of know how to let go, and float along with wherever it is this book takes them, “I Wish” is a deeply pleasant journey. What caused the Flemish Ingrid Godon to create the art for Ik Wou (I Wish), the portraits, is unclear. Certainly the book is not going to give away any of its secrets for free. I page through these portraits, not reading the words, just looking at the people. Godon’s style is distinctive and of a type that I can only describe as “European”. Alas, it is a style that turns off American audiences some of the time. It’s hard to say quite why. Is it to do with the amount of space between the eyes? The great, gaping foreheads? Yet the longer I look at this art, the more convinced I become that it will mostly be adults that are turned off by it. Babies, we know, love faces. Children love them too, and there is such variety here (though it is pretty clear that they’re all white Dutch people, so not THAT much variety after all). I think that American kids paging through this book may react with disgust, then curiosity, and then finally sheer fascination. Once you’re inured, you cannot look away. It’s just that kind of book.
And the poems. The poems, the poems, the poems. I read through them then come back later and read through them again. They vary in length, though none are too long, and they seem to specialize in jolts of recognition. Here’s how one starts: “Whenever something terrible happens, I immediately think: it’s my fault.” Or how about this one: “I want to fight something, but I still have to decide what. Not injustice, anyway. Everybody’s already fighting that.” One more: “I believe in God, but I can prove he doesn’t exist. Everyone believes me: ‘Yes, you’re right, he doesn’t exist… That argument is watertight… How could we have been so wrong…’ Then I have God all to myself.” As with any collection some are stronger than others, but for first sentences, Tellegen is a master in his field. You find yourself reading through the book faster and faster, even as you have the sickening sensation that you’re getting too close to the end. When it’s over, you’ve lost something. But the comfort is that you can just begin again, because it’s guaranteed that you’ve forgotten one of the poems entirely already. That thrill of discovery will always be there for you.
You will note that I recommend this book for kids 9 and up. I’d stand by that. There’s a level of sophistication to Tellegen’s writing (and, I should note, to Colmer’s EXCELLENT translation!) that will appeal to a certain, artsy kid. Consider Emma’s poem. It reads:
“I have a little list of conditions I have to
fulfill to be satisfied with myself.
When I read that list, I think,
there are two things I can do:
either make a list that’s even shorter
or never be satisfied with myself.
What should I do?”
Tellegen may be Dutch, but his work is not unknown to American audiences. Years and years ago, way back in 2009, I was entranced with his little early chapter book called The Squirrel’s Birthday and Other Parties, which some genius had handed to Jessica Ahlberg to illustrate. Of that book I wrote, “I hesitate to say that the stories bring to mind The Little Prince because I feel like they’re more child-friendly than that, but there’s certainly a similar mindset about children and the degree to which they can understand a story.” If Tellegen was challenging the bedtime set with his sweet stories of, for example, a cake that appears with a note saying it can only be consumed by “someone who doesn’t feel like cake”, imagine what he can do when given this blank canvas. Each person on these pages is looking at you. They may not be making eye contact, but they’re there. And it takes someone like Toon to bring their words to life. I imagine it must have been a lot of fun to write these poems. Fun, and maybe a little draining. He’s saying something about the human condition with each one of these thoughts and queries and ponderings. Even when they don’t say a word out loud.
Imagine the writing assignments you could attach to a book such as this though! Imagine that you make the kids pore through some fashion magazine, where the models’ bored expressions compete with the people in this book for sheer ennui. Imagine having the kids draw one of those faces on a full 9” X 11” piece of paper. Make sure they are honest, but not overly kind, to this face. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be present. Now they must write an accompanying poem and in that poem the person they just drew must say something about what they wish for. Extra points if the thing that they are wishing for is a bit on the oblique side of things. “I wish I was a cinnamon stick”. “I wish that every time I saw a dog it would run up and try to bite me, just so I don’t have to guess.” “I wish the stardust in our veins had the guts to sparkle just a little, once in a while.”
According to the Dutch publication Tzum, this book, “has gone through reprint after reprint and was nominated for the prestigious Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2013”. You have to admire a nation where this is the case. Moreover, you have to admire the publisher Elsewhere Editions for making the attempt to bring it to American shores. Note the care with which they made sure to include plenty of transparent pages (even the cover!). The risk they took in presenting something this abjectly and unapologetically European on the American market. Translations of children’s books too often disappear without so much as a blip. But if ever there was a book worthy of a Batchelder Award, or some similar medal for translation and writing, it is this. A strange, melancholy, oddly hopeful book for our strange, melancholy, oddly hopeful little world. Must be read to be understood.
For ages 9 and up.
April 29, 2020
I RECEIVED A DRC OF THIS TITLE FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS. THANK YOU.
My Review: Toon Tellegen is a Dutch poet whose work I've liked (Letters to Anyone and Everyone was a hit with me, illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg instead of Ingrid Godon's artwork inspiring Tellegen as in this book), aimed at younger readers though it is. Permaybehaps that's why I liked it from the moment I discovered it, come to think on it; unlike most poetry, it isn't gawdawful pit-sniffing slef-absorbed and -referential narcissism and condescension. It conveys its message simply and directly, though that message is subject to the reader's interpretation. The two pieces below will demonstrate that the knowledge one brings to the read will shape the poem's meaning.
CARL
I have a little list of conditions I have to fulfill to be satisfied with myself. When I read that list, I think, there are two things I can do: either make a list that's even shorter or never be satisfied with myself. What should I do?
JULIA
When I'm sad I always think: and the saddest is yet to come... Then, besides being sad, I'm scared too.
Why do I do that?
When I'm happy I never think:
and the happiest is yet to come...
When I'm happy, I'm always just
happy.
An adult reader will sense different layers of meaning; your twelve-year-old niece will feel understood, most likely, and thus happily seen and heard. It's a wonderful gift to be given at that age. Feeling seen is a jolt, an emotional high, for adults who can command it in so many more ways than a tween can. This book is for that tween, to elicit the joyous sense of release that is Existing in the World.
Don't hesitate: This moment, this quarantined and isolated moment, is the perfect time to give this gift to the young person in your life.
And, if I'm fully honest, yourself as well.
My Review: Toon Tellegen is a Dutch poet whose work I've liked (Letters to Anyone and Everyone was a hit with me, illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg instead of Ingrid Godon's artwork inspiring Tellegen as in this book), aimed at younger readers though it is. Permaybehaps that's why I liked it from the moment I discovered it, come to think on it; unlike most poetry, it isn't gawdawful pit-sniffing slef-absorbed and -referential narcissism and condescension. It conveys its message simply and directly, though that message is subject to the reader's interpretation. The two pieces below will demonstrate that the knowledge one brings to the read will shape the poem's meaning.
CARL
I have a little list of conditions I have to fulfill to be satisfied with myself. When I read that list, I think, there are two things I can do: either make a list that's even shorter or never be satisfied with myself. What should I do?
JULIA
When I'm sad I always think: and the saddest is yet to come... Then, besides being sad, I'm scared too.
Why do I do that?
When I'm happy I never think:
and the happiest is yet to come...
When I'm happy, I'm always just
happy.
An adult reader will sense different layers of meaning; your twelve-year-old niece will feel understood, most likely, and thus happily seen and heard. It's a wonderful gift to be given at that age. Feeling seen is a jolt, an emotional high, for adults who can command it in so many more ways than a tween can. This book is for that tween, to elicit the joyous sense of release that is Existing in the World.
Don't hesitate: This moment, this quarantined and isolated moment, is the perfect time to give this gift to the young person in your life.
And, if I'm fully honest, yourself as well.
January 1, 2026
Ik had niet verwacht om het nieuwe jaar te starten met het toevoegen van een verborgen parel aan m’n favorietenlijst.
Vijftien portretten, getekend in een persoonlijke unieke stijl, geïnspireerd op oude portretfotografie, telkens vergezeld van een korte tekst die aansluit bij de persoonlijke identiteit van de geportretteerde.
Doorleefd, ingetogen, een diepe fijngevoeligheid voor het wezenlijke van de zoekende mens, zowel wat betreft de illustraties als de begeleidende woorden, met een bijzonder intieme en kwetsbare eenheid tussen beiden. Nooit sentimenteel, vooral origineel.
Toon Tellegen heeft bewezen dat hij nog zoveel meer waard is dan de eeuwige verteller van dierenverhalen. Ingrid Godon zal ik voortaan nauwgezet opvolgen. De combinatie van beide talenten is hier zoveel meer waard dan de som der delen. Zowel de illustraties als de teksten getuigen van een groot inzicht in de menselijke eigenheden en bijzonderheden.
Vijftien portretten, getekend in een persoonlijke unieke stijl, geïnspireerd op oude portretfotografie, telkens vergezeld van een korte tekst die aansluit bij de persoonlijke identiteit van de geportretteerde.
Doorleefd, ingetogen, een diepe fijngevoeligheid voor het wezenlijke van de zoekende mens, zowel wat betreft de illustraties als de begeleidende woorden, met een bijzonder intieme en kwetsbare eenheid tussen beiden. Nooit sentimenteel, vooral origineel.
Toon Tellegen heeft bewezen dat hij nog zoveel meer waard is dan de eeuwige verteller van dierenverhalen. Ingrid Godon zal ik voortaan nauwgezet opvolgen. De combinatie van beide talenten is hier zoveel meer waard dan de som der delen. Zowel de illustraties als de teksten getuigen van een groot inzicht in de menselijke eigenheden en bijzonderheden.
December 25, 2019
I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.
This book of poems has been translated into english beautifully and is a heartfelt collection of poems and artwork of children to coincide with each other and I must admit they gel together beautifully.
I really enjoyed this book and read through it rather quickly.
The style of the poems come across as though written by children which works so well with the artwork that coincides with it.
This book of poems has been translated into english beautifully and is a heartfelt collection of poems and artwork of children to coincide with each other and I must admit they gel together beautifully.
I really enjoyed this book and read through it rather quickly.
The style of the poems come across as though written by children which works so well with the artwork that coincides with it.
October 12, 2020
Weird lil' book. Loved the poems, which were funny when they weren't sad, but after the first couple of pictures of children with balloon heads and tiny, wide-spaced eyes, I was done with that. I tried to avoid looking too hard at the pictures, because just . . . nope.
November 25, 2019
Original work for sure, but in the style, the concept and the illustrations. A beautiful artistic work but unfortunately something that didn't connect with me at all. I understand the way, I see the potential but it wasn't for me. Personal appreciation 2/5, potential 4/5. I'll have to go with a fair 3/5.
February 16, 2021
Thirty-three poems from prolific Dutch children's author Toon Tellegen are paired with around fifty-four portraits done by artist Ingrid Godon in this unusual volume, presented to the English-speaking market by the wonderful Brooklyn-based Elsewhere Editions. The artwork came first, and the poems were written and/or chosen to explore the stories behind that artwork. They are the musings of children - the wishes they make, their attempts to understand the world around them, and their place in it. Often sad, sometimes hopeful, full of wonder and confusion, they grapple with the self, caught in a larger world of experiences and of others...
Originally published in the Netherlands as Ik Wouk, this unusual title is one that I found very interesting, and occasionally moving, but that I would struggle to place, in terms of which children would make its best audience. Perhaps introspective youngsters who are full of questions themselves? I'm not sure. In any case, I was struck by a number of the selections here, from the one about Leonard, who wishes to keep God to himself, to the one devoted to Nora, who thinks that blushing is a war on her face. Wishing to be brave, wondering how one came to be oneself, rather than another, feeling responsible for the ills of the world - all of these are explored here, in short pieces that are thought-provoking, while also evoking a sense of fellow-feeling, a memory of having had similar thoughts. The artwork is striking, with a melancholy, somewhat dreamy sensibility, featuring figures who look somehow distorted or off. I found it very interesting, and enjoyed it, even though I also sometimes found it off-putting. Again, I'm not sure to whom I would recommend this one. Dreamy children who enjoy poetry, and like to think about life, the universe and everything? Children's book readers looking for something unusual? Readers interested, as I am, in translated children's literature? Yes, all of these, I suppose.
Originally published in the Netherlands as Ik Wouk, this unusual title is one that I found very interesting, and occasionally moving, but that I would struggle to place, in terms of which children would make its best audience. Perhaps introspective youngsters who are full of questions themselves? I'm not sure. In any case, I was struck by a number of the selections here, from the one about Leonard, who wishes to keep God to himself, to the one devoted to Nora, who thinks that blushing is a war on her face. Wishing to be brave, wondering how one came to be oneself, rather than another, feeling responsible for the ills of the world - all of these are explored here, in short pieces that are thought-provoking, while also evoking a sense of fellow-feeling, a memory of having had similar thoughts. The artwork is striking, with a melancholy, somewhat dreamy sensibility, featuring figures who look somehow distorted or off. I found it very interesting, and enjoyed it, even though I also sometimes found it off-putting. Again, I'm not sure to whom I would recommend this one. Dreamy children who enjoy poetry, and like to think about life, the universe and everything? Children's book readers looking for something unusual? Readers interested, as I am, in translated children's literature? Yes, all of these, I suppose.
July 25, 2021
A wonderful little book that explores the spectrum of human emotion and desire. It got me thinking of how my students could engage in a similar project of self-exploration and expression.
February 23, 2016
Ik dacht altijd: dat is geen boek voor mij. Te kunstzinnig (ik ben niet kunstzinnig). Misschien zelfs te geaffecteerd.
Ik had het helemaal mis.
Ik had het helemaal mis.
April 16, 2020
Mom's Review
I Wish is a large book with a large face taking up a large part of the cover. You flip through it and you see faces. Serious faces. Staring out at you. Not much text.
And then you start to read. It's poetry. Intimate glimpses of reflections. Thoughts you wouldn't share with anyone. And it feels very real, though the portraits are not realistic. They are grave. And each poem is raw.
T liked it. I did too. It left me wondering about the people. Are they real? Did the author speak with any? From the preface, we know that he muses about internal thoughts of passersby. T said that he didn't know everything, but that he was okay with that – he didn't have questions. But I do. I Wish is different. It stays with you. It makes you think. About the depths of others. The fears. The dreams.
We will read it again. And again. And again. And keep thinking. Keep discussing. Keep wondering.
Son's Review
(Age: 5)
Mom: Did you like I Wish?
Son: I did. The faces looked rather fat. That was very funny. You should know that it has a lot of feelings in it. And if I wanted to meet anyone, the person would be Fred.
Mom: What was your favorite wish?
Arms crossed with red lines in them.
Mom: Why?
Son: I don't know why, but all I know is that's my favorite wish of all of them.
Mom: When is it a good time to read I Wish?
Son: In March. In April. In June. In Halloween. In Christmas. And at Easter.
Mom: Why?
Son: Because those are my favorite times to read books.
Mom: Who might like I Wish?
Son: Anybody who likes wishing.
Mom: What's the most important thing to know about I Wish?
Son: That it has a lot of wishes in it. Brain wishes. Wishes that come from your brain.
Mom: What does this book make you think about?
Son: The one wish that distracts me from everything I like doing.
Mom: What do you think the author wants us to think about?
Son: What we wish.
Mom: Why is it good to think about wishes?
Son: That wishes come from your brain and wishes are the worst thing in the world because wishes distract me from anything I want to do.
Mom: What else do you want to say in this review?
Son: The book is really good, people. You should really like it.
Extra:
I cannot recommend Elsewhere Editions highly enough. They are the children's arm of Archipelago Books and publish a select few translations each year. If you are looking for a treasure, browse their catalog. https://elsewhereeditions.org/books/i...
Note: A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
I Wish is a large book with a large face taking up a large part of the cover. You flip through it and you see faces. Serious faces. Staring out at you. Not much text.
And then you start to read. It's poetry. Intimate glimpses of reflections. Thoughts you wouldn't share with anyone. And it feels very real, though the portraits are not realistic. They are grave. And each poem is raw.
T liked it. I did too. It left me wondering about the people. Are they real? Did the author speak with any? From the preface, we know that he muses about internal thoughts of passersby. T said that he didn't know everything, but that he was okay with that – he didn't have questions. But I do. I Wish is different. It stays with you. It makes you think. About the depths of others. The fears. The dreams.
We will read it again. And again. And again. And keep thinking. Keep discussing. Keep wondering.
Son's Review
(Age: 5)
Mom: Did you like I Wish?
Son: I did. The faces looked rather fat. That was very funny. You should know that it has a lot of feelings in it. And if I wanted to meet anyone, the person would be Fred.
Mom: What was your favorite wish?
Arms crossed with red lines in them.
Mom: Why?
Son: I don't know why, but all I know is that's my favorite wish of all of them.
Mom: When is it a good time to read I Wish?
Son: In March. In April. In June. In Halloween. In Christmas. And at Easter.
Mom: Why?
Son: Because those are my favorite times to read books.
Mom: Who might like I Wish?
Son: Anybody who likes wishing.
Mom: What's the most important thing to know about I Wish?
Son: That it has a lot of wishes in it. Brain wishes. Wishes that come from your brain.
Mom: What does this book make you think about?
Son: The one wish that distracts me from everything I like doing.
Mom: What do you think the author wants us to think about?
Son: What we wish.
Mom: Why is it good to think about wishes?
Son: That wishes come from your brain and wishes are the worst thing in the world because wishes distract me from anything I want to do.
Mom: What else do you want to say in this review?
Son: The book is really good, people. You should really like it.
Extra:
I cannot recommend Elsewhere Editions highly enough. They are the children's arm of Archipelago Books and publish a select few translations each year. If you are looking for a treasure, browse their catalog. https://elsewhereeditions.org/books/i...
Note: A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
October 1, 2024
If you’re looking for a beautiful thought provoking collection of vignettes on life this is the book!
October 9, 2020
A sneakily stunning picture book, sophisticated, elegant, with the awkward grace of the young Audrey Hepburn. It began with Ingrid Godon's portraits: they inspired Toon Tellegen's poems. On their own, either would be outstanding, but together, the alchemy of word and image creates something unique and powerful. Listen to the opening lines of these poems:
If I ever saw an ad like this
"Wanted: secretive boy for secret duties"
I would apply.
Whenever something terrible happens, I immediately
think: it's my fault.
I wish something had suddenly been cancelled, without
anyone knowing why, and I'd climbed up onto a table
after I'd heard and was dancing with joy.
I believe in God, but I can prove he doesn't exist.
Then look at Godon's looming faces. They fill the page right up to the edge: there is
no escaping their intimate, confessional gaze. They are stripped naked of expression, in the manner of a Roger Van Der Weyden portrait or of a Van Eyck Madonna. What an extraordinary punch they pack!
This is a one-off oddball of a book - don't miss it.
If I ever saw an ad like this
"Wanted: secretive boy for secret duties"
I would apply.
Whenever something terrible happens, I immediately
think: it's my fault.
I wish something had suddenly been cancelled, without
anyone knowing why, and I'd climbed up onto a table
after I'd heard and was dancing with joy.
I believe in God, but I can prove he doesn't exist.
Then look at Godon's looming faces. They fill the page right up to the edge: there is
no escaping their intimate, confessional gaze. They are stripped naked of expression, in the manner of a Roger Van Der Weyden portrait or of a Van Eyck Madonna. What an extraordinary punch they pack!
This is a one-off oddball of a book - don't miss it.
May 24, 2020
In this beautifully designed Dutch import, portraits are paired with prose poetry articulating a rich kaleidoscope of desire, individualism, humor, and sadness. This probing psychological journey makes for an exciting exploration in empathy.
August 2, 2021
Ingrid Godon and Toon Tellegen have separately won many awards in their respective fields. For I Wish, Tellegen added brief thoughts for each of the characters depicted in a series of portraits by Tellegen. (It isn’t clear to me whether Tellegen or Godon named the portraits.) The match is excellent, and the pairings of text and image often devastate with their ingenuous simplicity, especially since most of the portraits seem to be of children, whose wide-set eyes and closed, horizontal lips suggest mild unhappiness or befuddlement.
Most pairings begin with the words “I wish,” such as these, from “Susanne”:
I wish I wasn’t scared of dying.
There are people who aren’t scared of death.
When they see him coming they just stand there
calmy and call out, “Hey, Death!
It’ so nice to see you!”
But those same people hide in the basement during
thunderstorms or scream and climb up on tables
when they see a mouse.
I like mice and thunderstorms.
Maybe everyone needs to be scared of something,
it doesn’t matter what, just like everyone needs
to breathe and eat and drink.
Otherwise you die.
From “Carl”:
I wish happiness was a thing and I
found it somewhere and took it home with me.
I wouldn’t tell anyone I’d found it.
I’d hide it and only get it out
when I was sure I was completely alone.
Then I’d buff it up.
Happiness needs to shine, even if it’s secret.
If I felt down and nothing I wanted was working out,
if everyone hated me and was in the hospital with two
broken legs, boils, toothache, conjunctivitis,
chicken pox, and scarlet fever, I could tell
myself: but I still have my happiness,
it’s still there where I put it!
Each vignette represents a way of looking and understanding the world and one’s place—or being at a total loss to figure out what it might be.
While I defer to the expertise of those who target the book to 8-12 year-olds, I suspect it’s one of those books adults tell themselves they wish they had at that age to see how other kids deal with the same doubts and hopes, but when those same adults were kids it’s exactly the type of book they would have ignored since its coolness is not immediately obvious. I Wish seems pitched to an emotional level I don’t recall myself having from 8-12, nor is it one I see among the few 8–12-year-olds I do encounter. Fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds, yes—but this isn’t a graphic novel or manga, so the kids interested in this book—for all its qualities—would likely be among the 10% whose emotional maturity is ahead of their peers. That said, I think adults rueful of their past will be those who appreciate this book most.
Additional review by me may be seen here: https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...
Most pairings begin with the words “I wish,” such as these, from “Susanne”:
I wish I wasn’t scared of dying.
There are people who aren’t scared of death.
When they see him coming they just stand there
calmy and call out, “Hey, Death!
It’ so nice to see you!”
But those same people hide in the basement during
thunderstorms or scream and climb up on tables
when they see a mouse.
I like mice and thunderstorms.
Maybe everyone needs to be scared of something,
it doesn’t matter what, just like everyone needs
to breathe and eat and drink.
Otherwise you die.
From “Carl”:
I wish happiness was a thing and I
found it somewhere and took it home with me.
I wouldn’t tell anyone I’d found it.
I’d hide it and only get it out
when I was sure I was completely alone.
Then I’d buff it up.
Happiness needs to shine, even if it’s secret.
If I felt down and nothing I wanted was working out,
if everyone hated me and was in the hospital with two
broken legs, boils, toothache, conjunctivitis,
chicken pox, and scarlet fever, I could tell
myself: but I still have my happiness,
it’s still there where I put it!
Each vignette represents a way of looking and understanding the world and one’s place—or being at a total loss to figure out what it might be.
While I defer to the expertise of those who target the book to 8-12 year-olds, I suspect it’s one of those books adults tell themselves they wish they had at that age to see how other kids deal with the same doubts and hopes, but when those same adults were kids it’s exactly the type of book they would have ignored since its coolness is not immediately obvious. I Wish seems pitched to an emotional level I don’t recall myself having from 8-12, nor is it one I see among the few 8–12-year-olds I do encounter. Fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds, yes—but this isn’t a graphic novel or manga, so the kids interested in this book—for all its qualities—would likely be among the 10% whose emotional maturity is ahead of their peers. That said, I think adults rueful of their past will be those who appreciate this book most.
Additional review by me may be seen here: https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...
December 27, 2021
Here is a favorite poem from this startlingly insightful collection of poems starring children's wishes and paired with the disconcertingly direct gazes of portraits of children by Belgian award-winning illustrator and author Ingrid Godon. I feel the ambivalence and sense of fate of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" brought fully to life here:
I WISH I was standing at a crossroads
and there were two empty. roads in front of me.
But if I stop to think about it, I am always
standing at a crossroads and there are always
two empty roads in front of me, and maybe even
three or four roads, straight roads, windy roads,
roads lined with poplars, roadsides full of daisies
and dandelions and stinging nettles and barbed wire.
I can't choose because I don't know where
any of these roads go.
Nobody knows, I think to comfort myself.
And then I walk on along one of those roads,
it doesn't matter which, going somewhere.
For an insightful view into this work, please head over to the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative blog and my colleague Helle Kirstein's review of I Wish with images and more poems from the collection.
I WISH I was standing at a crossroads
and there were two empty. roads in front of me.
But if I stop to think about it, I am always
standing at a crossroads and there are always
two empty roads in front of me, and maybe even
three or four roads, straight roads, windy roads,
roads lined with poplars, roadsides full of daisies
and dandelions and stinging nettles and barbed wire.
I can't choose because I don't know where
any of these roads go.
Nobody knows, I think to comfort myself.
And then I walk on along one of those roads,
it doesn't matter which, going somewhere.
For an insightful view into this work, please head over to the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative blog and my colleague Helle Kirstein's review of I Wish with images and more poems from the collection.
January 9, 2025
Dutch author Toon Tellegen presents a collection of short, poetic tales where animals articulate their desires with an earnestness that belies their fantastical nature. From the squirrel who wishes to see the sky from the top of a mountain to the ant who dreams of the world's end, each piece is a brief dive into the heart of longing.
Tellegen's prose is simple yet evocative, creating a tapestry of tiny dreams that resonate with the universal human experience of aspiration. The stories are not linked by plot but by theme—the myriad ways creatures great and small ponder what might be beyond their immediate realities.
The translation by David Colmer retains the original's gentle wit and the rhythm of its storytelling, preserving the delicate balance between the profound and the absurd. The characters, while anthropomorphized, maintain their animal essence, allowing readers to see their own reflections in these beguiling narratives.
An enchanting, thought-provoking anthology that celebrates the power of the wish, for children and adults alike. Tellegen's work encourages readers to contemplate their own wishes, big or small, in a world where the line between the ordinary and the extraordinary blurs with each new tale.
A perfect read for those who find wonder in the smallest of dreams.
Tellegen's prose is simple yet evocative, creating a tapestry of tiny dreams that resonate with the universal human experience of aspiration. The stories are not linked by plot but by theme—the myriad ways creatures great and small ponder what might be beyond their immediate realities.
The translation by David Colmer retains the original's gentle wit and the rhythm of its storytelling, preserving the delicate balance between the profound and the absurd. The characters, while anthropomorphized, maintain their animal essence, allowing readers to see their own reflections in these beguiling narratives.
An enchanting, thought-provoking anthology that celebrates the power of the wish, for children and adults alike. Tellegen's work encourages readers to contemplate their own wishes, big or small, in a world where the line between the ordinary and the extraordinary blurs with each new tale.
A perfect read for those who find wonder in the smallest of dreams.
July 3, 2021
Really incredible paintings and unique, highly contemplative poems.
“I wish
I could just shrug myself off
and when I thought about myself the next thought would always be:
haven’t you got anything better to think about?
There is always something better to think about”
“I wish I was a little cuter, nicer, friendlier, funnier, happier, snappier, braver, brighter, brainier, more exciting and more unusual than I am now and someone told me:
‘No way, like you were before, that was just perfect.’
And I am! I know it!”
“I wish I had more courage...
I’ve got so little of it...
If courage was something you could buy,
I’d spend all my money on it.
It would be my most valuable possession.
Ordinary courage. Not heroism or recklessness.
Everyday courage.”
“I wish
I could just shrug myself off
and when I thought about myself the next thought would always be:
haven’t you got anything better to think about?
There is always something better to think about”
“I wish I was a little cuter, nicer, friendlier, funnier, happier, snappier, braver, brighter, brainier, more exciting and more unusual than I am now and someone told me:
‘No way, like you were before, that was just perfect.’
And I am! I know it!”
“I wish I had more courage...
I’ve got so little of it...
If courage was something you could buy,
I’d spend all my money on it.
It would be my most valuable possession.
Ordinary courage. Not heroism or recklessness.
Everyday courage.”
Read
December 25, 2019Ik wou dat ik meer moed had
ik heb daar zo weinig van...
Als je moed kon kopen, ik zou er
al mijn geld aan uitgeven.
Het zou mijn kostbaarste bezit zijn.
Gewone moed. Geen heldenmoed of overmoed.
Dagelijkse moed.
Mensen zouden over mij zeggen:
“Zie je hem daar?”
“Ja.”
“Weet je wat hij is?”
“Nee.”
“Moedig. Heel moedig.”
“O ja?”
“Ja”
Geluk kreeg ik er dan voor niks bij.
Ach, Toon. Elke keer recht in mijn hart.
ik heb daar zo weinig van...
Als je moed kon kopen, ik zou er
al mijn geld aan uitgeven.
Het zou mijn kostbaarste bezit zijn.
Gewone moed. Geen heldenmoed of overmoed.
Dagelijkse moed.
Mensen zouden over mij zeggen:
“Zie je hem daar?”
“Ja.”
“Weet je wat hij is?”
“Nee.”
“Moedig. Heel moedig.”
“O ja?”
“Ja”
Geluk kreeg ik er dan voor niks bij.
Ach, Toon. Elke keer recht in mijn hart.
August 15, 2019
Er zitten een paar super mooie gedichtjes tussen, zoals alleen Toon Tellegen ze kan schrijven.
December 6, 2024
3.5 stars
February 20, 2025
Lindo livro "para crianças". Tragam a obra de Toon para o Brasil, por favor.
August 9, 2019
Net zoals in ‘Ik denk’ zijn de teksten van Toon Tellegen om over na te denken, er zitten echte pareltjes tussen.
Dit keer was ik wel net iets minder gecharmeerd van de tekeningen van Ingrid Godron, waardoor het boek vier sterren krijgt.
Dit keer was ik wel net iets minder gecharmeerd van de tekeningen van Ingrid Godron, waardoor het boek vier sterren krijgt.
March 14, 2020
The description of this book makes me think this is targeted for young readers, but as an older reader, I think its appeal may be broader for the poetry themes are universal. This is a large hardcover that's a bit thin for a coffee table size book but can be described as an over-sized hardback book balanced between poetry focusing on the I Wish theme and interesting drawings by Ingrid Godon. I was attracted to this book by the pictures but the poetry complements them perfectly. The poems in this book can be disturbing but are more wistful than depressing. The pictures fascinate me for they show mainly faces where the eyes are too small and too far apart, yet most are labeled with names to make them very individual. Like the way I feel and I suspect so many of us feel, the poems and pictures show that we see ourselves as imperfect and wish we were a bit more something to fill that gap we can so clearly see needs to be filled. I rate this at 4 stars because I love the mood but was left a bit mystified which is perhaps the intention. I wish this book included some information about both the author and the illustrator of this very different work of art.
November 21, 2019
***I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of the book.
As soon as I downloaded the book, I just immediately read right away..
The prose-poems which is all from a prompt "I wish"..
I wasn't expecting to feel a lot of emotions when I read this book. It was so beautifully
written and I just had to do a double take and make sure that it was written by the author and
were not compiled from kids.
My favorite one is about the one that says something like.. I wish.. there was a device that records how many minutes/days/years someone thinks about you when you die. And when they stopped thinking about you then you're just gone..
After I read that.. I had to stop and collect myself. It just hit me so hard, I guess its true in a sense that really once were gone we are gone for good. But we stay as memories to the people who loved us when we were alive.
The drawings are something else, they are spectacular!! Its has a Gothic old school feel to it. This is not a really long book.. but it sure has a lot emotions packed in every page!
As soon as I downloaded the book, I just immediately read right away..
The prose-poems which is all from a prompt "I wish"..
I wasn't expecting to feel a lot of emotions when I read this book. It was so beautifully
written and I just had to do a double take and make sure that it was written by the author and
were not compiled from kids.
My favorite one is about the one that says something like.. I wish.. there was a device that records how many minutes/days/years someone thinks about you when you die. And when they stopped thinking about you then you're just gone..
After I read that.. I had to stop and collect myself. It just hit me so hard, I guess its true in a sense that really once were gone we are gone for good. But we stay as memories to the people who loved us when we were alive.
The drawings are something else, they are spectacular!! Its has a Gothic old school feel to it. This is not a really long book.. but it sure has a lot emotions packed in every page!
January 13, 2020
I loved this book. I am not a poetry fan as a general rule, but decided to give this a try because the illustrations looked so interesting. This book may have changed my mind on the poetry front. Each one is simultaneously silly, irreverent, serious and thought provoking. The illustrations well compliment the poems, adding feelings of humor, sadness and introspection to each reading.
While I thought this book was wonderful, and *my* kids would love it, I am not sure if it will be well-received as a children’s book. I could see it doing well as a teen, tween or middle grade introduction to poetry and the artwork of Ingrid Godon. This may be an Americanism, but I dont think parents of picture book aged children are going to respond well to the subjects and depth of theme, at least not in the elementary aged groups. That said, I would still recommend this as a purchase for our library, it just may do better added to other sections of our collection.
While I thought this book was wonderful, and *my* kids would love it, I am not sure if it will be well-received as a children’s book. I could see it doing well as a teen, tween or middle grade introduction to poetry and the artwork of Ingrid Godon. This may be an Americanism, but I dont think parents of picture book aged children are going to respond well to the subjects and depth of theme, at least not in the elementary aged groups. That said, I would still recommend this as a purchase for our library, it just may do better added to other sections of our collection.
November 22, 2019
*Disclaimer: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.
I'm not a huge poetry reader but have been trying to expand my reading into that medium over the last year or two. This collection pairs thoughtful and, at times, sad poems with haunting illustrations inspired by old photographs. The pairing of the two is perfect.
I absolutely adore illustrations that are used well in books, whether they be for adults or children and I think that this pairing was done amazingly.
The poems themselves were thought-provoking though sometimes a little too similar to each other. However I found the overarching themes of loneliness, mortality, imagination and love to be quite uplifting in a strange way.
Overall I really enjoyed reading and experiencing this book and would highly recommend it.
4 out of 5 stars!
I'm not a huge poetry reader but have been trying to expand my reading into that medium over the last year or two. This collection pairs thoughtful and, at times, sad poems with haunting illustrations inspired by old photographs. The pairing of the two is perfect.
I absolutely adore illustrations that are used well in books, whether they be for adults or children and I think that this pairing was done amazingly.
The poems themselves were thought-provoking though sometimes a little too similar to each other. However I found the overarching themes of loneliness, mortality, imagination and love to be quite uplifting in a strange way.
Overall I really enjoyed reading and experiencing this book and would highly recommend it.
4 out of 5 stars!
December 27, 2019
I Wish
by Toon Tellegen
Archipelago Books
Elsewhere Editions
Children's Fiction
Pub Date 31 Mar 2020
I am reviewing a copy of I Wish through Archipelago books/Elsewhere Editions and Netgalley:
In this book the imaginative Dutch Author Toon Tellegen matched 31 Imaginative prose poems with the Statement I Wish, and uses famous, luminous, old fashioned face paintings by Ingrid Gordon.
In I Wish, each poem is paired with faces faces from a time that has long since gone by, the portraits are inspired by photographs from long ago. Among the paintings are young children, men and women, and babies, speaking through Toon Tellegen's longing language. Among the pages are dozens of confessions and the writing presents a kaleidoscope of wishes, from imagined feats of heroism to reciprocated human love.
I give I Wish Five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
by Toon Tellegen
Archipelago Books
Elsewhere Editions
Children's Fiction
Pub Date 31 Mar 2020
I am reviewing a copy of I Wish through Archipelago books/Elsewhere Editions and Netgalley:
In this book the imaginative Dutch Author Toon Tellegen matched 31 Imaginative prose poems with the Statement I Wish, and uses famous, luminous, old fashioned face paintings by Ingrid Gordon.
In I Wish, each poem is paired with faces faces from a time that has long since gone by, the portraits are inspired by photographs from long ago. Among the paintings are young children, men and women, and babies, speaking through Toon Tellegen's longing language. Among the pages are dozens of confessions and the writing presents a kaleidoscope of wishes, from imagined feats of heroism to reciprocated human love.
I give I Wish Five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews