I'll take care of you by Maria Loretta Giraldo and Nicoletta Bertelle

The title, I’ll take care of you underlines the theme of harmony within our world as we all have a share in this place we call home. As a little seed hits the ground, small and alone, the Sky, the Water and the Earth console it saying they will take care of it. The Water drops rain upon it, the Sky warms it as it takes root in the soft Earth. Here it grows into an apple tree, blooming and magnificent. One day a small lonely bird sits on its branch and the tree tells it not to worry as the tree will look after the bird. And so it does offering shelter to the bird which builds a nest and raises a hatchling, which in turn the bird keeps warm and looks after until it is big enough to leave the nest. Apples drop to the ground and split open, leaving apple seeds upon the Earth. One seed falls in the rocks and the bird picks it up to carry it back to the Earth, where is is planted and eventually produces a shoot.

The cycle of life continues, each part in the cycle supported and nourished by another, each one aware of its place within the cycle and sharing the responsibility that being part of the cycle brings.

This wonderful book echoes the aim of Blue Dot Kids Press, to ‘inspires curiosity with beautifully crafted stories that connect us to each other and the planet we share’. A world of possibilities is open before the reader, encouraging an empathy for the global community we call Earth. The interconnectedness shines through the acts of the Earth, Sly, Rain, Tree and Bird, each repaying the kindness shown to it by replicating that kindness to an other. We are all stewards of the world we occupy, and nowhere it is this more apparent than when we look at our environment, and this book will encourage a deeper understanding of what we owe to it. Nicoletta Bertelle’s distinctive style encompass bright colourful illustrations which make use of acrylic paint and forms of collage, and cover the larger than usual pages with drawings that direct the eye to themes of kindness, compassion, helpfulness and so on, as we watch each take its turn in helping something that is lost or alone.

Find out more about Blue Dot Kids Press an independent publisher based in San Francisco and Wellington.

Themes: Compassion, Kindness, Interconnectedness, Caring, Environment, Cycle of life, Earth.

Fran Knight