Parables. They’re almost impossible to do in children’s books. The problem with a parable is that if it wants to teach something it often has to say what it means. Another way of saying that is that parables for children are explicit. A good parable for kids can be subtle, but most don’t bother. They take their messages and whap children over the head with them repeatedly. Then kids resent the message, and nobody ends up very happy. These thoughts reside in a dark corner of my brain at all times, and when I saw the picture book Ravenna and got the gist of its story I was certain that if I read it I’d find yet another preachy little number. Yet Ravenna is a different kind of book. First off, it bases its story on my favorite King Arthur legend, Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady (I’m partial to the Selina Hastings version myself). Second, the illustrations by artist Daniel Nevins set this little black and white title apart from the picture book pack. As for the writing itself, it’s not your usual fare. That’s not a bad thing. In an era of cookie-cutter wordplay it’s refreshing to read something that works as a whole and complete story while also upsetting your expectations. Doubtless there will be folks unnerved by what they find here, but for most this is just a strange, sweet story about a boy and a bear.
Galen’s your average mountain farm kid. He spends a lot of time outside, and then one day he hears that a new neighbor moved in with a bear. Intrigued, Galen pays the man a visit. While there he sees Ravenna, the bear, who is far more lovely than anything he could have imagined. It’s clear that Galen wants Ravenna for his own, but before she transfers her ownership, she tells him that he must first find out what every creature wants. After much discussion and thinking, Galen hits upon it. “All creatures want to be free!” Ravenna agrees that this is the answer and the two pass happy months together. However, it’s not long before Galen realizes that the answer to Ravenna’s question wasn’t just theoretical. And though he loves her, the boy must decide whether or not he’s prepared to do the right thing.
For some folks, there’s just no getting around the fact that this is a story about a boy in love with a bear. I’d agree, and it’s a little unusual sure, but let’s face it. If any kid was living in the wild and came across a pretty dancing bear that could also talk, don’t you think they’d want one too? There’s nothing untoward in Galen’s desire to own Ravenna. He just thinks she’s awesome and wants to be with her all the time. As for the moral of “if you love something, let it go” (those exact words aren’t used, but that’s the basic premise) it may be more pertinent to a kid than the original Sir Gawain story. In that tale, Gawain gives his wife the choice of being beautiful during the day or at night. In Ravenna a boy who owns a bear, a