A Quiet classic

how to do heartwarming

As soon as Granddaughter no. 1, call her SP (Sensible Princess...  another story; now a pic.book text in progress) acquired a sibling, I pulled out my lovingly preserved copy of "Rosie's Babies".  First published by Walker books in 1990, it was written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Penny Dale. The tenderness (not sentimentality, note) of this little gem  still moves me. It’s now a favourite with the SP and her little sister.  

What are Quiet books?   Well, you won't know them by their illustration style, in my opinion, though this one is delicately drawn in pastel shades... realistically drawn too.  Just how realistic becomes obvious when one sees the photograph of the eponymous Rosie in the dedication.    
   
The distinguishing feature, I think, is that it deals with a commonplace situation (new baby in the house, older sibling has to share Mum) in a calm, unsentimental way. The story respects Rosie's feelings and validates  her coping mechanism, by quietly showing them.

​We see her feeling insecure (a thumb in her mouth, a fistful of tightly-held skirt),  acting out her competitiveness, then warming to her rival.   Might the child reader learn something from  this gentle story?  Trust, I think. Trust that your mum is still there for you though there's a new baby in your house.

The only  drama in this quiet book is of the imaginary kind, the melodrama children of that age like to role-play in: going fast, falling down and getting a hurty and a bandage, facing down a foe. (I love how embarrassed Dale has made the dog look in this scene.) Mum  tends to the practical needs of her new born, as well as the emotional ones of her first born, with apparent serenity.  (Well, it was the 90s when women thought they could do it all.)

Rosie's Babies by Martin Waddell
​and Penny Dale,  Walker Books, 1990.

Tender, but never twee.

​Here is the creative writing teaching maxim:  show, don’t tell, in action.   Waddell shows (in dialogue and action) the particulars of how Rosie and Mum manage this potentially tense situation. The effect?  The reader,  aged 4, 34 or 64, feels enormous empathy for the individual characters, as well as that cosy feeling of… ‘Ah- yes, I know how that is!’ So, the reader is fully engaged by the universal and the particular. 

​This being a quiet book, there is no obvious conflict, no real excitement. However, the reader doesn't loose interest. When Rosie’s goal is achieved on the last page, one can't help thinking  “Aww!” Sentimental?  No, because the well-judged words and pictures have fully earned our emotional response. That's good storytelling. 

​For me, this quiet book is a classic example of how to do heart-warming:

• make it real
• make it relatable