Review by Frank Plowright
A Difficult Thing contains only the single word, yet it’s immensely powerful in the context of this graphic novel aimed at very young children. Both educational and entertaining it’s one of those graphic novels that took the writer five minutes to write and the artist so much longer to draw.
The first of two characters seen is a dog boy, chasing a round object down a hill. It’s uncertain what the object is, but the boy certainly doesn’t want to lose it. Once retrieved, the boy then begins a long and hard climb back up the hill. Writer Silvia Vecchini is clever here, as the climb is metaphorical as well as actual, as the boy knows there’s something to be said once he reaches the peak. The subtitle of The Importance of Admitting Mistakes pretty well tells you what that is.
It’s left to artist Sualzo (Antonio Vicenti) to supply the detail, but he also keeps things simple over a series of twenty spreads delivered in shades of blue. However, he doesn’t use the book being aimed at younger readers as an excuse for skimping on detail. Look at the leaves blowing across the sky on the sample spread, the small flowers among the grass and the shading on the rocks. It all makes for a richer and more convincing world.
While this is a book very young children can read and understand by themselves, the full connection between story and title is going to require an adult explanation. It’s for those moments when infants need an example to fully comprehend what they’ve done.
Italian creators Vecchini and Sualzo have also collaborated on a delightful pair of books starring donkeys Gaetano and Zoletta (or Gaspard and Berlingot in French) aimed at a slightly older audience as they involve reading. It would be nice to see them in English.