I recently learned that The Red Balloon, a photographic picture book I spent a whole lot of time looking at as a child, was actually published as a tie-in to a short, Oscar-winning movie from the 1950s. (This will not be news to many. Somehow I missed it.)
from the nearly-silent film by Albert Lamorisse |
The book is a collection of stills from the movie. It also includes words, but I have no recollection of them from childhood, because the photographs did everything. To me, this book was beautiful, and a deeply emotional reading experience.
I won't tell you the story if you don't know it - it won't sound as good as it is. It's about trust, and love, and loss. If you have recently suffered the loss of a pet, this probably isn't the time to read it.
I just watched the movie, and loved it for many reasons. But I can't say that, had I seen it as a child, it would have meant more to me than the book did. The necessary jumps from picture to picture were full of feeling for me - my own feelings, because that's all I had to fill those spaces.
Comments