Life’s key lesson colorfully delivered

Nov 04, 2018 Book Review…, Features / Columnists

Book: Cheese & Cucumbers & Lollipops
Author: Laila Boisselle, Ed.D
Illustrations: Maya Livola
Critic: Glenville Ashby, Ph.D

It was Bertrand Russell who coined the expression: ‘the tyranny of custom.’ Short of reason and independent thought, he argued that our growth is severely compromised. Now, Laila Boisselle has inconspicuously added to this narrative. With the poignancy of Russell, she inveighs against Groupthink and the pressures of conformity. But unlike the great philosopher, she is far more artistic relying on colour, storytelling, and the ambiance of buoyant anticipation.
Delivering her timely message with an unmistakable joie de vivre, Boisselle deftly embeds her work unto an imaginative tapestry. Here, the sun, in particular, plays the leading role with a prodigious caterpillar as its sidekick.
The sun dances with the rest of nature and there is hardly a fissure. With boundless levity there is little room for rumination or that second thought until Sun meets a group that rather basks in cheese, cucumbers and lollipops. They avoid all that Sun offers: “I can’t stand the sun. I think I will just go back to bed and come out when the moon is up. Let’s sit under the tree so that we don’t have to be near the sun.”
Sun must now search for meaning in a world of resentment.
Crestfallen, Sun is whisked by chariot and magical dust to the Field of Dreams by Sand, her friend. They ride “long and hard over yesterday and tomorrow.” It is there in Blanket Bay that dreams are woven into blankets serving as comfort and inspiration for the weary. Stories are recited and burdens lifted. It is here that Sun meets Caterpillar, a thinker and worthy interlocutor. To Sun’s dismay, Caterpillar is hardly fond of cheese, cucumbers and lollipops. “It’s the best day of my life,” the slithering insect remarks, adding, “It’s the only day I have.”
What follows are lessons in intersubjectivity and tolerance.
Sun and Caterpillar banter, trying to find common ground, a friendship ever more unlikely. Sun wavers, unable to embrace caterpillar’s views. But there is something inviting about caterpillar’s candour, honesty, gratitude and willingness to concede frailties. Sun must ponder on their interaction. Can they really be friends?
As Caterpillar transforms into the colourfully radiant butterfly, the author’s work takes on new meaning. We are asked to accept new possibilities, to break the drudgery of tradition. We are asked to reason and, like the caterpillar, grow, evolve and assume a new self.
Caterpillar’s metamorphosis proves catalytic. Sun is revivified. And so is Rainbow. And all of life.
Wisdom we experience in the ways of nature, and where nature leads we must follow. Boisselle well understands this adage. Why malign, chide, dismiss others because they hold different views, because their predilections differ or their temperament we have never encountered? What of tolerance and the oftentimes repeated, “live and let live?”
Boisselle’s mnemonic illustrations compellingly hold the attention of the most distrait of readers. Pray we must that these lessons are never supplanted for the ways of men.
Surely, we must learn of nature’s wonders. If only we had allowed nature to lead us.
Drivingly, Boisselle argues that there is strength in diversity and intellectual growth in holding diverse opinions. Indeed, there is humanity in inclusion. This is Nature’s message delivered by a most able messenger.
Feedback: glenvilleashby@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby
Cheese & Cucumbers & Lollipops by Laila Boisselle, Ed.D © 2018
Illustrations: Maya Livola
Publisher: Ingram Press
ISBN: 978-9948-24-380-9
Available at Amazon
Ratings: Highly recommended

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