The Great Pause: Perseverance Through the Pandemic

The Great Pause: Perseverance Through the Pandemic is a poetic and philosophical reflection on our shared experience of the pandemic. Authors Julia Manini and Anne-Joyelle Occhicone’s words are beautifully supported by the artwork of Laura Catrinella. Although quite short, the book takes the reader gently from the first days of the pandemic when the world as we knew it paused, through the gradual recognition of what was missing, to the awakening to many things we had been too busy to acknowledge.

In the loss of distraction, people found quiet moments to notice.

In the loss of busyness people found beauty in simplicity.

In the loss of what had been taken for granted people found appreciation

In the loss of boundaries people found each other. (p. 16)

The black text is printed on a bluish brown background. Each opposite page is a full-page illustration matching the words.

Care and compassion filled the distance between loved ones and strangers alike. Balconies became bridges, connecting neighbours through song and good cheer. (p. 12)

Catrinella’s artwork shows people out on their balconies singing, waving, hugging and playing musical instruments. The illustrations become progressively more colourful. The final illustration shows a group of young people sitting in a circle under a star-showered rainbow in a blue sky.

And so they began to breathe out slowly, changed forever by a moment shared by the whole world. (p. 18)

The Great Pause: Perseverance Through the Pandemic will not likely fly off the library shelves by itself, but, in the hands of a sensitive and empathetic adult, The Great Pause: Perseverance Through the Pandemic will make a perfect introduction to an opportunity for young people to explore their feelings about the pandemic experience. The text and illustrations are inclusive enough to reflect common experiences and to open the doors to sharing of personal fears and insights.