I Wish I Could Tell You

There is a special place in library collections for thoughtful books like I Wish I Could Tell You.

A little fox is trying to write a farewell letter to his beloved grandmother who has clearly played a large part in his growing up. He is distressed to see grandma lying in her bed, just a shell of the lively playmate and mentor he has known: “So small. So frail”.

But memories of the happy times together are very much in the youngster’s mind.

Together we made magic.

We climbed to the top of the world.

We made incredible discoveries.

We set out on great adventures.

Inevitably death does arrive.

Then Mom came to me. She had just come from

your house. She told me you’re gone.

And it’s all over.

A dark, cloudy sky full of soaring birds accompanies the line “I just could not believe her words”. Grief covers the little fox like a sad, engulfing blanket. He mopes; he embraces his sorrow. The pictures extend the hopeless feeling shown by the text with the coming of rain and thunder. A fierce storm is followed by its quiet aftermath, illustrated with a wordless double spread of two ducks paddling on a sunset lake.

Then our narrator starts to let go.

This morning I am writing you a letter.

I know you’ll never read it. But I’m writing it

anyway. Because I wish I could tell you…

I love you.

The brief, poetic text from 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award winner Sénéchal (Les Avenues) runs along the bottom of pages filled with soft-edged watercolours executed by a Japanese artist. Okada’s expressive illustrations are definitely central to the success of the book. The animal figures have a very human quality. They walk upright on back paws in a way that reminded me of Beatrix Potter’s creatures. The little fox’s sadness is emphasized in the image of him slumping, head down, on a rock by the water. When he is shown writing out his heartfelt thoughts to Grandma, readers can see a real child bent over the paper, pen in hand. And who could resist the final image of the fox, happy again, wearing a plumed hat and mimicking the gestures of a continental nobleman for an audience of squirrels perched on a stump?

Originally published in Quebec by Comme des géants (Je Voudrais te Dire), I Wish I Could Tell You seems to be expected to have an international appeal as publishing rights have already been sold in nine other countries.

I Wish I Could Tell You is a story which a caring adult could share with a child to help explain the emotions that come with such an important life event.