Nothing at All!

Clara just wants to spend her afternoon lying in the sunshine on the grassy hill in her own backyard. However, her father is rather concerned about her lazing away the time and suggests alternate activities to better occupy her time - none of which can tempt Clara away from her enjoyment of doing ‘absolutely nothing at all’!

Today I am a lazy lizard.

A lazy lizard dreaming on its back, belly to the sun.

I am counting the clouds: there are three of them!

Three big snails in the sky.
I am lying on the grass.

I am not moving.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Daddy.

“Hey, Clara, what are you doing?”

I answer, “Nothing! I’m looking at the clouds.”

He looks at me, and then at the sky, and returns to the kitchen.

I close my eyes.

All I hear is the tap running.

With no wind, the trees are silent.

Think ‘mindfulness’ for preschoolers, and you’ve summed up the premise for this introspective and fun 32-page picture book. Throughout its pages, it breathes in and out, slows down the pace of an oftentimes frantic daily existence and encourages the reader to take a step back from an overscheduled childhood. Many young children today lead busy lives filled with music, sports, and other activities during their non-school hours and weekends. Parents try to offer their children opportunities which they were not afforded as youngsters. Or perhaps they subscribe to Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘10,000 hours Outlier theory’ and are doing their best to encourage the time investment required for their youngster to become a future star - whether as a hockey player, artist, or ballerina…. In any case, it’s easy for the best of intentions to spiral out of control, especially for introverted personalities like little Clara. While this book addresses a topic especially relevant today, it also encourages the importance of reflection - to delight in the simple act of experiencing the surrounding world - to observe, connect with nature, and, in so doing, truly understand joy from a child’s perspective.

The story’s lyrical text and engaging pictures combine to acknowledge the pleasure and satisfaction gained from taking a break from formal activities. This is great advice, especially in these pandemic times where not being able to participate in extra-curricular pastimes is often viewed through the lens of a hardship. An adult reader might even reconsider our current lockdowns as a reset button - a unique opportunity to look inwards, reconnect with the natural world, and enjoy spending time in one’s own company.

Clara’s father, worried that something has upset his daughter, tries to entice her to consider joining in on a number of activities such as playing in the pool with her friends or going for a bike ride. He keeps checking back, offering her suggestions for alternative activities, and, throughout the story, he doesn’t grasp her need to be alone with her thoughts. Clara is truly and deeply happily engaged with exploring her senses – listening to the world around her, inspecting the ants in the grass, smelling the flowers, and feeling the tickle of dandelion fluff on her nose.

The colour illustrations are captivating and beautifully extend Clara's intense and joyful appreciation of the world in her backyard. The images reflect her dreamy contemplation through the use of blurred edges and a muted palette and will surely draw in the interest of youngsters. The expressions on Clara’s face clearly reflect her emotions as she allows her imagination to wander:

When we have nothing to do,

We can think about whatever we want.
I discover a marvelous world

With Alice and the Little Prince.

I tell myself jokes
And I laugh to myself.

I can also think about nothing at all!

Montréal author Marie-Hélène Jarry has written numerous books for young children, primarily published in French. A few recent titles include: Un temps de lapin (2013), Où est le clé? (2017), and Où est passé le temps? (2019). Nothing at All! is a translation from her original French version Rien du Tout! which was first published in 2016 and selected a finalist in the Prix Peuplier 2018. This Canadian reading award, hosted by the Ontario Library Association, is voted on by Kindergarten to Grade 2 students for their favourite French book.

Illustrator Amélie Dubois, also originally from Montréal, has a background in animation and visual effects. She has written and illustrated numerous books for younger children such as her own titles, La fois où… les tortues m’ont appris à respirer! (2020), and Mali et la tortue toute nue. She has also written the “Ce qui se passe” series of YA titles for older readers, with the most recent entitled Ce qui se passe à Végas reste à Végas (2019).

For those unable to flop in the grass in their own backyard, Dubois has cleverly sprinkled plenty of opportunities throughout the book to slow down the turning of pages and to investigate her illustrations to discover hidden delights on Clara’s hillside. Each double-spread is enhanced with flowers, mushrooms, birds, squirrels, ants, mice, ladybugs, frogs, rabbits, and butterflies, all offering plenty of chances to employ skills of observation. Together, parents and youngsters can look at the blue and white endpapers to count the clouds and imagine the shapes they form.

Nothing at All!, a gentle picture book, would be the perfect addition to a school library collection and could spark great classroom discussions about mindfulness. It could also be used as an effective resource to enhance social emotional instructional activities. It would serve as a lovely gift for a youngster, subtly affirming and encouraging idleness and reflection and offering the entire family a chance to contemplate the value of simply doing ‘nothing at all’.