The Tunnel

Some unnamed sadness – a family breakup? the death of a loved one? - has come into the life of the little boy who is telling his story here. Mom is quiet, Aunt Cheryl is concerned, and the narrator just wants to leave the scene and be by himself.

Alone in his room, he takes a plastic shovel and imagines he is digging a hole.

Down, down into the ground.
It’s dark down there, but I don’t mind.
It’s crowded, too, with worms and beetles and moles.
And things I don’t know the names of. They don’t
notice me. Behind me, I hear noises. Distant noises from
the house. But I just keep on digging.

After moving through the tunnel, the boy comes up above ground. A full moon, “a spotlight clear and certain”, is shining down. He can see into a window where the adults are having an earnest conversation. He imagines vanishing entirely, leaving all this emotion behind.
Then, as he sees Mom gazing out into the dark yard, cradling her mug of tea, he has another thought.

Mom turns in my direction. She can’t see me,
But her face looks close enough to touch. Almost like the moon.
And something shifts inside me. It nudges me like a dog’s nose.
I could disappear forever, yes. But maybe not tonight.

The boy makes his way back through the tunnel to the warmth of a familiar room and the grateful hug of his mother. Mom plucks a twig out of her son’s hair, and he tells her about his night’s adventure. Cozying up together on the boy’s bed, the two take comfort in each other’s company.

I think she knows I need a secret place. She might have secret
places of her own. I think she knows we sometimes travel
far away. Alone, where we don’t have to talk.

Howden has written a soothing book of bibliotherapy embedded in a quiet story. We don’t know the issues, but we are shown that some time alone as well as some wordless reassurance can be healing.

Vancouver-based artist Medina depicts events here in varying values of grey and black which emphasize the sombre tone of the book. The boy’s dull red shirt provides the only spot of colour in the dim interiors and the moonlit yard. The pages which show the tunnel in cross-section emphasize that the busy life in the underground world humming along is set apart from the human cares on the surface.

The Tunnel is a worthy addition to picture book shelves, although the lack of detail about the family’s situation makes the narrative almost opaque at times. This probably makes The Tunnel most useful as a jumping-off point for an adult and child discussion rather than as a storytime choice.