Eating Grass

Sami Said & Sven Nordqvist

 

“Don’t be long, come back right away,” mom says, before I walk to the well. Parents really know how to worry. 

“Relax” I answer, “I’m your daughter Imani Lillian Mau and I can do almost anything. Climb up to the top of a tree, count to a hundred and one, and even get water from the other side of the mountain.”

“What happened to the water,” asks mom looking down into the empty bucket.

When the corn plants on the fields are thirsty, they become the color of the sand. Their song turns into cries. They stretch their leaves towards the sky and slowly tremble together at the same pace. Just like us.

In this eye-opening picture book, we get to meet Imani Lilian Mau during days of drought and days of rain. The neighbor dad Osman Zula tricks everybody into buying special rain cloud catchers and solar collectors with guaranteed effect. There are days of hunger and days of play. One day, Imani is accused of stealing money, but luckily her mother takes her side. Instead of looking for justice, Imani invites the whole village to a big party where everyone gets to eat until they’re full.

 

Sami Said is a fiction writer. He made his debut with Väldigt sällan fin (Hardly Ever
Nice) in 2012 and just came out with the critically-acclaimed Människan är den vackraste staden (Man is the Most Beautiful City).

Sven Nordqvist’s books are modern classics, translated all over the world. He is most known for his books about Pettson and Findus and his illustrations for Jujja Wieslander’s Mamma Mu series. He received the August prize for his own picture book Var är min syster? (Where Is my Sister?) in 2007.