Pärlan review

This book can prompt many discussions because of its openness for interpretation. The message of the story could be described as finding your place in the world, just as the Pearl found  her place was in the sky. It could be read as encouragement to try new things. The Pearl discovers much more about her world by leaving the mussel shell, even though she gets lost for a time in the seaweed forest. She also finds a way to express her thanks to the Mussel by leaving a new grain of sand in her place. The focus could also be on the friendship between the Pearl and the Star and the difference a friend can make. Readers will come to the story with their own perspectives about its message.

The story feels like a folk tale with cycles and repetitions. Every month, the Pearl takes her walk. After she becomes the moon, she still turns her gaze regularly back to the ocean and her small mussel shell, in which there is a new pearl to continue the cycle. The characters have no particular names but are just called the Pearl, the Star, and the Mussel, suggestive of a folk tale’s conventions. Bartilsson’s illustrations are a little bit like the folk-art style of the 1960s made popular by artists such as John Alcorn, but with a timeless quality that makes it difficult to set a date to them. She exaggerates the heads and facial features of the Pearl and the Star to make them the focal point and combines multiple patterns to decorate the sea stars and coral. With their fantastic colour and design, any one of these spreads could be turned into a beautiful print to hang on the wall. 

The text and illustrations work together to engage readers with sight, sound, and touch. There are contrasts between light and dark and loud and soft, as well as visible textures to discuss with children. The blues and blacks used in the dark spreads contrast sharply with the brightly coloured light spreads. Sounds are described in the text, like the fierce crashing of the waves above the water’s surface, but: ‘the roar is scarcely heard below.’ Some seaweed looks soft like feathers, other seaweed looks brittle. Certain creatures look very spiky and sharp. There are many little details to point out and talk about, such as making connections between the sea stars and the stars in the sky. On the final pages, a new pearl is shown resting in the mussel shell, although it’s not described directly in the text and could be something for viewers to discover independently. Bartilsson’s book is the perfect choice for a gentle bedtime read.