Little rebellious girls, that's what writer Jaap Robben and illustrator Benjamin Leroy know how to deal with. Suzie Ruzie, the girl with a stinky finger, goes to the swimming pool. Not in the toddler pool - well, in the deep end! A Quattro Mani's guest reviewer Afke Bohle, mother of three, went with her.
The first book we had here in the house by Jaap Robben and Benjamin Leroy is called If anyone ever finds my bones. That title inspired our eldest to dig up again the bird we had buried in the garden three weeks before. The youngest congratulated his grandmother on her 80th birthday by asking if he can have her bones when she dies. Today we read Suzie quarrelling in the deep end. I am curious.
The story is about Suzie Ruzie (that girl from 'the scissors' and 'the stink finger'). She gets to swim in the deep end for the first time. She is extremely excited about that. So Suzie has no time for entrance gates, changing cubicles and showering before swimming. Just before her big jump, she meets lifeguard Dikbuik. He is not too keen on the running noisy girl. Neither do the others in the deep end. Suzie herself is not bothered by anything. Then Dikbuik decides to put her back in the paddling pool. There Suzie sits. But of course not for long.
Fat bottom in the locker room
The solution Suzie comes up with really appealed to our youngest (4). We immediately had to read the story again, also to take a closer look at the fat buttocks in the changing room. Our eldest (7), who of course really didn't read along - 'because this story is for little children' - enjoyed the fact that Suzie outsmarts the big people with all their rules and demands. Although he is glad she does not live in his house, she has won his respect.
As an adult, I found the pool culture to be starkly depicted. The various types in the book I regularly encounter myself in the local swimming pool. The older ladies who hang around the edge more than swim, the fast macho men with ditto diving goggles, the huge lifeguard who walks around as if he owns the pool, the mothers with roaring children. The fact that they are shown from children's eye level is recognisable for children and an interesting opportunity for grown-ups to put themselves in a child's perspective for a change.
Recognisable and hilarious
Choosing the wrong changing cubicle and stepping barefoot into a hair or something muddy, secretly peeing in the water, people who think they are entitled to their own lane in the deep end, that persistent layer of water in your goggles... Recognisable situations. Hilarious to watch like that actually. And then Suzie. She navigates imperturbably between rules, displays of power and other big people stuff. Nothing can curb her curiosity and zest for life. That will appeal to many children. She subtly holds up a mirror to grown-ups. She puts them in touch with that which they themselves have never dared, forgotten or curbed. I begrudge everyone Suzie Ruzie as a friend or a Suzie Ruzie moment of her own from time to time, although her dog won't quite agree....
Big people will be delighted by the book's execution. It seems, as far as can be, Suzie Ruzie-proof. The pages are made of sturdy cardboard, making it resistant to, for example, hungry scissors and smelly sticky fingers. Children will especially like the fact that they can grab the book and explore it properly for a change without someone constantly shouting "careful!" or "let me have it".
Our youngest enjoyed guessing the last words of the sentence (the book is written in rhyme). There is a lot to see. The words and images invite you to explore, pick up your own pool experiences and encourages you to come up with even more Suzie Ruzie-worthy solutions. What's nice about the text is that the emphasis is already given away by words printed in red. No need to think about that if reading aloud is not for you. And your younger brother will remain fascinated when you (group 4) suggest reading to him.
I'm already looking forward to Suzie Ruzie in the supermarket. Or in the playground, or...
A few days later...
... we will go swimming. At 9.47 am, we arrive at the pool. We are too early. The leisure pool does not open until 10 o'clock. Until then, there is only lane swimming. Last time we were too early too, but the lady behind the counter didn't mind. We were allowed to walk through when I explained to her that it would take at least 20 minutes to change. Today, there is a different lady behind the counter. She has raised the chair she is sitting on so high that she hangs a little over the counter. Her imposing bosom leans on her hands. At first it looks as if she has not seen us come in. She has been staring at an Aldi advertising leaflet for minutes without saying anything. I cough. Still nothing happens. Just when I want to say 'hello', she slowly turns around, lowers her reading glasses and looks at me: 'Yes?'
'Um... we come to swim,' I say, sliding our pool pass to her.
'We open at ten,' the lady says, sliding the pass back.
I look desperately at the clock: 9.52am. No, I have not mistaken an hour. I laughingly explain that before we change clothes, it will be at least 10.15, so....
'At ten o'clock you may enter,' the lady says with an emotionless look.
'But last week we were allowed...' I begin.
'Ten o'clock is ten o'clock,' the lady interrupts me, implacably. She squints her eyes a little. This lady clearly intends to do her job very carefully today. Before she delves back into her folder, she mutters: 'You can take a seat over there.' She looks at the bench next to the counter.
I see my children's disappointed looks. They must be hoping for some heroic action from their mother, but I don't dare. The lady has a paralysing effect on my assertive ability. With drooping shoulders, I take a seat on the bench and smile at my boys. 'We have to wait a very short time boys. Nice, then we can already look in through the window to see what we will do later,' I say.
It doesn't sound very believable, I hear. And inside it feels a bit cowardly.
I think of Suzie Ruzie. How would she resolve this? She probably wouldn't have sat down obediently on the bench. My eldest asks for a coin to show a magic trick. And suddenly I know.
I think of my husband and our eldest's common joke. It goes like this: you say to the (unsuspecting) other person: 'Pull my finger.' The moment the other person pulls, you let out a resounding fart. For months now, this joke has been number one in our family, especially now that the eldest has learned to fart on command. Much to my own discomfort, by the way. I look at the clock. Five more minutes. Then I say to the eldest: 'Maybe you should take the joke of you and Dad to that lady behind the counter. I think she thinks that's a very good one...'
Suzie quarrelling in the deep end by Jaap Robben and Benjamin Leroy was published by Gottmer, as were the earlier volumes Suzie Ruzie and the scissors and Suzie Ruzie and the stink finger (€12,95).
Also read Afke Bohle's witty observations on her blog: www.jezelfzijnenzo.blogspot.nl
Suzie Ruzie in three questions
Afke Bohle: What do you have in common with Suzie Ruzie?
'Jaap Robben: "Hmm. She dares everything we would actually like to do, but don't dare. We were very good little boys who listened well, and quickly got scared when someone said, "UH!" So maybe we are more like Dog. Wanting to go on adventures, but not daring ourselves...''
What would you do if Suzie Ruzie came to stay with you for a few days?
''Oy, that's a tricky one! I would put all the precious things on top of the cupboard, or even higher. Or in specially rented storage. A bunker perhaps? We certainly wouldn't bake a cake. Or cut up. Or go to the pool. I think we'll mostly do something really boring, because then Suzie will undoubtedly turn that into something really fun.''
How does it actually work, making a book together? Is there an image first and then a text, or vice versa? Or at the same time?
''We make everything together. Separately, we make lists of ideas. We send each other text messages and messages with short phrases - mainly to make each other chuckle. Eventually, those become longer mails and we come together with a whole mountain of ideas. We start cutting, pasting and messing around with those. We spend a few days together each time. Benjamin draws, I tickle short phrases on paper. We scrape, move, make a draft and keep looking for the weakest point in the story, until we finally have a kind of scenario. To that I start making texts and Benjamin makes drawings. And that over and over again. We keep adapting until the end.''
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