\u2014\u2014Review of the orig\u00adi\u00adnal pic\u00adture book \u201cBig Bear\u2019s Box\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBig Bear\u2019s Box,\u201d a heart\u00adwarm\u00ading fairy tale col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion between author Long Xiang\u00admei and illus\u00adtra\u00adtor Li Haiyan, explores a cru\u00adcial top\u00adic in our aging soci\u00adety: the grad\u00adual loss of mem\u00ado\u00adry in the elder\u00adly, while under\u00adstand\u00ading, care, and fam\u00adi\u00adly affec\u00adtion endure. In the sto\u00adry, Big Bear, a grand\u00adfa\u00adther, sees his yel\u00adlow box of mem\u00ado\u00adries grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly shrink, but his bond with his chil\u00addren remains as unbreak\u00adable as a black box. The con\u00adcise yet poet\u00adic text, com\u00adbined with the del\u00adi\u00adcate and vivid nar\u00adra\u00adtive images, weaves togeth\u00ader this deeply res\u00ado\u00adnant sto\u00adry, immers\u00ading the read\u00ader in the char\u00adac\u00adters\u2019 inner worlds and allow\u00ading them to expe\u00adri\u00adence the endur\u00ading fam\u00adi\u00adly love hid\u00adden behind mem\u00ado\u00adries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The bear in the book reminds me of Li Haiyan\u2019s illus\u00adtra\u00adtions for Peng Yi\u2019s sto\u00adry, \u201cThe Bear Guardian.\u201d Her illus\u00adtra\u00adtions often oscil\u00adlate between real\u00adi\u00adty and fan\u00adta\u00adsy, seam\u00adless\u00adly inte\u00adgrat\u00ading them through metic\u00adu\u00adlous back\u00adground details and vivid char\u00adac\u00adter expres\u00adsions, mak\u00ading the sto\u00adries visu\u00adal\u00adly cap\u00adti\u00advat\u00ading. In \u201cThe Bear\u2019s Box,\u201d she focus\u00ades on the char\u00adac\u00adters\u2019 emo\u00adtion\u00adal expres\u00adsions, result\u00ading in even more vivid and detailed char\u00adac\u00adter designs. This is espe\u00adcial\u00adly true when depict\u00ading the bear\u2019s frus\u00adtra\u00adtion and pain as he grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly los\u00ades his mem\u00ado\u00adry. Through his eyes and ges\u00adtures, read\u00aders can sense a warm yet poignant flow of emo\u00adtion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her graph\u00adic nar\u00adra\u00adtive tech\u00adnique is also more sophis\u00adti\u00adcat\u00aded. Start\u00ading with the title page, the illus\u00adtra\u00adtions qui\u00adet\u00adly reveal the sto\u00adry\u2019s clues: Big Bear bids farewell to his son and his fam\u00adi\u00adly. The trunk, over\u00adflow\u00ading with gifts from his father, is filled with heart\u00adfelt gifts, and the var\u00adi\u00adous hats he has giv\u00aden his fam\u00adi\u00adly become cru\u00adcial sym\u00adbols of mem\u00ado\u00adry. In the fol\u00adlow\u00ading scenes, the illus\u00adtra\u00adtor skill\u00adful\u00adly depicts Big Bear\u2019s grad\u00adual loss of mem\u00ado\u00adry through the shift\u00ading col\u00adors and ele\u00adments. Big Bear\u2019s reunions with friends and fish\u00ading trips grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly reveal his for\u00adget\u00adful\u00adness. The recur\u00adring yel\u00adlow box, a sym\u00adbol of mem\u00ado\u00adry, with its con\u00adtents float\u00ading in mid-air, sym\u00adbol\u00adizes the inevitable dis\u00adsi\u00adpa\u00adtion of mem\u00ado\u00adry. Big Bear attempts to hold onto these pre\u00adcious mem\u00ado\u00adries by sort\u00ading through the box, but the process is dif\u00adfi\u00adcult and heart\u00adbreak\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the scene depict\u00ading the reunion between Big Bear and his son, Abu, Li Haiyan employs strik\u00ading con\u00adtrasts of col\u00ador to con\u00advey the shift\u00ading emo\u00adtions. Ini\u00adtial\u00adly, Abu returns home, but his father no longer rec\u00adog\u00adnizes him. This sequence is dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded by a monot\u00ado\u00adnous yel\u00adlow, con\u00advey\u00ading a sense of lone\u00adli\u00adness and help\u00adless\u00adness. Lat\u00ader, Abu decides to take his father to the sea, and the col\u00adors along the way become increas\u00ading\u00adly vibrant, con\u00advey\u00ading the relax\u00adation and nour\u00adish\u00adment they find in nature, and the redis\u00adcov\u00adery of the warmth and con\u00adnec\u00adtion of fam\u00adi\u00adly. When Big Bear final\u00adly rec\u00adog\u00adnizes Abu, the shift in the image is both sub\u00adtle and imme\u00addi\u00adate. Against a com\u00adplete\u00adly blank back\u00adground, their col\u00adors return to their most orig\u00adi\u00adnal and vibrant col\u00adors, cre\u00adat\u00ading a pow\u00ader\u00adful emo\u00adtion\u00adal impact. This con\u00adtrast not only cap\u00adtures Big Bear\u2019s emo\u00adtion\u00adal ups and downs, but also allows the view\u00ader to clear\u00adly sense the con\u00adtrast between mem\u00ado\u00adry loss and the rekin\u00addling of fam\u00adi\u00adly bonds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The book also employs numer\u00adous sym\u00adbol\u00adic sym\u00adbols, clev\u00ader\u00adly echo\u00ading the text. The most icon\u00adic is, of course, the yel\u00adlow mem\u00ado\u00adry box. It appears through\u00adout the book, its grad\u00adual shrink\u00adage sym\u00adbol\u00adiz\u00ading the loss of mem\u00ado\u00adry. On the back end\u00adpa\u00adpers, the yel\u00adlow box is nei\u00adther com\u00adplete\u00adly closed nor ful\u00adly open, per\u00adhaps sug\u00adgest\u00ading that some mem\u00ado\u00adries stub\u00adborn\u00adly per\u00adsist, even as the major\u00adi\u00adty inevitably dis\u00adsi\u00adpates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The recur\u00adring pres\u00adence of hat-wear\u00ading mag\u00adpies adds a touch of humor and light\u00adheart\u00aded\u00adness to the sto\u00adry, bring\u00ading a touch of joy to the some\u00adwhat weighty sub\u00adject mat\u00adter and bal\u00adanc\u00ading the emo\u00adtion\u00adal depth with the play\u00adful\u00adness of the sto\u00adry. These mag\u00adpies also car\u00adry clear sym\u00adbol\u00adic mean\u00ading, as they sym\u00adbol\u00adize good for\u00adtune in Chi\u00adnese cul\u00adture and also sug\u00adgest com\u00adpan\u00adion\u00adship and hope. These mag\u00adpies appear repeat\u00aded\u00adly through\u00adout the sto\u00adry, often help\u00ading Big Bear straight\u00aden out his mem\u00ado\u00adries. They accom\u00adpa\u00adny Big Bear, fly\u00ading around in hats like\u00adly woven by him, as if help\u00ading him retrieve lost mem\u00ado\u00adries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fur\u00adther\u00admore, ele\u00adments such as fish\u00ading scenes, hats, lines, food, and forests fre\u00adquent\u00adly appear in the sto\u00adry, sym\u00adbol\u00adiz\u00ading var\u00adi\u00adous frag\u00adments of life in mem\u00ado\u00adry. Water imagery also per\u00adme\u00adates the sto\u00adry, espe\u00adcial\u00adly in the final jour\u00adney to the sea. Although Big Bear and Abu may not actu\u00adal\u00adly reach the sea, the imagery of lakes and rivers also sym\u00adbol\u00adizes the flow and dis\u00adsi\u00adpa\u00adtion of mem\u00ado\u00adry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBig Bear\u2019s Box,\u201d pre\u00adsent\u00aded as a fairy tale, eas\u00adi\u00adly evokes mem\u00ado\u00adries of con\u00addi\u00adtions like Alzheimer\u2019s. Big Bear\u2019s grad\u00adual mem\u00ado\u00adry loss close\u00adly resem\u00adbles the symp\u00adtoms of real-life Alzheimer\u2019s patients\u2014they grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly for\u00adget their clos\u00adest rel\u00ada\u00adtives and even the small\u00adest details of dai\u00adly life. Long Xiang\u00admei skill\u00adful\u00adly con\u00adveys the plight and emo\u00adtion\u00adal upheaval of mem\u00ado\u00adry loss in old age through her fairy tale, while Li Haiyan\u2019s mas\u00adter\u00adful visu\u00adal sto\u00adry\u00adtelling makes this all more tan\u00adgi\u00adble and mov\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notably, the author does\u00adn\u2019t direct\u00adly men\u00adtion Alzheimer\u2019s dis\u00adease, but instead gen\u00adtly presents the symp\u00adtoms of this type of mem\u00ado\u00adry loss to young read\u00aders, allow\u00ading them to gain a deep\u00ader under\u00adstand\u00ading of mem\u00ado\u00adry and fam\u00adi\u00adly bonds through the sto\u00adry. This grad\u00adual loss of mem\u00ado\u00adry can also be caused by brain dam\u00adage, the nor\u00admal aging process, or oth\u00ader con\u00addi\u00adtions such as Alzheimer\u2019s. There\u00adfore, this work isn\u2019t lim\u00adit\u00aded to Alzheimer\u2019s dis\u00adease, but rather encom\u00adpass\u00ades a wide range of mem\u00ado\u00adry dete\u00adri\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion sce\u00adnar\u00adios, evok\u00ading spe\u00adcial care and under\u00adstand\u00ading for the elder\u00adly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For young read\u00aders, this touch\u00ading pic\u00adture book may leave a last\u00ading and beau\u00adti\u00adful image: the yel\u00adlow box of mem\u00ado\u00adry is grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly shrink\u00ading, but the black box of fam\u00adi\u00adly affec\u00adtion is always there, and you always have the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to open it in the right way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cher\u00adish the present and remem\u00adber to store more trea\u00adsures in the black box!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ajia writ\u00adten in Bei\u00adjing on Sep\u00adtem\u00adber 13, 2024<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2014\u2014Review of the orig\u00adi\u00adnal pic\u00adture book \u201cBig Bear\u2019s Box\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,12],"tags":[8,5,10,6],"class_list":["post-607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-ajia-review","tag-8","tag-5","tag-10","tag-6"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/\u5927\u718a\u7684\u76d2\u5b50.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":936,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607\/revisions\/936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}