A children’s book made me cry a few days ago.
You will find me sensitive (what a surprise!), but reading the album Grandma’s pancakes really moved me.
Lena, a little wolf, leaves her country with her mother, leaving Grandma behind. She must find bearings in her new school, where she makes a friend, but where she also suffers teasing. In case of sadness, she takes refuge in family memories and the distant scents of grandmother’s cakes. Fortunately, a teacher changes the course of things by making a proposal to the students who are wary of the newcomer…
“The next time you hear bad wolf stories, would you be okay with being brave and asking questions? »
Emilie Plank was inspired by her grandparents’ journey to write and illustrate this magnificent children’s album published by Québec Amérique. Her grandmother, Elisabeth, left Hungary in 1947. She spent the next four years in refugee camps. It was in Quebec that she met Frank, also a Hungarian immigrant.
Their journey is briefly told on the last page of the album, with splendid supporting photos. We learn that Frank worked on the Canadian National railways and that Elisabeth opened the first Hungarian store in Montreal. She even had her booth at Terre des hommes, during Expo 67…
Emilie smiles tenderly when she talks about them. She is visibly proud of their contribution to the Quebec community. She adds all the same, about this final page: “To be a refugee or a valid immigrant, you don’t need to have contributed to great things, but it was important for me to show that we builds our culture and our history together. Everyone. »
If telling about exile to children aged 6 to 10 seems to me a perilous exercise, Emilie Plank has been keen on it since 2015. It is in particular the fate of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, including little Alan Kurdi, who pushed her to write this book.
Of course, immigration prejudice affected her particularly, given her grandparents’ background, but her family values – inclusion and commitment – were also important creative drivers. (When talking about family values, note that she is the big sister of journalist Elizabeth Plank, author of the best-selling essay For the love of men and feminist activist.)
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Emilie Plank
The commitment therefore gave birth to Emilie Plank the artist, but also Emilie Plank the teacher. At École Buissonnière in Outremont, she now oversees a sixth-grade class and oversees the social-emotional learning program.
That is an initiative that I find fascinating. In short, it is a project based on child psychology and non-violent communication.
“Non-violent communication is about self-regulation, making clear observations, naming your feelings and needs, then making requests,” Emilie Plank explains to me. It is an approach that fosters compassion and empathy. It is also taking responsibility for our feelings and needs. »
Concretely: the pupils have “feelings” cards and “needs” cards. When a conflict arises, teachers can help them to better resolve it by using precise vocabulary thanks to the words indicated on the said cards.
“I had the Broken HeartI was disappointed and I needed to be heard. »
They learn to clearly name what they have experienced to make it easier for their interlocutor to understand. What a valuable tool!
It struck me, moreover, when I was reading Grandma’s pancakes. Lena the little wolf admits to being “sad and angry” because of the lies peddled about her at school. It’s nice to see a young person asserting herself and accepting her anger. It is also beautiful that his testimony is immediately validated by a friend: “Yes, what they said was false. »
Emilie Plank is happy that I underlined this passage. “The position of witness was important to me… We all witness many things in society and we can act. »
As an adult, we would benefit from having small cards, I tell myself. I would take social-emotional learning courses… It would be useful for building the future that the Plank sisters hope for: a world in which the culture of cancellation would be replaced by the culture of conversation.
A courageous world in which we would be curious towards people who do not think like us.
Grandma’s pancakes
Emilie Plank
Quebec America
48 pages