SEWING STORIES AND WRITING CLOTHES
Moes en Dotter
During the Corona crisis, my mother and I had a fight. You remember, that fight that almost everyone had. For us, it might've been worse than the actual crisis itself. It didn't solve anything, and losing a beloved one, in whatever way, hurts.
We decided to find our way back to each other by writing a children's book. Why that, in particular? It's eminently the medium to convey a moral. One that we're all missing during a time of crisis: if you have a difference of opinion, it does not necessarily mean that you are also fighting. The fact that my mother can illustrate beautifully and I am a writer also helped, of course.
The book is about a mother and a daughter moose, looking for a juicy meadow in a dark forest. They find it, but on the other side of a large lake. They argue about how to get there; by swimming through the lake, or by going around it through the forest? Their ways part and during their long, lonely journey filled with dangers, they come to the realization: This journey would've been much less bad, if we'd stayed together.
Our personal experience with the subject only adds to the strong foundation of a book meant to drive conversation about polarisation.
Moes en Dotter will be published in 2024.
© 2024 by Donja van der Stelt