Leila and the Voice

Written and illus. by Shahrzad Maydani

Children learning to cope with enormous emotions is common fare for kid lit, and for good reason; social-emotional learning is always needed, and anyone, young and old, can relate to feeling a growing cloud of emotions rise inside them as they try to flee from its mental mire. But some picture books turn what can be a pat story of behavioral guidance into a deeply felt sensation, less a lesson learned and more a profound tale of the human experience, internalized through the power of art and words. Maydani makes a brilliant and deeply compassionate offering to that canon in this month’s Big Picture, parsing out the complexity of childhood feelings and translating the metaphorical monsters of emotion into literal ones that her young protagonists must meet head-on.

“It was morning when the mad cloud came” and Leila, a small child, stares up into it, frightened, before she tries to outrun it. The swirling, amorphous mass of reds, blues, greens, and purples quickly swallows up the pages, then turns into enormous creatures with vicious claws and sharp teeth that chase Leila into a deep and dark wood. As Leila journeys through the loud, chaotic forest, she hears a gentle whisper and seeks it out, asking “Do you need help?” The voice goes silent, “too afraid to speak,” so Leila puts aside her own fear and begins with a single-minded determination to clear away foliage enough for the voice’s owner—a large and legendary-looking creature like all the other beasts, but with far more kindness—to approach her. They then walk together in partnership before the beast lifts Leila out of the fray, almost to safety. But the mad cloud sends Leila falling once more into the forest’s depths, and she will have to be even more brave to escape it completely.

Maydani’s writing manages to weave a careful balance between language that is straightforward and easy to follow with an exquisitely poignance: as Leila treks deeper into the morass of the mad cloud, “the trees grew eyes, and the world turned dreadful all around her.” The formality in the tone and diction combines with the sentences’ brevity to amplify the mythic feeling of the story, evoking the sense of listening to a fable beside a fire. The messaging is direct and delivered in a series of back-and-forth moments between the beast and Leila, the beast’s fearful questions (“what if we get lost?”) met with Leila’s calm assurances (“Then I will draw us a map”). The book, however, avoids preachiness or didacticism, instead leaning on the visual imagery for readers to draw meaning and consider their own forests of doubt.

Maydani’s use of different mediums work in concert to lend an epic feeling to Leila’s journey. Scratchboard illustrations etch the menacing monsters with swirls and designs that cover their bodies, like great creatures of myth. Leila, with brown skin, rosy cheeks, and an afro puff poking out of her red hoodie, is illustrated with a loving gentleness, a soft, watercolor dappling that effectively contrasts with grittier, crayon-like textures and the cacophony of colors around her. As the cloud stretches out like claws, shaping itself into beasts with terrifying, open jaws, it hunts her down until surrounding her completely, filling the pages with chaotic swirls and jagged lines. Muddied browns and siennas creep into scenes as Leila is drawn further into the cloud, but these turn to more vibrant hues of pinks and greens as Leila hears the voice and uncovers its friendly owner.

With the help from her friend, Leila is able to get up from her fall, but the darkness has not completely receded, even on the final pages. However, Leila has emerged stronger from her trials, her clothing now embossed with the symbols of her beastly companion, and she walks safely and confidently through the storm with a glow all her own. Children wrestling with big feelings will be delighted by Leila’s wondrous adventure and will find empowerment in the monster’s steady reminder “Do not be afraid, for you are a mighty thing.”

—Amanda Toledo, Reviewer