A Rainbow in My Pocket

a review by Jill Bennett

How can you put a rainbow in your pocket? Seemingly the little child in this book has an answer to what sounds like a riddle and it’s one she shares with readers in her poetic outpourings – her musings, preoccupations and daydreams.
‘Excuse me, /Little ant,/Could you tell me/Which school this is,/Where you queue in such a neat line?’ she asks one day as she concerns herself with the minutiae of life…

Those of us who work as teachers of young children are from our observations, well aware of that state of being transfixed by the moment, being in the here and now – the kind of contemplative state that the child in this book appears to be in as she observes that line of tiny ants at her feet.
On another day she has this to offer: ‘I wish people/Would talk using only nice words – / Poetry,/ Songs,/ Not harsh words/ That prod/ And poke you.’

Possibly here her thoughts have taken on a self-transcendent or universal outlook; or has she herself perhaps been upset by somebody? But then she continues ‘I think of the sparrow in the tree/ And the fish in the river.’ indicating a possible return to the here and now. This particular stanza certainly demonstrates how quickly one thought comes and another goes when a child’s mind runs free, untrammeled by adults requiring them to ‘do this, that or the other… ‘

The enigmatic and introspective nature of the book is such that it seems to raise more questions than answers. It’s not in my opinion a whole class ‘storytime’ book but one for small group discussion or personal contemplation.
Hoda Haddadi appears to use often translucent, tissue, rag and fibre papers.

to compose her collages, which decorate the white pages with simple, delicate images that have a child-like quality in tune with the narrative voice.

Illustrator: Hoda Haddadi

Translator: Azita Rassi

publisher: Tiny owl, London

ISBN:  9781910328125