You are still with me
You are still with me ( jap. い つ で も 会 え る , itsudemo kaieru ) is a picture book by Mariko Kikuta from 1998 and deals with the child's understanding of loneliness and death.
action
"You're still with me" by Mariko Kikuta describes, from the point of view of the dog Shiro, the loss of his caregiver Miki. First, the happy relationship between Shiro and Miki is shown, then Shiro's grief over Miki's death is expressed. In the further course of the book, Shiro develops a method to deal with his grief and at the end of the book comes to the realization that he can see Miki again in his memory at any time.
Content analysis
The book deals with the death of a loved one. On the first six double pages, the happy relationship between the dog Shiro and the girl Miki, as well as their love for each other, is shown. "We always had fun, we were cheerful and very happy," reports Shiro. "I was very, very fond of Miki!" The seventh double page shows Shiro's rear view, in the distance a grave can be seen with a bouquet of flowers in front of it. "We would always stay together ... I thought." Is the text on this double page. On the following pages Shiro looks very sad, some depictions show him with tears on his face. He asks why and why and describes his loneliness. As a result, Shiro expresses the wish to see Miki again several times. "I wanted to see Miki again, absolutely to see again!" Reads the text next to a depiction of the dog, which seems determined to stamp its paws on the ground. The following double page shows Shiro lying in front of his doghouse with a tear on his face; the moon and a few stars can be seen in the sky. Shiro's eyes are open. On the following double page you can see that Shiro has now fallen asleep. In the dream he hears Miki's voice, which tells him that she is always with him anyway, even if they can no longer see each other and can no longer play and cuddle with each other. Since that dream, Shiro looks happy again. He reports that he now knows that he can see Miki again at any time if he closes his eyes and thinks of her. "It is far away, but also very close. Because in my memory everything is as it always was and we are together again." Is his solution to dealing with the grief over the loss of Miki.
Actor
This book is about the story of the dog Shiro and the girl Miki. Shiro is shown as a floppy-eared dog with a collar. When Shiro stands on his hind paws, he can comfortably place his front paws in Miki's hands, as shown by an illustration of the two as a dancing couple. Miki wears a dress and has straight hair about shoulder length. In one depiction she is wearing a hat. Shiro describes himself with the words "I am Miki's dog", which makes it clear that Miki is his main reference person. No other people or animals are mentioned in this book.
linguistic style
The book is written clearly and understandably from the perspective of the dog Shiro. The sentences are generally kept short, with longer sentences stretching over several pages. The German version of this book contains a total of 173 words. Due to the small number of words, the easily understandable language and the large, attractive font, this book is very suitable for children. The simple sentence structure and the relaxed font are in contrast to the sad, complex content of the book, which is taken away much of its horror by the appealing presentation in text and images.
Formal conditions
The book has no page numbers and it is not divided into chapters. The book is mainly structured in such a way that the text is on one of the two parts of a double page and a matching picture is on the other. A picture rarely extends over both sides, sometimes text can also be found on both sides in addition to the pictures. There is no double page that contains only text or only images. The text is the same in font, color and size as the title of the book, only in one place is white font on a yellow background used. Like the text, the illustrations are black on a white background. Yellow color is partially used to represent shadows and to set accents. In one case the background of a double page is yellow, the writing is then white. On the last page of the book you will find the imprint and information about the author.
Bibliographical information
Format: book 13.5 × 17.5 cm / hardcover (with dust jacket), 48 pages Publisher: Carlsen Comics ISBN 3-551-77431-5 The book, which bears the original title ITSUDEMO AERU, was first published in November 1998 in Japan. The German translation was published by Carlsen Verlag in October 2003. Claudia Peter did the translation.
Awards
You're still with me was awarded the special jury prize at the 1999 children's book fair in Bologna . The reason stated: "This book is ideally suited to bring children closer to the difficult subject of death."