Title: The Three Lucys
Author: Hayan Charara
Illustrator: Sara Kahn
Publisher: Lee & Low Books, 2016
Number of pages: 36
Tags: Animal, Culture, Family, Fiction, Award Book, Picture Book, Non-fiction, Emotion, Grace Sheley
Genre: Fiction, Non-fiction
The story begins with a young boy and his three cats, all named Lucy, living in Lebanon. His family travels to Beirut one day to visit family, leaving the cats at home. On the journey back, bombs begin to fall in their hometown and they immediately return to their family’s home in Beirut. When they are finally able to return home after a month, only two cats have survived the bombings. As the town begins the rebuilding and healing process, the young boy reflects on all the time he spent with the lost cat and fondly recalls the happy memories with her.
The text of this book truly reflects the fear and panic, yet community and ability to heal that many families experienced during times of war in Lebanon. The author and illustrator both experienced times of war in Lebanon and Iran, and it is impossible to read the text without understanding the emotional impact that creating this book had. The textual ideology behind the story is a lesson of dealing with loss, finding strength in family and community, and how to heal after experiencing immense loss. For readers who have not been in countries plagued by war, it is a great text to sympathize with those who have, and to further broaden children’s minds to the experiences of others.
The illustrations follow the emotional tones throughout the story by use of bright, warm colors for times of joy to darker, cooler colors in times of fear. The first page, for instance, features the boy sitting on the beach in warm weather and warm colors, happily surrounded by the three Lucys. The page that depicts the family driving away from the first bombing uses darker colors, but illuminated in a reddish glow to assist the text’s description of the red streaks from the bombs. There are no harsh lines, but the illustrations use a more abstracts shading technique to convey feelings of insecurity and fear that the characters experience during this time. When the family finally returns home, they are pictured on the left side of the page, more secure and relieved to find that their home is not completely destroyed and that some of the cats survived.
The author’s note provides background information on the true events of a bombing that occurred in 2006. He notes that the war between Israel and Lebanon devastated the country, and the motivation for writing this book was to provide comfort and hope for any children who have been the victims of larger forces of destruction.
