Looking out the family’s car window, young Safiya spots an elderly woman sitting on the edge of the footpath as busy cars speed by. What is she doing there, Safiya wondered? The family stops their car and goes over to the elderly woman who appears absent-mindedly holding a lemon. Mama fortunately speaks Arabic and discovers that the elderly woman is lost. Young Safiya is distressed and reaches out to the elderly woman’s hand and retrieves a lemon. There, on her arm, is a bracelet with an address. Dad turns the car around and heads to Maryam’s street where her relieved family happily greets their lost relative.
Maryam’s young grandson gives her a big, warm welcome hug. Both families sit together and enjoy minty tea. As they turn to leave, young Safiya hands the lemon back to Maryam with a smile, curving Safiya’s hand around the lemon like ‘an oyster shell protecting a pearl’.
Nisaluk Chantanakom’s artwork beautifully convey these deep emotions of sadness, insecurity and fear felt by the elderly Maryam. Her facial expressions, with deep, etched lines and soulful eyes, are a standout feature of the illustrations. The artwork was created using mixed media, graphite, crayon, watercolour and coloured pencils digitally collaged together. The double page spread reflecting Maryam’s memories shows a limited colour palette and slightly jumbled images, a quiet reflection of her thought patterns. Images of lemons appear throughout the book including on the endpapers that also include images of Australian flora heralding an intersection of cultures
This is an emotive story that draws the reader in this story. One reviewer describes this as a story about a woman who had been made invisible by society because of her ethnicity, race, religion, language, age and now dementia. Both text and images strongly evoke readers’ empathy. A glossary of 14 Arabic words used in this story along with their transliteration is included at the end.
‘A Lemon for Safiya’ is a warm, rewarding story about those who lose their memories and kind individuals who help them during this troubling time.
Picture Books for Older Readers
