(courtesy Allen & Unwin)
We are supposed to face our fears; that’s the prevailing advice and stacked up against being frozen to the foot by dreading what terrified your soul, it’s pretty sound advice.
In theory.
But, and here’s the sticking point, facing what makes us fearful goes against every instinct in our highly evolved psyches which are driven to keep us safe and away from danger, not running right to it.
Orion, who’s frightened of a lot of things, is determined to keep his fears as far away from him as possible, and when we meet him in Emma Yarlett’s absolutely delightful picture book, Orion and the Dark (soon to be a major Netflix release), he’s doing his best to stay far from bicycles and wasps, spiders and storms, dogs, and yes, popping balloons, just to name six lurking terrors.
Most especially, he hates the dark, HATES IT, and even though his mum assures him there’s really nothing to be frightened of, and that Orion simply has a “big imagination”, he’s anti-Dark and spends his time doing everything he can to keep things as light and bright as possible (pet glow worms, anyone?).
But then one night when he has had enough and orders the Dark to “GO AWAY!”, it does the complete opposite and comes right into his room!
Terrifying, right but there’s the kicker – the dark is actually pretty cool and friendly and all he wants to do is take Orion an an adventure, one that will blow his overactive mind and change his world forever.
And so he does, and it does.
(courtesy Allen & Unwin)
What makes Orion and the Dark such a fantastic delight, and honestly young or old this book packs a messaging wallop that will remind you that fear actually gains us very little in our safe, cosy Western environment, is how beautifully Yarlett brings Orion’s fears to life and how beautifully she executes the journey he goes on.
Her artwork too is just sublimely fun and wonderful.
Popping off the page, and taking 3D form thanks to some nice placement of Dark’s arms in completely non-threatening ways, Orion and the Dark is both empathetically warm and reassuring and playfully fun, a book that treats fear seriously but also happily knows it can be defeated and faced and likely won’t be even close to what you think.
The artwork brings that to life incredibly well, depicting the stairs up to Orion’s room like a neverending set of steps to doom and later, laying out the whole night world, including a brightly effervescent orange moon, like a rich tableau of wonder and possibility that holds no threats at all, just exciting what-ifs.
As therapy goes, Orion and the Dark is the best of the best, an entertaining romp through what we fear that carries the liberating message that what we’re scared of isn’t even even remotely frightening and that it might actually be the best thing that ever happened to us.
The sheer vaulting imagination, love of word play and gorgeously evocative and vividly colourful artwork, makes Orion and the Dark a joy to read – it’s clever, heartfelt, funny and gleefully, sweetly alive, a journey through the very worst of imagined things that turns out to be the best and most reassuringly, life enriching and wonderful of things.
Orion and the Dark is out now from Templar Books.