Hidden

Hidden by Larissa Ferenchuk, illustrated by Fiona West, (EK Books 2025) HB RRP $27.99 ISBN 9781921497100

Reviewed by Sylvia Forbes

I can see the whole world from my tree, but the world cannot see me.                                                                                           I share figs with the birds and crawly creatures.                                                                                                                            I am hidden in a blur of purple and green.

Hidden is an immediately engaging, textual, visual treat. The illustrations are delicious, and the text pops you straight into the story - with no explanation or hint of anything that's come before - leaving an open space to imagine your own (if you choose). 

 This story - told from a young girls POV - is far more nuanced than just being about a girl hiding in her tree watching the world go by.

Children love being in their own secret little hiding place where they can see - without necessarily being seen. I get a sense that this young girl has been quite content in her own company, hidden in the leafy folds of her beloved fig tree. It's been her safe happy place from which to quietly observe and gather information about her surrounding neighbourhood. (The whole world!)

 She seems to know a lot about her neighbour's daily habits and routines - even anticipating the sounds they make, which suggests to me that she has been watching them for a while. Perhaps over the duration of summer. But now she has reached a point where she wants to do more than simply watch. She wants to be seen, and she wants to be heard. So, she goes about getting their attention. 

I really love how Larissa Ferenchuk has the girls attention-grabbing methods match the sound level of each neighbour, adding to - and in keeping with - the girl's empathetic, thoughtful nature. 

 When she goes to ask her mother if she knows the people in their street and gets told - 'Not really. Everyone is always busy these days’ - the girl doesn't know what she means.  Her motives aren't about getting everyone to slow down, because from the vantage point of her fig tree, she has seen for herself -  that the old lady who sighs every time she finds nothing in her letterbox - is just lonely. She has also seen how none of her neighbours seem to have anything to do with each other - even though they live so close to one another. 

Undeterred by her failed attempts at getting her neighbours’ attention, she comes up with a plan and follows it through with wonderfully heartwarming results.

Fiona West's illustrations work seamlessly with the text - illuminating and bringing it to life. The lush, leafy, coolness of the fig tree you can almost smell, the ease and warmth of summer you can just about feel on your skin and the rosy-cheeked goodness of Hidden's characters - each element enhancing the texts intrinsic gentleness, its unhurried pace, and its charm. 

And her foggy washes (creating a water colour effect) combined with ink work and other techniques, make strong contrasts between her styles - at times soft and blurry, at times sharp and defined - capturing not only the atmosphere and environment - but the subtler emotional qualities of the text as well.

Plus, I adore all the prints and textures she has created on articles of clothing and other various items - even old Mrs. Yeung's letterbox gets a paisley-esque treatment! 

After reading this picture book I wondered if perhaps there could be a metaphoric relationship between the ripening figs and the girl reaching a new developmental level. That over summer - she - alongside the ripening figs (now ready to be eaten) became ready to connect with the wider world and become part of something bigger ... as in nature, the process of growth or change is often a secret hidden thing that only becomes apparent once visible. 

And what a truly lovely thing it was to experience this young girl go from looking out at everyone, to being on the lookout for everyone. The world is full of lonely people who (often) don't want to be the one who makes the first move. So to reach out - to hear and be heard, to see and be seen - is a brave act and one that can have positive outcomes for everyone involved - no matter how big or small the 'whole world' we each live in might be.

From cover to cover, and everything in between, this delightful, understated book - with its themes of Inclusion, kindness, community and connection - reminds us to look up every so often, to step out of our little bubbles and take notice of what's around us. 

It also made me suddenly wish I was eating a slice of fig cake. 

For ages 4-8 + grown up kids.