Elma and the bear

Just like many other girls, Elma is very adventurous, but, unlike others, she grew up with a bear as her father. All changes when one day, all of a sudden, Father Bear explains to her that they need to go on a journey. Where are they going and why is getting there so important? Father Bear does not reveal neither destination nor reason. The two set off on foot and, amidst countless difficulties, Elma finds out some details about her past and her future that she'd never have guessed and that Father Bear had kept concealed in order to protect her. Where does she come from and – now she knows her origins – where is she going? Ingrid Chabbert's graphic novel, tenderly illustrated by Léa Mazé, starts with a quest that's also a return to origins. The story begins when a wolf, in a mysterious and insinuating tone, reminds Father Bear that “seven years have passed”. Echoes of Kipling are manifest: Elma reminds us of a modern Mowgli (wild, free, “adopted” by an animal from the forest in which she had been abandoned); the journey through the forest towards a human village is rife with trials, dangers, twists and turns, but also with themes of self-identity and awareness typical of a coming-of-age novel (including a hostile magic power that doesn't want to let Elma go). While the little seven-year-old girl has no other choice but to grow up, the bear experiences great emotional turmoil as he's aware of their destination – both physical and emotional terms – and its meaning: their separation once they'll meet Elma's real mother. And here, the author leaves an open ending: what will happen? Why was Elma abandoned? What is this magic power and why has her father become a bear?  

Elma e l'orso (Elma and the bear)
by Ingrid Chabbert with illustrations by Léa Mazé
Tunuè, 2023