By Maureen Tai, 31 December 2018
“I do wish I could imagine away this red hair. I can do that with my freckles and scrawniness and rotten green eyes – even my boring old name, “Anne” – but not this hair. It is my lifelong sorrow.” – Anne Shirley
On a day traditionally spent in wistful retrospection and excited anticipation of new beginnings, it seems fitting to revisit a much-loved classic that has been retold anew in graphic novel form. Anne (with an “e”, she’ll have you mind) is the spirited, wildly imaginative and irrepressible protagonist of one of my childhood favourites, Anne of Green Gables by the prolific Canadian author, Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874 – 1942). I think Ms. Montgomery would have found the beautifully illustrated graphic novel adaptation very much to her liking.
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Some years ago, I chanced upon a Sainsbury’s TV advert that turned me into a blubbering mess (you can see it 
How does the loss of a beloved family pet tie in with the story of a cosmic rock that has been in existence since the world began? You will have to savour Aaron Becker’s stunning wordless picture book, A Stone for Sascha, to find out, and I promise, you will be all the richer for it. 
Du Iz Tak? is the story of a small community of insects, the changing seasons and the vagaries of life, all told in the little known language of Bug. It is utterly charming and such fun to read aloud that you will be conversant in Bug in no time at all – and the amazing thing is, you will half understand what you’re saying just from having read this picture book …
Stories That Stay With Us 