Jellybeans by Sylvia van Ommen

I think the greeting card business is getting out of hand. While it used to cost about a buck to offer someone a canned sentiment, these days a moderately attractive card from Papyrus can cost upwards of five dollars apiece. I refuse to pay five dollars for one item of stationery.

There are two methods I have adopted to protest this highway robbery. The first is that I’ve spent hundreds of dollars at my favorite store, Paper Source, so that I can make my own cards. Even if my creations don’t look as aesthetically pleasing as the high-priced cards, at least they carry the added value of having my own gluey fingerprints on them.

A better option, if you are unwilling to make the blank-card and paraphernalia investment, and if you love books, is to use paperback picture books for your greetings. Picture books usually cost, at retail, between five and eight dollars. With my bookstore discount, they are now cheaper than greeting cards. There are also more choices available with almost any sentiment you would like to convey. Just write your message on the title page, slide the book into a manila envelope, and voila! Much better than a boring old greeting card.

On Valentine’s Day, however, a hardcover might be worth the splurge. Last year, my “card” for E was a book called Jellybeans by Sylvia van Ommen. Harkening back to the old days of simple, naïve line drawings on cream-colored uncoated paper, this delightful story of two friends is deliciously modern and profound. And every page is so cute I could cry.

On the opening page, George the rabbit is looking at his cellphone. “Hey, a message.” His friend Oscar the cat has text messaged an invitation to eat jellybeans with him in the park. George will bring the jellybeans and Oscar will bring something to drink. Off they go.

As George and Oscar enjoy their jellybeans and hot chocolate, they begin to muse about the existence of heaven.

-Will we go there too—both of us?
-I’m going if you’re going, that’s for sure.
-We might bump into each other there.
-That would be nice.

They decide to meet at the entrance, or maybe “at one of those special meeting places.” And if they don’t remember each other, they can become friends all over again, and eat jellybeans together.

-Will there be jellybeans there?
-Maybe not.
-Then I’ll just bring some with me.
-Great, and I’ll bring the hot chocolate.

Jellybeans by Sylvia van Ommen

tags: children's books book reviews friendship heaven Sylvia van Ommen