Title: The Tiny Grain of Sand

Written by: Sylvian Alzial

Illustrated by: Benoit Tardif

Published by: Thames & Hudson

The Tiny Grain of Sand by Sylvian Alzial and Benoit Tardif was inspired by a Basque legend and traditional Asian folklore. The story encompasses the proverbs: ‘The grass is greener on the other side’, ‘You can be anything you want to be’ and ‘Be careful what you wish for’ and the fable ‘How can you be happy with life when there is so much temptation’.

It is about a tiny grain of sand who is bored of life on the beach with the other tiny grains of sand and wishes to be a pebble. The grain of sand’s wish comes true but soon it becomes bored of being a pebble and the wishes escalate, at one point it even becomes the sun floating around in space.

I particularly liked Sylvian Alzial’s use of a wide variety of onomatopoeic words each time it changed to something else. Children will love trying to make up the sounds and thinking of their own.

Benoit Tardif’s digitally produced illustrations consist of bold colour on a white background. These simple, colourful images are highly effective and will keep readers turning the pages. The children could produce some incredible art work of their own in the style of Benoit Tardif.  

A great book for discussing proverbs and fables and examining what they would like to be as they grow older.

This book was originally reviewed for Armadillo Magazine.