In Petra Postert and Jens Rassmus’s illustrated I Need All of It, a little boy recounts to his father the tales of how he received the three objects in his pocket and why he needs to keep them.
A little boy and his father are going through the laundry when the father discovers an assortment of bits and bobs in his son’s pocket. Together they come up with fantastic stories about where they objects came from, and how they ended up in the little boy’s pocket.
I loved the majority of this picture book. It’s lovely to see a father doing household chores, which are all too often still seen as women’s work. It’s lovely to see a boy and his father spending time together, being creative and enjoying each other’s company in a setting that isn’t connected with traditional expressions of masculinity, like a sports game, or while fixing a car. I enjoyed the imaginative stories the boy and his father create together.
Unfortunately it’s the ending that really confuses me. The story just grinds to a halt. The little boy suddenly decides he doesn’t want to sort laundry with his dad anymore, abruptly running off to his room to sort his bits and bobs. When his father tries to engage him in continued storytelling, the son simply retreats to his room, where he lays out his collection of small items and admires them happily. The father is never seen again.
What are we to make of this? What was the point of it all? Was the child just making up stories to get his father to give him back his things? Given the abrupt ending, the previous scenes feel uncomfortably manipulative, and the warmth between the father and son feel overshadowed. The story could have benefitted from a final act, with some sort of resolution, an explanation for the child’s sudden change of heart.
I really liked I Need All of It quite a lot, but unfortunately the final few pages just kept me from loving it.
I Need ALL of It
Hardcover, 32 pages
May 15, 2018 : Feiwel & Friends
Source: Raincoast Books