Filling the Emptiness with Anna Llenas

Calling an Emotion by its Name

During a visit to Spain, my friend Sandra excitedly gave me three of Anna Llenas' books, which all dealt with emotions - identifying them, understanding them, embracing them and working through them. I felt they were really written for adults somehow and wondered how kids would relate to them. I think her books bridge the emotion gap between child and parent and through simple stories, emotions roll out and both adults and children are introduced into this complex yet extremely important and often understated or misunderstood world of emotions.

With a background in graphic design and advertising, Llenas went on to specialise in analytical psychology and art therapy before turning her creativity into writing and illustrating, among other things. Known for her simple collage-like illustrations with recycled, coloured cardboard, Llenas uses sparse text that sets the reader on a journey towards self-awareness, discovery or renewal. She is mostly known for her book El Monstruo de colores (The Colour Monster) which has been translated into 15 languages. Regarding this successful debut, Llenas explains that her intention was to consciously name the different emotions that existed and the validity of each one (tomar conciencia de las emociones y darme permiso para sentirlas). With The Colour Monster, she had initially hoped her idea would improve communication between parents and children and open a path towards relating to and talking about our feelings.

Emptiness (recommended for ages 5 and up)

In the book I want to discuss in this post, El Vacio (Emptiness), the protagonist Julia, quite an average girl, suddenly feels a growing emptiness which she tries in vain to fill. All she needed was to find the right stopper to plug the gaping hole, she thought. Easier said than done! Her search leaves her feeling empty and she sinks into a dizzying hole. You have to reach rock bottom before you start finding your way up again, it seems! This is when Julia's inner self starts to take control and she realises the solution is not outside but within her. This epiphanic moment reconnects her with the outside world, which she approaches differently. 

We all have a hole, it seems. The difference is the size and what we do with it. It is quite easy to become consumed in a useless search that brings us further away from ourselves. Llenas references the consumerist society we live in and the thousand and one solutions and offers out there, ready and promising to 'fill our gaping holes'.

Yet, we all need a hole to see within us, to explore ourselves and not lose sight of who we are or want to be. The danger is, however, in not filtering what goes into the hole and therefore risking being submerged and drowned by all that we let in. This is a story about loneliness, feeling lost and misunderstood but it is also about endurance and renewal and about working with our emotions to overcome whatever obstacle or challenge we face.

You might like this book if...
you want to help your child deal with loss, sadness, separation or the big world of emotions in general
if you yourself feel depressed, sad or somehow lost
if you are looking for a good story about a character who surmounts a personal obstacle and comes out stronger
if you are interested in creative collage illustrations