\New Swedish Books, spring 2019 1
23 Spring 2019 The Story of Bodri Hédi Fried is a
n important voice against racism on the rise not only because she is a Holocaust survivor, but also because of her ability to express herself with absolute clarity and for her capacity to evoke images of the past. Such is the case in the story of her childhood family and their dog Bodri. The dog guards the family, it makes Hédi and the inhabitants of the city feel safe. They don’t have to bother with that screaming man on the radio, says Dad. When the family is moved to a concentration camp the reader stays with the dog, now without its family. Bodri sits beneath a tree and waits, until miraculously Hédi returns. In Stina Wirsén’s illustration Hédi is now bald, bony and in tattered clothes. The unspeakable is hinted at through images of railway carriages and barbed wire, and through the fragile child Hédi’s words to Bodri the dog about Hitler’s hatred of people he’d never even met. The reading child implicitly understands without being given all the terrible facts that they will no doubt learn about later. With a respect for the child’s need of security Fried and Wirsén succeed in describing something very difficult. Wirsén depicts, in beautiful watercolours, the dog waiting under the tree, which begins to bud, flower and fill with dark leaves whilst all the horribleness happen. Hédi Fried (text) b. 1924 Stina Wirsén (ill.) b. 1968 The Story of Bodri Picture book, 5 – years, 26 p. Publisher Natur och kultur www.nok.se Rights Koja Agency Carin Bacho carin.bacho@kojaagency.com Hédi Fried Selected works Skärvor av ett liv. Vägen till och från Auschwitz, adult non-fiction, 1992 Frågor jag fått om Förintelsen, YA non-fiction, 2017 Selected distinctions European of the Year 1997 Honorary doctorate Stockholm University 2002 Stina Wirsén (b. 1968) Selected works Jag har fått en klocka, picture book, 1991 Du. Dikter för nyfödingar, poesi och posters för nyfödda, 2017 Literary Prizes Nordiska Tecknares pris 2001 Expressens barnbokspris 2007 Photo: Viktor Gårdsäter