by Albert Lamorisse
Doubleday (1956)
Recently, we went to a party and Mirette acquired a red balloon. She carried it around with her everywhere for several days, finally tying it on her bed post until it shriveled up.
This reminded me of the book The Red Balloon which I haven't read since I was a kid. I took it out from the library and boy did it deliver. The book is actually photos of stills from the movie and depicts a young boy's relationship with a red balloon. The boy, Pascal, doesn't question the magical properties of this balloon as an adult would which, in and of itself, creates a delightful reading experience. However, what I think makes this a stand out is the way that so many powerful emotions are conveyed throughout the book.
Somehow, without the author telling us, the boy appears to be lonely. He makes friends with the red balloon and his face expresses loyalty, joy, playfulness, kindness, concern,and caring. He is the target of bullies which makes him scared and worried. When his balloon pops, he feels grief. And when all the balloons of Paris lift him off into the sky, he feels elated.
The author Albert Lamorisse is actually a film maker. The short film The Red Balloon won an Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay in 1956. Of course, we had to track it down and watch it. Here's the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS_io-ZB5ZU (though we watched it on Netflix). I'm not sure I would recommend watching it with your two year old. Mirette liked it a lot, but was also kind-of scared. The bully scenes are pretty intense. She also went through every emotion right along with Pascal and the balloon, "Mommy, the balloon is all alone; Mommy, why are those boys mean? and finally when he lifts off into the sky, "Where is the boy going? Where is his mommy and daddy?"
From my point of view, the movie is an incredible film. Even if you don't want your kid to watch it, it's a brilliant piece of film-making. I can see why it won the Oscar. So much emotion, that even as an adult, I kind-of could almost sort-of think the balloon is really magic (or at least wish it was).
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Several interesting tid-bits about Lamorisse. Pascal, in the book, is his actual son and the girl he befriends is his daughter Sabine. He told his kids a story a day and sounds like a very creative soul and fun father. Sadly, Lamorisse died in a plane crash while filming a documentary. And, this is the absolute weirdest fact EVER, he invented the board game RISK. (my step-daughters and husband love that game and introduced it to me--it's very clever and fun!).
If you are wondering what happened to Pascal, he re-released his father's film and is making a sequel:
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=17253102&m=17253067
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