Tistou: The Boy with the Green Thumbs of Peace by Maurice Druon (review)
2023; Wayne State University Press; Volume: 37; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/mat.2023.a900267
ISSN1536-1802
ResumoReviewed by: Tistou: The Boy with the Green Thumbs of Peace by Maurice Druon Marisca Pichette (bio) Tistou: The Boy with the Green Thumbs of Peace. By Maurice Druon, adapted by Jack Zipes, Little Mole & Honey Bear, 2022, 136 pp. As part of his series of "Fabulous Excavated Tales," Jack Zipes adapts Maurice Druon's 1957 story, Tistou les pouces verts, with illustrations by Joellyn Rock. On picking up this new binding of a story that is nearly 70 years old, one might wonder: why return to this work today? In the afterword, Zipes asserts that the issues presented in the book mirror those we continue to grapple with in the twenty-first century. He calls Tistou "a highly relevant story for young and old … a warning with hope" (125). Zipes approaches Druon's [End Page 117] story from both the historical context in which it was written—taking into account Druon's "resistant spirit" during World War II and the Cold War—and the climate change implications the tale still holds today (125). Tistou, he remarks, "demonstrates that there are ways to reconcile antagonistic sides," by healing the problems close to home—namely, reforming systems such as education and quality of life (130). In approaching this story, Zipes asks us to see how its pacifist nature can endure over half a century after its writing, and he furthermore urges the reader to think deeply about what we accept as right. In short chapters fitting a child's attention span, Tistou tells the tale of a boy living in Sandstone, a town where things are just so; every adult has a clear role and a reason for the way things are. These reasons are referred to as "ready-made ideas" (2). Only one adult encourages Tistou to push against these ideas: Mr. Whiskers, his family's gardener. This mentor figure is crucial to Tistou's development. With Mr. Whiskers's influence, Tistou learns how to begin the task of changing the world around him. Over the course of the book, Tistou's actions will force adults to look closely at their limited conceptions and, in the end, alter their worldviews. True to fairy tales, this change does not come about by mundane means. Tistou has an extraordinary ability to conjure flowers that grow so fast that overnight he can transform the ugliest parts of Sandstone into gardens. From this point forward, Druon presents a dichotomy between Tistou's flowers and the systems they alter. The moral trajectory of Druon's story centers on war and peace. Early in the story, the reader learns that Tistou's father deals in guns. While the text does not provide clear judgment on this point, children reading the story today (and in 1957) will likely make the connection between guns and bad. If they do not, Tistou's frequent questions about why things are the way they are, and adults' inability to effectively answer these questions, reveal problems within his world. This revelation presents problems in turn for Tistou: "To be sure, Tistou asked too many questions" (38). He questions wealth inequality, the sterility of hospitals, and finally the horror of war. When his suggestions for improving these things are ignored by the adults around him, clinging to their "ready-made ideas," Tistou uses his power to fill the ugliness with flowers. While his solutions work—flowers make people happy, and they forget their suffering as a result—a mature reader may find this too simplistic. Flowers, we know, are not enough to mend inequality or stifle hatred. Yet Tistou decides based on the evidence he sees after his work: "Flowers prevent evil things from happening" (51). Druon's story would lose its relevance if this were the final answer he presented to the reader, ending with a floral utopia free of strife. This is not Druon's conclusion, however. Conflict arises when Tistou stops a war by sabotaging the weapons shipment that would have brought his father and [End Page 118] Sandstone much wealth. When Tistou reveals it was he who planted the flowers in the guns, Mr. Father is faced with a decision: what to do with a son who stands against...
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