Emma and the sad dog

Sabine Rufener
Emma and the sad dog
Book design by Franziska Walther

Ages 8+

The big shaggy dog that Emma encounters at the edge of the meadow is sad. So sad that he can no longer see any meaning in life. Emma can’t just stand by and do nothing! And so the little girl decides to help the dog to see that life is worth living, day by day. The dog is never won around by Emma’s suggestions, but, being generous, he always gives her another chance to find the one good reason that will finally convince him. A conversation develops between these two very different characters about the meaning of life, friendship, and – last but not least – strawberry ice cream.

At times we are tempted to confront the really big questions in life – but sometimes all we need is a simple change of perspective. In this case, the sad dog needs a new pair of glasses (literally speaking) so that he can see through fresh eyes. He finds that the world somehow looks better when it is not so sharply in focus. It’s a start.

Sabine Rufener: “The dog came first, and his psychological state is reflected in the chaotic coloured pencil strokes. It took quite a few attempts before I was happy with the character of Emma. I worked with little book dummies so that I could keep flicking through the story – and that’s how I worked out what might happen on the next page. The images and texts influenced each other. To create a “cloudy” mood, I tried out lots of different backgrounds, drawing with pencils and coloured pencils on baking paper, tracing paper, Japanese paper, etc. Finally, I scanned everything onto my computer and arranged it into a collage. Some of the colouring and the lighting design was created using Photoshop.”

Look inside