I’m a fan of Randall de Seve’s 2022 picture book This Story is Not About a Kitten, so I thought I would check out more of her work. In this case, that means reading her 2024 picture book Sometimes We Fall.
I found this book intriguing, because children’s books often have wide open, even chaotic stories, while this one had a very specific, very narrow plot line. In fact, once the core situation was established–the bear cub wants a purple plum like its mother is eating, but is afraid to climb the tree and get it–there were really only two possible plots.
Option 1: The cub climbs the tree and gets the plum.
Option 2: The cub climbs the tree, falls, but is okay.
Either option would involve facing a very specific obstacle, and learning a very specific lesson. As a result, the tension in the book comes not from the plot, but from the rhythm: the back and forth between cub and mama bear, which echoes millions of similar conversations between parent and child.
The book’s pleasure comes from recognizing that familiarity, feeling with and for the cub, and from Kate Gardiner’s illustrations. If the book’s plot is very narrow, the book’s images are broad. In fact, after the cub falls (Option 2), there’s a two page spread with nothing but the cub’s face, its paws, and the huge, juicy plum. The very size and sweep of the images helps underscore how important the choices are.
A pleasant story, and original in its focus.
