We’re all familiar with the phrase, ‘step into someone else’s shoes’ and when the young girl at the centre of this picture book does so literally, she suddenly understands the person closest to her in a whole new way.
Matou, who lives on the outskirts of Paris, gets into the habit of trying on the shoes left outside the mosque she passes on her way home from school. She plays at guessing who their owners are and what they’re like, and gets it right quite often. Then at home, grumpy because their planned afternoon out has to be cancelled, she pulls on her mum’s shoes and gets a sudden insight into her life too. Readers’ eyes will also be opened through this engrossing and revealing story, and it’s a positive as well as a rewarding read.
Fotini Tikkou blends the occasional photograph into her illustrations which are as pleasing and illuminating as the text.
In a quiet suburb of Paris, Matou passes a mosque on her way home from school and can't resist trying on some of the shoes she finds outside. Curious about the shoes' wearers, she begins to imagine the lives they might lead. Why do the trainers of the neatly-dressed boy look like they have never been worn? Why are the ballet shoes of the girl from her school so worn out? With no-one to give her any answers, she starts to imagine the answers for herself. One day, when her mum has to work late, Matou feels frustrated and let down. Can stepping into her mum's shoes help her build a bridge of understanding between them?A delightful story about empathy in which a little girl takes the expression "to step into someone's shoes" literally.
Alkisti Halikia is an award-winning author from Greece. Having studied Philosophy and Gallery Studies, she now works as a Museum Education Officer designing and performing educational programmes for pupils aged 4-12 years old.
