“Podróż Miry” (Mira’s Journey) is a book for children (aged 6 and up) written by a Polish author Marta Cyzio, designed and illustrated by me.
It follows the story of Mira, a 9-year-old girl, and her Grief, imagined as a large, lovable monster, who starts to follow her around after the tragic death of her best friend.
Mira tries to escape the pain of loss by ignoring or running away from Grief, and their dynamic leads to a sequence of adventures. Ultimately, the girl recognizes that she must face her own sorrow in order to heal.
This story is not your typical rosy fairy tale. We believe that there needs to be more content out there for children to talk about real issues and difficult feelings, even at a very young age.
The project is still in progress. Here are some of the completed spreads.
“Our story begins at a cemetery… Ours, that is mine and Mira’s, on a warm autumn day, as she said goodbye to her best friend.”
“That’s when I visited Mira’s home for the first time in a long time. After the funeral, I went home with them. There, unnoticed, I observed all three of them.
The parents were in a hurry, trying to make up for the time lost during the funeral.
The banging noise of the closing doors seemed to say that no one should die in the middle of the week when there is so much to be done.”
“The next day, the world looked just as if nothing had changed. The morning was gorgeous with birds chirping in the nearby park. But…
… those pancakes.
Fried every Sunday specially for Mira as a symbol of a fun day, suddenly, they appeared on her plate in the middle of the week.
From then on, they appeared there every day, as if Mom hoped that they can not only erase the memory of the funeral, but simply erase all of the evil in the world.”