Peekaboo

Karni is a little girl who is bad at hide-and-seek. She has never managed to hide in time. ”Even if she found a hiding place, some part of her was always sticking out, and they found her easily.“ Her failure hurts, so she starts practising in her free time, all alone. On her birthday she invites everyone to a hide-and-seek party, and she wins the game.

Behind this simple story of determination and failure, followed by Karni making her dream come true, lies a rich psychological world of kids’ relationships with themselves and with their parents. The illustrations show an awkward girl and her panicky expression when she runs. Karni’s practising is self-inflicted torture: “She practised not moving and not breathing and squeezing into small places.” Karni is the product of a competitive society, and the game, which should be fun, isn’t. To succeed, she tries to hide her identity and her differentness. She also gets the wrong grasp of a game that is basically a social one. Even after her success, the story raises questions: Is winning a game really a victory?

Is it a good idea to sacrifice happiness for any goal? Does victory achieved through suffering make one happy? Perhaps it would be worthwhile to give up on winning and simply enjoy your birthday? A contemporary tale, ripe and polished, illustrated with original, lighthearted drawings by the author.