Hundred: What you learn in a lifetime by Heike Faller illustrated by Valerio Vidali

The Hundred book is like life itself. It is made up of 100 smaller lessons that you learn throughout life. It contains the big themes like love and death, friendship and happiness, fear and pain, hope and dreams.

"It does come with a jar of homemade blackberry jam."

I picked this amazing book up at a recent charity book sale. It's not a book I would add to a school library but I am happy to add to my own book collection. This book was first published in German (2018) with the title Kein und Aber. The English translation was published in 2019. Translation by Guenther A Krummings and Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp. 

Faller’s interviews revealed some moving truths about life, with those that had suffered hardship expressing surprise at their own strength, as well as observations that life has beauty even during challenging times. She also notes that interviewees that had gone through difficulties were more easily satisfied than people who’d experienced a less challenging path. ...  It makes for some endearing moments, such as falling in love at 17, or realising, at 30, that happiness is relative. Faller also incorporates some of the stories she’s heard from people in their latter years – for example the teacher that finally found a partner that suited her, at 74. It’s the book’s mix of playfulness and poignancy that makes it compelling, and even though some of the statements feel time-worn, Vidali’s illustrations cast them in a new light. Creative Review

As the title says this book covers a lifetime. Every page is a different (chronological) age.

0 You smile for the first time in your life and other people smile back at you!

1/2 Everything within reach is yours to grab.

1 But if you let it go it falls down. You've discovered gravity.

and so we continue until we reach

6 You're a big kid now, going off to school with your friends. 

Jump ahead to 

12 There's a ton of stuff you're better at than your parents.

Watch this 2 minute video where you can see inside this book. Here is an interview with the author. And here is the trailer (well worth watching). Oh and you'll need to find and read this book to discover why I mentioned blackberry jam!

Here are some of my favourite words:

43 You've learned to be comfortable with being alone.

60 You're sixty now. As a child, sixty seemed ancient but you hardly feel old at all.

74 Finally, perhaps, you find your perfect match.

81 What if age wasn't counted in years but in moments we treasured?

97 People ask you all kinds of things, like: what has life taught you?

I suggest this a book for adult because there is a reference to Auschwitz (age 10).

Publisher blurb: How does our perception of the world change in the course of a lifetime? When Heike Faller's niece was born she began to wonder what we learn in life, and how we can talk about what we have learnt with those we love. And so she began to ask everyone she met, what did you learn in life? Out of the answers of children's writers and refugees, teenagers and artists, mothers and friends, came 99 lessons: that those who have had a difficult time appreciate the good moments more. That those who have had it easy find it harder getting old. That a lot of getting old is about accepting boundaries. And of course, as one 94 year old said to her, 'sometimes I feel like that little girl I once was, and I wonder if I have learned anything at all.' A bestseller in Germany, Hundred is a book given by children to grandparents and the other way around, for christenings and Mother's days, significant birthdays and times of celebration. With every age beautifully illustrated by Valerio Vidali, Hundred cannot simply be read because, like life itself, it must be experienced.

“I talked to elementary school kids and 90 year-olds; men and women who are much respected in our society as well as those who have lost their status,” writes Faller in the book. “I sat with the former director of an East German company (Kombinat) in his garden in a village behind the high-rise buildings of Marzahn, a neighbourhood in Berlin, and with a Syrian refugee family on the concrete floor of their basement apartment in Istanbul.” Heike Faller

9 America, Italy, Berlin, Cornwall, Torridon, the Mediterranean, 

Mount Everest, the North Pole, Russia, Australia. The world is gigantic and amazing!

17 The Impossible has happened. You've fallen in love.

Here are three other books illustrated by Valerio Vidali (the telephone one is amazing).

This Thing called Life by Christian Borstlap

The very first words and image in this book are powerful and confronting - "Long, long ago, before little white wires started growing out of our ears ... "

Then we turn the page and start the journey to discover this thing called life.

Before you go any further take a look at this short film - it is WONDERFUL! Christian Borstlap runs an advertising agency called 'This is part of a bigger plan.' The book This Thing called Life came from this film made for the Amsterdam Zoo which you can see here along with many of the illustrations from this book. There are 115 short films on the company website. 

I really appreciate the way the author (and unnamed translator) include words such as medley; perceiving; unpredictable; complicated; and dependent. 

You could share this book with a younger child (6+) and then also add it to your collection of books to share with older students including High School classes. All audiences will appreciate the funny moments, serious moments and parts of this text that are designed to make you think a little more deeply about life!

Here is my favourite page:

I also love the way Christian has used graph paper as a background for his two spreads about size - "There is big life.  And there is invisible life."  

Publisher blurb: From the smallest specks of life to the largest creatures, this engaging picture book shows the many shapes and forms life takes all around us. What is life? It’s constantly moving, growing, reproducing, and dying. It’s happening now, all the time, and it’s everywhere around us. From little helicopter seed pods that float through the air to blue whales in the ocean, the world is filled with all different types of odd and familiar kinds of life. This whimsical picture book helps young readers see the connections between all living things. Author and illustrator Christian Borstlap’s furry, feathery, smooth, and spiky creatures crawl, eat, growl, fly, and interact with one another. While most of his creations are imaginary animals, they all depict real things that organisms must do to survive and thrive. Bold and quirky illustrations tug at kids’ imaginations and help demonstrate complex concepts that can be hard to put into words. The book leaves lots of room for discussion and for new discoveries with each reading.

About the publisher: Prestel is the publisher for art lovers, designers and those with an eye for beauty - young and old alike, Prestel appeals to all those with a passion for visual culture.

Here is the French trailer for This Thing called Life or A Propos de la Vie. Click on these review comments for more images from inside this book.

This is a soulful book that carries an important message to youngsters using the simplest words and vitalised by the amazing appealing illustrations. San Francisco Book Review

The plants and animals look familiar but are also otherworldy and feel like they’re going to move around like some of the animation in Monty Python’s Flying Circus. That combined with the concise, intelligent text makes this an illustrated book that soars above its peers. Daddy Mojo

Life comes in all sizes and is still being discovered. Life is not fair and is unpredictable. It can be long or very short. But most importantly, life is to be lived together, connected to one another. Waking Brain Cells

You could pair this book with Life by Cynthia Rylant illustrated by Brenden Wenzel. 

Paul meets Bernadette A goldfish love story by Rosy Lamb

Paul meets Bernadette is an absolutely perfect picture book for all ages from Kindergarten right through to adults who need to be reminded we can view the world in so many different ways.

Paul, as you have seen in the trailer above, has only ever experienced life in his bowl.  Swimming around and around day after day. Then Bernadette arrives. She shows him a boat, a forest, a cactus, an elephant, the sun and the moon and so much more.

Paul finds a new world view, he finds Bernadette and he finds contentment.  Take a look at this link to read further glowing reviews of this special book.  Here is a set of teaching ideas from the publisher.  You might also enjoy Chester and Gill by Carol Faulkner illustrated by Ann James.