Discussion Questions for Come Closer, Tatita
Can you name the five different senses?
Is there someone you love that you miss a lot right now? What special name or names do you have for that person?
3 Name as many “sense memories” related to your special person as you’d like:
Seeing: Picture a favorite moment you shared with your special person. Describe what is happening in your memory: Where are you? What are you and your special person wearing? What is happening around you?
Hearing: When you think of your special person’s voice, what memory comes to mind? Is it a story or funny thing that person said? A favorite song? Or maybe it’s the sound of that person’s laugh.
Touching: What kind of happy touches did you get from your special person? Did you like to hold the hand of your special person? Did you exchange highfives? Hugs and kisses?
Smelling: Do you have a memory of your special person with a special smell? Maybe it was perfume or cologne, or the scent of a food this person liked to cook, or the smell of a favorite place you went to together.
Tasting: Did your special person have a favorite food? Or was there a food, snack, or drink that the person liked to make or share with you?
Come Closer, Tatita by Imapla © 2024, Minerva
Fill this big heart with drawings of as many of these memories as you’d like.
Did you know you have a very special sixth sense? It’s your heart!
Now your heart, filled with all your sense memories, can help you keep your special person close to you, wherever you are.
Come Closer, Tatita by Imapla © 2024, Minerva
Bonus: we’ll let you in on a secret!
Did you know adults have special people that they miss, too? The author, Imma, wrote this book for her grandmother, Tatita, who passed away after Imma was all grown up. Imma misses Tatita very much and included lots of memories of her grandmother in the book. One secret way she did this was by including a special image on many of the pages: a drawing of a stuffed penguin named Pingu! This is the stuffed penguin that Tatita gave Imma’s son Pere when he was a baby. (Pere is a grown-up too now, but he still has this toy because it’s special to him!)
Now that you know Imma’s secret in the book, can you point out Pingu whenever he appears in the story?
Come Closer, Tatita by Imapla © 2024, Minerva
For The Grown-Ups,
Author’s notes on the background of Come Closer, Tatita
Imapla is an award-winning picture book creator and graphic designer from Barcelona whose books are published throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Lola Loves Animals, her American debut, was published in 2022.
Come Closer, Tatita
The beginning
“Come Closer, Tatita” is the story of a loss. This book was born from a real loss, the death of a loved one. But the book does not specify it. I like that nuance. It speaks of the distancing of a loved one, not necessarily of a death. It opens up to readers.
“When I was born, you were there. But now you are very far away, Tatita.”
When my Tata died at 102 years old, I began my grief with what I knew how to do: books. It was a quick process, like death itself. In 15 days, I had the narrative skeleton built. Then, came the tranquil process of the book. That immediacy in defining the book’s skeleton marked a very short and direct narrative.
Death is something blunt and real. I didn’t want to sweeten it or soften it.
The most beautiful thing of all is that fiction turned into reality, and I was able to reconnect with my Tata.
Come Closer, Tatita by Imapla © 2024, Minerva
The book in five senses
The disappearance
The first part of the book is reality, death, loss.
How to explain loss?
Through disappearance, through the five senses. To stop SEEING, HEARING, TOUCHING, SMELLING,TASTING. The five senses are very close to a child’s perspective. Each sense opens up different spaces of distance.
1 2 3 4 5
To far to see you
To far to touch you
To far to kiss you
To far to hear you
To far to smell you
You’re not here anymore...
Come Closer, Tatita by Imapla © 2024, Minerva
The book in five memories
The reunion
After the narrative turning point, of uncertainty and sadness, comes the second part of the book. The second part of the book is the reunion.
How to reclaim someone who no longer exists? Through memory. Remembering SEEING, HEARING, TOUCHING, SMELLING, TASTING. The five senses become five memories, five scenes between the two characters.
SEEING TOUCHING TASTING HEARING SMELLING
1 2 3 4
I can see you again I can hug you again
I remember the first time in her life she bathed in the sea. Aucanada, Mallorca.
I remember that all the anniversaries were filled with hugs and kisses. At 98... and it was like a child.
I can savor the memories of you again
I remember that she liked cream. She always finished it.
5
I can hear you again I can smell you again
I remember she told us stories when we sat on the bench in front of his house. In August, she always went to “Quintanas Rubias de Abajo”.
I remember that she liked daisies, also carnations. Every Christmas she gave us a beautiful bouquet. It smelled like pine.
Come Closer, Tatita by Imapla © 2024, Minerva
The sixth sense.
One, two, three, four, five, and six.
But... for memories to become reality, you need a SIXTH sense, the heart.
Now I know that I carry you with me everywhere. Tata, Tatita, Tata.
Come Closer, Tatita by Imapla © 2024, Minerva