Pairing words with drawings gave Chantal a new way to see her family’s journey
When seven-year-old Chantal arrived in Canada, she never imagined her story becoming a comic book. Thanks to a project in her Grade 10 English class at London Christian High (LCH), that is exactly what happened.
In the course, she and her classmates read MAUS. In the graphic novel, the author uses an illustrative style to tell the story of his father, a holocaust survivor. To bring the narrative to life, he portrays Jewish people as mice and Nazi officials as cats.
After reading the book, students were given the chance to write and illustrate their own stories in comic book form. “I jumped at the chance,” says Chantal, a Grade 10 student, “because I have a good story to tell!”
A taste of winter
Born and raised in the Philippines, Chantal’s mother married a Canadian and moved to Ontario. “I was oblivious as a kid…I didn’t know anything about Canada,” admits Chantal. “I had nothing holding me back and I just wanted to learn and explore. It was one of the happiest times of my life.”
Arriving in Canada during a blizzard, she quickly got a taste of winter. Playing in the snow for the first time ever, she decided unfortunately to eat some of it. (Guess how that turned out?)
Fast forward to Chantal’s English class at LCH. “Reading a novel like MAUS got me thinking about my family,” she says, “and when we were asked to create our own comic book, I knew what I wanted to do.”
A tale of birds
She wrote about her family’s migration, using birds to illustrate her book’s characters. Her father, a Canadian goose. She and her mother, cockatiels.
“My story is all about going away, being independent,” she says. “Birds symbolize that idea. They learn to trust and fly, eventually leaving the nest to start a new life.”
When she finished the book, Chantal showed it to her parents. “We laughed so hard because it was fun and nostalgic to think back to where we’ve come from,” she adds.
“I’m so glad I created this comic. I sat down with my parents and asked them lots of questions…of things I didn’t know much about. Now, I’ve preserved some of those memories to go back to later in life.”
“I really appreciate how a Christian perspective runs through every subject and every assignment at LCH. Being here has made me grow in my faith.”
