THREE LIGHTS

“If problems are unpredictable…nature is even more so.”

Mole’s life may be mostly solitary, but to his mind he has everything one might need. At night he forages for food—taking care to avoid a hungry owl—and occasionally visits his earthworm friends (since befriending them, he’s taken earthworm off the menu). One evening, three elfin, pink-skinned little children with an otherworldly glow fall from the sky and into a friendly spider’s nest. The spider passes them on to a caterpillar, who hands them over to the earthworms, who in turn give them to Mole. A lovely friendship begins as Mole houses, feeds, and clothes the mysterious new strangers, in time trusting them to venture out on their own despite the world’s many predators. Only when Mole realizes that the three visitors may be stars fallen from the sky does he grasp the importance of restoring them to their heavenly home. This Spanish import adeptly traces Mole’s slow and subtle journey toward granting the lights measures of independence—a wondrous encapsulation of the experiences that contemporary parents go through every day. Meanwhile, Ramos’ delicate art is both simple and sublime, accompanying the action without ever overplaying the emotions of a given scene.

A marvelous story of chosen families and an ode to the beauty of parenthood.