Telling the tale of a young swan navigating New York City and learning his identity, Matthew Mehan’s most recent book offers advice to all readers — both young and old.
Mehan published his second children’s book, “The Handsome Little Cygnet,” on July 20, providing children with a counter-culture narrative about discovering who they are meant to be, Mehan said.
Mehan, director of academic programs for Hillsdale in D.C., and assistant professor of government at the Van Andel Graduate School of Government, said that the lightly metered prose is a revision of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Ugly Duckling.”
The story opens with a family of swans in Central Park, and focuses on a young cygnet who gets into trouble in the big city. The book teaches a lesson about family and identity to children and adults alike.
“It is a story about coming of age,” Mehan said, “and trying to figure out who you are and what you’re meant to be, which is quite fraught.”
Mehan said that while his book primarily aims to entertain children, it also seeks to instill parent appreciation in children at a younger age than it is usually realized. Parent appreciation often comes later in life, Mehan said, and he intends for his book to speed up this process.
“I would love for them to have a kind of respect for their parents and how their parents really care for them and try to help them grow into adulthood,” he said. “I depict very careful and loving parents.”
Unlike much of current childrens’ entertainment, Mehan said his books do not portray parents who are clueless goofballs, but who care deeply about their cygnet child.
“The lesson that I would like to give them is to figure out who you are meant to be,” Mehan said. “You have to make an appraisal of your own nature in order to figure out who you’re supposed to be. We tend to put the cart before the horse and tell kids that they can just be anything without first thinking about who God made them to be.”
Mehan also included lessons for parents. He said the book is meant to provide an example of parenting to be modelled even in Mehan’s own home.
“I wanted to set a model of parenting that would rouse any parent to try to be better, because I think the opposite is the case so often as childrens’ literature presents foolish fathers and scolding mothers,” he said.
The book is packed with symbolism, but readers will have to discover it for themselves, as Mehan said he prefers to remain the poet.
“I think every good poet should operate on multiple levels,” he said. “Even childrens’ books should have lots of symbolism that takes you to higher and more transcendent things, deeper and more penetrating truths.”
Mehan sold more than 10,000 copies of his first book, “Mr. Mehan’s Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals,” following its release in 2018.
During her time as an intern at Hillsdale’s K-12 Education summer conference, senior Jaime Boroema helped Mehan with “The Handsome Little Cygnet” book sales and received a signed copy from the author. Boroema said that Mehan’s insight, kindness, and obvious love for his work was evident when they met, and she hopes to one day share her copy with her future children.
“The Handsome Little Cygnet is a beautiful book that manages to touch much of life in a very simple, sincere way,” Boroema said. “Themes of family, the danger of rejecting loving guidance, and the miracle of second chances are all bound up in this seemingly simple story.”
The illustrations are original watercolors by a friend and former co-worker of Mehan’s, John Folley. On the acknowledgements pages of Mehan’s books, Folley designed a Christian humanist symbol called a caduceus, an image of serpents, representing the arts of this world, surrounding an egg, symbolizing the Christian faith. The arts are arranged in a way that protects faith in Christ in this world, Mehan said. The symbol is held up by two hands, representing the friendship between author and illustrator which made the books possible.
“John and I have seen our friendship as a wonderful foundation on which to build these two beautiful books,” Mehan said, “and we’ve got plans for three more.”
Hillsdale in D.C. hosted a preview of the book on July 29, including a reading, a display of seven of the original watercolors, and a commentary on the book’s key themes. Following the reading, Mehan discussed the writing process, symbolism, and what’s at stake for kids in a time of “woke” education with the audience.
Allison Schuster ’21, research assistant at the Kirby Center, said that she is a big fan of the book.
“It’s so beautifully illustrated, but even more than that I love the morals it seeks to instill in its readers,” she said. “I got a signed copy of Dr. Mehan’s book for my 4-year-old cousin and, after observing the progressive influence in childhood education, my uncle said he really appreciates the messages.”
Mehan will hold a similar event, with an art show and book discussion, at Hillsdale College on Oct. 14.
