Finding "A forest" on my desk

A delicious treat arrived on my desk, a debut picture book, A forest, by Australian author/illustrator Marc Martin.

Simple, clear text. Layered water colour & pen images. Poignant messages about forest regeneration & human encroachment on the natural world.

If you have read The Lorax by Dr Seuss, if your kids are studying pollution & the environment, if you want to discover a new & talented artist, then you have at least three reasons to pick up this book.

Read. Think. Share.

What does colour feel like?

I know, it seems a little odd to "feel" a colour, just bear with me.

Colour the stars by Dawn McMillan (author) and Keinyo White (illustrator) opens with :

Isaac and Luke sat together on the stream bank, the water washing over their feet, the bush standing guard behind them.

"Do you know about colours, Luke?" asked Isaac.

Think about that seemingly simple question : "Do you know about colours?".

How do you "know" colour? Do you "know" a colour by how something is visually represented? Do you "know" a colour by how it makes you feel when you see it? Do you "know" a colour by how something of a particular colour smells? Do you "know" what colour something is by the way it sounds?

[spoiler alert -- stop reading now if you don't want to know the story's twist]

What does colour mean to a blind person? In this story, Luke is blind. He says that he doesn't really know what people mean when they talk about colours, but that it is okay because he doesn't need colours.

The friendship between the two boys is key here, Isaac wants to share with Luke that colours aren't just visual, they are a feeling. Together they explore what colour feels like. For instance, if I said "sunshine", what colour do you think of?

Two highlights of this story for me are : the way in which Isaac explains the colour red, and then when Isaac explains about stars, "tiny pieces of yellow [...] against the black", Luke says quietly that he knows what black is. I got goosebumps.

Then Isaac shuts his eyes, and he realises that the world isn't just about colours, it is also about listening and sounds, and about the feelings that link in with those sounds. Luke responds that in his world, this is how it is, filled with sounds and feelings.

For me, this picture book is a great example of how an author's words meld perfectly with an illustrator's representation of the story. The author has written a story of two boys' friendship, and the illustrator has captured the sensations of this story perfectly.

Get hold of a copy of this book (it's available in English and Te Reo Māori), read it to a child you love, and then start a discussion about what colour "feels" like to them, it might surprise you with what you learn. 

Picture Perfect

Kitty & Dino by Sara Richard

I've only once in my life reviewed a picture book and that was for an assignment, so I'm not really sure how to approach this. The book in question, however, is worth the effort.

A boy finds a dinosaur egg and brings it home. But that isn't the story. The story is the friendship that grows between Kitty and the dinosaur that hatches. It's a beautiful story, told with only about 12 words (not counting sound effects). In this case it isn't the words that make the story, but the pictures. The illustrations are inspired by Japanese ink paintings (I know this because it says so inside the cover, not because I know anything about art), expressive and warm and rich. I love them. I could stare at them for hours.

I particularly love the cat. It's so cat-like and full of personality that I wanted to take it home.

For a while after I read this book I could only think in exclamation marks. Cat! Dinosaur! Cute! Pictures! Colours! Gah! It was a little overwhelming, but I had a silly grin on my face and warm fuzzies in my belly. This book isn't much good for reading aloud, but it is the kind of book you want to linger over and read again (and again). It is, in short, delightful.

Review: Private and Confidential by Marion Ripley

"Laura got out the photo of Malcolm. He looked so fit and happy in the picture, it was hard to imagine him being ill in hospital. The she had an idea. She would send him a Get Well card, and she would do it in braille!"
- Private and confidential by Marion Ripley

Review submitted by: Sonja
Title: Private and confidential
Author: Marion Ripley
ISBN: 0711220972
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Published: 2003
Genre: Picture books
Age group: Children
Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: When Laura's Australian penfriend goes blind she decides to learn braille so that she can send him a get-well-soon card. They are soon corresponding in Braille, making their letters private and confidential.

How do you write to a friend who can't see?

Picture books aren't just for under fives

If you think picture books are just for kids, think again. At one of my book groups last year (made up over folks over 30), we discussed Duck, Death and the Tulip. It provoked a lot of discussion, who was it "aimed" at? After much discussion, we couldn't come to a concensus.

I've found another title that also got me thinking - who is it written for? I immediately wished I was a high school teacher of Art or English (that happens to me occasionally!) so I could use this book to provoke the students. Instead, I'll share it with you, fellow blog reader(s).

I am Thomas written by Libby Gleeson and illustrated by Armin Greder is 32 pages long. Typical picture length, but the audience is definitely not for the under five brigade.

The opening lines two lines are "I am Thomas." and "I am not the child I once was.".

The scene is set for a short (but powerful) tale of standing strong and being yourself, against a back drop of family expectations, peer pressure, societal group-think.

The imagery and language references are provactive, and evoked an uncomfortable reaction for me on the first read through. There are many layers and ideas that need to be re-read, un-picked, pondered on and debated about. I could imagine talking about this book alongside George Orwell's 1984, or WWII propaganda posters, or even Pink Floyd's The Wall album.

For me, it is another key example of picture books definitely not always being for under fives!