All too few books about Australian children’s writers and writing manage to find a publisher. They’re unlikely to sell enough copies, is the standard explanation. All the more reason, therefore, to welcome an even greater rarity – a book which focuses on the work of a single writer. Even if Gary Crew might not necessarily be everyone’s first choice as the subject of such a volume, all those interested in Australian children’s literature will hope that Strange Journeys meets with a success which will encourage the publication of similar analyses of other contemporary writers’ work.

Unfortunately, the book’s success is not a certainty, for it’s far from being an ideal example of its kind. It suffers too much from the declared closeness of its authors to their subject, approaching in the introduction the reverent tone of a publicist’s blurb. Things improve when the authors explore the religious (specifically Christadelphian) underpinnings of Crew’s work and build some understanding of how his experience in the small sect gave him an awareness of being separate, other, outside – a recurring theme in his books.