Picture Book Survey
Stephanie Owen Reeder reviews eleven new children's picture books
The latest crop of children’s picture books highlights the ability of this versatile genre to cover everything from the ever-popular animal tale, to sparkling stories about fairies, to introspective contemplations on the meaning of life.
... (read more)Many adults who grew up the 1980s doubtless remember a hairy, conical-shaped creature with very big feet that lived in the Australian bush, as well as a large hippopotamus that lived on a little girl’s roof and ate cake. The conical creature was, of course, Grug. Ted Prior’s Grug books were small, affordable paperbacks featuring simple but entertaining stories about this unflappable creature. The series is now being republished, and it includes new titles such as Grug and the Circus and Grug Learns to Read (Simon & Schuster, $4.99 pb, 32 pp).
... (read more)A survey of recent children's picture books by Stephanie Owen Reeder
The line between picture books, graphic novels and comic books is becoming increasingly blurred as picture books adopt elements from a wide range of graphic forms of storytelling.
... (read more)No kangaroos, emus or possums in this lot – just pigs, rats, hares, cats, dogs and fantastic monsters. Australian picture books are in a healthy state if these five beautifully produced, cleverly constructed and thoughtful examples represent the genre. All celebrate that peculiarly human gift, imagination – the unsuspected alternatives, the leap outside the confines of reality. All would provide a happy reading experience for children of any age, and are illustrated without condescension by witty and confident artists. From the child imagining castles in the air to the adult building them a little too high, these authors and artists reveal their insights into all kinds of human behaviour.
... (read more)Linnet Hunter reviews 'Tough Lester' by Nette Hilton, illus. Craig Smith, 'Highway' by Nadia Wheatley, illus. Andrew McLean, 'The Viewer' by Gary Crew, illus. Shaun Tan
It is the often hapless task of the reviewer to draw together observations on the aspirations and creations of up to six people into a seamless and riveting piece of critical prose. Sometimes it is just not possible, as is the case here, when all these three books have in common is that they are picture books, and will probably be found somewhere near each other in a bookshop or library.
... (read more)