Two Grand Picture Books

Two Grand Picture Books

The House that Jack Built Gavin Bishop, Gecko Press, 40 pages,
Hb $34.99
Pb $19.99
Maori Language edition:
Koinei te Whare nā Haki i Hanga
Pb $19.99 ISBN

Two Little Bugs, Mark & Rowan Sommerset, Dreamboat Press, Waiheke Island,
40 pages, hb, $29.99.



Gecko Press have brought Gavin Bishop’s 1999 classic The House that Jack Built back into print in time for Waitangi Day 2012. Not only does the talented Christchurch artist bring the old nursery rhyme back to life but he also uses his illustrations to provide a remarkable insight into Maori-Pakeha relations in the early years of contact. In 1798, Jack Bull leaves London (shown as Hogarth’s Gin Lane) to make his fortune, sailing to New Zealand with a load of trade goods and a red door for his house. On the simplest level, the pictures show the familiar rhyme in action: Jack’s cat, dog and “cow with the crumpled horn” all make their appearance. A Maori milk-maiden “all forlorn” is married to Jack by a “priest all shaven and shorn,” who bears a passing resemblance to Samuel Marsden. Readers can follow Jack’s progress from hut to handsome two-storeyed public house, by following his familiar red door.

Jack’s prosperity and the growth of Pakeha settlement, shown in small border illustrations, is matched by a decline in the mana of the Maori. Bishop uses traditional Maori symbols to suggest how new spiritual beliefs and attitudes to the land are forcing out the old. The all-seeing eyes of the ancestors dominate the land and sky in the early pictures, but gradually fade away. On page 24, the magnificent picture of the rooster crowing also shows native birds like the kiwi and tui fleeing before the invading settlers, symbolised by sparrows.

Although young readers will enjoy the simple story told in rhyme, older readers will find food for thought in the concluding pages where colonial conflict becomes open warfare, and Jack’s house burns. “This is the soldier all weary and worn.” While Bishop’s settlement of Jackstown is fictional, the issues raised apply to all New Zealanders and the concluding illustrations, dawn from Maori folk art, blend Pakeha and Maori forms, symbolising the author’s quest “for understanding and harmony.”

This new edition reproduces Bishop’s water-colour and ink drawings at 100% scale, so that the superb detail can really be appreciated. A bonus with the hardback edition is Bishop’s original sketch outline for the book, reproduced inside the cover. Piripi Walker has provided the translation for a Maori language edition, Koinei te Whare na Haka i Hanga. The House that Jack Built was the Book of the Year in 2000, and it certainly deserves the same award again.


Writer Mark Sommerset and illustrator Rowan Sommerset, the same husband and wife team who run Dreamboat Books from Waiheke Island have also produced a cleverly-designed book about two tiny insects living in completely different worlds. Two Little Bugs contains carefully engineered leaves. Cheerful Little Bug Red stands on the sunny upper surface of the leaf, but when the reader turns the leaf over, glum Little Bug Blue lives in a gloomy world of despair. “Poor little me. It’s dark down here in the shade of this tree.” As the story progresses, Bug Red eats a hole in the leaf so the pair can communicate. “Come on up, Little Bug Blue, There’s plenty of sun for me and you.” As the hole becomes larger (in the Hungry Caterpillar style) the leaf becomes smaller. Finally pessimistic Bug Blue is left sitting on the stalk enjoying the sunshine but feeling lonely. The reader, however, will have spotted the cocoon dangling below. All is ready for the delightful surprise ending.
“My oh my, what a beautiful day
And two little bugs flew away.”

Trevor Agnew

FULL PUBLISHING DETAILS:

The House that Jack Built Gavin Bishop, Gecko Press, 40 pages,
Hb $34.99 ISBN 978-1-877467-60-8
Pb $19.99 ISBN 978-1-877467-61-5

Maori Language edition:
Koinei te Whare nā Haki i Hanga
Pb $19.99 ISBN 978-1-877467-79-0



Two Little Bugs Mark Sommerset, ill. Rowan Sommerset, Dreamboat Books, PO Box 700, Onerua, Waiheke Island, 40 pp, hb, $29.99
ISBN 978-0 -9864668-3-0