Thursday 26 November 2015

Oh Me Oh My! Jill Eggleton


Oh Me Oh My!

Jill Eggleton, ill. Richard Hoit

JillE Books $25

This picture book is a funny, colourful, jungle-ish version of Chicken Licken. Constant rain depresses Parrot and Elephant, especially when Owl tells them, “The sun has fallen from the sky.” Seeking the sun, this unlikely pair encounters several suitably round yellow objects but they turn out to be beehives, short-tempered tigers, irascible gorillas and so on.

“Out hissed the snake, hissing and spitting.” (Each comic disaster and retreat is accompanied by a chorus of, “Oh me, oh my.” 
 
This is all good fun for reading aloud, especially since Jill Eggleton has emphasised useful words like icky and sticky in bold type.)  The ending is unexpectedly amusing, with Elephant and Parrot triumphantly successful, in a way that will appeal to four-year-old logic.

Richard Hoit’s colourful illustrations of rain-bedraggled beasts add to the read-aloud pleasure.

A free audio CD features Eggleton demonstrating how a story should be read – with gusto.

 
Reviewed by Trevor Agnew.
 
This review first appeared in Your Weekend (Fairfax) on 24 Oct 2015.

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