Bruiser

 

Bruiser  Gavin Bishop

 

Bruiser                                                    

Gavin Bishop
Random House, 2011
Picture book, 32 pages, 
Paperback
ISBN 978 1 86979 449 1

 

Get out of my way! I’ve got a motorway to build! 

Bruiser is a massive digger, a machine with a mission. Bruiser’s story begins with a counting sequence following his usual run of work. 

On Monday he ploughed through five hills. 

As the amount of work builds up, so does the destruction. 

On Wednesday he tore up three forests, and flattened a paddock of daffodils. 

And so it goes on (like a mechanised version of Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar).

Then on Friday Bruiser gets stuck in a muddy ditch. His vibrations dislodge a magpie’s nest and its chick and for the first time Bruiser is forced to re-examine what he is doing. He has a change of heart and starts swerving around hills instead of ploughing through them.

 Bruiser’s reformed behaviour is very funny and quite touching. A young reader spotted that Bruiser’s exhaust smoke rises in small heart-shaped clouds, whenever he looks at the magpies. Another young reader demanded to know HOW Bruiser pulled open the tab on a can of oil. The correct answer is that Bruiser is a very clever machine.

 With its whizzing wheels and flying mud (and language to match) this is a delightful book to read aloud.

Gavin Bishop’s bold illustrations give Bruiser tremendous impact on the page, with massive black tyres and orange body work. (Nevertheless, Bruiser has a clearly delineated face capable of a range of expressions.) The rocks, flowers and trees he moves about are skilfully shaped from textured paper. Darker paint is applied to each succeeding scene as Bruiser gets stuck in failing light and carries out the rescue of the magpie chick in near-darkness.

Bruiser is dedicated to the rebuilders of Christchurch after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 to which is added, Look to the future boldly. Remember the past gently.

Trevor Agnew, 2011