A Trans-Tasman Picture Book Round-up 2014
By
Trevor Agnew
Incy
Wincy Spider ill by Karen Erasmus (2014) Lothian, NZ$20
Doggy
Ditties from A-Z
Jo van Dam, ill. Myles Lawford (2014) Scholastic NZ, $19.50
Pigs
Might Fly Brett Avison,
ill. Janine Dawson (2014) Five Mile Press, $24.95
Mrs
Mo's Monster by Paul Beavis (2014) Gecko, pb NZ 19.99 [hb
NZ$34.99]
Blackie
the Fisher cat by Janet Pereira, ill. Gabriella
Klepatski, (2014) Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson NZ,
NZ$19.99 [hb NZ$29.99]
Best
Mates by Philippa Werry, ill. Bob Kerr (2014) New Holland, NZ$19.99
Trans-Tasman
Picture Book Round-Up
There
have been many good illustrated versions of children’s rhymes published
recently. Unfortunately Incy Wincy
Spider is not one of them. The
author, who has wisely remained anonymous, has expanded the rhyme so that the
luckless spider encounters disaster in every part of the house. Since this is
an Australian book, a toilet seat encounter is included. It would all be
harmless fun, like Karen Erasmus’s illustrations, but the writer has a tin ear
and many of the clunky lines lack the rhythm of the original.
“The Incy Wincy Spider climbed up the
sandcastle wall.
The Kids started
to dig and the castle walls did fall.”
This
disappointing book is not good enough for children.
Jo
van Dam’s rhymes in Doggy Ditties from
A-Z are much better. Avoiding any suggestion of doggerel, she has created
26 droll verses about various canine breeds from Attenpinscher to Zuchon. There is even an X for the Xoloitzcuintlil (Mexican
Hairless):
“This unusual hairless dog walks round in the
nude.
If it were a person, we would think it
rather rude.”
The
witty rhymes – some of them limericks – also deal with more familiar dogs, including
the Boxer, Fox Terrier, Labrador and Great Dane, with a great deal of doggy
nibbling, dribbling and digging.
Myles
Lawford’s illustrations capture the personalities of the various dogs in his
lively colour illustrations.
Pigs
Might Fly by Aussie writer Brett Avison (author of A Bigger Digger) carries its plot in its
title. When the farm is flooded, most of the animals are driven off to high
ground but Ted and Bryn are trapped. They hope to escape in the farm’s microlight
aircraft but then find that six piglets and a hen still have to be rescued. Bryn’s very funny solution provides an
amusing ending with a witty pop-up illustration. Avison’s verse has funny
rhymes and his tale moves as fast as the flood-waters, while Janine Dawson’s
colour pictures capture the droll chaos of the farm evacuation.
Mrs Mo's Monster, written and
illustrated by Paul Beavis, a New Zealand website designer, is a marvellous
read-aloud book for parents and grandparents. Mrs Mo’s home is rudely invaded
by a monster which leaves a trail of destruction.
“I am a monster and what I do
is crunch, munch and chew,”
Mrs
Mo subtly diverts the unruly monster into cake-making and preparing a surprise
for Mr Mo. Young readers (or listeners) will enjoy the fun, even as the crafty
parable gives them a subtle lesson in the importance of manners. Beavis’s
illustrations are bold and full of impact, while the text is skilfully designed
with dramatic bold lettering for the enjoyably noisy bits.
Blackie
the Fisher Cat is a charming illustrated tale by Janet
Pereira about Grandpop’s remarkable fishing holiday. As shown in Gabriella
Klepatski’s atmospheric colour illustrations, Grandpop takes his caravan to a
motor camp on the coast. When he goes out fishing, a stray black cat
accompanies him, leading him to the best spot and accepting fish livers as his
share of the day’s catch. Grandpop enjoys the cat’s company and is sorry to
leave him behind at the motor camp. The cat, however, has a surprise in store
for Grandpop. This is a sweet story that independent readers will enjoy.
Like Blackie
the Fisher Cat, Philippa Werry’s Best
Mates is a New Zealand book. Three boys from the West Coast, Harry Joe and
the un-named narrator are the ‘best
mates’ of the title, playing together, attending school together and
joining the army together in 1914. Bob
Kerr’s meticulously-researched colour illustrations show the three pals embarking
for their great adventure, visiting the Pyramids, training in Egypt, then
sailing from Lemnos and landing at Gallipoli. “Harry, Joe and I stuck together. We cooked together and ate together.
We shared the same trench. Everyone knew we were mates.” In simple unsentimental
prose, the story of Gallipoli unfolds with its grim trench warfare, extremes of
temperature, privations and illness. Tragedy strikes for the trio, with the
death of Harry. “The chaplain had to be
quick because of the snipers.” The story continues with the recognition of
defeat and the evacuation of the peninsula. “Our feet were muffled in cloths. We didn’t cough or talk or even
whisper.” Best Mates doesn’t end with
this defeat. The survivors return to
civilian life and raise families but are always wistfully aware of the absence
of their ‘best mate.’ Decades later, as old men, they return to
Anzac Cove and visit the New Zealand graveyard. ‘He was in a big cemetery with hundreds of other Anzacs…It was still far
away but now it felt as if he was among friends.
Bob Kerr’s illustrations are as spare and graceful
as Werry’s prose. One double-spread illustration shows soldiers digging two
trenches with pick and shovel, rifles close at hand. It is only at second
glance that it becomes clear that the soldiers in one trench are Anzacs while
in the other they are Turkish.
Best
Mates is a moving picture book, with a fictional tale
that rings true, and which brings to life a key event in our national history.
Trevor Agnew
Note: This review originally appeared Your Weekend magazine (Fairfax NZ) in such newspapers as The Press and Dominion Post on 23 August 2014
