Some Gavin Bishop Classics

 

Bidibidi  Gavin Bishop

Bidibidi  Gavin Bishop
Oxford University Press (1982)
Scholastic (2014)
Picture book, 36 pages
ISBN 978 1 77543 192 3

 

 

Gavin Bishop’s first published book is a classic of the South Island high country, the adventures of a rebellious ewe. On a ‘hot and windless day in the mountains’ Bidibidi the sheep finds she is dissatisfied with life. She leaves the flock and heads up into the hills in search of the rainbow.

As she moves through the Canterbury high country, Bidibidi meets typical creatures (a kea, a trout, a sheep-dog) who help her in her quest. Eventually she finds a bearded old man, a strangely symbolic figure, ‘dressed in clothes the colour of the hills’. This is Rainbow Jackson, who lives in the mountains and makes the rainbows with a hurdy-gurdy. Bidibidi is happy mto stay with him. When he grows old, Bidibidi takes over his work, ‘I’ll make the rainbows now,’ she says.

This is a lovely picture book, with lots of jokes and the symbolism of Rainbow Jackson to think about. The various creatures depicted all have strongly individual voices and this makes it a good story to read aloud. Already Gavin Bishop's appreciation of New Zealand architecture can be seen in his depiction of the run-down remains of a country hotel.

An identical Māori language edition was published by Scholastic in 2001. The Māori language translation by Apirana Mahuika.

Note: Piripiri is a New Zealand native plant which grows in a mat with clinging burr seeds. This Māori name was often anglicised as Biddybiddy or Bidibidi. Biddy is a disused term for an old woman, so Bidibidi’s name is doubly evocative.

In 2014 Scholastic re-issued Bidibidi in a sumptuous large format paperback edition.
Although his Mrs McGinty and the Bizarre Plant was published in 1981, Bidibidi (1982) was actually the first book that Gavin Bishop wrote and illustrated. It was appropriate that its re-issue came just as Gavin Bishop was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to children’s literature in the 2014 New Year’s Honours List.

 

Trevor Agnew, 2014

The Three Billy Goats Gruff  Gavin Bishop

 

The Three Billy Goats Gruff  
Gavin Bishop
Scholastic (2003)
Picture book, Paperback, 32 pages 

ISBN 1869435877

 

Gavin Bishop provides a faithful retelling of the original Norwegian folktale of The Three Billy Goats Gruff, as set down by Peter Christian Asbjornsen (1812-1855).

Gavin Bishop’s colour illustrations of the three goats are superbly rendered, with his usual combination of imaginative flair and skill. The goats are completely convincing, especially their eyes. He also creates magnificent mountains and a convincingly realistic narrow bridge made from a single tree trunk. His troll is thoroughly unpleasant, right down to his tombstone teeth, and thoroughly deserves his downfall.

This is a splendid companion to Gavin Bishop’s interpretations of Chicken-Licken, Mr Fox and The Three Little Pigs.

Trevor Agnew, 2003