We are definitely in the midst of the ‘Why?’ phase with Rowan. Seems like it has already been going on for a while and friends tell me that it keeps going for a lot longer again… I know it’s healthy, but sometimes I just like to get through a page of a book at bedtime without five questions about the story and the illustrations.

So last night I could hardly believe it when Rowan sat absolutely absorbed and completely silent as I read him for the first time A Story for Bear by Dennis Haseley and illustrated by Jim La Marche.

The book tells the story of a friendship between a bear and a woman who lives for a time in a woodland cabin. The bear stumbles upon the cabin and sees the woman reading. He is very curious about the square object that she holds, which at times makes her laugh, and at others afraid or pensive. Day by day the bear gathers courage until he is able to lie close to the woman. For the shortening days of summer, and until the leaves change colour, she reads to him. And although the bear can’t understand her words, he feels the emotions conveyed through her voice. Her words make a story: a story for her bear.

I’m not sure which aspect of the story was so captivating for Rowan – it could have been the idea of a wild bear meeting a human for the first time, or perhaps the bear’s perspective, learning about the existence of books and the power of storytelling. Whatever the reason, it was wonderful for me to share a book with him that is very special to me – it was Lou who gave me my copy and I think it is such a beautiful story about the wonders of reading.

I also love Jim La Marche’s illustrations – I reviewed another beautiful book of his, Albert, here. He has such a talent for illustrating light and shadow, and this is done so beautifully again for the woodland scenes in A Story for Bear.

||A Story for Bear is available in the We Heart Books store||

My copy of Katie has lost it’s dust jacket and is falling apart- it has been very well loved.

Written by Richenda and David Martin and published in 1974 it is based on the true story of the authors black and white kitten named Katie.

‘Mr and Mrs Dodds lived in the Australian countryside with their son, Ian. Mr Dodds wrote books and Mrs Dodds taught in the little bush school. In summer the big wide shady veranda of their house was also the schoolroom.’

Ian is given a kitten one day by the post mistress in their small town and he calls her Katie. She is a tabby cat with a white bib and four white socks plus a white tip on the end of her tail. Katie likes to snuggle in warm cosy places and one morning when Mr Dodds is getting ready for a trip to the big city Katie falls asleep in his suitcase.

And so the story goes; poor Mr Dodds is stuck in the big city with a kitten in his case and a meeting with his editor imminent and meanwhile back at home Ian, his mother and the school children are frantically searching for the cat.

Silly Mr Dodds tries the police station to get some help with the kitten and then he can’t get a hotel room because the town is full ‘…on account of the big cattle sales this week’ In the end, alls well as he leaves the kitten with a friend’s family, attends his meeting and eventually takes Katie home to the country.

Although this was a cute story I have realised that it’s the illustrations that really make this picture book special. The story is quite long, and a little strange but it is Noela Young’s gorgeous illustrations of this curious little kitten that I fell in love with ‘when I was little’ and fell in love with again now. Some stories and characters I remember vividly from childhood and I have found that that is also true with illustrations.

This illustration of Katie the kitten asleep in a dolls pram with paws wrapped around a dolls bottle is one that I absolutely remember fondly.

Noela Young also illustrated the classic Muddle-Headed Wombat series of books written by Ruth Park. Katie is now out of print.

A guest post by Sue, Mum to Katie, and Nanou to Rowan.

Some of the books I particularly remember from my childhood were the special ones that my paternal grandmother, known affectionately as Marty, kept in a wardrobe for visiting grandchildren. I visited quite frequently, often staying during school holidays and I have vivid memories of these times and being snugly curled up in a very comfortable bed with a selection of books for reading ‘in the morning’ before Marty got up. Books were important to her and an obvious presence in her home. She valued them greatly and indulged in purchasing them from the Folio Society, a luxury she couldn’t really afford. Although we didn’t get many presents from her, when we did they were often books.

All the children’s books in Marty’s wardrobe were produced in the late 1940s or early 1950s and so all now suffer from yellowed paper which is quite embrittled; most have been read so many times that they have been mended in the past with Sellotape, and so are quite stained along the spine edges.

My favourites were the titles from Peg Matby’s Ben and Bella series and Marty had a number of them. However, there were also four books which now are of interest looking back as an adult and with my ‘social historian’s hat’ on. They are the Adventure series produced by Barker & Company and printed in Australia “by the New ‘FANTASCOPIC’ Method.” (I haven’t been able to find out exactly what this method was, but it supposedly produced more realistic colour.) Two of the four titles have been passed down to me: The Zoo Garden Mystery by John Tombs and Excitement on Elf Island by Elsie Sheppard; both are held in the National Library of Australia and listed as printed in 1948. Other titles are The Story of Thought Castle and Fairy Grandmother’s Story. There is no mention of illustrators and as the style differs, I imagine that Tombs and Sheppard were both author and illustrator. A number of internet sites list the titles as rare and have them for sale, for widely varying prices, but most do not seem to have stood the test of time any better than mine.

A re-reading of the stories is somewhat disappointing. I did like these books as a child, although now I cannot imagine why! Both have the text pre-eminent in a central box on each page with illustrations awkwardly placed surrounding them. Both are text heavy and John Tombs particularly tends to over-write. The language is very dated and at times overly moralistic, but what does interest me now is seeing the resurgence of an Australian orientation, post-World War 2. This is obvious in the case of the The Zoo Garden Mystery. My copy has koalas in a gum tree on the cover and indigenous fauna mixed with exotic zoo creatures central to the story. This focus is less obvious in Excitement on Elf Island, but the gum trees are there and are something that the publisher feels the need to explain.

Time and perspective change. The importance of these books was not intrinsic. What was important was the love of books that they helped develop.

Have you seen the latest post on the gorgeous Magnolia Square Little Snippets blog?

It is a review by us of the stunning picture book Madlenka by Peter Sis. If you are looking for a present for an independent and inquisitive little girl aged 4 plus then this book is perfect.

Little Snippets is the new blog by the clever girls from Magnolia Square markets that is devoted to children’s product. The next Magnolia Square Market will be held in Sydney July 2nd to 4th and we will be there selling beautiful books – of course! AND holding storytimes – Yippee.

Hop over to Little Snippets to find out all the details.

I love Jon J Muth’s work so much and was thrilled to find this clip this morning via Fuse #8. Muth discusses working on the illustrations for an adaptation of The Stonecutter, a Chinese fable, rooted in Taoist principles. Originally published in a limited, fine art edition and long out of print it has just been re released in the US.

It took my breath away when I first watched it and I’m sure you will all feel the same.

||More Jon J Muth||

Thanks to Fuse #8 today I found this new book illustrated by the amazing Parisian Marc Boutavant that will be released later this year. Absolutely can’t wait for this one. These pics are from the Chronicle Books Blog.

Marc is the author and illustrator of one of the most popular books in our store Around the World With Mouk. His books are the most incredible explosions of colour and character, vibrant, cute, slightly trippy and very, very cool.

Then to my absolute excitement I came across this incredibly delicious blog while searching for the new Boutavant title. It is full of the most gorgeous photo’s of retro and vintage picture books as well as information about the best illustrators in the business. A definite bookmark.

||For Just One Day and Around the World with Mouk are available in the We Heart Books store||

Since it was first released late last year, we’ve seen Dallas Clayton’s creation, An Awesome Book, featured on numerous fabulous blogs. Check out Design Mom, D Sharp, Oh Happy Day, frolic!, and Meet Me At Mikes for just a few.

So we’re very excited to now have copies in our hot little hands – and in our store!

It’s hard to find a good word to describe a book that already calls itself awesome, but this book lives up to expectations. Imaginative, thought-provoking, inspiring, it’s reminiscent of the best classic children’s books, yet it is different to anything I’ve come across before.

Best just to take a look for yourself, and you can flick through the entire book here.

We felt very honoured to have a chance to interview Dallas, the writer, illustrator and publisher of An Awesome Book.

Can you tell us how your book came about? Where did the inspiration come from?

I wrote it for my son, to have something nice to read to him, and also to share with the world. I was inspired by everything that came before it in some way or another. But mostly by people who set out to achieve things that seemed impossible and then achieved them.

Tell us about the feeling when you opened the first box of ‘An Awesome Book’.

I was actually waiting an extra week due to postal delays and was really surprised by the size of the order. Books take up a lot of space. It’s kinda crazy. I was also quite concerned that they might come printed upside down or in the wrong colors or in another language. Honestly the emotions were relief followed shortly thereafter by joy and magic.

There is some amazing imagery created through both the illustrations and the text in ‘An Awesome Book’ – which comes first, the illustrations or the words?

Oh the words for sure. I don’t even know if I can consider myself an illustrator just yet, I’ve kinda been thrust into it and am in a sink or swim place right now. Ha!

What did you dream of when you were a child?

I wish I could remember most of them, but they vanish so quickly. Kinda the object of the book I suppose, to try and hold onto them. I know there were a lot having to do with color, and shape, and sometimes random celebrity cameos. Just the other day I had my first dream about flying. Imagine, that? Why did that take so long?

What were your favourite books when you were little?

I’ve mentioned before, I think, that I lived in England for two years when I was little. I have a small collection of books from that time, the Little Grey Rabbit books, by Alison Uttley. When I opened one this week, the inscription reminded me of a very special birthday party my mum put on for me when we were living in England. The inscription is from my aunty Jenny, and reads:

To Katie, Happy Grey Rabbit Party Day. Love Jen.

Alison Uttley wrote over 100 books, including the Little Grey Rabbit series, Sam Pig books and a novel, A Traveller in Time. For her era – born in 1884 – she was clearly  lucky to be able to get an education that matched her intellect. She progressed to Manchester University, where she got a scholarship to study physics – and became the second woman to graduate with honours.

I also learnt that Uttley’s writing career came about when she began writing to support herself (and her son) after her husband died in 1930 from deteriorating health complications due to the First World War.

Each of the little books tells a short story about one of the characters in Little Grey Rabbit’s world – there is the gentle and endearing Little Grey Rabbit, cheeky Hare who often thinks of his stomach first, and the slightly vain but helpful Squirrel. There is a lovely tenderness in the characters that Uttley creates, and the stories convey a certain time and place: a time when gipsies came to call, when clothes were washed in a tub, and children paid a penny to go to school each day.

The soft watercolour illustrations by Margaret Tempest, reproduced in full colour on every page, are integral to the loveliness of this series – with coordinating borders and in various shapes, they seem like a peephole to the world described by Uttley.

Alison Uttley died in 1976, but – judging by my party’s theme – clearly her Little Grey Rabbit books were still popular in the 80s. It also appears that velvet party dresses were in vogue that year…

I remember loving our hats – made by mum – each one denoting a different character. No surprise, look who got to play Little Grey Rabbit! And from the background of the photo above, it looks like we played ‘Pin the tail on Grey Rabbit’. 

Even my cake has a scene with rabbits… Mum did a great birthday party.

Today Ned and I started swimming lessons again after a rather long absence. Although we have been to the pool as a family and splashed around, Ned was not sure about the water today at all.

This afternoon I dug out a book for us to read together called Swim, Little Wombat, Swim! by one of my favorite illustrators, Charles Fuge. Little Wombat has the most amazing expressions and is such a loveable little character.

In this book Wombat meets Platypus and has a little giggle at him because he looks funny and walks differently. When wombat falls in the stream Platypus rescues him and begins to teach him how to swim.

‘That afternoon, Little Wombat learnt to paddle like a dog…and dive like a frog!

The real centre of the storyline is friendship and accepting others differences but it is also a great book for introducing children to the concept of swimming and being taught to swim. Fuge’s illustrations are so expressive that they clearly show little ones the confidence and joy that Wombat gains from Platypus teaching him swimming skills.

There is a beautiful bind up edition of all the Wombat stories currently available called The Adventures of Little Wombat.

Another gorgeous book about swimming for older children is the picture book The Deep written by arguably Australia’s best storyteller, Tim Winton, and beautifully illustrated by Karen Louise. This book is about the ocean rather than a pool. The main character is Alice who despite living by the sea is scared of the ocean, the deep. Her brothers and sisters love the sea but Alice is afraid of what she can’t see beneath the surface. I can really relate to this book as I too am not sure about the sea and have never been quite comfortable in it but just as Alice finds sometimes you can just let yourself relax and discover its beauty.

||Swim, Little Wombat, Swim! available online from Amazon||

||The Deep available online from Amazon||

||The Adventures of Little Wombat available online from Amazon||

People who know me well know that I have a soft spot for the moon. Which might have been the first thing that led me to pick up a copy of a new book by Tohby Riddle, Nobody Owns the Moon. That and the distinctly urban look of the cover in beautifully muted shades of colour.

Nobody Owns the Moon opens with an arresting and evocative line: ‘The fox is one of the only wild creatures in the world that can successfully make a life for itself in cities.’ The facing illustration pictures a fox in brown cords and a shirt and jumper sitting in an armchair. Through a window we can see a city streetscape.

What follows is a quirky and whimsical story about life in a big city – told from the perspectives of two characters living somewhat on its perimeter. Clive Prendergast is a fox with a regular job and apartment and he leads his life with a confident, unassuming attitude. His friend Humphrey is a donkey, a sensitive soul, who can’t keep a job for long and doesn’t always have a fixed address. One day, Humphrey finds a special-looking envelope, which gives Clive and Humphrey the entree into a very special night on the town.

The story cleverly and sensitively conveys some thoughts on life in a big city – in a rarely found non-stereotypical way. A city can be beautiful, can be full of constrasts, and a sense of belonging in a city can be contradictory. The text is made up of a series of thought-provoking lines, and alongside the illustrations convey many subtle messages. I love the style of illustration of this book, which is mixed media and collage. On Tohby’s website, you can read about some of the techniques he uses to construct the illustrations.

Locals might recognise Tohby’s style from his regular cartoons in the Saturday Good Weekend magazine (with both The Age and Sydney Morning Herald). He’s also the author of several picture books, including The Great Escape from City Zoo.

And speaking of very urban-styled picture books, the super-stylish blog, Inchmark, is doing a series of posts this week on children’s books on New York. I can’t wait to read her recommendations.

||Nobody Owns the Moon available from Readings||

||The Great Escape from City Zoo available from Amazon||

||Tohby Riddle’s website||