Bowerbird Blues by
Aura Parker is a Sydney based illustrator, writer & designer who makes prints, textiles and picture books. Her work is joyful, imaginative and brimming with details to explore. Her storytelling inspires imagination, courage and confidence in young readers. Aura's latest picture book, Bowerbird Blues has been chosen for National Simultaneous Storytime 2024.
This lyrical story follows the journey of a bowerbird on his quest for all things blue, all the while feeling that something is amiss in his life. The bowerbird’s collection dominated by plastic caps, straws and tags invites reflection on environmental pollution and its challenges. The story’s language is ornate, expressive and rhythmically appealing. Striking illustrations masterfully integrate with the text, significantly enhancing the narrative. The layout and design, including ‘Can you find these?’ sections at the front and back, engage readers and maintain interest throughout. The endpapers are marvellous, introducing the bowerbird in an urban setting before he discovers what’s missing in his life and closing with the bird reclaiming its harmonic existence in a lush forest with a soulmate by its side, illustrating how his life was meant to be.
Paper Flower by 
Every Night at Midnight by
Peter Cheong lives in Perth, Western Australia, with his very understanding wife and less understanding cat. He is the illustrator of I’m a Hero Too and the Pow Pow Pig series. Every Night at Midnight is his first book as both author and illustrator. Peter unfortunately cannot turn into a wolf himself but is still trying.
This highly original and engaging book about staying true to one’s identity and finding friendship in an unlikely place would be very appealing for the younger reader. Evocative language is used effectively, setting the tone for this whimsical story and maintaining mood throughout. Soft rhythm and effective repetition of phrasing reinforce elements of the narrative with a minimalistic approach used in placement of written text between each double page spread. Illustrative style is creative with colour palette perfectly matched to the written text. Design and layout are imaginative and creative in reinforcing and expanding on the narrative. Visuals provide added elements to the written text e.g. the subtle shadows in some windows towards the end of the book hint at another layer to the narrative.
That Bird has arms! by This quirky story oozes originality. It embraces popular culture, such as social media and popularity contests and cleverly explores themes of identity and accepting difference through the main character, Roy, a bird with human-like arms. The use of language is sophisticated and engaging, featuring direct speech of the avian characters alongside more traditional narration. The high-quality, colourful and engaging illustrations represent characters effectively and provide a clever sub-text to the narrative, including gentle humour appropriate for a dual audience. There is pleasing symmetry between the text and visual elements that embodies the mood and enhances the narrative. The plot that follows Roy coming to terms with his difference, as well as others’ eventual acceptance of him includes a joy-filled resolution.
If I was a horse by
Sophie Jocasta Blackall AM is an Australian artist, author, and illustrator of children's books based in Brooklyn, New York.
Attention is demanded right from the appealing dust jacket and clever endpaper illustrations that communicate the context of childhood growth beautifully. Full of imagination and gentle humour, the main character leads the reader through highly relatable aspects of family life through the perspective of a horse. The delightful illustrations provide outstanding detail and invite the reader to pore over the images. The simple plot is expressed through scarce but rhythmic text, with the exquisite illustrations doing most of the storytelling. The clever representation of home and school settings effectively contributes to the storyline of playful rebellion against the ‘constraints’ of childhood.
Timeless by
Kelly Canby is an internationally published illustrator and author. Kelly was born in London, but has lived in Australia since the age of three, which is probably around the same age she started playing with pencils and crayons, and it was probably only a few years after that that she decided playing with pencils and crayons was something she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
Witty, entertaining and visually delightful, this book delves into time and time constraints through young Emit’s eyes, whose family always craves more hours in its day. Minimal but sophisticated, the well-thought-out text distils the complexity of the abstract concept it explores, cleverly playing with time related idioms and word puns. Bright, engaging illustrations, as if hand-drawn by a child, seamlessly integrate with the printed text demonstrating excellence in design. Varied layouts and perspectives enrich the visual experience, with key ideas highlighted through vibrantly colourful large text that sometimes becomes part of the composition. The masterfully crafted endpapers, in a league of their own, entertain and encourage further reflection about time and our relationship with it, while echoing a satisfying resolution to Emit’s own search for time.
