Australia Writer and
NZ Illustrator Alicia Munday, illustrated by Carl Van Wijk
Squishy Squashy Birds Potton and Burton 2015 $19.99pb 40pp ISBN 978 1 9272 1342 1
Themes: Endangered NZ birds/ Show and tell/
Stories in rhyme
Sammy’s favourite book is Endangered Birds of New Zealand and he keeps the book safely in his
backpack. While all seems calm on the outside, inside the book is a different
story with the colourful, noisy birds all squashed up uncomfortably together
and mainly protesting
loudly (except for the Hoiho who likes it quiet) that
they really want to be in their natural places in the mountains, the bush and
sea. Then one day, Sammy opens the
book at school during Show and Tell and into the classroom fly the birds. ‘The
birds burst from the pages like a rainbow feathered sea’ and they certainly do
look like this as generously large images cover every page. This is a book that
is a pleasure to look at, to read and to handle.
Preschool up/ Age 4 up
Note to Alicia (if you should be
reading this!)
Alicia do you remember about five or six years ago you sent
me the text of this book for an assessment? Sadly I have now lost your email
address so I can’t make this more personal but I did want you to know how truly
delighted I was when the book arrived in all its magnificence in my post box
just before Easter. It’s taken a while but here it is and you and Carl must be
so proud of the way it looks. Congratulations to you both. Barbara Murison
Hello Barbara! Yes, I remember it well. Thank you for all your advice. It was invaluable. I am so glad you like the book. I hope you are well. Thanks Alicia
ReplyDeleteThanks for this Alicia. The ways of computers are strange indeed because this comment (or one very like it) came through in April 2015 when the post first went up. But, It was good to gt them both. And I hope you are well and doing a lot of new writing! Barbara M.
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