Old Fellow by Christopher Cheng illustrated by Liz Anelli

I like the enigma at the beginning of this sweet story - who is the 'old fellow'? Is the old dog or his elderly owner? It takes until the fourth spread for this to become clear - the narrator is the old man and he is having a conversation with his very old dog and they walk to their local park.

"Goodness me! We must be slow today. There are so many dogs and people here already. Look at that puppy chasing his tail. I remember when another small puppy couldn't stop chasing his tail!"

This is  gentle story of companionship and routines of love and daily walks. The text feels so personal as we 'listen in' to the conversation which I imagine is inside the old man's head. I adore the almost soft focus light filled illustrations which contain so much detail firstly inside the man's home and later around their park. In the backgrounds you can see the city buildings and construction. The variety of people who visit the park just feel natural - there is no sense of an agenda to include old and young, different cultures and abilities. You may recognise this park - it could be Melbourne or the setting could be any city. 

At one point the old man meets a friend who invites him to play a game of chess. The man asks his dog "Have we got time?"  This made me smile because if this book has a message (not that I need one) it is that the man and his dog, for today at least, have plenty of time. There will be many more days of walks to the park even though they are both old fellows.

If you are connoisseur of end papers make sure you hunt out this book - the end papers in this book are brilliant. This is a fairly new Australian children's picture book from 2022. I have not been able to talk about many of our best books over the last 12 months because I have been a Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) picture book judge but because this book was not sent to us for judging I can talk about it.

Liz Anelli’s highly expressive, richly detailed and boldly coloured warm illustrations enrich the narrative providing further clues about the relationship between the old man and dog. Children and adults alike will delight in the brilliant detail in the illustrations which offer something new to discover each time this book is revisited. Reading Opens Doors

Try to find this book in your school or local library. It would be a beautiful one to share with a young child. I well remember the old man who lived in our street when we were children. I realise now he must have been so lonely. Perhaps this book could be a jumping off point to connect with an older person in your community. Here are some teachers notes from Scholastic Australia. You can see inside this book here and Chris Cheng has a video trailer on his web page. The Biscuit Maker (see below) would be the perfect companion book. 

Here are some other books illustrated by Liz Anelli:

The Biscuit Maker

One Photo (in the US this has the title Dad's Camera)