The Secret Boat by Mark Macleod illustrated by Helene Magisson

As a writer, I knew from childhood that poetry was what I could write. It was not a conscious choice. The form chooses you, because the kind of ‘story’ you want to tell is intimately tied up with the ways it can be told. A picture book is quite like a poem. It communicates through imagery, so it is succinct, multilayered. There are silences and gaps, where the reader is invited to fill out 

the bits of the story that are not being told in the words. Mark Macleod

This poetry collection (poems all penned by Mark Macleod) was only published in 2023 so I was surprised to find this at a recent charity book sale and it only cost $2. The retail price is $25. Then I opened it up and found this copy has been signed by Mark Macleod with the message 'thank you so much!'.  I love mysteries like this. I wonder who owned this book and why they decided to donate it to the charity book fair? I plan to gift it to either a school library or a young reader.

Bookseller blurb: The Secret Boat is a collection of poems for younger readers by Dr Mark Macleod, mixing humour and whimsy with quirky ponderings, conundrums, dreams, longings and childlike observations. The poems take the reader from beachside to countryside, from revolting to delicious, from realism to fantasy, and end with a suite of bedtime meditations. Their inclusive values and playful read-aloud language make them perfect for bedtime, the classroom and play, and offer opportunities for young people to learn and to question. Helene Magisson's meticulous and luminous illustrations enhance the magic with their subtle alternative readings.

See some of the art from this book here. I imagine this book can be found in many school and public libraries. The poems would be perfect to share with a young group of children aged 6-8. The end papers have tiny images all taken from the book - and among them I spied a pelican. Here is the poem:

Pelican

Pelican landing on the lake

slow as a seaplane

with a long swish,

your pink beak

like a cabin bag

crammed full of slippery fish.

Opposites

Under over

In and out

Up and down

Whisper shoud

Big and little

Lean and fat

Happy sad

Bumpy flat

Strong and weak

Smooth and rough

Messy neat

Gentle tough

Thick and thin

High and low

Short and long

Stop and go

Even if it is not used in the classroom formally, the images that are built as the words roll so naturally off the tongue to make the ordinary extraordinary make this just the best introduction to the poetry genre for young people and while the illustrations are exquisite, the words themselves are enough to just shut your eyes, listen and imagine.  The Bottom Shelf

I was lucky to have Mark Macleod as a lecturer of the Children's Literature course I studied in the 1970s. He certainly introduced us to some amazing books some of which I still think about such as Z for Zachariah by Robert C O'Brien; My Darling my Hamburger by Paul Zindel; and The God Beneath the Sea by Edward Blishen and Leon Garfield. And I well remember his presentation at a conference where he talked about the idea of quiet stories. Based on this I started a Pinterest of them. Mark used to pen a blog - it still makes interesting reading.

From the publisher site (Dirt Lane Press)

MARK MACLEOD has worked in almost every possible area of books for children: as a bookseller, editor, Publishing Director for Random House and for Dirt Lane Press, Publisher at Hachette Australia and as publisher under his own name imprint, Mark Macleod Books. Mark has won awards for distinguished service to Children’s Literature, and for many titles he has published, and is himself the author of several books, has been National President of the Children’s Book Council of Australia,

a television and radio presenter and a senior academic.

"As an enthusiastic young lecturer, I would go to the Children’s Bookshop in Sydney every payday, and blow far too much money on books I wanted to read, to have and to share. Those people have taught me what works."

HELENE MAGISSON is a French-Australian artist who originally trained in medieval illumination and art restoration. Since turning her skills to children’s illustration she has illustrated dozens of books, several of which have been awarded recognition. The Secret Boat is Hélène’s first book with Dirt Lane Press.