The Rainbow by Gary Crew illustrated by Gregory Rogers

"My plans seemed alright when I drew them, but I soon notices that my design was too complicated for the boys to follow. So, after a few arguments, 

we agreed to make it up as we went along."

"By the time the sandwiches were gone we were ready to launch the boat. I had bought a tin of purple paint that my mother didn't want and a brush ... so I painted the name Audrey on the front. I named it after myself, since it was my idea to build it."

The first thing to notice about this book is the slightly fuzzy or out of focus illustrations which emphasise the nostalgic feel of this story which recounts the memory of a past summer spent 'mucking about' on the river - just three kids - Geoffrey, Bruce and Audrey (our narrator).

The boys are perhaps young enough to accept a girl into their group and luckily for them she is the brains of the operation. 

"A creek runs through the bush near our house. On summer afternoons, my brother Geoffrey and his friend Bruce - an me of course - go down there to see what we can do. ... The footpath on the highway is the best place to see the creek after heavy rain in the hills."

The kids decide (without much discussion) to build a boat.

"I had prepared the drawings for this vessel during the week, getting my inspiration from the book Robinson Crusoe which Mrs Chamberlain had been reading to our class. Mrs Chamberlain is the best teacher I ever had at reading aloud. She reads with expression but isn't ridiculous like some teachers who overdo it ... "

Amazingly their boat does float and so the trio follow the creek on their adventure not knowing they will make a slightly disturbing discovery and not knowing this will be their last summer as kids who just 'muck about' together. 

Gary Crew says so much in this story but never directly - readers are left to join the dots. Audrey recalls her father using the expression 'sweet as a nut' - this is in the past tense so it is clear her father is no longer with the family. The kids take their boat to the tip and the way Audrey talks about this you know this is also an ending of this part of their lives - perhaps an ending of their childhoods. 

The title links with two parts of the story or maybe three (if you think about nostalgia or seeing the world through 'rose tinted' glasses). The kids reach a tiny weir on the river and the way the water is splashing in the sunlight it looks like a shimmering rainbow. Later, on her own, Audrey finds a crystal - a piece of quartz near where the kids originally built their boat. 

"And, when I held it to the sun, all the colours of the rainbow beamed onto my shirt, like the rainbow over the water, down by the weir."

Gary Crew and Gregory Rogers come together for the first time since the highly acclaimed Lucy's Bay to create this poetic picture book. For Audrey, the journey 'down the creek' in her tiny boat is one that marks not only the myriad changes to the physical environment she passes, but a journey within herself. She comes face to face with death, the challenges of growing up and the need to accept and move on from loss. Fantastic Fiction

The Rainbow is a quiet book - it would be good to share this with one child or a small group perhaps just before the summer holidays. I found this book at a recent charity book sale - I was so surprised because I somehow totally missed this book back in 2001. You might be lucky and find a copy in a library here in Australia. Gary Crew was our IBBY Australia Hans Christian Andersen nominee in 2024. 

Companion book:

The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis

Gary Crew has won numerous prizes and awards include CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers for Strange Objects and Angel's Gate (1991 and 1994) which also received widespread international recognition; CBCA Honour Book for Memorial (2000), CBCA Picture Book of the Year for First Light (1994); CBCA Picture Book of the Year for The Watertower (1995); The Lost Diamonds of Killiecrankie was a notable book in 1996. He is also the author of The Viewer and Mama's Babies, which were CBCA Notable Books for 1998 and 1999 respectively. Gary was the editor of the After Dark series and author of the picture books Bright Star, Troy Thompson's Excellent Peotry Book, Troy Thompson's Radical Prose Folio, Leo The Lion Tamer and Valley of Bones.

Gregory Rogers studied fine art at the Queensland College of Art. He worked in the public service for many years before taking up illustration in 1987. He illustrated scores of book covers and children's picture books, including Tracks by Gary Crew and four titles in the Lothian After Dark series: The Bent-Back Bridge, The Island, The Rings and The Fort. In 1995 Gregory became the first Australian artist to win the Kate Greenaway Medal for his illustrations in Way Home. He died in 2013.