Terry Denton (1950-2026)

“Dad gave joy to millions of children around the world and after all those stories and all those lives he touched, he always came home to us. We are so grateful that his stories will continue to live on, bringing wonder, laughter and comfort to generations yet to come – and most especially to his beloved grandchildren, who will grow up knowing him through the magic he left behind.”

For this blog post tribute to Terry Denton I am going to focus on his older titles. I am sure others will talk about more recent ones such as Jandamarra; Moonwalkers; all those Treehouse stories written with Andy Griffiths and Can you teach a fish to climb a tree (2024). 

Make sure you take a look at paintings by Terry Denton from his web page - such an amazing talent. 

Think about some of the big names that had their work illustrated by Terry Denton - Mem Fox, Margaret Wild, Andy Griffiths, Paul Jennings, Gillian Rubinstein, Morris Lurie, Andrew Daddo, Ursula Duobsarsky, Michael Wagner, Mark Greenwood, Jane Godwin, Mike Dumbleton, Natalie Jane Prior, Richard Tulloch, Phillip Gwynne, Jenny Wagner, Margaret Clark, Justin D'Ath, Doug McLeod, Max Dann, Pamela Shrapnel, Victor Kelleher, Bill Condon, Robin Klein, Jackie French, Ted Greenwood, Dianne Bates, and Moya Simons. (source Trove)

My own favourite book illustrated by Terry Denton is Felix and Alexander - 1986 CBCA Picture Book of Year winner:

Felix and Alexander

The perfect book to share with your preschool or Kindergarten child is Ducky's Nest:

Here is my 2015 post about Ducky's Nest

About Night Noises Kirkus said: A compassionate portrait of old age, memorably extended in Denton's sharply observed pen and colored, pencil illustrations, which use frames for the three parallel stories of events in the past, outside, and by the fire.

I remember having this sweet anthology in one of my former school libraries:

You can see an original image from this book held by the NGV 

Meannie and the Min Min is a fabulous short chapter book - perfect to read aloud in a family or to a class of Grade Three children. If you can find it Max Gillies made a wonderful audio book recording of this story (on a cassette tape).

Meannie and the Min Min

Freddie the Frightened and the wondrous Ms Wardrobe

In one of my early school libraries I had a copy of The Story of Imelda who used to be small - this is the book I keep on my 'to find list' - it was such a charming story by Maurice Lurie.

Here are a couple of other picture books:

CBCA award mentions 

• Younger Readers 1995 short list Duck for Cover; 
• Younger Readers 2007 short list The Cat on the Mat is Flat; 
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• Early Childhood 2002 short list Passing On; 
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• Picture Book of the Year 1986 winner Felix and Alexander; 
• Picture Book of the Year 1994 Honour Book The Paw; 
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• Eve Pownall Award 2011 short list Wicked Warriors and Evil Emperors;
• Eve Pownall 2014 short list Jandamarra.