The Garden of Inside-Outside by Chiara Mezzalama illustrated by Regis Lejonic translated by Sarah Ardizzone

"Why do people wage wars?' I used to ask her. 

'Sometimes, people grow mad - with anger, with hatred - they lose their grip on words 

and choose weapons instead. 
The truth is I don't know the answer to your question."

In 1979, the Shah of Iran was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution. On 4th November 1979 fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were taken hostage in their embassy. They were held there for 444 days. During this time the father of the author of this book was appointed Italy's ambassador to Iran. This story begins in the summer of 1981.

Inside the children have a place to play filled with flowers and insects and ponds and hiding places. Outside "gunfire, exploding bombs and cries drowned out every sound."

"The city had grown. So had the women and men. People queued for food. Everywhere there were soldiers with heavy boots and big beards, their riffles slung across their shoulders. The city-monster made us feel very frightened."

One day a little boy from outside finds a way to come inside their garden. The children do not share a language, but they do share their imaginations. They play a game of princes and princesses set in times past where people were free to play music and dance and enjoy beautiful things. After their game the little girl tries to give a gift to the boy, but he rejects her t-shirt and flees. He is gone for a long time but when he eventually returns he has a gift for the girl.

"It wasn't a gift. It was a swap."

With exquisitely detailed and evocative images recalling fairy tales and exploring Iran’s artistic heritage – fantasies and ideas about Iran swirling together with glimpsed experiences – this book offers an unusual and breathtaking perspective on conflict: it’s noisy and terrifying even from the safety of their diplomatic compound, so how must it feel out there on the street? This is also a story of childhood defiance and testing barriers. It’s a timely reminder to adults that while we put up barriers to keep our children safe, they still need space to rebel, to find their own freedom and privacy. But above all, it’s a book about the need for friendship, even when there is no common language. Chiara has her brother, but he’s not the same. Her agony is real when she worries she has scared Massoud off or insulted him by offering him a gift of her t-shirt to replace his torn one. She fears she won’t see him again. But he does brave the jump over the wall again, wearing her t-shirt, and he gives her something, a tiny cat carved out of wood. “It wasn’t a gift, it was a swap.” They couldn’t talk, they didn’t know each for long, but they had both entered each other’s lives and made a lasting impression. Book Island Instagram

The Garden of Inside-Outside was first published in French as Le jardin du dedans-dehors, Les Editions des Elephants, France, 2017. Here is some background reading for teachers.

More than a story of childhood fantasy, this book provides a powerful treatise on civil war and its impact on young lives, on both sides of any political conflict. It raises interesting philosophical thoughts for readers of all ages on the futility of war and the power of friendship to overcome political, cultural and physical barriers. IBBY.uk

With war and political division as widespread and relevant today, this is a touching story about breaching walls and bridging cultures. The kindness of childhood friendship contrasts with the brutality of adult conflict. Inside the physically imprisoning garden wall, the children establish trust, overcome misunderstanding and find freedom, while terror grips the city outside. The bright colours and black outlines of the illustrations capture effectively both the bloody, unyielding horrors of war and the vivid dream-world of the children as they explore the garden. Children's Books Ireland

You can see inside this book here. 

The publisher Book Island have some teachers resources which include:

• Introduction by the publisher (video) (She mentions the Book Island author interview but this is no longer available).
• Interview with the illustrator (video)
• Art class with the illustrator (PDF): draw your own marvellous garden in eight steps
• Drama activities (PDF), including suitcase stories and soundscapes
• Narration of the story
• Teaching notes written by Dr Ann Alston

Here is an interview with the illustrator Regis Lejonic with Library Mice.

I am not entirely sure about the audience for The Garden of Inside-Outside. I am going to suggest this is a picture book for older readers from Grades 5-8. You could most certainly use the illustrator video interview with a High School art group. See full size images from the book. I put graphic novel as a descriptor but this book is not exactly a graphic novel nor is it a conventional picture book. 

Régis Lejonc is a French illustrator, cartoonist, screen writer and author. He has illustrated over 60 books and was the first French illustrator to win the prestigious Prix Sorcières, the French Independent Booksellers’ Award twice in one year. 

Here are some other books about walls for older readers:

Suri's Wall

With older students you could used these novels as companion reads:

The wall between us

A Great escape

The Space Between by Jess McGeachin

Max and Milo live side by side in two houses which luckily are located out in the countryside because both boys love to look up at the stars and if you have ever done this you will know the view in a very dark country sky is so much better than trying to star gaze in the city with all our light pollution.

Max and Milo enjoy their daily routines and then one day they find an old, abandoned car and their imaginations soar! This is not a car it is a rocket and with a few easy repairs it can fly them up into space. As they work on their rocket Milo says something important but Max is not paying attention:

"We'll need navigation' explained Milo, and he drew a map of the solar system. 'Now we'll always know where we are, even if we're far apart. Even if one of us has to move away ... "

The boys complete their rocket and have a fabulous evening exploring space. Grandma is waiting for their return with a pate of sliced oranges. Everything seems so perfect but ... 

Here are some teachers notes from the publisher. You can see art from The Space Between here. When you share this book make sure you spend time enjoying and laughing over the end papers!

This book "embodies all of the best parts of imaginative play". Kids' Book Review. Take a few minutes to read this detailed guest post by Jess McGeachin on Paperbark Words. He says:

It’s this capacity for imagination that I wanted to explore in the story, and the hope that there’s no problem too big to fix with some cardboard and sticky tape.

... this one has all the warmth of a cosy blanket and a mug of hot chocolate, with a lovely look at both imagination and enduring friendship. Just so Stories

This is a perfect book to open up conversations about moving house, friendship, imaginative play and the importance of our connections with one another even if we are separated. 

The CBCA judges said in their Notables report:  Strong characterisations are achieved with a light touch, and visual and textual elements combine to create a strong sense of place in the rural setting. The illustrations are beautiful, with a strong, warm colour palette that bring the story to life.

I was thrilled to see Jess McGeachin has two books on the 2025 CBCA Notables lists - this one The Space Between is on the Picture Book of the Year list and South with the Seabirds is on the Non Fiction Eve Pownall list.

It's my Rubber Band by Shinsuke Yoshitake

A young child finds a rubber band (or as we call it here in Australia an elastic band). 

"Yay! I have a rubber band. This is MY rubber band! ... And I can do anything I want with it. Isn't that great? This rubber band is just for ME and not for anyone else!"

The little girl imagines all the fun she can have with this special object - it might be a useful fashion accessory; or it could secure all the love letters she receives; or it could catch all the bad people; defend earth from aliens; it can be used as a sling for a broken arm; or for exercise; and it might even be useful as a way travel far away and then play with all the animals of the world. But do rubber bands last forever?

Bookseller blurb: Have you ever wanted something that was just yours? Not someone else's hand-me-down... Not something that you had to share... Not something that you could only borrow for a little while... Something that was yours and yours alone to play with, to dream about, and more... It's My Rubber Band explores how a cherished everyday object can become a catalyst for curiosity, play and a profound sense of connection. With a special object of one's very own, the possibilities are as limitless as the imagination!

A message to savor, delivered with a light touch and contagious glee. Kirkus Star review

I smiled through every page of this book and then laughed at loud with the terrific twist on the final page. The retail price of this book is AUS$30 but I found an online seller here in Australia with a better price. When I first read this book, I thought it might be fun to give each child in the library an elastic band but then I thought about the safety issues if the young children decided to try using the band as a catapult or to flick around the library so I guess this might not be a good idea. Putting these concerns aside, I do think this book would be a good addition to your school library because it is such a joyous celebration of imagination and finding delight in small things. 

In the US this book has a slightly different title.

Check out my previous post about Shinsuke Yoshitake.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

"We need a place ... just for us. It would be so secret we would never tell anyone in the whole world about it ... It might be a whole secret country ... 

and you and I would be rules of it."

"Sometimes it seemed to him that his life was delicate as a dandelion. One little puff from any direction, and it was blown to bits."

You are probably familiar with this famous book so I thought I would share a few text quotes:

"It was May Belle who came to tell him in the bean patch that people were moving into the old Perkins place down on the next farm. Jess wiped the hair out of his eyes and squinted. Sure enough. A U-Haul was parked right by the door. One of those big jointed ones. These people had a lot of junk. But they wouldn't last."

"Miss Edmunds, the music teacher. She was the only one he dared to show anything to, and she'd only been at school one year, and then only on Fridays. Miss Edmunds was one of his secrets. He was in love with her. Not the kind of silly stuff Ellie and Brenda giggled about on the telephone. This was too real and too deep to talk about, even to think about very much. Her long swishy black hair, blue eyes ... Lord, she was gorgeous. And she liked him too."

'We just moved in,' ... 'I thought we might as well be friends ... There's no one else close by.'

Girl he decided. definitely a girl, but he couldn't have said why he was suddenly sure. She was about his height - not quite though, he was pleased to realise as she came nearer. 

'My name's Leslie Burke.'

She even had one of those dumb names that could go either way ...

"Jess drew the way some people drink whisky. The peace would start at the top of his muddled brain, and seep down through his tired and tensed-up body. Lord, he loved to draw."

'We've been away for many years ... How do you suppose the kingdom has fared in our absence?' 

'Where've we been?'

'Conquering the hostile savages on our northern borders ... But the lines of communication have been broken, and thus we do not have tiding of our beloved homeland for many a full moon.'

How was that for regular queen talk? Jess wished he could match it."

"They took turns swinging across the gully on the rope. It was a glorious autumn day, and if you looked up as you swung, it gave you the feeling of floating. Jess leaned back, and drank in the rich, clear colour of the sky. He was drifting, drifting like a fat white lazy cloud back and forth across the blue."

"Somehow this year May Belle needed something special. She was always moping around. He and Leslie couldn't include her in their activities, but that was hard to explain to someone like May Belle."

"Later that afternoon Leslie gave Jess is present. It was a box of watercolours with twenty-four tubes of colour and three brushes and a pad of heavy art paper. ...'It's not a great present like yours,' she said humbly, 'but I hope you'll like it."

"They smiled at each other trying to ignore May Bell's anxious little voice, 'But Leslie,' she insisted. 'What if you die? What's going to happen to your if you die?"

Awards:

• 1977 ALA Notable Children’s Books
• 1977 School Library Journal Best Book of the year
• 1978 Newbery Medal
• 1978 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
• 1981 Janusz Korczak Medal (Poland)
• 1981 Silver Pencil Award (Netherlands)
• 1986 Le Grand Prix des Jeunes Lecturs (France)
• 1986 Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award

I have begun reading children's classic books - I picked up a few at a recent charity book sale. These are mostly books I have read previously - in most cases decades ago. Bridge to Terabithia was published in 1977 so I did not read this when I was in Primary school. I think perhaps I read it some time in the early 1980s. Re-reading this over the last day I had forgotten most of the plot details and even though I did remember the tragedy of this story I did cry on the train yesterday when I reached the final chapters. I had totally forgotten the relationship between Jess and his little sister May Beth and in my memory there was a funeral but I think I mixed this book up with another tragic story - A Taste of Blackberries.

Book seller blurb: Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.

Read the Kirkus Star review from 1977. It is interesting reading this 2013 review from Kids' Book Review which is an Australian site - the reviewer had never read this classic book prior to her review. I am not sure Bridge to Terabithia should be used as a class novel (I do know this happens in lots of schools) but if you have some time to think more deeply about this book take a look at these notes and questions. 

Eight Memorable Facts About ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ (source Mental Floss)

• Before writing Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson wanted to be a missionary in China.
• Bridge to Terabithia was inspired by a real-life incident.

When Paterson’s son David was just 8 years old, he had a best friend named Lisa Hill. The two frequently hung out near a creek bed in Takoma Park, Maryland. Tragically, Lisa died after being struck by lightning.

• The name Terabithia came from another book.

“I realized when the book was nearly done, that there is an island in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis called ‘Terebinthia.’ I’m sure I borrowed that unconsciously, but, then, so would Leslie who loved the Chronicles of Narnia. And, by the way, Lewis got Terebinthia from the biblical terebinth tree, so it wasn’t original with him either.”

• Paterson thought Bridge to Terabithia would be “too personal” to succeed ...
• ... And her son found it hard to read.
• Bridge to Terabithia is a highly controversial book.

The book often lands on the American Library Association’s list of banned library books

• There won’t be a sequel.
• Bridge to Terabithia has been adapted twice as a movie 1985 and 2007

I have added some other books by Katherine Paterson to my 'to re-read' list - The Great Gilly Hopkins, Flip Flop Girl, The Same Stuff as Stars and The Field of Dogs. 

The imaginative play in their world of Terabithia and the life tragedy also made me think of this old Australian book Swashbuckler.

Here are some books by Katherine Paterson that I have explored on this blog:

Bread and Roses too

My Brigadista Year

The Friendship Bench by Wendy Meddour illustrated by Daniel Egneus

Tilly has moved to a new house. She has her good friend Shadow but Shadow is a dog and so he is not allowed to go to school. Tilly feels lost and alone at school until her teacher suggests she try the friendship bench. But when Tilly walks across to the friendship bench someone else is sitting there. Then the teacher suggests trying again. A little boy is sitting there. He explains the bench is broken. Is there some way these two kids can get this bench to work?

Read this perfect first sentence (sigh - the illustration shows a lighthouse and I hope you saw one on the cover):

"Tilly and Shadow had found a new home by the splash and curl of the sea."

Think about that beautiful phrase - the splash and curl of the sea. 

Oh, and wait until you see the teacher - he looks like an old seafaring grandfather with his big white beard and Fair Isle pattern jumper. It is a small school - perhaps it is on an island?

And there is a whole conversation to be had from the final wordless double spread. 

The Friendship Bench is rich in meaning, pathos, hope and soaring, subtle images. Bookwagon

The Friendship Bench was published in 2022. It is available in paperback so can I suggest you jump in quickly and add it to your school library shopping list. Books today do not stay in print for very long and this is a book you absolutely must add to your collection. It would be the perfect book for your younger classes to hear at the start of the year. I highly recommend this book. It is worth shopping around, though, I've seen it listed between AUS$17 and AUS$26.50. As a quiet and shy child I am sure if I had heard this book when I was younger this book would have touched my heart and given me the hope of finding a true friend. 

Companion books:

Blue Flower

Neville

Mustafa

Luli and the Language of Tea

Each book by Wendy Meddour and Daniel Egneus sensitively explores feelings in a way in which young children can understand and empathise with. Moving house and/or school is such a significant event at any time of life, but for some children, particularly those who are quiet or shy, it can be really difficult. Through the Bookshelf

Wendy Meddour is a fairly new discovery of mine, but I have to say I have totally fallen in love with her books and with the illustrations by Daniel Egneus.

Lubna and Pebble

Tisha and the Blossom

If I was a Horse by Sophie Blackall

Begin here with this video where Sophie talks about her book. 

'If I was a Horse is for anyone who ever wanted, 
even for a moment, to be something else.'

Now pick up the book and move the cover up and down so you can see the glitter on the tutu. I am very curious about the image under the dust jacket but sadly my copy, borrowed from a library, is covered in plastic so I cannot check this - I know Farmhouse also by Sophie Blackall had a delicious image hiding under the dust jacket so I assume there is one here too. 

If you watched the video above you have seen the end papers in action - pictures of horses - sophisticated and simple galloping across the page. 

Image source - Books of Wonder

Book seller blurb: If I was a horse, I would gallop all day. I could go anywhere I want . . . If you were a horse, what would you do? Could you fit in your clothes? Would you give your little sister a ride? Would your brother even notice? Gallop along with two-time Caldecott Medallist Sophie Blackall through this riotous day in the life of a child who imagines their life as a horse. Sophie's delightful text and resonant illustrations that feature a giant horse in familiar settings offer a visual feast, a grand dose of joy and a celebration of the real power of imagination to help us navigate the world.

Here are some excellent very detailed teachers notes for If I was a Horse. And also a set from Lamont Books (I highly recommend their Standing Order service).

Each page in this charmer contains one easy sentence or phrase that expresses an idea about “horsiness,” allowing very young listeners or emergent readers to focus on the clear, simple language and to follow up with their own imaginative responses. Kirkus

Blackall has created a wonderful story around a not uncommon childhood dream of being someone or something else. With the girl imagining herself to be a horse, we hear of all the things she most loves in the world, and the things she is not too keen on or thinks less of. If she was a horse, she would  gallop all day, going anywhere she wanted to, but come home for a meal. She would let her little sister ride on her back to school, where everyone would welcome her onto their team, but her older brother would not believe her. In the rain she would stay outside, rolling in the mud, laughing all the while. ReadPlus

Gallop along with two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall through this riotous day in the life of a child who imagines their life as a horse. What ensues are uproarious, resonant episodes that feature a giant horse in familiar settings offering both a visual feast, a grand dose of joy, and a celebration of the real power of imagination to help us navigate the world. Powells

Check out my blog post where I explore other books by Sophie Blackall - she is a favourite illustrator of mine. Here is her webpage. 

If I was a Horse has been shortlisted by our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) for the 2024 Picture Book of the Year award. 

Here are the judges' comments: Attention is demanded right from the appealing dust jacket and clever endpaper illustrations that communicate the context of childhood growth beautifully. Full of imagination and gentle humour, the main character leads the reader through highly relatable aspects of family life through the perspective of a horse. The delightful illustrations provide outstanding detail and invite the reader to pore over the images. The simple plot is expressed through scarce but rhythmic text, with the exquisite illustrations doing most of the storytelling. The clever representation of home and school settings effectively contributes to the storyline of playful rebellion against the ‘constraints’ of childhood.

Tiny things to notice in the illustrations in If I was a Horse:

• Title page - horse shoe on their front door
• Painting of an apple - you will see more apples on the following pages (such as the lounge room).
• The dappled coat of the horse matches the t-shirt worn by the older sibling
• The flowers in the field on the first page echo the wall paper and also contain dandelions which we associate with wishes
• In the kitchen there is a bowl of apples; there is only one cookie in their cookie jar; and dad has given the kids tiny carrots with their sandwiches. Horse love carrots.
• On the school window you can see a sketch of each child in the class including one child who has drawn a horse!
• The brother loves knitting. You can see the wool trailing across the floor while he works on the computer and later we see him knitting while mum is reading (a book) and dad is reading (his Kindle) on the lounge.
• Every room in the house has a book collection - even the bathroom!
• The horse drawing on the child's bedroom wall is the same image as the one we saw on the end papers.
• The night scene also has a trojan horse; a horse race poster; and even horse stickers on the bed - this kid really loves horses. 
• On the back cover the child has a horse on their backpack and a first place ribbon. There is a painting on the wall of a horse running across a field. This house must have two staircases because the wall paper on the back cover is different from the front cover.

Do you remember the picture book Daddy's Having a Horse. I remember Lisa Shanahan talking about hearing a young child talking at the shops. The child declared mummy's having a baby and daddy's having a horse and thus a book idea was born! I kept thinking about that book when I read If I was a Horse because this book was also inspired by a simple conversation with a young child.

With your class or library group it would be good to talk about the skill needed to draw horses. I do have a Pinterest collection of picture books about horses. The link to the teachers notes above also contain a list of terrific picture books that feature horses and horse riding. 

Here are some books I really like about horses.

This is a splendid junior novel with brilliant sketches of horses. Jerry

Merrylegs

Have you seen Dinosaur? by David Barrow

This is one of those terrific books where your young reading companion (aged 2+) will know way more than the main character.  Yes, there are plenty of dinosaurs but the little boy keeps missing them. You will even see one on the end papers.

I counted seven dinosaurs on the final page. Why not head to your library now and go to the non fiction shelf [567.9] and grab a few dinosaur books and then try to identify the dinosaurs in this book. There are other visual jokes too - such as the pigeon and the dog on each page. Watch out - the pigeon is riding a skateboard. I also love all the characters on the train especially the punk girl with her spiked hair and nose ring. This is a book you could also share with a slightly older group who might identify all the environmental print - street signs, newspapers, even number plates!

The joy of this book lies in the interplay between the dead-pan words on the page: ‘None here. Let’s keep looking.’, the images and the reader’s engagement with the search. ... This is a book to share time and again with readers from two or three upwards who won’t get tired of dinosaur hide and seek. Just Imagine

This is also a lovely story about friendship, and Barrow’s artwork is dreamy, painterly and stunning as well as being totally perfect for young readers. A fabulous read for any time of day, which will definitely get plenty of repeat reads. Book Trust

Here is an interview with David Barrow. He lists his own favourite illustrators as:  Brian Wildsmith, Alice and Martin Provensen, Evaline Ness, and David McKee. I’m also drawn to modern artists with a unique visual language, such as Isabelle Arsenault, Marta Altés and Birgitta Sif.

Have you seen Dinosaur is the sequel to this:

Leo and Ralph by Peter Carnavas

 

Image source: Peter Carnavas

"Just because you couldn't see something, didn't mean it wasn't there."

Video from UQP

Leo's head is full of wonder. 

"His head was filled with questions. Were his footsteps like earthquakes for tiny bugs in the grass. Why was an apple called an apple and cake called cake? What if everyone slept during the day and stayed awake at night?"

One day he sees a white balloon floating in the sky. How long will it float? Will it float forever? Where will it come down? What if the wind blows it higher? Where does the sky end? His mother uses the word forever and so Leo's fascination with space, the universe, aliens, and other worlds begins.

"The whole sky - all that endless space - was suddenly inside him, filling his chest until he thought he might burst. It was the most exciting thing he had ever heard."

Other kids don't exactly reject Leo, but he just doesn't fit in at school. Games are confusing, he takes a long while to answer questions, and all that noise from crowds of kids are just too much for young Leo. Then one day Ralph arrives. Actually, he turns up when Leo sees another white balloon in the tree outside his room. Ralph has come from another planet. Ralph is the perfect friend. Now Leo can cope with life, and he no longer needs to worry that he is disappointing his mum and dad. But Ralph does tell Leo he will stay for "as long as you need me." Does this mean one day Ralph will need to leave?

Allison Tait was also deeply affected by this book - she says it contains a stunning "depiction of loneliness and not fitting in and trying to follow the instructions of well-meaning parents and the sheer overwhelm of trying to make a friend when you're not sure how."  "It's a wonderful ode to the power of the imagination."  Your Kids Next Read podcast from [10.36- 14.49].

I went to the post office on Friday and there were three parcels waiting for collection. One was this book sent by the publisher University of Queensland Press. I can hardly describe the wonderful experience of reading this book this morning. Peter Carnavas has done it again! There is just the right amount of tension in this story to keep you turning the page and just the right depth of emotion. I cared so much about young Leo - I almost held my breath through the first fifty pages. Things are so hard for young Leo. I also needed those hugs that Peter Carnavas includes in the story from mum, dad, his little sister Peg and especially from Ralph.

I know it is very early in the year, but I am certain this book will be a CBCA (Children's Book of Australia) Younger Readers notable title and surely it will also make the short list. Leo and Ralph will be published on 1st March, 2024.

There are so many FABULOUS things about this book - the writing, the character of Leo, his journey through this early part of his life and the beautifully expressive writing of Peter Carnavas. Here are a few phrases which I loved reading:

"Leo stood in the playground in the shade of his big bucket hat. He looked like a tiny beach umbrella."

"Inside his belly, a thick lump of worry washed away like a fistful of sand in the ocean."

'Dundle was orange-brown. And oven-hot. As Leo stood with his family on the footpath of the main street, he felt like a blob of dough crisping into a biscuit."

I also love the wonderful teachers in this story. Every teacher is kind to Leo and accepting of Ralph culminating with Ms Pengari his Grade Four teacher who wears crazy costumes every day (rather like Ms Frizzle from The Magic School bus series). Her clothes match the class topic. Below are a few descriptions. I know Peter Carnavas is a teacher - I wonder if he might be just like Ms Pengari or perhaps he worked with a colleague like her. I do hope she is a real person. So often I read books about 'out of step kids' like Leo and their teachers are totally demonized. I just wanted to meet and hug every one of Leo's teachers and thank them for their kindness. 

Here are some descriptions of Ms Pengari:

"A woman stepped out, wearing a flowery Hawaiian shirt, fluoro yellow boardshorts and a pair of slippers. She had rainbow zinc stiped across her face and she wore a big floppy hat and sunglasses."

"She wore a back witch's hat and carried a plastic wand, ready for the next lesson about the magic of measurement."

"She wore and eyepatch and a pirate hat and waved a plastic sword. 'Yarrrr! What's taking ye so long? we're about to set sail to the land of fractions."    

"She wore a pair of pilot's goggles strapped to her head - they were supposed to be flying to the twin islands of Area and Perimeter ..."

I am sure you know the expression show don't tell - there are two utterly wonderful examples of this in Leo and Ralph - one has to do with Leo's friend Gus and the other is something his mother says close to the end of the book - a precious moment of connection that is sure to make you smile.

Leo and Ralph will arrive in schools over the coming weeks. It is a title that has been included in several standing order selections.

If you read this book with an older reader (say 10+) try to find The Watertower by Gary Crew - I had the illustrations in this book in my mind when Leo saw the strange water tower in his new town of Dundle. 

I do really enjoy books about imaginary friends. My all-time favourite is O'Diddy but it is a very old book and long long out of print sadly.

I would also pair this book with The Year of Billy Miller and A boy called Bat. For older readers I also suggest Things seen from Above and Sunshine by Marion Dane Bauer. Also look for Crenshaw.

Here are the two other junior novels by Peter Carnavas - every Primary school library in Australia (and beyond) should also add these to their library collection.

My Brother Ben

The Elephant