Margaret Power illustrator 1953-2019

Margaret was a wonderful draftsperson who worked with a gentle realism, depicting the humanness of people and the animalness of creatures with amazing accuracy and sensitivity - particularly horses and cats which she knew well and loved passionately. Books Illustrated

I well remember reading Creatures in the Beard (Margaret Wild) in 1987 when it was shortlisted for Picture Book of the Year by the CBCA. Then in 1988 we had another book illustrated by Margaret Power - The Long Red Scarf (Nette Hilton) and one of my wonderful class teachers volunteered to knit us a very very very long red scarf which everyone loved to drape around our school library.

Margaret Power was also the illustrator of several titles in the Aussie Bites/Nibbles series which you can see here. I just talked about Christobel Mattingley who also died this week. Here is an interview with Margaret from 2013 about Oliver's Egg.

Here are some other older titles and book covers illustrated by Margaret Power:

Here is some more recent work by Margaret Power:

I remember titles like Spider in the toilet by Edel Wignell, And Grandad sat on Friday by Val Marshall, Daisy Drew and elephant by Michael Dugan and The Ghost in Abigail Terrace by Robin Klein. Finally here is a PM reader which may look familiar.

Christobel Mattingley 1931-2019

To be a writer is to be rich, not necessarily in money – few writers are – but to be rich in sharing and reaching out across the world, touching hearts and minds, making friends, knowing that my books are threads in the fabric of other peoples’ lives.

Image source: https://www.allenandunwin.com/authors/m/christobel-mattingley

It is with sadness I need to report the passing of Australian author Christobel Mattingley. I recently talked about one of her early books - Black Dog, as part of my series of Tuesday treasures.  I treasure my copy of The Magic Saddle and wish I had a copy of Rummage (CBCA Junior Book of the Year 1982). Below are some cover images (more here) from a few of her titles. If you visit a school library you may find some of these. It is also interesting to see the names of famous Australian illustrators such as Patricia Mullins, Elizabeth Honey, Craig Smith, Astra Lacis, Anne Spudvilas and Noela Young.

Books - Christobel Wrote 50 books of which 45 were for children. This is a partial list:

• The Picnic Dog (1970)
• Windmill at Magpie Creek (1971)
• The Battle of the Galah trees (1974) - this is a wonderful text when you are exploring local government with a senior primary class.
• Lizard Log (1975)
• New Patches for old (1977)
• The Angel with the Mouth Organ (1974) read this review This book is based on events that did happen to the illustrator Astra Lacis.

• The Magic Saddle (1983)
• The Miracle Tree (1985)

• Tuckers Mob (1992)
• No Gun for Asmir (1993)
• Asmir in Vienna (1995)
• The Race (1995) - this is a very important book to use when you are talking with a class about the special needs of some children. In this book the boy is deaf but he is also a terrific runner.

• Escape from Sarajevo (1996)
• Nest egg: A clutch of poems (2006)
• Chelonia Green - Champion of Turtles (2008)
• Maralinga the Anangu Story (2009)

• Forward March (2016)

The Asmir books are based on a real family from Bosnia and were translated into several languages including Spanish.  My friend at Kinderbookswitheverything has several posts which will give you further insights into Christobel's books.  Christobel Mattingley was our IBBY Australian Hans Christian Andersen Award nominee in 2012. In 2012 Christobel was one of our guest speakers along with Bob Graham at the IBBY Australia International Children's Book Day event held in Sydney. In 2015 Christobel was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Tasmania.

In 1994 Books for Keeps said (of the Asmir series):

The power of story has been a constant in human experience since narratives were first articulated. News items about Sarajevo, televised and written, sadly dull public perception and reaction over a period of time. This, however, is another true story told as 7-year-old Asmir experiences it. His family's flight from Sarajevo, leaving his father behind, is vividly affecting in its simplicity. This should be read - young people challenge complacency, and exposure to this book will help them in some small way to empathise with the plight of the world's refugee population. Empathy engenders action through the medium of literature.

Anatole by Eve Titus illustrated by Paul Galdone

Anatole (1956) is a classic children's picture book. It received a Caldecott Honor in 1957. I wonder why I had not read it until this week? I have discovered there were originally ten Anatole adventures. I found a little film from the 1960s of Anatole.  Paul Galdone illustrated hundreds of picture books. You can see some of them here. He died in 1986. Eve Titus (1922-2002) is the author of another junior chapter book series with eight titles - Great Mouse Detective.

About Anatole:

Anatole overhears some people talking about mice. They are considered dirty and are despised. Anatole thinks of the perfect solution - a way to reverse this negative opinion of mice. He makes some small signs and visits the Duval Cheese Factory.

Anatole has appointed himself as the chief cheese taster. He is a mouse after all and therefore he is an expert on the subject of cheese. The factory adopt Anatole's suggestions and the cheese factory business booms. M'sieu wants to thank Anatole. Of course Anatole knows his identity must remain a secret. M'sieu write a letter to Anatole:

"Whoever you are, it is clear that you love cheese greatly. Please help yourself to all the cheese you like, as often as you like. ...
Anatole - we salute You! 
From now on we shall think of you fondly as:
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT IN CHARGE OF CHEESE-TASTING!"

I smiled from start to finish reading this book. No wonder it is still in print over sixty years since it was first published.

I would pair Anatole with two other very old books which sadly are long out of print - Aktil's Big Swim and Aktil's Bicycle Ride by Inga Moore. Older children might like to compare Anatole with Letters from A. Mouse by Herbie Brennan.

Candy Floss and Impunity Jane by Rumer Godden

Several months ago I talked about a book called Everything I need to know I learned from a children's book.  I then talked about one of the books that 'taught' me things Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden.  In the book Everything ... by Anita Silvey she mentioned Impunity Jane also by Rumer Godden and so I was keen to read this.  None of the libraries I have visited recently held this title so I purchased an second hand copy which arrived this week.

Published in 1954 Impunity Jane is a very old book as is the companion story Candy Floss is from 1957. My edition contains both stories in one slim volume published in 1992.  I was not able to find a cover image but here are a few old copies to give you some idea.

I did enjoy both of these stories but it is Candy Floss that will linger with me the longest.  I can see exactly where Rumer Godden found her idea for Belinda in Miss Happiness and Miss Flower (1961) because in Candy Floss she has a very similar character named Clementina.

Here is the tune Jack's music box plays :

Candy Floss

Candy Floss is a special little doll who lives with a carnival man who runs a coconut shy.  I think I must have read about this game when I was a child because I know it has always fascinated me.

Along with Candy Floss, Jack has his friends Cocoa a little dog who sits on a stool beside the shy and Nuts, a little wooden horse who sits on a music box.  Candy Floss sits on the horse's back and she turns around and around.

Jack is kept busy with his shy but when all the coconuts are won he covers over Nuts and pops Candy Floss in his pocket where "there was a hole handy so she could see out."  Together with Cocoa they enjoy all the fun of the fair - rides, games and food.  Then they spend their nights in an old van.  If Candy Floss is looking a little worn out or "when she needed a new dress Jack would soak the old one off with hot water, fluff up a new one and stick it on with glue." Life is happy for our little group moving on from one fair to another until the day Clementina comes to visit.  She is an unhappy and indulged little girl who has been given the most amazing toys and treats but nothing is ever good enough until she sees Candy Floss.  Jack patiently explains Candy Floss is not for sale so when Jack is busy with a customer Clementina snatches her.  Candy Floss cannot speak but she knows dolls can send wishes to receptive children.  Eventually Candy Floss does get through to Clementina and she returns the precious doll to Jack. A lesson is learned and a new friendship forged.

Impunity Jane

"This little doll is very strongly made ... Why, you could drop her with impunity. ... Impunity means escaping without hurt."

Impunity Jane's name is a self fulfilling prophesy.  Over fifty years she has so many owners Effie, Elizabeth, Ethel and Ellen.  None of these girls are even sightly interested in Impunity Jane and she languishes at the bottom of the dolls house but one day Ellen's cousin Gideon comes to play "and suddenly Impunity Jane knew she could make Gideon feel. 'Rescue me,' wished Impunity Jane as hard as she could."

Gideon slips Impunity Jane into his pocket and her wonderful adventures begin but there is a complication - Gideon is a boy with a toy doll.  Think about the exploration of this idea in 1954!

Books! by Murray McCain designed and illustrated by John Alcorn

This quirky little book was originally published in 1961 and it might almost be the oldest book in our library.  Sadly, our copy is slightly stained, and the tiny size makes it difficult to share with a group - but here is the good news.  I was in a special bookshop the other day and I saw this book called Books! has been republished which is terrific and even better they have changed the size to A4.

"What is a book?  A book is many, many things, at least ten thousand.  A book is for colouring for looking at for writing in and most important for reading but what is a book?  Does it make a noise?  What does it look like and what does it do?  Can it talk to you?  What does it feel like and what does it say?"

One of things that made me smile in Books! was the list of topics that you can read in books.  This list includes Swallows and Amazons (a childhood favourite of mine), the Amazon River (a prediction about the future!) and snarks (The Hunting of the Snark). There are also fun little word lists which a teacher could use and innovate on such as hard words (anemone, if, planetarium and hippopotamus), happy words (dance, Bambi, lollipops and Greensleeves), funny words (gnus, cuckoo, Pogo and porpoise) and words to think about (Shakespeare, imagine, why and idea).

I have included a page here so you can see the retro style and colours.  One final word about books - "usually they smell good."

Animal Alphabet photos by F. Vopat text by JF Burkegs

I thought tonight I might just share the oldest book in my personal collection - a book that I adored as a child - Animal Alphabet.  I should first mention all the photos are black and white - which now looks quite charming.

I especially remember I loved the end papers (see below), the photo of the lamb and the mysterious Ibex.  Looking at this book now I see the animal choices are quite odd.  There is a horse for H and a Foal for F, Farm animals mingle with zoo and wild creatures and the Hedgehog is not on the H page but rather U for urchin.

"Urchins are often called hedgehogs or hedgepigs though really they are not very like pigs. They are friendly and useful creatures, which eat slugs and other harmful insects.  Some people make pets of them. At first they roll up so that their prickles stick out, but they soon get to know people who are kind to them."

Two things I notice about this text - for an alphabet book intended for a very young audience it seems very wordy and I am not really sure slugs are harmful.

We have a terrific collection of alphabet books in our library.  My favourite is by Satoshi Kitamura What's inside the alphabet book.