This is not an egg by Philip Bunting

Image source: Philip Bunting

There is a joyful and playful energy in this book. The narrative arc is perfect. We hum along to the beat of “this is not an egg” with more and more hilarious suggestions culminating in the decorated egg from Mexico and then boom! we turn the page and our bilby hero meets another bilby who wants to join in with this fabulous game of imagination and now the two can play with their Bilbot. 

Readers then enjoy two pages of night time robotic fun and until the authors wack in another boom! moment. The egg belongs to an emu. Of course, the reader sighs. That makes perfect sense. Or does it. I can hear the youngest children squealing with delight over the twist of the baby emu-dragon.  

This book has perfect end papers, a very engaging text, expressive digital illustrations and full-page spreads interspersed with four frame pages all created with a consistent and pleasing colour palette.

Here are the end papers:

This book will be a favourite with young children and it will be loved by schools at Easter who look for books about bilbies and eggs. The intertextual references are perfect but the Buntings have been restrained and not overloaded the text with too many of these. I was also interested to see the full stop used with the title - I wonder why they included this?

I love the way the colloquial dialogue is presented using different colours of text. I can imagine reading this book aloud with a group of readers taking different parts. (Readers theatre). I also appreciate the way the background changes in each illustration. 

The Philip Bunting book Wombat was our IBBY Australia 2022 honour book:

The IBBY Honour List is a biennial selection of outstanding, recently published books, honouring writers, illustrators and translators from IBBY member countries. The IBBY Honour List is one of the most widespread and effective ways of furthering IBBY's objective of encouraging international understanding through children's literature.

The titles are selected by the National Sections which can nominate one book for each of the three categories. For a country with a substantial and continuing production of children's books in more than one language, one book may be submitted for writing and translation in each official language.

Important considerations in selecting the Honour List titles are that the books are representative of the best in children's literature from the country and that the books are suitable for publication throughout the world. The selection provides insight into the diverse cultural, political and social settings in which children live and grow and it can be used by all those involved with developing educational and literacy programmes and publishing initiatives to develop exemplary “international” collections.

Here is an interview with Philip Bunting about his work - with Joy Lawn. 

Nimesh the Adventurer by Ranjit Singh illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini

 

It is the end of the school day. Nimesh sets off on his journey. He is a boy with tons of imagination. He knows he not really at school - he is in a cave with a sleepy dragon; the school corridor is filled with sharks swimming under the water; out on the road Nimesh finds himself on a dog sled at the North Pole. Every page turn is a visual delight. Your young reading companion will enjoy finding all the clues in the illustrations and this is a book you could read many times because you are sure to make new discoveries.

This fun, fast-paced narrative will have readers eager to turn the page and imagine their own fanciful scenarios. Kirkus

Here is a web site with teaching ideas and a wonderful story telling video by Love My Books. You can see the whole book here.

I am preparing a talk for IBBY Australia focusing on International illustrators. In the course of my research I saw this book for a really good price. It reminded me of this one:

This book also reminded me of:

I also like keep my eye out for books which celebrate using your imagination. I have a Pinterest of books on this topic which I started with some Kindergarten teacher colleagues who set up a unit of work on imaginative stories to use with their classes.  This initiative made my book heart smile. I also like to collect Tall Tales.

Read this interview with Mehrdokht. Here are some other books illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. She was born in Iran but now lives in the UK:

How many trees? by Barroux

How many trees make a forest? Everyone has a different opinion but the wisest answer may come from a surprising source.

One of the things I miss now that I have retired as a Teacher-Librarian is reading aloud to young children. How Many Trees? is a book that just begs to be read aloud or perhaps even be turned into a dramatic performance with eight voices. Here is a video from the Scottish Book Trust.

Who is Barroux?

His full name is Stephane-Yves Barroux. Barroux was born in Paris, he spent much of his childhood in North Africa and later attended art school in France where he now lives. He began illustrating by creating linocut images, and continues to try out various techniques in his work – from collages with antique papers, to oil pastels, to interesting color palettes. Despite all of the countries and far-away lands he’s explored, Barroux still believes that life in books is more extraordinary, where dogs can fly and trees are blue.Here are a few of his books:

You're finally here! Melanie Watt

Do you know how long I've been waiting in here? Long enough to watch paint dry ... long enough to find a needle in a haystack ... long enough to learn an accordion solo ... long enough to gather dust bunnies.

Our narrator bunny is annoyed with waiting for YOU. He is also bored, impatient, and accuses you of extreme rudeness but if you agree to stay he has written a contract:

"This document states that YOU, the reader, hereby agree to stay with ME, the bunny (book character of YOU'RE FINALLY HERE!), forever and ever. YOU, the reader promise to devote all your attention exclusively to ME, the bunny. YOU, the reader, therefore agree never to keep ME, the bunny waiting again! And, oh yes, YOU, the reader, will provide ME, the bunny, with carrot treats every day."

If you are not laughing yet the final pages where our Bunny is interrupted by a series of mobile phone calls are sure give you (and your reading companion) a bucket load of giggles. Now who is left waiting? This book is perfect for young readers aged 6+ but I would also read it to older students and it would be a terrific present for a newly graduated law student too!

Mélanie Watt has taken the classic concept of a fictional character speaking to his audience and found some very interesting ways to make that concept fresh again. Watt’s little bunny is exuberant, pushy,passive-aggressive, charming, and very, very human and, I think, kids will adore how the bunny behaves less like a character in a book and more like a motor-mouthed friend or family member. Building a Library

Watt touches on all manner of manners issues here: the rudeness of pointing out rudeness, of being late, of being selfish, of being aloof and inconsiderate. She strikes a balance between the allure of the bunny’s hyper-­enthusiastic joy at receiving the reader’s attention, and the offensiveness of its egocentric – if not psychotic – neediness. Quill and Quire

Sorry to say this very, very funny book is now out of print. The hardcover edition was published in 2011 and the paperback in 2014. Hopefully you will find a copy in a well stocked library. In the meantime I did find a well made video of the whole book. For teachers and teacher-librarians this is a perfect book for the start of the year with a Grade Two class. I do love books that break the "fourth wall" such as Little Mouse, the ripe red Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear; and Bear Hunt by Anthony Browne. 

Canadian author illustrator Melanie Watt is famous for her Scaredy Squirrel series.