Oskar Saves the World

Oskar Saves the World written by Jane Williams, illustrated by Lisa Morgan (Ginninderra Press) PB RRP $17.50  ISBN 9781760415921

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Oskar’s world consists of two things – creating inventions and things that get in the way of his inventions. Those things are his parents and little sister Daisy. For example, Dad wants Oskar to wash his breakfast bowl, but Oskar says it’s his ‘beyond breakfast bacterial experiment’. To steer their son away from inventing, his parents decide to buy him a pet.

The pet is a monster which Oskar names Fop. ‘It’ll eat you out of house and home,’ warns the pet shop owner. Problem is that Oskar is more concerned with inventing than in caring for his pet – which is why Mum, Dad, Daisy and the postie disappear. All is resolved, however, with the aid of Oskar’s latest invention, an exercise machine.

This is a simple story with an easily solved (and very unlikely) resolution but it’s sure to be enjoyed by readers aged 5 to 8 years. The illustrations show cartoon-like characters surrounded by lots of white space with occasional speech and thought balloons.