Reviewed
by Dianne Bates
Sonya
Hartnett is best known for her award-winning YA novels, so a picture book finds
her in new territory. In this book, she writes about a small girl lacking in
confidence who doesn’t want to go to school. She is shy about making friends;
she’s not competent at physical pursuits, and she worries that in class she
will go wrong. ‘Sometimes our teacher tells us something, and I don’t know what
she means.’ She waits in the playground hoping her mother will come past in the
car, but she doesn’t appear. She asks Mum if she can stay home, but the answer
is always ‘no.’ The only thing she appears to be good at is art. ‘When I draw
pictures, everyone gathers around.’
The
girl gains comfort from her cat, Piccolo with whom she sits in the grass
watching birds. She discovers a few blue flowers among a field of yellow, and plucks
one, saying, ‘This flower isn’t yellow, but that’s good, isn’t it? No-one wants
everything to be the same. Things being different is what makes the world so
wonderful.’ This epiphany makes her realise she is different, but that’s
acceptable.
The
gentle black pencil, water-coloured illustrations of children are worth poring
over: the face and body of every child in the playground and in the classroom
are expressive and distinctive. Evans is known internationally for his
illustrations and is the right fit for Hartnett's book.
This
story about the discovery that being different can be something wonderful is
suitable for readers aged 5+ years.
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