Reviewed by Dianne
Bates
Taking a break
from his work on the Treehouse series with Andy Griffiths, Australian illustrator
Terry Denton brings readers aged 8+ years a bumper, interactive book. In his welcome
to the book, Denton says, ‘This is a book about ideas and expressing them in
drawings and words.’ In the first double-page spread of a school concert
showing stage and audience, he invites readers to find things such as a child
in a prawn costume and an elephant – neither of which this reviewer could find
despite much looking. On the next page the reader is told she is the octopus in
the school play: there is a half-drawn person who needs to be completed (for
example, with ‘octopus’ hair’). There follow other pictures to be completed,
such as expressions on the audience’s faces.
There are lots of
spaces in this thick 300-page book where the reader is invited to fill in with
drawings (‘your four favourite friends’) and writing (‘your holiday to-do-list)
and much more. The book allows the child much scope to express himself (‘Write
a letter of complaint to Santa. State clearly what you wanted and what you got
and why you are not happy.’) There is a whole section devoted to Christmas (‘Where
not to hide gifts’), (‘What you would leave out for Santa’), and, in a
double-page spread, ‘Build your own landing platform for Santa and reindeers.’
There’s even a Christmas quiz (‘What is Santa’s surname?’)
Other sections are
focused on holidays, animals, school, outer space, food, games, and more. In a
double-page illustration of a very crowded swimming pool, the reader is asked
to find the kid who has lost his bathers. Once again, this reviewer failed!
There is an
abundance of interaction in this heavily illustrated, cheerful, and demanding book.
It’s sure to keep its readers very busy for a very long time.
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