Reviewed by Dannielle Viera
When the animals’ woodland home is destroyed by diggers, they need to find a new place to reside – so they move into the dirty Downtown Sewer. The animals sweep and rub and mop and scrub until the sewer becomes ‘a haven full of promise’ that they name Sewertown. But when the humans find this underground paradise and threaten to evict the animals, one brave girl speaks up for the creatures. Soon the ‘furries’ and the ‘smoothskins’ learn to live together peacefully.
Told in rhyming couplets, Tull Suwannakit’s imaginative story scurries along like a rat up a drainpipe. It’s brimming with brilliant themes for kids aged four to eight years, from the importance of empathy and kindness to the value of caring for the natural realm. Youngsters will be emboldened by the brave girl to stand up for their own beliefs and make a positive change in their world.
Tull has used watercolour paint and coloured pencils on cotton-rag paper to render his illustrations, and this gives his images both depth and texture. Dainty hues dance whimsically across the detailed spreads, while large animal eyes draw young readers directly into the centre of the emotion on each page.
Glowing with hope and happiness, Downtown Sewertown is an
ode to the joy of living life in harmony with nature and with one another. The
merry medley of text and images is sure to keep kids coming back to the book
again and again.
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