Juniper’s Painting

Juniper’s Painting by Catherine Bauer, illustrated by Jennifer Horn (Wombat Books) HB RRP $26.99 ISBN 9781761112409

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

Young Juniper stares out of the window at her beloved beach. She longs to play on the sand and discover washed up treasures. However, it is too cold, wet, and windy to play outside so she is forced to stay indoors. When Juniper runs out of things to do inside, her busy mum requests that she paint her a picture. Juniper uses her imagination and artistic talent to paint what she would like the beach to look like outside her window. When her artwork is complete, her mum points out a lovely surprise waiting for her.

The ink and watercolour illustrations complement the text well, and the changing colour palette beautifully reflects the changing moods throughout the story. The artwork appears as a combination of spot illustrations, vignettes, single pages, and double-page spreads. The contrasting endpapers are a great talking point for young readers.

Juniper’s Painting is a lovely picture book suitable for an early childhood audience. The narrative’s themes include disappointment, patience, independent play, imagination, and creativity.