My Super Uncle

My Super Uncle by Dannica Patterson, illustrated by Seantelle Walsh (Ford Street 2026) HB RRP $27.95 IBSN 9781922696540

Reviewed by Sylvia Forbes

My friends all love my uncle

when he jokes and fools around.

To me, he's super special

'cause he never lets me down.

I don't need X-ray vision

to see the way he cares.

I don't need super senses

to know he'll be right there.

My Super Uncle reads like a sweet little love song - narrated in the first person by a young girl - dedicated to her 'superhero' uncle. Dannica Patterson's warm, playful text is written in rhyming couplets with a metre that flows across the pages like the rhythmic accompaniment to that song. It tells the story of a child's love for her uncle - her mentor, her guide, and her all-around best buddy. 

Whether they're playing dress-up, hide-and-seek, or sports. Or at the beach or family gatherings, reading bedtime stories or dancing together, she knows that he will always be there to guide and support her, and keep her safe, and that he will never let her down. 

This picture book showcases the importance of role models and chosen family in a child's life - these super people are like sunshine and water to growing children. The benefits of receiving such care and devotion will flourish within them for life and be passed down to the next generation ... 

CBCA-shortlisted illustrator and Noongar artist, Seantelle Patterson's vibrant, energetic illustrations bring to life the pure joyfulness of the text. Delightful details add layers of social, emotional and cultural meaning for children to explore and decode. And the references to her culture, delicately woven into some of her illustrations, lend her work an aura of transience and wonder. 

I love the non-primary colours she has used - and how the figures are defined against washy tones and dreamy backgrounds with edges that often just fade into nothingness ... 

Alongside its ephemeral quality, her style has a strong sense of realism that allows the reader to feel the connection between the girl and her uncle. She has captured their body language and facial expressions so believably that at times the emotionality is almost palpable. Like when the young girl gazes adoringly into the smiling face of her uncle as he sings to her and plays his guitar ... 

Then there's the illustration of the family photo album, which I admit made me look twice - because I wondered for a second - are some of these actual photos?  I love the baby footprints image - and the endpapers with those child-drawn family figures and house are adorable.

My Super Uncle presents a feel-good story that will appeal to children and families of all kinds. It celebrates undiluted love, family bonds and everyday heroes. 

Books like this are important for fostering empathy, acceptance and respect, for gaining a wider, more inclusive vision of what a family 'should' look like - and for ensuring that all family structures get represented in literature - so that all children get to see their own family reflected in the pages of storybooks. 

At its heart, the message is - whatever the configuration - every family unit is as valid and vital as any other. We are all a bit different, but mostly we are very much the same. Love is love. We love who we love.

And love transcends differences. 

Highly recommended and suitable for children aged around 4-9 years.