Meanwhile Back on Earth

Meanwhile Back on Earth by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins) HB RRP $27.99 ISBN 9780008555450

Reviewed by Nikki M Heath

A treatise on our place in time and space in picture book form, this is another stunning instalment in Oliver Jeffers’ set of books that kicked off with Here We Are.

A dad takes his kids on a trip through the solar system, equating the time it would take to get to each landmark to what would have been happening that amount of time back in human history. So, in the time it takes the family to pass Venus, looking in humanity’s rear-view mirror takes us to WWII.

Accompanied by Jeffers’ trademark illustration style, this book puts a lot of things in perspective. It also shows, sadly, just how much fighting colours our shared past. Travel guides for life, this book and its siblings are must-haves.

That said, the purported audience of 5 years and up seems to be skewed a little young. There are big numbers and big concepts throughout this book, so it is probably best for readers aged 8 to 12.

The Fate of Fausto: A Painted Fable

The Fate of Fausto: A Painted Fable by Oliver Jeffers (Harper Collins) RRP HB $24.99
ISBN 9780008357917

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

The Fate of Fausto is a fable about a pompous man named Fausto who believed he owned everything. Fausto roams a sparse land claiming everything he comes into contact with, stating “You are mine.” A (personified) flower, sheep and tree are each submissive to his commands. Never satisfied, he continues his quest to obtain more and more. As he tries to claim larger and larger things across the land, including a lake and a mountain, they start to show some resistance. However, they eventually become compliant to Fausto’s demands when he becomes persistent and angry.

Full of his own self-importance and selfishness Fausto continues on. Using bravado and lies, he then tries to claim the sea. Eventually, his reign comes to an end when his arrogance and ignorance cause his demise.

The Fate of Fausto is a picture book that exposes a moral lesson. The unique illustrations, using a limited colour palette, were created using a manual lithography press. The book has triple the number of pages of a traditional picture book, large text and a lot of white space. The Fate of Fausto is highly recommended for children aged 5+ years.

The Crayons' Christmas

The Crayons' Christmas By Drew Daywalt, pictures by Oliver Jeffers (Harper Collins) ISBN 978-0-00-818036-2 RRP $27.99 (HB)

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie

The Crayons' Christmas is a picture book with activities, about a boy called Duncan and his family of crayons. In the lead-up to Christmas, mail arrives at Duncan’s house from crayons around the world. Six envelopes through the book contain items such as postcards, things to make out of paper, a map and a game. Illustrations in the book are of crayons, each with their own personalities, having conversations and making jokes. There is a lot to look at!

Aimed at early-to-mid-primary school children, this is a book that can be read by adults to their children or by the children themselves and the humour is directed at both these groups. For instance, there do seem to be a few crayons getting themselves stuck to underpants. On the other hand, the map of the world depicting famous landmarks in the wrong places, such as the Great Wall of China in Africa and the Statue of Liberty in Australia, is obviously one of the adult jokes and would need to be explained to the kids to avoid confusion.

The story is set in the US and does mention a celebration other than the Christian one (one of the crayons sends a Hanukkah card). There’s also an inclusion of gluten-free crayons! In one of the funny conversations, a candy cane that’s been on the tree as a decoration for years, points out to one of the crayons that candy is supposed to be eaten. And there’s a homage to the Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer story to make everything all more Christmassy. 

The appeal of this book is its variety. There are many topics, subjects and characters. It is colourful, tactile and has a big pop-up Christmas tree at the end. The Crayon’s Christmas is an interactive and funny Christmas-themed book. It should be good entertainment, and will no doubt be a popular present at this time of year.

A Child of Books

A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers (Walker Books)

HB RRP $27.99

ISBN 9781406358315

Reviewed by Ashling Kwok

A Child of Books is one of the most beautiful books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It is an absolute masterpiece in concept and design.

On the surface it appears to be just another lovely picture book but delve deeper and you will soon uncover a magical world where words and images collide to create a magnificent piece of art.

A Child of Books is the story of a young girl who sails her raft across a sea of words, arriving at the house of a small boy and calling him away on an adventure.

Through a forest of fairy tales and across mountains of make believe, the two travel together on an amazing journey that unlocks the boy’s imagination. Now a lifetime of magic and adventure lies ahead of him.

A Child of Books features lovely words and elegant images by Oliver Jeffers, along with Sam Winston’s typographical landscapes, shaped from excerpts of children’s classics and lullabies.

It is a stunning prose poem that pays homage to the history of literature, based on the stories and influences that impacted the creators.

See how many excerpts of children’s classics and lullabies you can find intertwined in the illustrations.

It’s difficult to express how truly lovely this book is. There is nothing else like it on the market. It is a beautiful, timeless treasure that I thoroughly recommend to readers of all ages. 

The Boy Who Swam With Piranhas

The Boy Who Swam With Piranhas by David Almond, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (Walker Books)
HB RRP $19.95
ISBN 9781406320763
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Stan has lived with Uncle Ernie and Aunt Annie since his parents died. After the shipyard closes, Ernie reinvents himself with a passion. He turns his home into a fish-canning factory and makes an excellent living. But (DAFT) the Department of Abolition of Fishy Things is determined not to let Ernie escape their net, regardless of the success of his creation. These plans will play out as a sub-story full of comical situations and dialogue, and great laughs.

Stan is a thinker therefore there are many things that he can’t understand. He also feels things deeply. His uneventful life is commandeered by Ernie who has inveigled the boy into leaving school to work on the machines. On his birthday, life-changing events propel Stan towards becoming the person he longs to be.

 It begins when Aunt Annie declares a day off for Stan and hands over some spending money. He wins a goldfish from the hook-a-duck stand at the visiting fairground. Then he rescues the remaining dying goldfish from the owner, Mr Dostoyevsky. Stan immediately feels an emotional bond with the fish that are miraculously able to communicate with him.

Back at the factory, Ernie’s passion is now an obsession and he sees Stan’s goldfish as a new money-making enterprise. While Stan is sleeping, he cans them all except one. This action is the catalyst for Stan’s decision to leave home and escape with the fairground people.

Stan’s unusual dedication to the goldfish has a strange effect on Mr Dostoyevsky and also in time, on his difficult, moody daughter, Nitasha, and on many others of which he is unaware of. There are other sub-stories within which changes are also taking place parallel to the changes in Stan.

When Stan finally meets up with the ageing but famous Pancho Pirelli and his tank of piranhas he realizes the tremendous turn his life has taken. Pancho Pirelli teaches Stan that ‘we can become something special if we put our minds to it’, and Stan proves it by jumping into the piranha tank; a metaphor for overcoming his fears.

The voice of the author addressing the reader at the beginning of each chapter acts as a special effect on the story. The metaphors and allusions weaving through the dialogue add greater substance to the work. Oliver Jeffers’ thoughtful illustrations blend harmoniously with the text and the cover is highly entertaining, just like the book. Poignant and moving, David Almond has again created a work of art.

The New Jumper

The New Jumper (The Hueys) by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins)
PB RRP $24.99
ISBN 978000420650
Reviewed by Sharon McGuinness

Award winning author/illustrator Oliver Jeffers introduces us to a new quirky group of characters, the Hueys, in his new picture book The New Jumper. Jeffers tells the story of the Hueys in his simplistic style, but that doesn’t mean his themes are ‘light’.

The Hueys all look the same and all do the same things until one of them called Rupert, knits himself a new jumper. Rupert wears his new jumper everywhere, however the other Hueys are unimpressed – horrified actually that someone dared to be different.

Gillespie, Rupert’s friend, thought about what Rupert did and he found the idea of being different rather interesting and knitted himself a new jumper so he could be different, too.

Rupert and Gillespie were no longer considered different by the other Hueys – in fact, they start a trend and new jumpers began to be knitted by more Hueys as the idea catches on.

Jeffers is able to celebrate difference on a level easily understood by young children. However, the quirky drawings will also appeal to older children and even adults.

Clever use of black and white with the addition of only one colour until the last endpapers adds another layer to an enjoyable simple story. Oliver Jeffers is certainly an author whose books are worthwhile additions to anyone’s shelves.