Heart of a Home

Heart of a Home by Isabella Crean, illustrated by Christine Schiedel (Redgum Book Club) PB RRP $12.50

ISBN 9780995378308

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

What is the heart of a home? For ten year old Isabella Crean it’s the dining table. Crean, who suffers from epilepsy and has associated learning challenges, was the winner of an Australian-wide writing competition, and had her entry published – in this full-colour book. As one of the competition judges, I remember reading her story and scoring it highly. It’s quite an accomplishment for a child of her tender years.

Told in third person from the point of view of Table, the story begins with Table in the centre of a little white cottage where ‘every day the family began and ended its day.’ Table is the place of activities from sewing to homework to Christmas and other meals. ‘…The air would fill with the smells of roast pork and apple sauce and melting puddings. The bustle and hum of the family meal made table the centre of their world.’

All things of course have an ending: Table thus finds itself in an old garden shed where paraphernalia is dumped on it until years later it is taken in a truck to a new destination. Happily, this is in a shop from which it is eventually removed to a home, that of a refugee family. Full circle – and still Table is the ‘heart of a home.’

It’s a simple story, well told with language which is imbued with emotion, and which is clearly written. It’s a credit to Redgum Book Club that they published this winning entry and had it illustrated with line and coloured watercolour wash. Hopefully it will inspire children aged 8 to 12 years to read it, and perhaps to also write about what they think is central to their homes.

Wolf Espionage

Wolf Espionage by Elanor Parkinson, illustrated by Dave Atze (Redgum Book Club) PB RRP 

ISBN 9780995378322

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

In 2016, the Redgum Book Club ran an Australian-wide children’s writing competition to find a picture book text to publish. The winner was a 12 year old girl who always wanted to publish a book. This is it!

William the Wolf lives on Wellwood Farm, where, despite being surrounded by much livestock, he feels under-fed. Espionage – disguising himself as other animals -- is the way in which he seeks out food. However, in his sheep outfit, he fails with the sheep, and similarly with rabbits (‘they whacked him with their shovels’), and with the squirrels which (‘pummelled him with nuts’).

Having failed so far, the cunning wolf rethinks his strategy and subsequently goes undercover, disguising himself as an apple and a pea. Neither, of course, attack him as the animals did. Voila! William is transformed into a vegetarian wolf. The last double-page coloured illustration shows William with the other animals on a picnic rug eating fruit and vegetables.

Every one of the events which are documented take place on a specific day of the week, from Monday through the Saturday picnic – on Sunday the now confirmed vegetarian is ‘indeed a wolf in beet’s clothing’ -- a clever pun on a well-known saying.

This is a simple tale which might well have been written by an adult -- so full marks to young Elanor. The book is well-designed and the cartoon illustrations do full credit to the text.