Achievements

Bruno the Boisterous Blue Dog from the Bush is Robyn Osborne’s latest book. It was published by Big Sky Publishing and is available as a paperback ($14.99) and a hardback ($24.99).

Barefoot Bob and Bruno the blue dog live together in a broken-down barracks surrounded by the beautiful Aussie bush. Although they don’t have much in the bank, they are the best of buddies and life is bonzer. Then one day Bob hits the bonanza, and everything changes. Without a backward glance, Bob and Bruno move to the big smoke. But is this fancy new life better than the one they had in the bush? An alliterative tale which celebrates mateship and introduces young readers to the quintessential language of the Australian bush.

My Dog Socks (Ford Street Publishing, 2017) is another book written by Robyn which has won a number of  award stickers: it is a 2018 CBCA Notable Book and was shortlisted for the 2018 Speech Pathology Book of the Year.

My Dog Socks

My Dog Socks by Robyn Osborne, illustrated by Sadami Konchi (Ford Street Publishing) HB RRP $24.95 PB RRP $16.95

ISBN 9781925272826

Reviewed by Brook Tayla

Sometimes the most simple of stories can portray the most depth and My Dog Socks is a testament to this.  The interplay of story, illustrations and concepts all have layers that give depth of meaning to this beautiful story of a boy and his dog – some obvious, others quite subtle.

Firstly, the story, written from the boy’s perspective, is penned in poetic prose, which flow seamlessly from one page to the next in an enticingly fun and totally intriguing style.  The emotions attached to strong relationships are explored, showing the unconditional love and acceptance of the many sides of all living beings – the ups and downs of life and being there to support each other through the good and not so good times and also the acceptance of differences that comes with such a strong bond.

The abstract elements of the watercolour illustrations cleverly convey the author’s words and add depth by the use of an extremely clever shadowing technique that depicts each stage of the story.  The dog is painted in a deep navy blue-purplish colour to make it stand out from the natural settings – I learnt this from the illustrator herself.  It adds to the layers I mentioned at the start – stunningly so!

My Dog Socks is based on a real dog that belonged to the author before he moved on from this world.  It is, no doubt, the invisible layer of love that undertone Robyn’s words.  Socks lives on posthumously on Facebook and avid dog lovers would enjoy this site: https://www.facebook.com/Sox-The-Philosophical-Pooch-Osborne-162936030398385/

This book is not only for lovers of ‘man’s best friend,’ but for those of us that love all animals - and you just might be surprised at how many other animals you can actually find throughout this book!

Brook Tayla writes a picture book review blog at telltalestome@wordpress.com and would love you to drop by, read some reviews, leave a comment and subscribe.  Brook also offers editing services for beginning and emerging writers.

Midget Bones' Diary

Midget Bones' Diary by Robyn Osborne (Puppy Care Education)

PB RRP $31.99

ISBN 9781922187987

Reviewed by Ashling Kwok

Midget Bones' Diary is an unusual book to say the least. It follows the trials and tribulations of 'The Bones' as he adjusts to life outside the animal shelter he has called home for many years. Being fostered and playing happy families was not something Midget had planned on.

Midget isn't a big fan of change and enjoyed his time playing top dog at the shelter. Life with humans was fraught with difficulties and he was unaccustomed to such close human interactions and not prepared to share his new home with a large and unwanted kennel companion from the shelter.

Midget Bones' Diary is written by an award-winning Australian writer and teacher, with an obvious love of dogs. She has had four other books published and is a regular contributor to Dogs’ Life magazine.

This book is suitable for young adult and older readers who enjoy reading amusing animal tales. It is written in a diary entry format and features a full year of entries. The language is simple and suits this style of book which is odd, given that the entries are ‘written’ by a dog.

What bothered me about this book is that Midget Bones was edited with the US market in mind so there is American spelling throughout. If you can get past that, you will probably enjoy reading this original story which is written in a very usual way.