The Cat Wants Custard

The Cat Wants Custard By P. Crumble, illustrated by Lucinda Gifford (Scholastic Australia) HB RRP $16.99

ISBN 97 1 76015 578 0

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Kevin the cat has a craving. He wants custard. But how is he going to get his ‘waiter’ to bring him a bowl of glossy, golden custard? He is not too proud to go through all sorts of antics to get what he wants. But what does he have to do to get his human to understand? Spell out custard with his body? Maybe he'll just have to get it himself.

This is a book to make you smile. It made me laugh aloud in many places, especially thinking of the cats I know. I'm sure if I could hear their thoughts, they would be just like Kevin -- aloof and sarcastic.

I've got chicken and gravy ...

...and I've got some nice sharp claws to scratch your leg.

A tin of sardines?

Really? I should go about with fish breath?

This is a picture book which relies on both text and pictures to bring it to life. The text is spare and to the point, often in speech bubbles, and goes perfectly with the illustrations.

These are very bold and very bright, and like the text, spare without unnecessary detail. They express the frustration of Kevin so wonderfully, while we only ever see a glimpse of his human, a pair of legs or a hand.

This is such a fun book to read aloud and children as young as three will love the dry humour and demands of Kevin the cat - possibly recognising a tiny bit of themselves in him.

I Am Doodle Cat

I Am Doodle Cat written by Kat Patrick and illustrated by Lauren Marriott (Scribe) HB ISBN 9781925321258

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Doodle Cat is a big squarish solid red creature featured on every page dancing, playing drums and showing its love of sun-baking, and hugging trees and its friends. Most pages show lots of white space but now and again there are colours other than red, for instance where there are many examples of things Doodle Cat loves, such as fish-shaped biscuits, toy mice, birds and a 20-metre ball of string. Most pages there is a picture of the cat with a simple one sentence text – ‘I love lentils’, ‘I love baths.’ 

The penultimate double-paged spread shows dozens of other cats of all different sizes, shapes and colours. In the final spread are lots of facts that pertain to certain sections of the book. For example, Doodle Cat has said ‘I love farts’ so that there is a paragraph which tells the reader that ‘the average person produces  a litre of farts a day.’ There are also facts about fractals (a never ending pattern that looks the same at any size), trees, friends, the ocean, stars, difference and me (‘I love me’). The last sentence invites the reader to start a list of all things ‘you like best about yourself.’

What this reader liked most about this book were the double-page red-coloured fly pages with a pattern of dozens of cats in all kinds of poses.

The readership of this book is most likely anyone who adores cats, but it’s appeal other than that would seem to be limited.

Bamboozled

Bamboozled written and illustrated by David Legge (Scholastic Press)

PB RRP $15.99

ISBN 978-1-74362-021-2

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

A young girl goes to spend the day with her grandfather. But there is something niggling her. She knows something is not quite right but she cannot work out what it is. It is not until she is leaving at the end of the day that she works it out. Then, she and her grandfather have a good laugh.

This is a very clever book where the words and illustrations are in delightful contrast to each other. The text of the story is a simple one describing a very ordinary day. The pictures, however, are a riot of puns and silliness.

We worked in the garden and I planted bulbs in the flower bed. I pushed the wheelbarrow while Grandad pruned the roses. And still, something seemed strange. It niggled and niggled at the back of my mind.

In the picture, a little girl is planting light bulbs into a brass bed. Grandfather is in the wheelbarrow pruning the roses and everything else in the garden is madness. There is a duck in the pond in a floating ring. One of the fountains is a statue with water coming out of her ear, while the other is a topiary teapot pouring water into an overflowing teacup. A tortoise is wearing a cap over his shell and the sun umbrella is a toadstool with matching spotty chairs.

Each picture is amazing. With so much craziness to spot, the book could be read countless times and there would still be something new to find with every turn of the page.

Originally published in 1994, this is a 21^st anniversary special edition. In the back is a note from the author/illustrator and an interesting ‘process’ page which shows some of the ideas development.

This highly imaginative picture book will appeal to a range of ages. Try a page, you will be Bamboozled!

Making Mindful Magic

Making Mindful Magic written and illustrated by Lea McKnoulty 

PB RRP $14.95 

ISBN9780994255204

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

This picture book is quite different from the norm insofar as it doesn’t tell a story and it has no characters, except for the reader. Through its calm text and muted coloured illustrations, its creator invites the reader – young or old – to develop the habit of mindfulness. In the back of the book she describes mindfulness as a practice which makes one more grounded; and, too, it brings inner calm and clarity of thought which leads practitioners to live authentically and happily. All of which sounds like a very sensible recipe that could possibly lead to not only personal peace, but community and even national and international peace!

The mindful experiences include sitting quietly or meditating -- living in, and appreciating the moment. Alternatively, one is encouraged to ‘take as long as you can’, great advice for anyone trying to multi-task and consequently getting stressed. The focus here for the reader is to concentrate on one activity at a time, until it is finished.

In gentle, simple free verse, each page narrates a way of being mindful, whether it is following a bird, walking barefoot on grass, taking the time to enjoy the mightiness of the heavens (finding stars) or watching waves. Exploring one’s creativity – ‘paint’ – helps heal the mind, not worrying about the product but becoming ‘lost’ with paint, brush and paper.

Here is what McKnoulty writes on the page titled ‘go walking in nature’:

‘A track leading somewhere/ The somewhere doesn’t matter/   on-the-way discoveries matter…’                                                                                                                                         

Each double-page spread featuring one mindfulness activity is accompanied by a subdued pastel illustration. The quality of the pictures varies but some are very appealing, such as a child’s bare feet on grass with a cloudy sky background, and a lone bird in a tree. It seems the book’s creator follows her own advice of creating for the experience, not for the product.

Making Mindful Magic is a book which can’t be rushed. It sets out to, and succeeds, in making the reader take her time. One can open at any page and follow that activity or move on to another activity. Or a parent might like to check out the back pages where suggestions are given in prose on how to apply the practices to one’s child.

This charming book is recommended for anyone, child or adult, who wants to remedy a life that is too busy and stressful

The book is available from selected bookstores and Lea McKnoulty’s website www.makingmindfulchildren.com