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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Riley and the Grumpy Wombat: A Journey Around Melbourne. Text by Tania McCartney, art by Kieron Pratt. Clifton Hill: Ford Street Publishing, 2011


This latest publication from Ford Street Publishing is a picture book. Photos of Melbourne are mixed with delightful art by Kieron Pratt as the hero, accompanied by various critters, including a panda and a koala, flies his biplane around Melbourne's various landmarks in search of the Grumpy Wombat. Hmm, maybe this explains why I keep seeing biplanes flying overhead when I'm on St Kilda beach...


The idea of the picture book travelogue goes back a fair way, with such classics as Possum Magic, but it can never go stale.

It might be best suited to reading to younger children, so that you can do the gestures and have fun with the long words and silly gadgets Riley uses in his search.

I'll enjoy watching my nephew read it to his little boy.

3 comments:

Tania McCartney said...

Thank you for the lovely review, Sue! I love how you've spotted some biplanes over St Kilda recently!

Sue Bursztynski said...

Thanks, Tania. And it's absolutely true - I'm guessing they were mostly advertising planes, but still - biplanes.

Tania McCartney said...

Spooky! LOL.