Coming Home

by Sharon McGuinness

Wombat Books. Picture Book. Australian. Hardcover RRP $24.95

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Why doesn’t Dad want to play with me anymore?” Gemma asks her mother.

Did I do something wrong?

Gemma’s father is sad. He sits in the garden he once loved and stares at the growing neglect. He doesn’t care about it anymore. He doesn’t seem to care about Gemma either. Sometimes he still  laughs with his friends but when they are gone, he sits and stares again.

Gemma’s mother explains dad is suffering from depression. It’s an illness you can’t really see like a broken leg, but it’s there just the same. She encourages Gemma to keep talking to him, dancing for him and playing the recorder. And one day he is there to pick her up from school, a smile on his face.

What I really like about this book is it doesn’t attempt to analyse depression, the reasons why or its treatment. It shows how Gemma deals with her father’s illness – her struggle to understand and her ongoing determination to be part of his life no matter what – the support she provides by never giving up.

One in five people suffer from depression and many of these are parents. Coming Home explores how this affects a young child. Gemma feels helpless but she keeps reaching out, hoping things will change.

From the front end paper where the garden is shrivelled and dried to the back paper filled with coloured blooms, this book is a journey of hope. It will help young children understand depression, particularly in a parent, and provide a discussion starter for older readers.

Imagine We Were

by Renee Bennett, illustrated by Claire Richards

Wombat Books. Australian, Children’s Picture Book. Hardback RRP19.95

Everyone has at least once wondered what if they were…
Imagine We Were is the wonderful story of a mother and child. It reminds me of the Old Lady Who Swallowed The Fly…

               “Imagine we were bees
               and you were my baby
               zzz zzz zzz

               We’d buzz round the cat while
               it lazed on the mat and
               I’d whisper,

               ‘You’re precious to me’.”

The bees change to cats, who change to dogs, and so the story continues until mother and child are together as humans.

A wonderful story of imagination for mothers and children to enjoy together. Claire Richards’ colourful but subtle water colour illustrations are simple but a pleasure to look at. The clouds floating in the sky gradually forming shapes for a young child to discover are magical.

http://reneebennett.com.au/
http://clairerichards.com.au/

Puggle’s Problem

by Aleesah Darlison, Illustrated by Sandra Temple

Wombat Books. Australian, Picture Book. Hardcover rrp $17.95

Young readers love stories about Australian native animals and puggles, baby echidnas, are one of the most unusual and fascinating.

Pipp is a very clever puggle. He was top of his class at eating ants. He was top of his class at curling into a ball. But this little puggle has a problem. He is the only puggle in the whole bush without any spines.

Pipp gets help from the other animals – koala, wombat, kangaroo and kookaburra. But only an echidna really knows how to help and Pipp’s mum tells him that if he believes in them, good things will happen. There is a gentle message of patience subtly woven into the story and as everyone knows, an echidna without spines is easier to hug!

I loved the read aloud rhythms and the sounds they made, like when Pipp dug in the ‘soft scritchedy dirt’.

Illustrator Sandra Temple is an award-winning wildlife artist. Her illustrations are cute enough to cuddle but also an excellent depiction of the features of our native animals. Readers will have no trouble describing or drawing a puggle after reading this book.

Puggle’s Problem is both entertaining and educational. As an added treat, colouring in pictures can be found here http://www.wombatbooks.com.au/pugglesproblem.html.

http://www.aleesahdarlison.com/
http://www.sandratemple.com/