More picture book love

Three new picture books land in bookshops in October this year: two very Australian ones, from Melissa Greenwood and Tamsin Ainslie, and one from Irish artist and author Oliver Jeffers.

Gumbaynggirr artist Melissa Greenwood is back with another in her series of beautiful themed books all about Country and family. I have now reviewed several of her books including the last, Hello Ocean, and this one is called Hello Mountain.
The morning breaks and the spirit of the land awakens.
We rub our eyes and stretch our arms up into the sky.
I look up to Aunty and she says, ‘Come on, Bub, let’s go walkabout.’
Readers will travel with Aunty and the young ones as they walk through the bush where they feel welcome and secure, the ancestors all around them. They notice all the features of plants, animals, the river and rocks, and the day finishes with dancing up Country. As with all Ms Greenwood’s previous picture books, the colourful paintings tell the story in symbolic ways, allowing youngsters to feel familiar with this style of indigenous Australian art.

Tamsin AInslie’s Barney Gumnut and Friends is also a celebration of Australian animals and birds. Barney is a young koala who lives with his friends in Scribbly Gum Forest. Off they go together one day,
doing nothing in particular, in a happy, nothing-to-do sort of way.
The story is an ode to the small things: looking closely at what’s around us, finding a butterfly or grasshopper, making paper chains from wildflowers, watching shapes in the clouds.
The illustrations are lovely. Overall, this one has the feel of an Australian sort of Winnie-the-Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood enjoying doing nothing in particular with friends.

And finally, there is Oliver Jeffers’ Where to Hide a Star, with a star and penguin playing hide-and-seek with their friend. All is well until the star goes missing. Troubled, the two friends search high and low for their star, even recruiting the help of a Martian who flies them to the North Pole where the star has been washed up. The star has made a new friend, a little girl who has always loved stars and can’t believe she has found one.
What a dilemma. Who should the star remain with?
The Martian solves the problem and both the boy and the girl find their star – in the night sky, where it belongs.
It’s a cute story about making new friends and learning to share.

All three books are published by HarperCollins Children’s Books.
My thanks to the publishers for review copies.