Archive | August 26, 2014

Crikey and Cat

Aug26
Crikey and Cat

Crikey and Cat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crikey and Cat

Chris McKimmie

Allen & Unwin, 2014

Hbk., RRP $A29.99

9781760110031

It is such a dark night – so dark, in fact, that all the stars have disappeared from the sky.  So what do you do?  You gather up Crikey your dog and Cat, hop in your ute, go to the all-night hardware store for supplies, build the longest ladder, climb it and put them back!  Amazing what can be achieved with scissors and glue. Now Crikey and Cat can sit outside and enjoy the night sky again.  All is well with the world.  But then a storm comes…

“Big rain!

Big rain!

Whirly wind!”

Safe into shelter they run.  But, once again, all the stars are blown from the sky.  Can they be replaced?

This is another one of Chris McKimmie’s masterpieces.  Written with a minimum of text, the story is told in his iconic illustrative style demonstrating how a can-do attitude, resilience and persistence can overcome almost anything. Set against a uniquely Australian background, it demands that the reader look closely at the pictures and draw on their imagination to extract the richness and meaning of this story.  While the text and pictures work really well together, the full impact of the story is probably best gained from a shared reading where a knowledgeable adult can point and discuss and question the 3-6 year old who is the target audience.

Chris McKimmie has been a CBCA nominee three times – Crikey and Cat may be his fourth.

The Big Book of Old Tom

Aug26
The Big Book of Old Tom

The Big Book of Old Tom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Book of Old Tom

Leigh Hobbs

Allen & Unwin, 2014

pbk., 460pp., RRP $A19.99

9781743318447

“Angela Throgmorton lived alone and liked it that way. One day, while doing some light dusting, she heard a knock at the door.  There, on her front step, was a baby monster.  Angela was curious so she carried him in…and brought him up”.  And so begins one of the most enduring series that has captivated younger readers since 1992.  In a few lines of pen-and-ink, Leigh Hobbs created a most captivating cat, Old Tom, and in this bumper book, five of his most iconic adventures are drawn together.  There is the original “Old Tom” (whom the author himself describes as “more like an Australian cattle dog, or blue heeler, perhaps with a touch of Tasmanian devil, than he is a cat”) as well as “Old Tom at the Beach”, “Old Tom Goes to Mars”, “Old Tom’s Guide to Being Good” and “A Friend for Old Tom”.

With a few lines of text on each page and the real story being told through the dramatic movement and emotion of the pictures, this series captivated my reluctant readers right from the start and all these years on, still does.  A graphic novel, before the term had been widely adopted, Leigh Hobbs has captured what it is that readers of this age like without going down the toilet-humour path.  Here is boldness, determination, courage, resilience and humour all packaged in a cat who changes Angela Throgmorton’s safe, predictable life for ever. Even though Old Tom drives her crazy at times, she loves him. 

If your younger readers haven’t met Old Tom yet, then they must.  He is one of those literary characters that will be remembered most fondly by parents who will be delighted to see their own children bringing him home in their library bags.