It is always a delight to win a prize and to me it is two-fold if it’s a picture book. Today I received my copy of Petunia Paris’s Parrot from Better Reading Kids and Five Mile Press and as promised here is the review:
I immediately fell in love with the cover design – endearingly old-fashioned: the pink and white stripes, provincial frame and Petunia’s light blue dress. Jo Williamson’s illustrations are simple, yet at the same time extremely intricate. She captures a whole array of feelings and emotions with her plain drawn faces and it was this that I found captivating and inspired re-reading.
Katie Haworth’s story can be similarly described – simple but intricate. I particularly love a story that throws words at me with not used every day language, so I was happy to read flourish, plying, pertinent, preposterous, prevailed, composure and perturbed amongst the words delightfully served upon the pages.
There is a moral to the story which is left open-ended and ready for discussion. A great book for parents and teachers who want to discuss the current phenomenon of an over abundance of material possessions and also animal rights.
Lastly, I am happy that a bird was chosen as the antagonist in this story – it makes a change from other cutesy characters and I am happy that Katie Haworth makes a statement about our feathered friends.
A highly recommended Picture Book just released this year.
