On the surface I wouldn't guess the books were written and illustrated by the same person. One is simple, well crafted (you know how bad rhymes make me feel!?!) rhyming couplets with a quite stylised illustration style and the other employs rhyming but in a less obvious way and the pictures have much more complexity.
Imagine is a 25th Anniversary Edition and is a beautiful large hardcover book. The book flips page by page between 2 children having imaginary play in their rooms and the 'real' scene.
The books goes from jungles, to farmyards to under the sea and the detailed illustrations include a 'coded' map at the back so you can identify the huge variety of animals listed in the borders.
Bounce's verdict "I liked how they drawed [sic] the jungle and I liked how they drawed the animals. I liked looking for the animals on the pretending page before the real page."
Imagine by Alison Lester, 25th Anniversary Edition published 1 Sept 2014 by Allen and Unwin. RRP $24.99 Aus. There is also a mini edition in hardback for $9.99.
Noni the Pony - goes to the beach is the second book about Noni. In this one Noni and her friends Coco (a cat) and Dave (a dog) plus 'the ladies from next door' (cows) go for an excursion to the beach. I love the way Lester uses different perspective in this book for the illustrations and the whole story romps along with a great sense of fun. Bounce was particularly taken with Coco and I can see why. The story-line is very simple but it works and I think this book could be enjoyed by very young children while still appealing in a humorous way to older children.
Bounce's review "I like how they drawed Coco and how Coco nearly gets her tail nipped and I liked how they drawed the dolphins and the fish."
Noni the Pony - goes to the beach by Alison Lester published 24th Sept 2014 by Allen and Unwin. RRP $24.99 Aus.
Alison Lester is also involved in community art projects and spends part of every year travelling to remote indigenous communities using her books and talents to help both children and adults write and draw about their own lives. I so love hearing about how creative people can make an 'on the ground' difference for people using the talents they have.
love you more than a new and inspiring author discovered xxx
