When You Were Small

When father puts young Henry to bed he always says “Dad, tell me about when I was small.” His father complies, telling Henry how, when he was little, he used to be so tiny that he could take his pet ant out for a walk on a leash! What’s more, he got his hair combed with a toothbrush and was such a little boy that he could even fit in his father’s shirt pocket. Henry was so small that his father’s original name for him, Hieronymous, wouldn’t fit.

Featured in Volume VI, Issue 2 of WOW Review.

Rahui

This picture book is about cousins’ holidays in a rural Maori community having adventures and fun together – playing in the bush, riding horses, fishing, eeling and swimming at the beach. During the holiday, a death leads to a rahui being placed on the beach. After a year, the rahui is lifted, and they return to the beach full of life and with their cousin in their hearts. The feeling of the book is joyous and wistful, and the illustrations richly evoke the atmosphere of the setting and people.

Featured in Volume VI, Issue 2 of WOW Review.

Top To Bottom Down Under

Ted and Betsy Lewin’s adventures take them from the northernmost tip of Australia to the southernmost tip. At the top, they interrupt a python’s mealtime, encounter a ferocious pack of dingoes, and come face-to-face with a crocodile. Down at the bottom, they dine with rude kangaroos, meet their first platypus, and confront an ill-tempered sea lion! The vivid colors, close-up paintings, and rich landscapes rendered in the Lewins’ distinct watercolor styles, combined with action-packed narrative, will make you want to pack your bags and visit the land down under!

Queenie: One Elephant’s Story

The true and tragic story of one of the most famous elephants of all time: Queenie, the gentle Indian elephant. Evoking a time when elephants were giving rides in zoos all around the world, the true story of Queenie follows her from her birth in an Indian jungle to Australia’s Melbourne Zoo, where she lived for more than forty years.