Tag Leila Rudge

Always Never Always

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Always Never Always
Meg McKinlay and Leila Rudge
Walker Books

A little girl sets out on an adventure, accompanied by her wind-up duck. As she goes, she follows advice given by an outside voice (or perhaps her own inner one): always follow a secret track and worry not where it might lead; carry useful items including a torch, notebook, fairy wings, a key and be empathetic towards your travelling companion. This last is hugely Important. Each piece of advice in Meg McKinlay’s rhyming narrative begins ‘Always…’ and is followed by the caveat, ‘Never…’

All these are sage recommendations; I particularly like, ‘Never follow all the rules, / for some are surely made by fools.’

Through both words and pictures it comes through loud and clear that during life’s journey, like the protagonist, we should look for the positives and possibilities in things,

be mindful of the needs of others, be open to as yet undiscovered wonders, put aside negativity and remain open to joy.

An inspiring celebration of what the world has to offer, with Leila Rudge’s gorgeously coloured pencil and watercolour illustrations adding the potential for a wealth of stories large and small emerging along the way as you share the rhythmic text with young children, be that at home or in the classroom.

Big Cat / Winston and The Indoor Cat

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Big Cat
Jess Racklyeft
Allen & Unwin

Meet seven year old Catherine, an adventurer and investigator who likes everything to be ‘just so’ : her papers are organised by colour, her trainers always at the ready and her compass close at hand.

When she learns of Big Cats prowling near the city, she’s intrigued and next morning she wakes with a Big Cat hunt already in her mind. So, with essentials in her backpack, she sallies forth leaving ‘lures in the wildest place she knew.’ When her search yields no success, she sits alone to finish her snack and suddenly finds she’s face to face with a large, satisfied feline. This creature is totally unlike Catherine – lawless and chaotic

– but nonetheless the two bond, discovering they both love adventures. Catherine tells her new friend of her discoveries and Big Cat helps her make exciting new ones. The story ends on a wonderful note with Big Cat carrying ‘a little bit of Catherine in her pocket’ and Catherine keeping ‘a big piece of Big Cat in her heart.’ I love that.

Jess Racklyeft created this lovely story during lockdown in Melbourne where as she says in an introductory note, “ I discovered new places close to home … took new paths, looked for magic in the mundane” – and found it with the increased sharpness of cat-like eyes.

The book, with Jess’s detailed watercolour illustrations, pays tribute to small adventures, making new discoveries and appreciating what is around you. I think these are things a great many of us found close to home during those lockdown times. It also shows how spending time in the company of someone very different from yourself is often beneficial to both parties.

It is certainly true for the characters in this story


Winston and The Indoor Cat
Leila Rudge
Walker Books

Friendship and individuality are explored in this tale of Winston the outdoor one and the Indoor Cat, very different moggies indeed that form an unlikely friendship.

Winston’s outdoor existence suits him perfectly with its opportunities to explore freely and have exhilarating experiences. Then one morning he is surprised to encounter The Indoor Cat, albeit behind glass and decides to free the pristine, leisure loving creature. Winston goes on to show The Indoor Cat all the great things about outdoor life and his new friend has to agree, it is thrilling

but not really what he wants.

Back home he goes, inviting Winston back for lunch, after which he shows him all the wonderful things about life indoors. Yes, it’s a life of leisure and luxury, Winston agrees but not the life for him, most of the time anyhow.

This simple tale of respecting differences, staying true to yourself and being open to new experiences is told with a simple, straightforward text and gently humorous watercolour and pencil illustrations. Ideal for sharing with very young listeners.

Gary

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Gary
Leila Rudge
Walker Books

Gary is a racing pigeon. He eats, sleeps and dreams of adventure just like the others that share his loft; but, on race days, because he cannot fly, he’s left behind organising his scrapbook of travel mementos collected by his fellow pigeons. He listens avidly to the adventures of his friends as they talk of flight paths and wind directions on their return, noting down what they say in that precious scrapbook.
One night Gary and scrapbook accidentally fall from the loft into a travel basket and are taken, along with the others, to the city the next day.
He watches as the other pigeons take flight and race off into the sky, homeward bound,

leaving him all alone wondering if he’ll be forever lost in the city.
Unable to fly, he might be, but Gary does have a fully functioning brain and his scrapbook. It’s to these that he turns in his hour of need; and little by little with the aid of the book’s contents, he plots his way home, arriving with lots of exciting new mementos for the scrapbook

and a wonderful adventure story with which to regale his flighted friends.
Like Gary, Leila Rudge brings her text full circle, albeit with a slight twist, subtly showing how his differences are also sometimes, a gift. Good on you Gary for doing something amazing and doing it your way.

Beautifully illustrated, this is a wonderful story to share and talk about, and an inspiration for anyone who needs a little boost when it comes to self-belief.

Brilliant Bear Books

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The Bear in the Book
Kate Banks and Georg Hallensleben
Andersen Press
We start with a familiar scenario – small boy ready for bed, chooses favourite book for his mother to read to him and snuggles close to her. The book is about a large black bear and immediately, the boy is immersed in the world of the bear as it beds down for the long winter sleep. “Shh,” he says almost feeling the snowflakes falling around the sleeping form. Staying quiet, the young listener watches the children and other animals in the winter landscape;

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he sees too, the snowplough, somebody chopping firewood, crocuses starting to show through and finally as his own eyes close, the black bear emerging into the spring sunshine.
A gorgeous bedtime tale and one that highlights the power of a story and how children can become one with the world of a book. Young listeners and readers aloud will delight in the beautiful images both visual and verbal as they too become one with this story world.
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No Bears
Meg McKinlay and Leila Rudge
Walker Books pbk.
Meet Ruby, this is her book and, rest assured, “There are absolutely No BEARS in it.” Ruby should know, she’s in charge of it. Now Ruby has a great imagination, moreover she knows exactly what should be in a good story; it’s pretty things like princesses and castles and some exciting and scary things like monsters perhaps, but definitely NO BEARS. So are you ready for the bearless story? It’s in a special spiral bound volume and yes, there’s a princess living in a castle with her parents the King and Queen and her fairy godmother. There’s a is a deep dark forest and you’ve guessed, it – A MONSTER,  an evil one who wants to steal away the princess so she can read him bedtime stories every night. (almost excusable I suppose). And steal her he does. Somebody rescues her of course – with the wave of a magic wand … hmm.
“Wow! Says Ruby close to the end. ‘This has turned out to be a pretty good book, don’t you think?’ Well Ruby, actually I think that’s a huge understatement: It’s an absolutely brilliant one with its oh so cleverly constructed text and wonderfully whimsical pictures working in perfect harmony. Moreover it’s just perfect for inspiring children to create their own storybooks too – ABSOLUTELY NO BEARS of course!

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In fact, whilst there are no bears in the story Ruby is telling, unbeknown to her but not to us, in the book we are reading, there is a bear who’s keeping a watchful eye on proceedings and acting as page-turner, props provider, scene changer and much more besides. And that’s not all; explore the illustrations further and all manner of other nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters make an appearance. That and the on-going visual joke are what make the book so irresistible and the ‘in the know’ audience squirm with delight.
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