By Maureen Tai, 19 September 2018

“Each Peach Pear Plum, I spy Tom Thumb…”

If your middle grade child can still remember the first few lines of a board book that she had read to her since before she could walk, it must be a bit of a gem. That is what Each Peach Pear Plum is, the perfect rhyming “I Spy” picture book for really little ones and their sleep-deprived care-givers.

The board book in my hand is over a decade old, its edges fraying, deep furrows along the spine.  The story itself is even older. Each Peach Pear Plum celebrated its 40th birthday in 2018 as the author, Allan Ahlberg celebrated his 80th.  Ahlberg is a maestro of rhyme, and a prolific children’s book writer, having written – at last count – over 150 books.  Continue reading →

By Maureen Tai, 14 September 2018

“Great things begin with small bricks” – Brick’s mother.

Brick is a small rectangular block the colour of a ripe persimmon. She’s a baby brick.

Cradled in the arms of her mother, she gazes up at towering skyscrapers. Brick is awed by what she sees, the possibilities of what she might one day become.  “Look around,” her mother gently coaxes, inviting not only Brick, but us readers as well, to cast our eyes on the structures that line the streets and the buildings that blend into the skyline.

Brick’s journey of self-discovery, and our journey to some of the most incredible architectural marvels in the world, are about to begin.

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By Maureen Tai, 3 September 2018

The first spread is a classroom scene. The thirteen desks and chairs are arranged in a circle, which is one of the first things Anna and Ben notice when we read this picture book together (the second thing is how few children there are in the class). A kindly, tea-drinking teacher poses a question to the bright-eyed and attentive students.

“The teacher asked us what we thought made our family special.”

What a good question. What does make a family special?

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By Maureen Tai, 28 August 2018

“The notebook was full of Grandpa’s thoughts and sketches and answers to questions such as, ‘When I die, who will I become and what do I want to happen?'”

This quirky but remarkably endearing picture book is about a dead grandfather and his notebook and his grandson.  The little boy discovers the notebook not long after the grandfather’s demise, and its pages are bursting with amusing, detailed doodles and light-hearted, anticipatory musings about the afterlife.

So death has come, as it does. Kono ato dou shichaou? What happens next indeed?   Continue reading →