Mem Fox (text) and Christine Davenier (illustrator), Early One Morning, Penguin Australia, March 2021, 32 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781761040030
From bestselling author Mem Fox (Possum Magic and Where is the Green Sheep) and acclaimed illustrator Christine Davenier (The First Thing My Mama Told Me) comes this joyful, new picture book: Early One Morning.
Early one morning, a little boy went for a walk in search of a couple of things for his breakfast.
Immediately the guessing game is on. What could the little boy be looking for as he sets out to find his breakfast, striding confidently away from his waving mother at the farmhouse door? In the distance the clues are there, pecking away at the ground outside their coup.
As this sunny farm-yard tale unfolds, young readers will follow the little boy and a curious chicken as they ramble around the farm in search of the prized breakfast items. What are they looking for? Where could it be? In the tractor? In the haystack? With the sheep? With the ponies . . .?
He came to a gate… but gates don’t lay them!
He came to a truck… but trucks don’t lay them!
Davenier’s illustrations gloriously depict a young readers’ favorite farm-yard animals, revealing exactly what is going on at each stop along the way in clear pencil sketches and bright water- colour strokes across full double page spreads.
Young readers will delight in this sweet little puzzle and celebrates their own insider-knowledge as the pages turn and they guess just what the little boy is searching for and understand exactly where he will find them.
The beautifully detailed illustrations along with the repetitive nature of the text will ensure young readers (3-5 years) can join in with this playful story, making it the perfect addition to any kindergarten bookcase, or a wonderful choice for a shared bedtime story at home.
Reviewed by Lisa Hoad
