Kyle Hughes-Odgers, Everything You Want to See, Fremantle Press, April 2022, 30 pp., RRP $14.99 (board), ISBN 9781760991371
On first glance I thought Everything You Want to See was another Eric Carle title. I was delighted to discover that in fact this sweet board book was written and illustrated by an Australian author/illustrator, Kyle Hughes-Odgers. Odgers has released a number of other titles including On a Small Island, Can a Skeleton Have an X-ray? and Ten Tiny Things and has been awarded for his unique illustrative style.
Opening with ‘First things first: a dog, a dinosaur’, Everything You Want to See is an unusual board book. The text doesn’t follow the usual pattern of asking the baby or toddler, ‘what can you see?’ and following with an object. In addition, unlike other books in this genre the text of Everything You Want to See rhymes occasionally but not consistently. However, the text does have a lovely lyrical quality that gently propels the reader from start to finish. Further the text is accompanied by soft images similar in style to Eric Carle’s collage-based illustrations. Hughes-Odgers has chosen a charming colour palette for his illustrations with limited use of primary colours (again, another interesting contrast with other board books).
Enchantingly the book ends with ‘What else would you like to see?’. A perfect read for parents, grandparents and carers to share with the babies and toddlers in their lives. Everything You Want to See invites the reader to move beyond the page and share discussions about what animals and objects they might like to see.
Reviewed by Anne Varnes
