Joanne O’Callaghan (text) and Kori Song (illustrator), Found in Sydney: A Counting Adventure, Allen & Unwin, January 2023, 36 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760526245
Following on from Found in Melbourne, this new picture book, Found in Sydney, is a counting journey through Sydney and its surrounds.
Hitting many iconic landmarks, two friends discover Sydney. Starting a Circular Quay with the ferries, harbour bridge and opera house, a young girl offers to help a lost young boy. They make their way around Taronga Zoo, Manly Beach, Bondi, Centennial Park, the Art Gallery of NSW and the Sydney Aquarium among other sites. Each location offers new experiences and sights to see from koalas to beach volleyball, bridge climbers to skyscrapers, a movie screen in the harbour to koi fish in the friendship garden. All this culminates in a view of the lights of Luna Park lighting up the harbour.
The creators have been very sensitive to first nations people by providing a map of the greater Sydney area displaying the names of the traditional owners. There is also a bilingual acknowledgement of country.
The illustrations are coloured boldly and well-suited to a young crowd. The style is honest and kind, but not refined or delicate, which pre-schoolers and early primary schoolers will relate to.
This would be an ideal book for families with young children who live in Sydney, or who visit often. An eager parent could use it as a guide of where to go and what to do over the upcoming school holidays. Sometimes we procrastinate being a tourist in our own hometown, and a book like this helps readers to see the beauty of a place they take for granted.
Reviewed by Cherie Bell
