DUNSTAN, Kylie This Way Up Windy Hollow, 2013 unpaged $25.95 ISBN 9781922081223 SCIS 1628837
Grace and her family have been living overseas and are returning home. The story is a play on the title and focuses on the process of unpacking boxes and settling into a previous home. Grace finds her own way to deal with the upheaval, calmly assisted by her supportive parents.
The cover illustration and the endpapers hint at the long plane journey home and reinforces the theme of transition. Extra detail and movement is added to the illustrations by use of shadow cut outs in the background. Each page has texture and pattern in the illustrations and the matte paper used enhances the contrasting colours. The size and style of font changes in some places to highlight words or to echo some of the action of the story. This is a comforting story and the situation will have relevance for many quite young children.
reviewed by Julie Long