Life in Korweinguboora (readers will have fun geting their tongues around this) is fairly predictable. So when Ralphie the goat suggests that Mrs Wiggins grow watermelons instead of potatoes, Mrs Wiggins knows just what folk will say: We can’t grow wartymelons in Korwinguboora. But Ralphie convinces Mrs Wiggins to give it a try, despite what the locals say.
Growing watermelons in Korweinguboora isn’t easy – the nights are too cold for watermelons. But Mrs Wiggins proves that, with a little determination and ingenuity, anything is possible.
Mrs Wiggins Wartymelons is a beautifully presented, funny picture book, by outstanding author Glenda Millard. The quirky tale is well complemented by the illustrations of Stephen Axelsen, which are a combination of rustic and whimsy.
Glenda Millard is the author of The Naming of Tishkin Silk, which was short listed for the 2004 Children’s Book Council of Australia book of the year awards. Mrs Wiggins Wartymelons is very different, but shows the same outstanding storytelling ability. First published in hardcover in 2004, it has now been re-released in paperback.
Excellent.
Mrs Wiggins’ Wartymelons, by Glenda Millard and Stephen Axelsen
ABC Books, First Published 2004, this edition 2006