Pea Pod Lullaby, by Glenda Millard & Stephen Michael King

I am the small green pea
you are the tender pod
hold me.

This gently lilting lullaby weaves its way across the pages of the book, with no more than three lines per spread, encouraging the text to be read and digested slowly. The text speaks of love and togetherness, and how people complete each other, in language that could apply as much to a parent and child as to any pairing of friends or partners.

The accompanying illustrations tell the tale of a mother, her two children and a dog, fleeing danger in a little boat, and drifting across the sea. They rescue a polar bear, also adrift, before finally finding land and a welcome. The illustrations, in watercolour with ink outlines, are tenderly whimsical, and slightly older readers will be able to make links to tales of refugees and displacement, as well as issues of global warming, among others, whilst babies and toddlers, and their parents, will be lulled by the gentle hues coupled with the tender words.

Simply beautiful.

Pea Pod Lullaby, by Glenda Millard, illustrated by Stephen Michael King
Allen & Unwin, 2017
ISBN 9781760290085

The Stars at Oktober Bend, by Glenda Millard

9781743315897.jpgi am the girl many loves. the girl who writes our story in the book of flying. i am alice.
they sewed me up when I was twelve. mended my broken head with fishbone stitches. tucked my frayed edges in. tucked everything in. things meant to be and things not. do it quick. stem the flow. stop life leaking out of alice. that’s all they wanted. so gram said.

Alice Nightingale is fifteen and longs to be all that fifteen year old can be. But when she was twelve something terrible happened and now when she speaks people can’t understand her – won’t understand her. So she writes instead, poems which she scatters around town – and on the wind.

Manny James, who is alone as Alice, runs at night, trying to escape the memories of his past as he tries to make a new life in Australia. He finds a poem, treasures it, and wonders if it came from the girl he sees sitting on the roof of the house near the river.

The Stars at Oktober Bend is the beautiful, haunting story of two wounded teens who together strive to make sense of themselves and of the world around them. Alice must overcome the troubling events of her past, and the way her family has splintered, while Manny must adapt to life in a new country, the loss of his family and the terrible effects of war. Author Glenda Millard manages to give both characters authentic, wonderful voices.

Poetic, shocking and movingly perfect.

The Stars at Oktober Bend, by Glenda Millard
Allen & Unwin, 2016
ISBN 9781743315897

Lightning Jack, by Glenda Millard & Patricia Mullins

When Sam sees the wild black brumby he is determined to ride him – and he does, donning oilskin and boots before rounding up stampeding cattle, flying him, Pegasus-like, through thunder clouds, evading bushrangers, and even winning the Melbourne Cup against Phar Lap.

Sam Tully eyed the brumbies at the muster in the park
and among them as they galloped he saw one that stood apart…
a stallion, black as midnight, on his brow a jagged blaze.
A giant horse, a midnight horse,
A horse called Lightning Jack.

When Sam sees the wild black brumby he is determined to ride him – and he does, donning oilskin and boots before rounding up stampeding cattle, flying him, Pegasus-like, through thunder clouds, evading bushrangers, and even winning the Melbourne Cup against Phar Lap. Through these fanciful adventures we see Sam riding triumphantly, joy on his face. But, at last a gentle voice brings him back to the present – and we see Sam slip from a carousel horse and return to his real life, until in bed that night he once again hears Lightning Jack coming close.

Lightning Jack is a wonderful new picture book offering from one of Australia’s most loved chidlren’s authors, Glenda Millard. The ballad-style text sweeps the reader along on Sam’s adventures, and makes a perfect read aloud offering. The illustrations are an added delight – carefully crafted in collage using layers of tissue and papers. Readers will be fascinated with an examination of the individual elements and the fabulous whole they create.

Text and illustration together create a sumptuous offering which will please adult and child reader alike.

Lightning Jack

Lightning Jack, by Glenda Millard & Patricia Mullins
Scholastic, 2012
ISBN 9781741693911

This book is available in good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

For All Creatures, by Glenda Millard & Rebecca Cool

For weavers and wisps.
Fr silk spinners and spiderlings,
lace and loveliness
and for webs, we are thankful.

There are some picture books which are so beautiful, so complete, that one wants to hug them and to read and reread, even without the audience of a young child. For All Creaturesis one of those. The text is almost a prayer (though certainly not for any denomination or specific belief set) – expressing ‘our’ gratitude for the wonders of nature – creatures big and small, from around the world, before offering, finally, thanks for babies and all people.

Millard’s text is a lyrical delight, with alliteration abounding and word choice surprising and delightful – on a night filled with images of night animals, she gives thanks not just for nocturne, night and nectar but also for upsidedownness. Cool’s illustrations are superb. Using a mix of acrylic paint and fabric collage, she fills every page with rich, wonderful colour, patterns and textures. Young readers will enjoy exploring both the animals and plants on each page, and the details of the collage embellishments. Especially intriguing (and clever) is the use of strips of measuring tape for the stripes of the tiger.

Just perfect.

For All Creatures

For All Creatures, by Glenda Millard & Rebecca Cool
Walker Books, 2011
ISBN 9781921529818

This book can be purchased in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Plum Puddings and Paper Moons, by Glenda Millard

Now she was fifteen, Scarlet wasn’t certain whether wishes ever came true. She had yet to discover what could be done with black tights and a broken bridge.

Everyone knows that Christmas time is the time for making wishes, and it’s almost Christmas in Cameron’s creek. But, in the Kingdom of Silk, Scarlet is not sure that wishes can come true. Scarlet, the oldest of the Rainbow girls, has met a boy, Anik, who has lost so much that Scarlet doesn’t know how she can make a difference. But, as all the residents of the Kingdom of Silk learn at some point, wishies can come true and one person can make a difference. Scarlet decides to declare peace on Cameron’s Creek and soon she can see that difference for herself.

Plum Puddings and Paper Moons is the fifth instalment in the beautiful, and award-winning Kingdom of Silk series. Just as breathtakingly satisfying as its predecessors, this is the kind of book that you want to hug – and that makes you feel hugged in return.

Divine.

Plum Puddings and Paper Moons

Plum Puddings and Paper Moons, by Glenda Millard
ABC Books, 2010
ISBN 9780733328664

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

All the Colours of Paradise, by Glenda Millard

Griffin came to the Silk family after the Rainbow Girls: Scarlet, Indigo, Violet, Amber and Saffron, and before Tishkin. And then came Layla, who was not born a Silk, but was sent to comfort them after Tishkin went away.
Perry Angel came last of all. He arrived on the ten-thirty express with a small and shabby suitcase embossed with five gold letters.

Since he came to the Kingdom of Silk, Perry has learned lots of things about life and about friendship, but mostly about love. The various members of the Silk family – Annie and Ben, their children Griffin and the rainbow girls, as well as Nell and Layla – and various friends from around the town, have all shown Perry that he is loved and wanted, and that it’s okay if he doesn’t always want to talk.

One thing Perry does do well is to express his feelings through drawing. So when something terrible happens, and Perry stops drawing, his friends are worried that he might never draw again. One friend in particular, Mr Kadri from the Colour Patch Cafe, understands that sometimes art can do what words can’t. So he presents Perry with all the colours of Paradise, to use as he needs.

All the Colours of Paradise is the fourth book in the award-winning Kingdom of Silk series, and continues the series with the same beauty and poignancy readers have come to expect. Whilst most of the characters are familiar, and the message of unconditional love repeated, the story is not formulaic or predictable, and there are surprises and new elements in this ongoing tale of a special family.

All the Colours of Paradise is a delightful, feel good book with gentle action and real warmth.

Very satisfying.

All the Colours of Paradise (Kingdom of Silk)

All the Colours of Paradise , by Glenda Millard, ill by Stephen Michael King
ABC Books, 2009

This book can be purchased online at Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

A Small free Kiss in the Dark, by Glenda Millard

Reviewed by Dale Harcombe

If you read one children’s book this year, make it this one – the story of 12 year old Skip who in a time of war meets an odd assortment of friends. After a succession of foster homes and a life of abuse, the artistic Skip meets up with the old crippled Billy, a younger boy, Max and the dancer Tia with her baby Sixpence. These survivors of the war take refuge together in a fun fair.

This book has enough action to keep any young reader turning the pages. It also is a good story with a lyrical quality to the writing. The voice of Skip who tells the story is authentic, as he fends for himself and his assortment of friends. Skip is an enterprising, thoughtful, ingenious and complex young person caught between harsh reality and the make-believe world he invents for Max.

His interest in art, his drawings and references to specific paintings add to his character. As he narrates the story, he makes some interesting observations about life – ‘sometimes the truest things are the hardest to believe.’

There is no time frame given or explanation for what caused the war. Readers just accept that this is the state of affairs. While realistic in its portrayal of the situation, there is still an otherworldly quality as well. Although this is about war and homelessness, it is not a bleak book. Ultimately it is a book of hope.

Before I started to read this book, I had picked up and put down several novels after the first few pages. But this one captivated me from the beginning. It’s a book that will make you think about people, about sacrifice and love and about what is important in life.

This is the first Glenda Millard book I have read and I will not be the last. It is a gem. I wish I’d written it. I predict this will feature this year on the CBCA book awards.

A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard
Allen & Unwin, 2009
$16.95

Reviewed by Dale Harcombe.
Dale is a NSW writer and reviewer. You can visit her blog here.

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle, by Glenda Millard

One orange evening,
tiger-striped with blackened trees,
a pig sat, reminiscing.

In the wake of a bushfire which has ravaged his owners’ home, Applesauce the pig struggles to feel any joy in Christmas. Wise Owl tells Applesauce that Christmas comes from the heart, but Applesauce’s heart is heavy. He wants joys for his people, Marigold and Joe. And, in the final pages of this delightful tale, Applesauce learns Owl’s lesson as he sees a Christmas miracle unfold.

This poignant tale is written in prose, yet has a delightful lyrical quality, with every word tenderly wrought. Adult and child readers alike will feel Applesauce’s melancholy in the words, as well as the whimsical yet gently muted illustrations by Stephen Michael King.

This is a book not just for Christmas but for any day – and it is a heart-warming tale with a message for everyone.

Divine.

Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle

Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle, by Glenda Millard & Stephen Michael King (ill)

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Perry Angel's Suitcase, by Glenda Millard

Griffin came into the Silk family after the Rainbow Girls¬¬ – Scarlet, Indigo, Violet, Amber and Saffron – and before Tishkin. And then came Layla who was not born a Silk, but was sent to comfort them after Tishkin went away.
Perry Angel came last of all. He arrived on the ten-thirty express with a small and shabby suitcase embossed with five golden letters. It had taken him almost seven years to find the Kingdom of Silk..

When Layla hears that Perry Angel is coming to live with the Silks, she is at first excited, but then apprehensive at what the presence of a new member of the family will mean for her. She loves her visits to the Silk family – but what if there is no room for her any more? And what if Griffin doesn’t have time for her any more once Perry comes?

Griffin, too, has concerns. Why is Perry here and how can Griffin help Perry to smile? But Perry is the most scared of all. What if this big, boisterous family make him put down his suitcase? And what if they discover the truth about him? But worst of all, what if they send him back?

Perry Angel’s Suitcase is a breathtakingly beautiful tale for children, and for everyone who has ever been a child. Perry is a foster child who has never known a real family, and the Silk family is a loving family whose members have had hard times of their own. Layla, Griffin’s friend, is also an important part of this family, giving as much as she gets from her involvement with them. As a whole, the cast of this book is adorable, and the reader will be drawn in to Perry’s story from the first page.

This is a simply beautiful story.

Perry Angel’s Suitcase, by Glenda Millard
ABC Books, 2008

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Mrs Wiggins Wartymelons, by Glenda Millard

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