Books from the Basement

Welcome to Children's Corner book reviews from 4MBS Classic Radio FM in Brisbane. Here you will find short annotations of the children's books reviewed by Kerry Neary in Children's Corner on 4MBS, together with the details you need to find them at your favourite bookstore. Any prices shown are the publisher's Australian recommended price and may vary depending on where you shop. You are welcome to use these reviews for newsletters and the like with appropriate acknowledgement.

Oct 12, 2014

Butterfly and Oscar

Tricia Oktober
Ford St Publishing
ISBN: 9781925000511           RRP: $24.95

Oscar, one of six family dachshunds, befriends new-comer Butterfly. Their encounters are both endearing and a tad sentimental, with one particularly amusing. Butterfly sees a strange dog at the window and her barking sets off all the dackels. An unhappy owner shows Butterfly to herself in a mirror; for the first time she realises she (a pug) is different from her companions and other quaint identity problems arise. The text drifts into a little anthropomorphism at this point, but devoted pet lovers will forgive that. The marvellous hyper-realistic illustrations are done in coloured pencils and watercolours; but not photographically so, leaving room to develop the warmth and affection between the protagonist pets, and the reader. Pet loving children will adore this story.
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