Lucas and Jack

Ellie Royce, illustrated by Andrew McLean
Working Title Press
ISBN: 9781921504662           RRP: $24.99

Lucas comes to the nursing home with his mother to visit his Great Grandpop, bringing a soccer ball to play. Jack, another resident, quickly assesses the situation when he says: Not much to do in there with all the oldies, I suppose. Gently, Jack reminisces about his younger years; and then those of other residents who had achieved surprising things. Lucas begins to realize that ageing is not just about getting old; there are memories to be shared that connect a family. This is quite an extraordinary book, well-realised and thoughtful. The writing is spare but the sentences are evocative, suggesting more than the words say. Brilliantly, the illustrations seize on these suggestions and give them shape to fire Lucas’s growing awareness that life was not always old for these people.