Sylvia, written and illustrated by Christine Sharp

Sylvia is a delightfully daft picture book about the unrequited love of …  a snail.

Yes, Sylvia is a snail who is in love with Simon Green and his vegie patch: his luscious lettuce, choice cucumbers and buttery beans.  Needless to say, he is not so enamoured of her!  Have a look at the sample pages on the UQP website to see Sharp’s brilliant illustration of his enraged face bellowing GET OUT! at her, and it is just possible that even if you are a grower of vegetables yourself, you may feel a tinge of empathy when you see her slide away and shrink into her shell, sobbing her little heart out for love of Simon.

What to do?  Well, with her shimmering trail she writes Simon a love letter, but Simon is aghast when he sees the damaged kale and the nibbled tomatoes.  He’s an organic gardener who sells his produce at the farmer’s market – and he knows how fussy customers are.  (I don’t understand why people would rather buy an unblemished over-sized strawberry that tastes like water instead of a small flavoursome one, but then, I don’t understand why people eat processed food and junk food either).

But to Simon’s surprise – and the amused reader’s too – Sylvia finds a way to make a public declaration of her love, and it turns out to be the best kind of advertising he could possibly have.  Love blooms in all kinds of unexpected ways, eh?

Highly recommended!

You can download teacher’s notes from UQP.

Author and illustrator: Christine Sharp
Title: Sylvia
Publisher: UQP (University of Queensland Press, 2014
ISBN: 9780702253140
Source: review copy courtesy of UQP.

 

Availability
Fishpond: Sylvia
Or direct from UQP

Book review: Eco Warriors to the Rescue, by Tania McCartney

Eco Warriors to the Rescue is a jazzy, up-beat picture book with a series of simple messages about caring for the environment.  There’s nothing particularly new in it, but it’s presented in an interesting way.

Primarily visual, the messages ask children

• not to litter,
• to tread carefully,
• to avoid picking native flowers,
• to keep waterways clean
• to protect native animals from introduced animals
• care for native animals and insects
• plant native trees and shrubs
• plan development wisely (the example is a cubby house, not a condo !)
• prevent bushfires
• reduce pollution.

Bright photos in cheerful colours are superimposed on botanical illustrations identified in end notes at the end of the book.  There’s also a page of flower facts at the back of the book, along with a map of Australia showing state floral emblems, and a native birth plants page.

Eco Warriors to the Rescue would be a useful addition to school libraries, and suitable for units of work about the environment, and the Australian Curriculum Priority Sustainability.

The book mentions colouring-in pages on the Australian National Botanic Gardens website, but it doesn’t give the URL.  Having checked the site out, it doesn’t look very appealing to children.  I would have liked to see some interactive activities, and the site needs to be more kid-friendly, more colourful, and easier to navigate.

Author: Tania McCartney
Title: Eco Warriors to the Rescue
Publisher: National Library of Australia, 2013
ISBN: 9780642277800
Source: review copy courtesy of the NLA.

Availability

Fishpond: Eco Warriors to the Rescue!
Or direct from the National Library of Australia