7th January

As the return to school gets closer and planning for classes begins to preoccupy my thinking, I have thought of some books that I must use. Today I want to focus on All Through the Year, a new Australian picture book by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker. The narrator is a young girl who lives with her parents, two brothers, one older, one younger and a puppy. She says,

"I want to take you through

One year - twelve months in all."

Then on each double-page spread she tells what happens in each month for her and her family in Australia. Yes, a book about the seasons, the school year and the festivals of Australia, instead of a country in the northern hemisphere! It will be every preschool and infants teacher's 'reference' book. It is written as verse, but it is not contrived or overly obvious. The text is illustrated so warmly and ably by Anna with pencil, ink and collage. All senses are appealed to, and both the exuberance and intimacy of family and school life shine through. Rush out and get one. It feels, reads and looks lovely.

Author, Jane Godwin is the Publisher, Books for Children and Young Adults at Penguin, Australia. She has written many novels and picture books, among them award-winners. It is her second collaboration with illustrator Anna Walker who also lives in Melbourne. Previously they did the picture book Little Cat and the Big Red Bus.