Inside the covers is like a box of chocolates. Where will your eye fall first?
Stunning end pages carry Farm Notes written and drawn by a child’s hand. These prepare us with information about farm animals and tools.
Did you know that a spinning jenny holds the
wire for fencing so it doesn’t get tangled? Or that the name of the tool
used to fix fences is a grapple tool?
That’s knowledge only from the front end pages. The
back ones have farm notes on pigs and piglets.
Now into the story.
It starts on a very hot Sunday. Esmeralda rolls in
a mud bath to cool down. She does some digging with her snout and takes her
find down the hill. Each day for the rest of the week sees the gorgeous filled
out pig, digging and carrying her finds downhill.
But where is she taking them and what is she using
all that she finds for?
The highly talented Mandy Foot has done a
stupendous job in illustrating a week in Esmeralda’s life. The animals, children and adults on the farm
display their emotions with body and facial expressions that speak a thousand words.
The pictures in fine lines and brilliant colour are full of activity with the images of farm life, real. From the lopsided fence
to the washing on the Hills Hoist, the restringing of the fence wire, the dog
house and the ladder made of fencing boards on the trunk of the tree, all breathe
life onto the pages.
Robert Moore’s text in brilliant. Precise, minimal,
and enough. It stands back and allows the images to take the lead. Two stories: words and pictures.
I loved this. Children will love it as much as the
adults that share it with them.
Title:
Esmerelda’s Nest
Author:
Robert Moore
Illustrator:
Mandy Foot
Publisher:
MidnightSun Publishing, $29.99
Publication
Date: October 2020
Format:
Hardcover
ISBN:
9781925227666
For
ages: 5+
Type:
Picture Book
