This hilarious
romp of a picture book delights in the most wonderful of ways, celebrating the
idiosyncrasies and oddities of families. I still have a smile on my face long
after closing the book.
It’s an
irreverent look at many of the possible permutations and combinations of family
life, with no judgement. Just gob-smacking joy and hilarity.
We literally meet the family anew every couple of pages, and it’s safe to say that all readers of this book will laugh along somehow, someway, with someone in its pages!
Colour, size, age, texture, shape – all are intermingled in the fabulous
and chaotic professions and obsessions of these characters.
There’s the baby who climbs on top of wardrobes, the aunts who grow a pot-plant jungle in the lounge room, the magicians who disappear in a bilious puff of blue smoke, cousin Charlie who cooks up a feast and then scoffs it by himself.
Yeoman’s rhyme
is fresh and clever, witty, pacy and often with a little mysterious or
surprising nuance to throw you off your game just when you think you
have a handle on where a situation is heading.
Blake’s joyous pen and wash illustrations bring energy, movement, flow and as ever, the contagious sense of humour in each messy stroke and blob of pigment. From balletic mice to floor-scuttling babies to elastic-limbed cousins, the pictures sing and dance with life extraordinaire and joie de vivre.
Meet The Family begs to be read out loud and pored over by all the
members of your own family, young and old. It’s a gem.
Author: John Yeoman
Publisher: Walker Books, $29.99
Publication Date: 2 March, 2022
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781839130120
For ages: 3+
Type: Picture Book
