That’s not a daffodil!

Author Elizabeth Honey

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This is a lovely picture book with bright illustrations.

It is about a boy named Tom who receives a daffodil bulb from his elderly neighbour Mr Yilmaz to plant. They plant the bulb together and Mr Yilmaz comes in regularly asking “How’s the daffodil?”and Tom replies each time with “That’s not a daffodil!.” During the process Tom imagines the daffodil and its pot in all sorts of ways. Initially he thinks the bulb is like an onion, and then after the bulb was planted he thought of a desert. When the bulb sprouts he then goes on to describe it as a “green beak” which he proceeds to measure as it grows. It becomes like “Grandpa’s hairs in the wind” and “wet rocket” before it finally becomes a “Trumpet of gold”. The daffodil does have a tumble during the story due to an encounter by Mr Yilmaz’ grandchildren’s dog but Mr Yilmaz shows Tom how to fix it up so it can keep growing.

This is a funny and playful book which has a lovely story about the relationship between an elderly man and a young boy. The friendship between the two and the great imagination of a young child is priceless. As a parent I would enjoy sharing this good-humoured book with children over and over again.

By Kellie Geoghegan

The Paradise Garden

Author: Colin Thompson

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The Paradise Garden is a richly illustrated book ostensibly for younger readers… if you are going to measure by the limited amount of text and simple storyline. However the only character Peter is not a little boy: he looks more like Year Seven than Year Three. Moreover his story is actually about running away from home, and this is presented as a good, even vital thing for him to have done.


I would be much more comfortable giving this book to an older student (Year Seven and up) who either had a strong visual bent, or who needed a story with not too many words. Another great way the book could be used would be to support someone who was having an unhappy time: a book like this provides great cues for talking about unhappiness, and suggests by metaphor ways to cope.


The story follows Peter whose home and neighbourhood are noisy and upsetting due to arguments, and whose heart is lonely because his parents have split up. He tells his Mum he is going on holiday with his Dad, but actually goes and camps out in botanical garden in the middle of the city. Here he finds a time of respite and healing. He eventually goes back home determined to take some of the garden with him so that he can find peace at home.


The outstanding feature of the book is the intricate and intriguing illustrations. Each page is filled with detail, factual and fantastic. As Peter is walking home through the bare winter trees, a family of hedgehogs is trailing him through the grass, but at the same time on a branch that frames the page, a tiny wooden house has been built with smoke pouring out of the chimney, and a toy biplane about the size of a grain of rice is revealed trapped in one of the trees.


This book will satisfy someone who loves to pore over pages delving into tiny detail in illustrations… and at the same time is a poignant reminder of the pain some children carry inside themselves.


Andrew Lack
Head of the Odell Learning Resources Centre

Revisiting the Narnian Books

Author: C S Lewis

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I have had some interesting discussions about C. S. Lewis’s Narnian books recently. One was with a Middle School girl this morning. She was borrowing “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” to read because her family was about to watch the video of the recently released film.


The seven Narnian stories were very important to me as a young reader. We were living in Kuala Lumpur at the time, and I discovered the series at a house my parents were visiting. The gentleman there kindly allowed me to borrow one book, and then for the next seven weeks I would finish the book by Monday evening and wait with anxiety for Sunday to come around, as he bought a new book each week to church to lend to me.


What is the correct order to read them? The series scans the whole existence of Narnia… “The Magician’s Nephew” deals with its creation, then comes “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. “The Horse and His Boy” occurs during the second book. “Prince Caspian” comes next, and then “Voyage”. “The Silver Chair” follows, and then “The Last Battle” includes the final end to Narnia.

I confess I no longer really enjoy reading “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. The language is dated in parts, and in some ways Lewis seems to grown more confident in his style in the books he wrote after this. I think “The Last Battle” contains the most radical and challenging ideas. There is some provocative thinking about faithfulness, humanism and heaven. My all time favourite however is “The Silver Chair”. It is (to me) the most “stand alone” of the stories, and has a wonderful dramatic arc. Some like it less because it does not feature the original four children. I just love Puddleglum the Marshwiggle! (You will have to read it to find out about Marshwiggles). His dialogue with the underground witch queen about knowing what is true and right by faith is very powerful.

As a set, definitely worth a revisit!