Traditional kiwi scenes are explored in a new way in the Little Fronds picture books designed for 0-3 year olds. Each page has a big, brightly coloured picture and one or two words describing the image.
I’m liking
These are very kiwi books for kiwi kids. “Farm” has sheep, shearers, farm bikes and a farmer that looks like he’s going to milk the cows in any rural NZ town – complete with stubbies and gumboots. “Beach” has togs, driftwood and lots of lovely sea creatures. Each image is pretty creative – an artist’s interpretation with somewhat crazy eyes and stylised versions of what we commonly see. It’s not your ordinary picture of a seagull, or sheep. But my toddler certainly identifies the pictures correctly – they’re not unrecognisable, just very original!
I love the end spread in each book. It’s a big scene showing all the images in the book. These types of pages are such fun with a toddler, as they can point out all the things they know and/or have learnt while reading the book.
Things that made me go hmmmm
Not everyone is going to love these stylised images… if you aren’t a stickler for the way things ‘should look’, give these books a go!
The conclusion
Such fun, cute little books will warm little and big hearts with their familiar scenes and crazy, funky images. If you’re looking for big, bright but simple images to enjoy with your little one(s) or teach them about a kiwi way of life, then these books are definitely worth looking at.
Each book retails for $12.99 and is published by Penguin Group (NZ). They are part of a wider Little Fronds series by Matthew & Fraser Williamson – the other themes available include “ABC”, “Colours” and “Counting”.
