A queen wave
A baby wave
A wave on the sea
A mad wave
A sad wave
A microwave on three – ding!
The disparate elements represented in this rhyme are somehow crammed without crowding into one exuberant page – the seated baby and the dressed-up kindergartner ground readers and invite them in.
Let’s look at the child-queen in detail. She has successfully dressed herself with the accroutrements of royalty and the combination of grownup clothes with improvised train will delight the reader who loves to dress up. Elizabeth Honey’s gift is evident in capturing this active moment without a shred of sentimentality – the glove she waves with is too large which only emphasises the necessary gesture to accompany the rhyme.
The artist has used bright primaries and broad paint strokes familiar to the preschool artist – she has finished most with a thick outline in what seems (to me) a play on the pervasive black-line master of the classroom. Always in control of her marks, tiny vignettes by Honey throughout the pages give the adult guidance in sharing the actions with their young readers.
City of Nedlands Library consisted of two branches, so in a 19 hour working week I had the opportunity to design and deliver two storytime programs as well as regular school and kindergarten class visits. There were a few, a very few, rhymes and songs that I could share with any age group and this one remains in that number to this day.
One of the things that slightly dismayed me, after an absence from librarianship, was the reliance I still had to place on “old favourites” – the books I’d loved and shared with under-5s from the late seventies were still staples, and fresh material for this age group was hard to find. So being introduced to this book was a double win for me.
Here’s Elizabeth Honey pictured recently, supporting young authors and illustrated at their Richmond West Kids Own Publishing book launch.
My first professional conference of the second phase of my career took place in May of this year – the 2002 biennial national Children’s Book Council of Australia was held at the Hyatt Hotel in Perth. In my first fifteen years as a children’s librarian, I’d attended annual Children’s Literature weekends coordinated by the Victorian children’s and youth librarians and even braved the first Australian Library and Information Association as a speaker – also in Perth.
Years before, a colleague at Ballarat told me proudly that she was Elizabeth Honey’s cousin. 2002 though was my first time hearing this outstandingly talented author-illustrator speak.
We never would have got to know each other but for my dear friend Jackie who timed her annual visit to Australia to attend the conference. She rode in the bus from the airport with Elizabeth, and said, she must meet Ms May! And made it happen.
Later that year, I engaged Liz as a guest at Nedlands Library for Children’s Book Week. She stayed the weekend before with our family and cemented her friendship with MM. One memorable day we all drove up into the Hills to visit the cousins. Several weeks later, a bespoke picture book came in the post – hopefully processed by Stamping Joe. Photos that Liz had taken that day were transformed into the adventures of Lucci Longshanks and Tyre Girl.
Liz gave me my favourite word-play on Margaret, ever: in this story I’m identified as Harigad Ma.
A resumed career; new books to play with; a reading family immortalised in print : what next ?
40 Years of Picture Books 