![]() The titular Fred is an imaginary friend, ready to be called into action when "the conditions are just right". Meanwhile, the highly-anticipated collaboration between Eoin Colfer, our current Laureate na nÓg, and Oliver Jeffers, one of our finest picture book artists, Imaginary Fred (HarperCollins, £12.99), offers up a complex and layered story about friendship and imagination. Sarah Gibb's Sleeping Beauty (HarperCollins, £12.99), part of their "Best-loved Classics" series, is a more traditional fairytale retelling, but the elegant illustrations – particularly when Gibb uses a cut-out effect for the more eventful scenes – make it an edition worth owning. There is perhaps a touch of class snobbery in the depiction of the big bad wolf as a wearer of tracksuits and hoodies, but by the end of the story everyone is friends and will live, we hope, happily ever after. Giants lurk in St Stephen's Green, trolls guard the Ha'penny Bridge, and all the while an ominous figure follows Fiona on his bicycle. In her red raincoat, Fiona makes her way to the witches' market on Moore Street to make a special brew for Granny, traversing a city featuring familiar landmarks with magical twists. ![]() With its simple but quirky illustrations, this year's treat for young Dubliners is, unquestionably, illustrator Nicola Colton's first picture book, A Dublin Fairytale (O'Brien, €12.99). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |