Library Lily by Gillian Shields
Ill. by Francesca Chessa. Gullane, 2011. ISBN 978 1 86233 830 2.
(Ages: 5+) Picture book. Lily always has her head stuck in a book:
she reads while eating breakfast, she reads while cleaning her
teeth, she has a book when supposedly sleeping, in fact she has one
with her all the time, so much so that everyone calls her Library
Lily. But Mum thinks there may be more to life than a book
(Gadzooks!) and takes her to the park, where she reads all the signs
and after that has little to do, until Milly comes along. Milly does
not like to read, is adventurous and playful, and questions Lily's
constant reading. Milly takes Lily on one of her adventures and Lily
finds that she has fun doing that but then introduces Milly to her
books, and the pair sees that they can both have fun in both fields.
The bright, bold eye catching illustrations show Lily and Milly
doing the things they love.
A neatly resolved story about two friends finding a common ground,
sharing what each loves with the other and so coming together each
sharing their passion with the other, will have a measure of
interest and support in classes where topics are under discussion
such as sharing, reading and friendship. But its main relevance will
be in classes and libraries in 2012, the National Year of Reading,
where reading is being celebrated around Australia, promoted in all
libraries, encouraging young and old to read. This book is one of
several published this year proudly supporting reading as a past
time.
Fran Knight