Rainbow Street by R.W.R McDonald & Kelly Canby

A vivid colourful front cover will attract many eyes as they scan the shelves for a new book. Happily each page inside the covers is filled with the same exuberance, enticing young readers to read or offer it to someone else to read aloud.

Granny is 90 and everyone on Rainbow Street has been invited along to the party. A street party is nothing new to the neighbours, as they always celebrate special birthdays, Halloween, Chinese New Year, Christmas to name a few. Dad and Papa’s table is the first, offering bush tomato soup and lemon myrtle cake, along with fairy bread, sausage rolls and party pies. Next door is Cherry’s best friend, Fern and her mum. Cherry’s family is a rainbow family as she has three homes, one with her dad and grandpa, one with her mum and stepmum, and a third with mum and Felix.

On Chinese New Year, Granny hired a fireworks expert, but when she tried some out for herself, mayhem occurred. Fern’s mum is an expert dumpling maker so they all had dumplings that day. Granny always brings paint to the street parties and the kids can paint over the street. Cherry’s ma is terrific at pavlova and today has cooked a triple decker for granny’s birthday. They still talk about the Halloween party where granny dressed the pram like a spaceship. Next house down has Ajay and his large family. His grandparents have flown out from India and the whole family plays cricket with Cherry and the other children. Ajay’s mum has made tandoori, and crisp popadams, but granny accidentally dropped a tin of red powder for Holi, onto the cat and he ran through the house, colouring everything red.

Mr Amorosi lives by himself and makes the best spaghetti and meatballs, while Granny always dances with him, encouraging everyone to get up and dance.The last table is where Cherry and her mum and mum’s partner sit. He makes the most wonderful ice cream cake. The party is ready, everyone is seated ready to eat the most wonderful food. But where is granny?

This ebullient homage to diversity, to inclusion and to a street of difference will have all readers looking at the detail on each page, smacking their lips over the glorious food, marvelling at the inhabitants of the street, and wonder where granny has got to.

This wonderfully illustrated shuffle is brimming with inclusion and fun, neighbours and family, and will have wide appeal amongst kids eager to try a shared party for themselves.

Themes: Family, Neighbours, Diversity, Inclusion, Humour.

Fran Knight