Where would you go? by Alison Lester & Jane Godwin
The children of Yalingbu Yirramboi – The Royal Children's Hospital School worked with Alison Lester and Jane Godwin imagining where they would go, and this book of wonderful verses and illustrations is the result. Full of imaginative responses, the images done by the children are infectious, inviting the readers to imagine where they would go, and how they would illustrate their choice.
In four line stanzas, Lester introduces some of the children and their chosen place to go. So Ava dreams of her birthday, inviting all her friends to sing and dance, while Bon just wants sports land where he can kick a ball and play as many sports as he can. Candice wants to be in a place of treats, Ali wants to go into outer space, Max wants a world of books with stories that will stay with him wherever he goes. We also hear from Charlie, Zara, Pablo, Mira and Joe. The places they want to visit are amazing in their diversity, from the world of comics, to outer space, the Outback, so ‘many wild adventures, so many places to roam’, but the last line offers home as the best place to be.
The vibrant illustrations are most attractive, giving a myriad of detail for readers to decipher. Zara’s jungle, for example, has a wide range of animals, Bon’s sports land offers a diversity of sports for readers to recognise, and Ali’s view of outer space will have readers seeing lots of things they know from the world of space.
Pablo is at the fiesta, and his illustration shows a variety of the sorts of things which happen at a fiesta, celebrating many lands. And readers will love seeing all the places Mac finds his stories.
Each double page is largely made up with the illustration, done by the students with support from Jane Godwin and Alison Lester.
The verse and the illustrations help the readers to perhaps understand that these children are all in a hospital school and they may be limited in their ability to travel, but not limited in their imaginations.
This is a wonderful supporting picture book, supporting children away from home, supporting them in their endeavours to imagine, supporting the readers in their knowledge of children in different circumstances from their own, and all the time, supporting home as the best place to be.
Yalingbu Yirramboi – The Royal Children's Hospital School supports children in their learning. The staff liaise with the schools, ensuring the child keeps up with the work done at school. As many of the children are there for an extended period of time, the staff ensure they do not fall behind. Even those sent home to recuperate, but still unable to attend school, are given support from the hospital school. More can be found out about this hospital in Melbourne here.
Themes: Hospitals, Childhood illnesses, Imagination.
Fran Knight