Eva's imagination by Wendy Shurety
Ill. by Karen Erasmus. New Frontier Publishing, 2018. ISBN
9781925594232
(Age: 4+) Themes: Imagination, Family, Adventure, Problem solving.
When Eva cannot find anything to occupy herself, Mum tells he to go
and find her imagination. She takes her dog, Chops and sets off.
First she makes a list, then puts on her boots, taking a wooden
spoon from the kitchen as her stick. They walk through the long
valley of the passageway into the dining room with its forest of
tree trunks listening to a bird's call. Under the table they find a
discarded table napkin, and then walk up the stairs into the
mountains, to find a cave. Climbing under the bed to explore the
cave her hand comes to rest on something furry, and she finds her
lost doll. Walking down the passageway once more, she hops into a
rainforest, a wardrobe full of exciting things to see. Frightened by
something soft and furry hanging down across her face, Eva calls out
'snake', and runs for the stairs. Chops finds some books and the two
return to Mum, sure that they haven't found imagination, but loaded
with the books and the lost toy.
Readers will know that imagination is used all through the story and
Eva has not lost anything, but rather uses it all the time. Readers
will love recognising the familiar parts of the house, sharing their
own stories of what each room holds for them in their imaginations.
This is a lovely family oriented tale of a child and her mum in the
house, finding something to occupy her mind as she explores the
place with different eyes.
Erasmus' illustrations, like those of Freya Blackwood, give a loving
warm feeling of family and togetherness from start to finish. I love
the contrasting darkness of the pages when shadows appear on the
wall of the passageway and the area under the dining room table
becomes a forest. When Eva climbs under the bed and goes into the
wardrobe, each illustrations is increasingly dark, but still
radiating the warmth and security of the house.
Fran Knight