Nannie loves by Kylie Dunstan

Working Title Press, 2016. ISBN 9781921504839
(Ages: 2-6) Family. Grandparents. Farm life. The story starts with an illustration of a child posting a letter addressed to her Nan, while the text reads 'Nannie lives on a farm'. From there, the illustrations show us the child's family visiting the farm and exploring it with Nannie, while the text on each page tells us something about Nannie and her farm. In this way, the text and the illustrations each add something different to the story and provide plenty of material for discussion with children. Each page ends with 'Nannie loves her dog/garden/family/me'. The text is simple, but children will love it because they get to join in with the repeated 'Nannie loves...' on each page.
The collage and pencil illustrations, in earthy, natural colours are simply wonderful. They are bright and joyful and perfectly show the wonder and excitement the children have for the farm. Nannie's enthusiasm and love for the farm also shines through as she shows them around and does her jobs.
This is a great story for sharing and enjoying. It will also be fantastic for demonstrating mixed media illustrations and as inspiration for classroom art. The chooks on the endpapers are particularly fabulous, as are all the illustrations within.
Nicole Nelson