Max & George (Cori Brooke & Sue deGennaro, Viking)

Max & George is a subtle and sophisticated children’s book that will be more suitable to early primary school readers than preschoolers given its themes and subdued colour palette. Max’s only friend is named George. Oddly enough, apart from looking suspiciously like a rabbit, George is identical to Max. They are the same height, wear the same stripey top and share the same feelings. There’s only one problem: George only lives in windows. It soon becomes apparent that George is Max’s imaginary friend. Max is a shy and lonely soul and George seems to be a reincarnation of a favourite cuddly soft toy. Unfortunately when it’s time for his first day at school, Max is jittery as his attempts to find George prove more difficult in a strange setting. Then he makes friends with a new classmate and somehow George isn’t needed so much. Sue deGennaro’s pictures are dominated by a white and blue palette and although this may seem like a limiting choice of shades for a picture book, she also uses different patterns as well as random pops of other colours. Cori Brooke’s story is useful as a guide for parents and teachers to talk about the need for imaginary friends.

Thuy On is the books editor of the Big Issue and a Melbourne-based reviewer and manuscript assessor

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews