Hasel and Rose (Caroline Magerl, Viking)

Rose and her family move to a new town, and she is lonely. When the unpacking is done and Rose is alone in her room, she wishes for something to come, and she waits. Meanwhile, across the sea, something is on its way. A little creature, wrapped in a box, takes a perilous journey and is met by Rose and her family at the seashore. Rose names the wish-thing Hasel, and with her new companion she makes a friend, Emm. It’s not clear what Hasel is—she’s ‘made with tiny stitches, and inside her was a red glass heart for finding things small and far away’—but it doesn’t really matter. This is not a linear story, and it requires more than one reading. Fine illustrations, with watercolour washes and a predominately blue palette, contribute to the wistful, yearning mood of the book. There is much movement in the illustrations, which saves the book from feeling too maudlin and gives it a sense of fun, and a liberal use of hatching and cross-hatching. This is a good book to read to four- to six-year-olds, and for newly independent readers.

Louise Pfanner is an author, illustrator and bookseller

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

Category: Reviews