George the Bilby Chef and the Raspberry Muffin Surprise (Jedda Robaard, The Five Mile Press)

Given the popularity of television cooking shows, most children will be familiar with chefs demonstrating their culinary skills and will relate to this gentle story of George the Bilby, an expert chef whose favourite dishes are sweet treats—cakes, biscuits and, of course, muffins. It’s Betty Echidna’s birthday and George the Bilby decides to make raspberry muffins as a special surprise—only he doesn’t have any raspberries. He enlists the help of friends Little Bee, Maggie Magpie and Bert the mouse and together they gather enough raspberries for the muffins and bake them in readiness for Betty Echidna’s birthday. Young readers will delight in the build-up to Betty’s birthday and the innovative way in which the friends work together to reach their goal. The soft watercolour illustrations extend the story by presenting ingenious solutions to the problems encountered. An added bonus is the inclusion of the raspberry muffin recipe. This is the first book in a new picture-book series.

Margaret Hamilton is a former children’s book publisher. She now provides freelance publishing services and runs Pinerolo, the Children’s Book Cottage in Blackheath

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

Category: Reviews