Wild About Book Week (Sarah Speedie, illus Kruti Desai, Larrikin House)

Wild About Book Week is a meta-tale of sorts, which celebrates what has become an annual tradition for many families: dressing up for Book Week. The protagonist, a pigtailed child, is surrounded by books in the first spread, spoiled for choice. In author Sarah Speedie’s (Boss Cat) first-person rhyming prose, they recount the costume possibilities, including unicorns, dinosaurs, monsters and robots. Family members chime in with suggestions and experiment with dress-ups alongside the protagonist on each page, having a ball. Kruti Desai’s illustrations are adorable, colourful and cartoon-like, dominated by variations of pink, blue and green. The colours and costumes remind me of reading The Pagemaster and playing paper dolls as a kid: imaginative possibilities in the comfort of family spaces. This book will be enjoyed by families who love and participate in Book Week, classrooms leading up to Book Week, and kids aged 4–6 who enjoy dress-ups and celebrating the worlds contained in books. It might also help reluctant readers understand the fun that can be found in all those spines on the library shelves. The protagonist is ultimately overwhelmed by the choices available but comes up with a neat solution all on their own: costume combinations.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Angela Meyer is an author and lecturer in writing and publishing at RMIT. She is a former publisher and bookseller. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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