Scribble Sunset (Ann Shenfield, Lothian, $19.99 hb ISBN 9780734410634, May) **

This book showcases a major artistic talent. The problem is in the narrative. ‘Some people say you need to know where you are going, that when you start you need to know the beginning, the middle and the end,' says the narrator, and for such readers Scribble Sunset will prove frustrating. There are several plot threads, including a quest to find the place where the sun sets; the problem of the bully boy Jones; and, most importantly, the way things are not always what they appear. These threads do come together in the end, after many turns and seemingly random comments about art and yes, about life itself. And that is the point, really: the medium is the message. Patient adults introducing this book to imaginative children from six up will reap rewards. Individual illustrations, such as that of a polar bear sitting on a grain of sugar, are superb, and the whole is beautifully designed and produced. Call me prosaic, but I would have preferred to see the illustrations used in a nonfiction book to emphasisethe importance of looking closely. Scribble Sunset will appeal to artists, those who are attracted by the adjective ‘whimsical’ on the blurb, many fans of The Little Prince . . . but could be difficult to sell to most others.

Robin Morrow was a specialist bookseller and now teaches and reviews children’s literature

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: ann shenfield