This simple but adorable story takes some very basic ingredients and mixes them just so. A battle-scarred and scruffy teddy lies abandoned in the park-found by our narrator when ‘the mist was on the hedges and the day was growing dark.’ In a straightforward but satisfying rhyme we hear how teddy has flown loose from his owner’s grip while riding on the swing and has crashed down to earth in a minor satellite collision. He is waiting with every faith that ‘Captain Keith’ will come along for him soon but the elderly gentleman telling this tale is a little worried about his condition: ‘Your cardigan’s all muddy and you’ve lost a lot of fluff. I’m not a teddy expert but I think you’ve had enough.’ Elise Hurst’s accompanying illustrations depict Ted and his adventures in soft watery washes and beautifully capture the fading light and the bespectacled narrator and the very cute Ted. I had some qualms about Captain Keith’s treatment of a dog that attacks Ted, but kids will likely enjoy his action rescue. A sweet and endearing tale.

Matthia Dempsey is the deputy editor of JUNIOR BOOKSELLER+PUBLISHER

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: bruce atherton & elise hurst