The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier

I wanted to read The Lady and the Unicorn thanks to the exhibition currently on at the Art Gallery of NSW. As a long-time cross-stitcher, the tapestries fascinate me. I've been to see them twice so far, & hope to see them one more time before the exhibition ends later this month.

This is only the third time that the tapestries have left France in 500 years. Designed around 1500 in Paris, they are an extraordinary example of medieval art. Very little is known about their exact provenance which has created much speculation. Chevalier has used 'sensible suppositions' to weave her fiction.

Initially I was dismayed by what I felt was lacklustre writing. By the end of the first chapter, I wasn't sure I would be able to continue.

I may have been too critical as I was coming off the back of the incredible Sugar Money by Jane Harris written in the patios of 1765 Martinique and Megan Hunter's poetic cli-fi story, The End We Start From where the poetry existed in every word as well as in the gaps between. After two such innovative, exciting narratives, perhaps any regular story would have been a bit dull.

I'm glad I persisted as Chevalier's suppositions were enlightening and entertaining. She obviously researches her subjects thoroughly, then weaves this knowledge through her story with a deft touch. 

With a tapestry you stand close as you would to a friend. You see only part of it, and not necessarily the most important part. So no thing should stand out more than the rest, but fit together into a pattern that your eye takes pleasure in no matter where it rests.

Chevalier took the time to show us (via the faces of the women and the stories behind them) that not only can an artists intent and interpretation change with time but that different people view different things in the work, depending on their mood and experience. All theses ideas are valid as well as being the very thing that makes all art such a personal and rewarding experience.

I learnt a lot about the life and times of medieval France, the art of weaving and the lot of women in a strict patriarchal society.

Unlike many of the books I've read recently, Chevalier wrote a good old-fashioned ending complete with epilogue and a what-they-did-next wrap-up. Very satisfying.

2/20 #20booksofsummer (winter)

19℃ in Sydney

22℃ in Northern Ireland

Circle by Jeannie Baker

Circle is one of those amazing, gorgeous picture books that I love and adore...right up until the very last page.

But that last page does my head in every single time I read it. Before I go into the final page, let me tell you all the reasons why I love and adore the rest of the book.

Firstly, I had the very great privilege of attending the book launch and exhibition opening for Circle at the Australian Maritime Museum in Sydney last year. Being able to see Baker's collages up close and personal is a real treat that I would move heaven and earth to be a part of (I also attended the opening of her exhibition for Mirror six years ago).

The collages were hung between child and adult height for everyone to enjoy. They're not huge pieces, which makes the precision details in each one even more impressive. The colours, the textures, the perspectives are an aesthetic delight.

Secondly, Circle is the story of the bar-tailed godwit, a migratory bird that I knew nothing about until the launch/opening night. This incredible little bird takes a six day flight from Australia/New Zealand via the Yellow Sea to Alaska each year.

Thirdly, this is a story about our environment and our climate and what we have been doing to it and how it affects the smallest members of our planet. It's a story about our global ecosystem and how everything is connected. Circle is the ultimate tale of belonging.

And now the ending.

The very first illustration in the book shows us a boy in bed with a wheelchair beside him. We have no explanation for this. The assumption I made was that the boy had a permanent disability. There was nothing in the image to suggest to me that he was only injured for a period of time (i.e. wearing a cast for a broken leg, get well cards on the bedside table etc). Instead he is reading a book about birds and day dreaming about flying.

Baker refers to an injury in the teacher's notes provided on the night. If this had been obvious to me, I could have accepted this very same boy at the end of the book on crutches, rushing to save the godwit on the beach, dropping his crutches and suddenly walking/running. If I'd known he was recovering from a protracted injury, I could have applauded his hard work and apparent recovery.

The teacher's note conclude with 'thus, the bird's year long migration is given a human perspective'.

However it looked to me, like a child with a permanent disability who suddenly walked. It didn't make sense. I certainly didn't experience the human journey within the bird's journey that the notes indicated. It felt like it was something added on as an afterthought.

Part of judging whether a picture book for children has been successful or not is if the illustrations and the stories work alongside each other. According to the CBCA judging criteria for early childhood books, there needs to be a 'unity of purpose' where the issues in the text and the pictures revolve and resolve together.

Perhaps this is why Circle has been longlisted for the Picture Book of the Year award (which focuses on the illustrations) and the Eve Pownall Book of the Year (which focus on the information/non-fiction elements within the story) and not the Early Childhood Book Award.

+ Winner of the 2017 Australian Indie Book Children's Award.

Bob Graham: A Retrospective

During a recent trip to Canberra I had the opportunity to attend the Bob Graham exhibition, A Bird in the Hand!
at the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery in Civic. 

Graham started with a timeline of important life events.

 He also provided a wonderful glimpse into his working world.

I love the photograph of Graham outside his window and all the toy pups around his desk.

It was also very generous of Graham to let us sneak a peek at his latest work in progress - Ice Cream.

Three of Graham's CBCA medals.

The wall was dotted with quotes and comments from Graham about his work and ideas.

"It was not until I survived the diabolical lottery, and missed the draft to Vietnam, that I started to question the concept of social justice. And to think that it might depend which side of the fence you were on. And to question how the stories we read when we are young might just influence our outlook on life."

Pete & Roland was based on a real life family story.

"As well as cosy home grown certainties...through books, children can imagine what it might be like to be in someone else's shoes. This is surely where empathy starts...and who knows? Then maybe they may have a world with some fear taken out of it."

"I made Greetings From Sandy Beach after a trip to Wilson's Prom where Carolyn and I sat on a lonely beach imagining we could have been the only people on earth and a whole class of school kids dropped out of the sky on us followed by a very apologetic teacher."

 "Up until Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten I had my feet firmly planted on the ground in a reality which echoed my own. When Rose and her family appeared, the story needed them to be watching the sun coming up. My editor in London went for caution when she saw my rough sketches. 'Wouldn't they be safer and better off watching the sunrise from their front step?' she asked.

Sometimes you have to go for it. I not only put the family on the roof (it made a much better picture) but I put a sheep up there for good measure...Suddenly I thought my stories could go anywhere."

  

"In 1994 we moved to Somerset. We lived in an old stone house built in 1690. It had a door, 4 windows in front and a chimney with smoke coming out, and flowers on the windowsill. Just like a house that children would draw. These houses were perfect for Queenie the Bantam."

 I loved seeing the original drawing of the dapper duck that Graham's granddaughter drew that inspired Silver Buttons.

"Way beyond any awards or achievements that my books have been fortunate to receive was when I was told that my book How To heal A Broken Wing was to be published in Hebrew (Israel), and Farsi (Iran, I think in the same year. I can't think of anything more fulfilling that has happened to me in my publishing life. Iran saw fit to lengthen the skirts, but if they needed to do that then it was OK. It didn't alter the story."

Before Graham was a well-renown author and illustrator of children's books, he illustrated a book with his brother-in-law, Peter Smith. 

It was never published...until 2012.

The exhibition showed the original and current editions of Monsieur Albert Rides To Glory.

It was fascinating seeing how Graham's illustrations evolved with time. 

The book also changed from one with rather adult leanings to a more child friendly version.

I thoroughly enjoyed this journey into Graham's world. 

Like his books, I was left with a feeling of inclusion; I felt embraced, respected & cosy. 

There is a warmth and humanity that not only emanates from Graham's work, but from his life story as well. 

You have until August 24 to see this heart-warming exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery.