Jess Racklyeft, Australia: First Numbers, Affirm Press, December 2024, 24 pp., RRP $14.99 (Board), ISBN 9781923135468
Jess Racklyeft, Australia: First Colours, Affirm Press, December 2024, 24 pp., RRP $14.99 (Board), ISBN 9781923135451
These board books are designed for little hands and are sturdily made to survive regular use. They are, as the titles state, intended as introductions to the concepts of numbers and colours. Their minimal text is written in rhyming couplets, and both are illustrated with brightly coloured, accurate drawings of Australian flora and fauna, each creature and flora being clearly labelled with its formal botanical name.
The books are described as suitable for babies and toddlers aged 0-4 years. On every page (except Purple) in First Colours the illustrations include numerous snakes, spiders, lizards and crabs such as Red-bellied Black and Blue-bellied snakes, Redback spiders, Thorny Devil lizards (the sharpest on earth), Freshwater crocodiles, and the Blue-ringed octopus. Not only are some of these creatures deadly, but the drawings are also very realistic and possibly scary for many of the intended readership.
Fortunately, the only potentially confronting drawing in First Numbers is the illustration of two Lesser Black Whipsnakes twisted together. As a CBCA shortlisted author and illustrator, Jess Racklyeft is clearly a gifted illustrator. However, while adults can certainly present the illustrations so as not to alarm children, many children have a natural, visceral response to snakes, spiders and lizards and it seems a pity that some less frightening creatures were not included with the numerous examples of Australian fauna. Ages 0-4.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Douglas
