ROYCE, Ellie (text) Andrew McLean (illus.) Lucas and Jack Working Title Press, 2014 unpaged $24.99 ISBN 9781921504662 SCIS 1666630
Lucas is bored waiting while his mother visits his great grandfather in the nursing home. He makes friends with another old resident, Jack and through talking with him, Lucas becomes interested in the lives lived by the residents and learns to view old people with more respect and understanding.
Carefully composed pictures in a muted colour palette highlight the contrasts between the past and the present, the young and the old. This gentle story will possibly be useful in the classroom when doing a unit on generations, or history, as it gives glimpses of what life was like for some people a long time ago. It could be used as a starter for work on grandparents or other senior members of the community. I doubt that it will become a must- read for the intended audience as the didactic element is very strong and the characterisation, particularly of Lucas, is not strong enough to make much impact.
reviewed by Mia Macrossan
