Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Reading Time
    • Home
    • Reviews
      • Highly Recommended
      • CBCA Short Listed
      • Early Childhood Books
      • Younger Readers
      • Intermediate Readers
      • Older Readers
      • ANZAC books
      • Great Read Alouds
      • Information Books
      • LGBTQIA+
      • Picture Books
      • Professional Development
    • Interviews
    • Suggestions
    • News
    • Meet The Review Team
    • Contact Us
    Reading Time
    You are at:Home»Reviews»Early Childhood Books»The Spotty Dotty Lady

    The Spotty Dotty Lady

    0
    By Admin on June 1, 2014 Early Childhood Books, Highly Recommended

    spottydotty_cover

    BOYLE, Josie (text) Fern Martins (illus.) The Spotty Dotty Lady Magabala, 2014 unpaged $17.95 pbk ISBN 9781922142108 SCIS 1655087

    ‘Once there lived a sad lady whose only friends were the pretty flowers in her garden, until, one day, she discovered in the garden a strange new plant sporting a huge, spotty bud.  Intrigued, she watered and watched it, eager to see what sort of flower it would produce.  One morning she was astonished to find a huge, beautiful and extravagantly spotted bloom.  So delighted was she with the spotty dotty flower, that . . .’  Word spread quickly and soon neighbours appeared to marvel, stayed to drink tea and soon the sad lady had a host of cheerful friends from many cultures.

    This gentle story raises awareness of the lonely and isolated people living in any society and examines the relationship between nature/environment and people, a theme frequently visited in Aboriginal stories.  The simple text and luminous watercolour illustrations sensitively chart the sad lady’s metamorphosis into the exuberant, hospitable centre of the newly colourful neighbourhood.  I loved the way the colours intensify as the lady grows and glows with confidence and excitement.

    Josie Boyle is a Wonghi woman from Western Australia, a singer, storyteller and artist.  Fern Martins is an Ngarabul woman from NSW, a sculptor, printmaker and artist who has exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia and lectured at the University of Adelaide.  This is their second collaboration.

    reviewed by Joy Steward

    emotions environment First Nations Flowers friendship multicultural Nature

    Related Posts

    Enough Love?

    Wonderful Shoes

    A Human for Kingsley

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • Themes
    • Curriculum
    Action adventure Airplanes Alphabet Anxiety autism Bullying CBCA Awards Coming of age Dystopian emotions family fantasy friendship grief Historical humour magic Mystery Post apocalyptic Readers Cup reluctant readers school Sci-Fi series of books siblings Sport Starting school Teacher Notes
    ANZAC Australian animals Australian history Biography Culture & Diversity Disabilities First Nations Geography health Humanities mental health Poetry Reconciliation resilience Science STEM Stolen Generation sustainability Wordless books



    Recent Comments
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Emily Flint on Walk of the Whales
    Recent Posts
    • Enough Love?
    • Wonderful Shoes
    • A Human for Kingsley
    • Dirt Circus League
    • Dark Rise
    Recent Comments
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Emily Flint on Walk of the Whales
    © Copyright 2021 The Children’s Book Council of Australia - All rights reserved

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Posting....