Before I get to the story, let me just stop and marvel at the glorious endpapers, a signature of Aura’s work. The opening spread is a golden daytime scene filled with so much detail that it is almost a story on its own. This of course includes the usual hidden objects for the reader to find. A quick flip to the back of the book shows that daytime has turned to night with beautiful greys and purples filling the space which again has a list of items to find.
Endpapers are the one place where artists can be free
to create without being restricted by text placement. I would love to see more
books embrace this space as Aura does.
Now that the scene has been set we open the first page
to see a baby bowerbird with the line ‘I am an artist’. Above is the
tiny bird’s creation, made with found objects (great illustration). I love this
story already.
We continue along being witness to the artistic
process as the baby dreams up designs and tests out various ways to bring these
ideas to life.
‘I am carried away in the flurry of excitement,…‘Working
late until the light is fading’… I am beginning to think this
may be art reflecting life as I can easily picture Aura working late into the
night, but I digress.
As the light fades and the night animals begin to
emerge, our tiny bowerbird encounters a problem. The powerful owl is on the prowl.
He is scary and confronting. The baby flees in fright feeling small and fragile.
What follows is a tale of courage and bravery. How does
our hero emerge from hiding and confront the powerful owl, and what role do his
artistic talents play?
Perhaps I am reading too much into things, but I think
this story goes beyond that of a bowerbird family fending off a night time
creature.
Children are born artists. They are inspired by everything
around them and create magic from the simplest of things. But it takes just one
person to undermine everything, making them feel small and unsure of who they
are. Some children hide this part of themselves and stop creating altogether,
forever fearful of what people might say. As a fellow ‘arty farty’ it can take
a lot to stand up and believe in your work. One of the most powerful ways to
do that is to find your tribe. ‘Asking. Trusting. Reaching out.’ Standing
together with others that believe in you, can give you the courage you need to be brave.
Whether you see this parallel in Bowerbird Brave
or not does not matter. Children will love this story regardless, especially
the ending. The writing is rhythmical without needing to rhyme and the
illustrations speak for themselves, just magical.
Bowerbird Brave will not only make the perfect
classroom addition with its ability to link to so many topics, but with its stunning
detailed pages it will be sure to be requested over and over for that bedtime read.
Make sure you check out the other titles in this
series.
Title: Bowerbird Brave
Author/Illustrator: Aura Parker
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: 1 September 2026
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781761727252
For ages: 3+
Type: Picture Book
