Enoch the Emu

Enoch the Emu by Gordon Winch, illustrated by Doreen Gristwood (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $15.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-871-7
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Enoch is not a very domesticated emu. He would rather be down at the Emu Club drinking billabong water with his mates than keeping the nest tidy or catching fat juicy grasshoppers for Wilhelmina as she sits on their clutch of eggs day after day. So it comes as quite a surprise when one day, Wilhelmina goes off on a holiday with her friends, leaving Enoch to care for their nine olive eggs and to raise the hatchlings.

Enoch and Wilhelmina are typical emus. In real life the males really do take care of the eggs after the female has laid them. And this book takes an amusing, imaginative look at this role reversal. Male emus make great dads and Enoch sets a new trend by bringing his chicks to the Emu Club.

Enoch the Emu has more words than are typically present in picture books for young children, but the text cleverly weaves the facts and fiction, making an entertaining and very readable story. And the book is one which adults will enjoy reading again and again.

The soft colourful illustrations are fun - Wilhelmina sits on the nest with her curlers in – and match the tone of the text beautifully. They are also filled with other Australian birds and animals of the outback. Children and adults alike will enjoy this story of Wilhelmina and her lazy husband Enoch as he is forced to turn over a new leaf.