Muddle and Mo

Muddle and Mo by Nikki Slade Robinson (Starfish Bay Children’s Books)

HB RRP $25.99

ISBN 9780994100757

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9780994100740

Reviewed by Leigh Owen

Sometimes simple is beautiful. This is the case with the picture book Muddle and Mo.

In fewer than one hundred words author/illustrator Nikki Slade Robinson tells a tale of Muddle, the duck trying to understand what he is and why his friend Mo is so odd.  Your beak is too hairy…. You should eat worms.

In fact, Mo is a goat and Muddle is a duck, which of course, children will know right from the start but following Muddle as he puzzles over their identities is the fun of the story.

The illustrations mainly consist of just the two stylised animals in various comical poses on a textured brown background. The simplicity is charming and somehow comforting

I imagine children will soon be memorising this book and reading aloud to themselves. This is enabled, not only by the sparse story and illustrations but also the large clear text and the use of different fonts for the speech of Muddle and the speech of Mo. As a reader I enjoyed coming up with voices for the two characters; the energetic duck and the more lay-back goat.

Muddle and Mo is a delightful book begging to be read aloud to 2-6 year olds.