Reviewed by Kylie Buckley
Bowerbird Blues is a story about a bowerbird on his pursuit to find blue
items to decorate his bower. He searches high and low to add to his collection but
no matter how much he finds he believes it is never enough…something is missing.
Aura Parker’s artwork is simply divine, and the front cover deserves to be on
prominent display in every primary school classroom, library, bookshop, and
children’s bedroom everywhere! The cover is embossed and gorgeously tactile, the
blue foil title is striking when it catches the light, and the blue and brown
colour palette is surprisingly stunning. The exquisite artwork, created using
digital and traditional watercolour, appears as spot illustrations as well as
single and double-page spreads.
Once the reader has admired the beautifully detailed artwork in the endpapers there
is a lot to discuss and interact with. The contrasting colour palettes between
the start and end is a great talking point, and a bowerbird challenge is set for
young readers to find the listed items hidden within the endpapers’
illustrations.
Bowerbird Blues is a lovely picture book that portrays the unique
scavenging habits of male bowerbirds to attract a female mate. The
illustrations extend the text by highlighting plastic pollution as a threat to
the environment and wildlife. This book would appeal to nature lovers and an
audience aged 4 years and older.
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