Review: ‘Twinkle’ by Nick Bland

Regular readers of my blog (or those who cyberstalk me via other means) will know I have a four-year-old son. He doesn’t own as many books as I do, but he does have a bookshelf in his room, and when we moved late last year he had two full boxes of his own books. They’re almost all picture books, although we have started acquiring some chapter books since then as well.

The removalists didn’t like lifting those boxes very much.

The upshot is that I read a lot of picture books. There are a few brilliant ones among the rest and, even though I’m straying a little far from my usual blogging fare, there’s one I want to mention: Twinkle by Australian author illustrator Nick Bland.

Little Star lands in Penny Pasketti’s backyard, and in a twinkle the night is filled with fun. Eventually, though, it is time for Little Star to go home. But how do you make a star fall up?

I found Twinkle on a sale table and snapped it up for my son. We have Bland’s The Very Cranky Bear, which was (until now) my favourite children’s book—if only for its hilarious picture of a brown bear, hands on his hips, scowling at the reader in his new, unwanted finery.

But Twinkle has ousted it. Bland’s artwork is breathtaking. My son and I have happily spent several minutes just looking at a single page, picking out different aspects of the illustration. And the story is sweet too—a little girl finds a fallen star in her yard and helps him to go home. What the words don’t capture but the pictures do is that there must have been a shower of falling stars, because there are a dozen other children in the background trying to do the same thing.

My favourite page reads, “Together they chased the quietness away and filled the night with giggle and bounce.” HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THAT?!

Anyway, if you have small children and can find a copy of this book, you won’t regret buying it. Five (falling) stars!

What’s your favourite picture book?

(PS I’ve previously reviewed another picture book, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore. You know, if you’re interested.)