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The Spinoff
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
An ode to Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Books editor Claire Mabey remembers one of the greatest picture books of all time, after the passing of its author. Each peach pear plum I spy Tom Thumb Tom Thumb in the cupboard I spy Mother Hubbard Hands up who can recite the rest from here? Janet and Allan Ahlberg's picture book was first published in 1978 and has firmly implanted flawless rhyme, bears in tweed with shotguns, babies tumbling from trees, Robin Hood at his leisure, the wicked witch and the joys of juicy stonefruit in the heads of young and old ever since. On July 29, 2025, Allan Ahlberg died, and an outpouring of gratitude for his work has followed. His wife Janet departed the world long ago, in 1994, of breast cancer – but while they were together the Ahlbergs created picture book magic. The Jolly Postman, Peepo!, and Each Peach Pear Plum were among the most popular. My board book edition of Each Peach Pear Plum is in a sorry state. The spine has all but collapsed and there are smears of uncertain origin on most of the pages. And it's only seven years old – the same age as my son, to whom this copy really belongs. Julia Marshall, founder of children's publishing company Gecko Press, told me once that the mark of a successful picture book is that it can withstand 100 reads. I must have read Each Peach Pear Plum 300 times at least and its joys have never diminished. It's the first book I remember. A strange sensation of time slippage happens every time I glimpse the front cover, or any of the illustrations – I remember being read to; I remember avidly exploring the world of the book with my eyes, before language even started. Each Peach Pear Plum is responsible for a life-long wish to live among woods and blackberry bushes and fairytale characters, as well as a permanent hankering for plum pie. But what makes this classic a classic? Allan Ahlberg knew that without rhythm, rhyme doesn't work. You have to be able to beat out the lines with a regular thump. That's where the joy of the language enters the bones. The rhythm of Each Peach Pear Plum is perfect, as is every rhyming couplet. The simplicity of the central hook is brilliant, too – the iconic 'I spy' game is turned onto famous fictional characters. Kids love spying, so do adults – we are seekers and finders by nature. Janet Ahlberg's illustrations are immediately enticing. They have a William Morris-esque beauty to them: all balance, and pattern and an eye for the aesthetic appeal of leaves and vines and trees. That wee cottage up the top of the front cover says 'cosy times ahead' and the vines weaving all around it catching teapots and cats, flowers and fruits, sheep and broomsticks is rich with the promise of fantasy grounded in gentle country life. The blue is the blue of a perfect Summer sky. Janet's work was lauded at the time, too – her illustrations for Each Peach Pear Plum won the prestigious Kate Greenaway medal in 1979. Just as the cover imagery is appealing, there is something marvellous about a book that declares itself in a beguiling set of four words, three of which are fruit. Stonefruits remind us of summer – of warm days, sweet times. The cover image slides beautifully into the endpapers which reveal a rolling landscape into which the cottage is snuggled. The vast empty fields, the wandering brook, the sparse farm animals is a calming scene, ideal for bedtime reading by sleepy parents. The first scene is of tiny little Tom Thumb up a peach tree with his book. I could not think of a more lovely way to introduce children to the magic of reading and to the potential dangers therein. He's quite high up that tree – his feet shod in dainty black shoes are dangling over the branch. But this is a story that does not shy away from danger. As Each Peach Pear Plum progresses from the orchard into Mother Hubbard's fairytale house and out again into the fields and woods, the full force of the central and magnificent storyline unfolds … an unattended baby is accidentally dislodged from a tree by baby bear's misfired hunting rifle and is sent floating down the river. Will Baby Bunting be alright?! We're in safe hands with the Ahlbergs. Baby Bunting is of course fast asleep in his Moses basket while Bo-Peep is fetching her sheep and Jack and Jill are tumbling down hills. As in all of the best picture books, the text and the illustrations work together until it's hard to imagine one without the other. The pictures are rich windows into the world as prompted by the rhyme beside them: those apparently empty fields and woods from the endpapers are built upon, page by page, to reveal that we are in the land of fairytale and it is both charming and action-packed. Endings are very hard. Picture books have to have a kind of circularity about them. A sense of an ending – that satisfying full stop – is crucial. They are, or should be, like tiny little novels. The end of Each Peach Pear Plum executes this perfectly. 'Plum pie in the sun / I spy …. ' [turn the page!] 'EVERYONE!' And there they all are: all the characters of this summery, fruity world eating an enormous pie. Nobody is scared, Baby Bunting is sitting on Robin Hood's knee with a spoonful of pudding in his smiling mouth. The Wicked Witch looks jolly and entertaining, the three bears have put their guns away. The Ahlbergs had an eye for aesthetics and an ear for the music of language. Each Peach Pear Plum has sold over six million copies and by my calculations, their timeless classic must have been read at least a billion times. In a harsh world, Each Peach Pear Plum is a soothing reminder of simple, everlasting pleasures: an abundance of fruit that can be turned into pies; reading in trees; picnics; spying; looking at pictures; and reading before bed. Thank you Allan, thank you Janet – I hope there's plenty of plum pie wherever you are. The Spinoff Books section is proudly brought to you by Unity Books and Creative New Zealand. Visit Unity Books online today.
Geek Dad
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Dad
Stack Overflow: 5 Books for July
Here are some lovely releases to pique your interest. Let's start with nonfiction books: Diggers, Dozers, and Dumpers by Ole Könnecke (Author), Melody Shaw (Translator) I thought I knew the name and how most of the machines around me worked, but I was very much mistaken! Turns out that there are not only diggers and excavators around us, but lots of heavy construction vehicles used for a wide array of purposes, such as wheel loaders, telescopic cranes, and tree harvesters! All this heavy machinery is operated by friendly-looking animals, making it a unique combination. Diggers, Dozers, and Dumpers is on sale since May 06, 2025. Publisher: Gecko Press Pages: 32/ Hardback EAN/UPC: 9798765667552 Up next, some talking rocks and minerals: Talking Rocks and Minerals: Fact-Packed Guide to Geology Paige Towler (Author), Matthew Carlson (Illustrated by) If you put a cute kawaii face on a Pebble and a microphone, you can send him reporting! Pebble the Rock Reporter interviews rocks and minerals on the fundamentals of geology. Some rocks come from deep into the Earth's crust, like volcanic rocks, some are made with organic materials (limestone), and some come from different amalgamations. Some rocks have strange properties, and others are beautiful to look at, and each has a story to tell. This is a fun take on how different rocks and gemstones form from minerals, filled with facts and puns, and, although not as complete as Animated Science: Rocks & Minerals, it is a good place to start! Talking Rocks and Minerals: Fact-Packed Guide to Geology is on sale since July 1st, 2025. Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap Pages: 32 ISBN: 9780593890950 Up next, a dragon: Diego Fuego the Firefighting Dragon by Allison Rozo (Author), Rafael Rozo (Author), Vanessa Morales (Illustrated by) Diego Fuego was born amidst a loving family of fire-breathing dragons in Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) in South America's Patagonia. His family loves him very much and wants him to join the fun of breathing fire, but Diego can't! He has allergies and sneezes, and finally, the cold becomes ice flurries, not fire at all. However, even a dragon that cannot spout fire has its uses when it fights dangerous fires that need to be put out! Finding what you are good at, despite family tradition, is always a good message. Diego Fuego the Firefighting Dragon is on sale since July 22, 2025. Published by Penguin Workshop Hardback | Pages: 32 ISBN: 9780593750322 Now, let's check out a spooky book for the ones that miss Halloween in July: We Are Already Haunting Here! Gideon Sterer (Author), Charlie Mylie (Illustrated by) A little ghost has recently arrived in a haunted city in a haunted world, and he is looking for a spot where he to haunt and call his own. Of course, this is never easy. Every place he tries is already haunted by someone else. After several trials, he does find it! It may be small and dusty and creaky, but it is his to haunt. A perfect place! But then, he hears a knock at the door. It's another little ghost, looking for a place. Will he scare the other ghost away or make room for a new friend? I felt this was a migrant story, but that could mean only that different people will find different meanings in a good book. We Are Already Haunting Here! is on sale since July 15, 2025. Published by Union Square Kids Hardback | Pages: 40 ISBN: 9781454960478 Finally, a middle-grade novel about hacking street cameras: Snoop by Gordon Korman (Author) The premise for this novel is pretty interesting. A kid with divorced parents breaks both legs at a ski resort and is now stuck at home, alone with his smartphone and computer. Carter quickly realizes that being alone is pretty boring and that things are carrying on at school without him, that is until he finds out the live feed the police camas around town. Now he is obsessed, checking out his classmates and discovering strange things that no one else is noticing. Now the scary part is that some people find out they are being watched, and now know Carter's address. What will happen to this naïve boy stuck on a wheelchair? Snoop is on sale since July 1st, 2025. Published by Scholastic Press Hardback | Pages: 208 ISBN: 9781546126089 Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Otago Daily Times
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Reading time celebrates dame's new book
New Zealand children's author Joy Cowley, 88, with pupils from Halfway Bush School and her new book 'Twigs and Stones' at Summerset at Bishopscourt Retirement Village yesterday. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON A legendary New Zealand children's author made reading time for a Dunedin primary school extra special. Pupils from Halfway Bush School had the opportunity to meet with Dame Joy Cowley at her home, Summerset at Bishopscourt Retirement Village, for the launch of her new book, Twigs and Stones, yesterday. The book is Dame Joy's follow up to her award-winning collaboration with illustrator Gavin Bishop, Snake and Lizard, from Gecko Press. Her new book captures the essence of friendship and provides a gentle reminder to be kind to others and to avoid name-calling. Dame Joy said the inspiration for Twigs and Stones came from a childhood experience when she tripped backwards over a milk crate in a classroom and her teacher said "watch your feet, Jumbo". "After that, all the children called me Jumbo and I hated it because I was called that at the school always," Dame Joy said. Teachers used to ask her to write something about name-calling because she found it distressing and they were not sure how to talk to children about it. Dame Joy did not want to write a story that was too "preachy or teachy" and used snake and lizard characters to talk about the issue without pointing fingers at children. The book had resonated well with the children as a result, she said. Dame Joy also presented the Halfway Bush pupils with $500 worth of vouchers from University Bookshop Otago for their school library. Until recently they did not have a school library, and a parent Lizzie Kennedy volunteered her time to help create one. "A school needs a library," Ms Kennedy said. The vouchers would be used to buy "new, fresh and relevant" books for the pupils.
