Dim's Write Stuff

What's your favourite colour? It's a great character defining question, but have you ever considered why you like the hues you do. Do you even know from where colours originated or how they are made? The second most asked question I get asked as an author of picture books is: 'Did you draw the pictures?' The answer is a hard, NO! I can't draw a straight line well. But that doesn't mean I am not fascinated by colours and how they are employed to  visually tell my stories.  One can appreciate great art after all, even if one can barely wield a paintbrush. The Mystery of Colour by renowned artist and master paint maker, David Coles is a non-fiction picture book that not only sates the appetites of those like me, but provides a substantial reference point for artists and the curious at heart, aka kids! He begins with that introductory question and establishment of his considerable creds as a real life colour-maker. Yes! Imagine creating beautiful new shades of col...

Mouse is perhaps one of the most beguiling pervaders of FOMO you're ever likely to encounter. He resides in a cosy house in a field as big as the entire world within the warmly hued pages of Where The Heart Is   by uber-talented Shirley Marr and Michael Speechley . And fortunately for us, is brave enough to share his tale about friendship and loss and fear of missing out. Each autumn Mouse farewells not just the summer and its lively glow but also those friends he made then: the Monarch butterflies, the swallows, the geese. All depart to mysterious southern climes much like we humans seeking solace from winter's grim countenance. When the last leaves settle and the last wings flutter out of sight, everything is still and empty, like Mouse's heart . He yearns to seek the wild wide blue skies for himself so packs up his things and sets off, after lunch as it were. At first the thrill of something new, heading into the unknown is the adventure he always thought he wanted a...

Alishba The Great could be a tale touted as moral-driven and whilst helpful notions of self-belief and esteem feature on every page, this picture book by Faeza Samnakay and Sam B , is in fact a delightful and colourful ode to finding one's inner strength and siblings. Alishba hails from a land of antelopes, elephants and passionfruit vines. From the first glowing illustrations depicting Mt Kilimanjaro, we might deduce it to be Tanzania. She is as vibrant as the colours shown to depict her, bold, bouncy and well educated. As she grows, we learn about four precious gifts her family bestows upon her. I personally think her most obvious gift is her nurturing family but more about that later ... From each of her parents and brothers, Alishba receives a cape, each a different colour, a tangible, solid reference to the aphorism that accompanies it: Care, Courage, Determination and Flair.  Her relations take great pains to explain what each truism means for her and any future she forges ...

Occasionally, one happens upon a book that resonates hard, impacts deep and lingers on. Sketch by Jacques Goldstyn is one such book; a picture book for older readers that speaks to those that feel contrary to the norm. And in a month where I seem to be happily adrift on a sea of art-infused books, Sketch is a tale that sits satisfyingly among them. Sketch is born to parents whose hearts are compassionate and wise. From the outset, he wasn't quite like other babies despite everything being anatomically 'normal', he wasn't drawn quite like anyone else . His parents didn't care, loving and nourishing his energetic joie de vivre and wild exuberance along with his deep-seated love of art.  It is this passion however that further distances Sketch from his more ordinary contemporaries. Sketch lives in a town that is orderly, plain and depressingly practical. His divergent way of thinking and drawing simply does not correlate with such boundaries which is bearable until...

Realisation can be a slap in the face when you're convinced beyond all reason that a thing is so. Even more so for the very young who cling to conviction like a shipwrecked sailor to flotsam. When enterprising naturalist, Maeve lands her first fish, she is determined to give it the best life possible. It's just that life doesn't always go to plan. Fish Don't Hop by author illustrator, Jojo Leslie, is the divine proof that change is inescapable or rather can result in escape. Let me explain. After a rousing session at the local pond, Maeve nets what she believes is a tiny fish. Her mother gently points out that while it looks and behaves very much like a fish, it is indeed not a fish . Maeve is resolute. Mumma is wrong and this fish needs a home, which she dutifully sets out to establish.  Maeve's fish has everything it could want not least of which is Maeve's vigilant attention. It's through this constant observation that Maeve notices her fish's chan...