Dim's Write Stuff

I’ve recently been examining the notion of friendship; what ignites it, how enduring it is, why it is simultaneously strong yet exquisitely fragile. Friendship cannot exist exclusively but is enriched with kindness and compassion, understanding and infinite patience. Friendship is, I guess, love. And love encompasses the best bits of friendship. This small handful of picture books encapsulates this notion in better ways than I could ever explain. I invite you to get better acquainted … Old Fellow Liz Anelli’s homely and divinely detailed drawings are the perfect accompaniment to Christopher Cheng’s touching tale about two old fellows; an affable elderly man and his furry black dog. They share their days together wondering the suburban streets of their neighbourhood and ambling through the local parks. Life around them is a riot of colour and action. They walk, muse, rest, and remember when they used to play ball and dash after birds. Now is more of a time of simply sitting and smelli...

A Piscean by nature, it follows I automatically soak up anything associated with water. Here is an aquatic themed book list sure to ‘whet’ the appetites of ocean lovers. Click on the title links to explore these books further and access ways to acquire them. Aquatica: A beginner’s field guide by Lance Balchin Imagine a world bereft of the natural order because of we humans. A world where artificial robotic life has replaced real species and most terrifyingly, multiplying faster than surviving humans can control. A few years prior to this account, Liberty’s journal of Mechanica surfaced. This is her latest chronicle of the underwater life forms that now plague the oceans. Incredible detail describes each robotic menace, all accompanied by stunning diagrammatic sketches and paintings. Imaginative, beautiful and quietly disarming, this is a must for lovers of future dystopia, sea creatures and saga type fantasies. A supremely standout picture book. Five Mile, April 2017  ...

Stop the Sleigh! I want to get off. Not many can say 2021 has been their most spectacular year - memorable, yes - rated on their top ten of best years ever, nah. At least it felt that way for this little black duck. In fact it's been more than a little 'puzzling'. Yet amidst the terrifying onslaught of one tsunami (or blizzard in Santa speak) of frustration and disappointment after the other, seas settled just long enough (for a split second) to make a quick inventory of that which I thought was irrevocably lost over board during the wildest assaults.  Health and family still there - just - check Roof over my head - check Rain sloughing through the gutters, greening the garden - glorious check More books and stories published - yea ha, check More book babies to look forward to in the new year - chuffed as, check. Food on my plate, and stacking on my hips, oh well - still a big fat tick. And it continues.  Despite continued inconvenience on the work front #thanksCovid, liv...

Bjorn is a bear who lives in a cave. It meets all his needs and even sports a mailbox out front where letters sometimes arrive . Bjorn is not the sort of bear to boast about his various wins in life, like his acquisition of a three-seater sofa. His responses are always considered and calm. In fact, Bjorn thinks a sofa may actually take up more room than it's worth in his tidy compact cave. This is quite the opposite to his woodland friends who think a three-seater sofa is their ticket to comfort and happiness. They quickly assume full sitting rights, which crowds the cave even more until Bjorn cannot think about the sofa without feeling unhappy. To him, the sofa is not great so he decides to give it away. After Rabbit declares that it would make an ideal woodland sofa for everyone to share, Bjorn retires to his cave without it, and is happy. This is just one of the handful of introspective, wickedly playful chapters about Bjorn and his buddies. Through regular deliveries to his m...

The subject of environmental awareness prevails more frequently now within school classrooms than ever before. Children’s stories allow discussions to rotate gently around this global concern. These next few picture books and novels encourage understanding and promote empathy in ways that young children are capable of embracing and actioning themselves. Emily Green’s Garden This winning play on words picture book is suffused with every hue of verdant. Lush greens, sandy browns and lilac blues tendril casually across the pages as author, Penny Harrison cultivates a story of change and mindfulness. In many ways, it reflects the engrossing tale, One Tree by Christopher Cheng; where a young child’s world is transformed by a simple discovery and subsequent drive to nurture life until a significant change takes place. In this case, it’s the greening of Emily’s entire suburban neighbourhood.  Life was lovely before but radiates a better kind of lovely following Emily’s ga...

In a world where the screams for attention are often paralysing, loud and unrelenting, Mary dwells in comparative silence. Her thoughts are mostly imperceptible. Her words heard only by the keenest of ears. Her actions measured and calm. This quietness allows Mary to ‘ hear things nobody else heard’ , soft, seemingly insignificant things easily overlooked in the chaos of everyday living. Mary is, A Quite Girl and this picture book by master storyteller, Peter Carnavas , is as unpretentious as it is attention grabbing. The only trouble with being so unobtrusive is that inevitably you are completely overlooked. This is what happens to Mary to such an extent that her own family are not able to hear her as she attempts to relay a new and wonderful discovery to them. Mary tries her hardest to speak up but it is never quite enough to break through the clamorous cacophony of life and despite the benign urgings from her family to ‘ use a nice loud voice’ , Mary withdraws even more unt...