Little Blue by Gaye Chapman

The first thing that intrigued me about this book was the cover and its simplicity.

The artwork in this book is really intriguing as part of it is coloured in and half of it is unfinished sketches which seem to represent Little Blue's thoughts and what her home looks like. The sketches are in blue and its seems to be the colour scheme throughout the book. Although it is over exaggerated with the impact of the blue it is symbolic of the character and where she actually belongs, as part of a china plate.

The book tells a tale of discovery and cultural difference. The house that Little Blue describes is similar to those found in Japan and the house that the boy describes is close enough to the descriptions, just westernised.

There is a dramatic use of quotation marks in the book, with the majority of the text being spoken dialogue. Therefore, this book which is aimed at 4 to 5 year old range, will be a great resource for introducing quotation marks in a simplistic manner and for children to make the distinction between certain characters and their dialogues.

Chapman's books are noticed among the Australian literature community as being full of detailed art, which is definitely evident in Little Blue.

Link to a biography of Chapman

By Emma Windebank