About the Author

Alison Lester is one of Australia s most popular children s authors and illustrators. She began illustrating children s books after she had her first child, and today has illustrated more than 25 books for children. Alison has won several awards for her writing and illustrating, including the 1989 CBC Honour Book Award for The Journey Home, and Best Designed Children s Book for Rosie Sips Spiders. When Frank Was Four reached number one in the bestseller list and was also a CBC Notable Book. Alison lives on a farmlet in rural Victoria with her husband and their three children.

Reviews

PreS-Gr 3-- The seven children in this picture book from Australia enjoy their work, homes, food, and fun. Rosie, for example, lives in a trailer, sips the ice cream-and-lemonade concoction called a ``spider,'' and sings with an all-girl band. She also tends cactus, works her cattle dog, and bathes in a horse-trough. The other children pursue similarly unique and whimsical activities. There is no plot; the watercolor illustrations are organized to encourage paging back and forth. Children can follow one character, match objects to characters, or guess at the next event in sequence. Lester uses words such as ``carnivorous,'' ``hibiscus,'' and ``menagerie,'' which would be delightful to read aloud. The vocations and activities pictured will tickle children's funnybones, widen their imaginations, and test their memories. This is a sequel to Lester's Clive Eats Alligators (Houghton, 1986), and the same friends appear here. --Anna Biagioni Hart, Sherwood Regional Library, Alexandria, VA