Collecting sunshine by Rachel Flynn

Ill. by Tamsin Ainslie. Penguin 2018. ISBN 9780143785187
(Age: 1-4) Recommended. Themes: Childhood; Play; Memories. An early childhood book with two central characters who go to a park with a paper bag ready to gather their own collection of treasures. When it rains the bag breaks, but the children continue collecting, only this time they collect memories which they later record in their own art gallery. This is a simple picture book, with limited text and appealing naive illustrations. The illustrations appealed to the nearly-two-year-old that I shared this book with. She loved searching for the dogs, the cat, and the bike in the illustrations, but more particularly she loved identifying the blue budgie hidden on every page. It wasn't until I was ready to review the book, that I also discovered the illustrator had deliberately hidden a mouse on every page as well as the blue budgie. The idea that you can collect memories is the essential feature of the book.
This is a book that would appeal in a child-care context, prior to a walk in the park, collecting sunshine and memories along the way.
Recommended aged 1-4 years.
Carolyn Hull