Title: Ivanhoe Swift Left Home at Six
Author: Jane Godwin
Illustrator: A. Yi
Published by Allen & Unwin
RRP: $24.99

Ivanhoe Swift decides he needs to see the world, but he is only six. With his kite, a few supplies and songs in his head, he sets out to see the world. He meets Maisie Jane along the way and she travels with him for a little while. He soon realises though, that not everyone is as nice as Maisie Jane. When he is cold, wet and lonely, he remembers what his mother told him.

This is a lovely picture book of exploring and friendship, independence and love. I would have loved to read this to my boys when they were little. The verbal and visual texts work beautifully together. The illustrative text is exquisite, relying on the larger format and peppered with the song Ivanhoe’s mother gives him. Direction and colour are used to effect. The endpapers show two different scenes from the book in a larger format. The front end paper shows the pathway from Ivanhoe’s home through a field, the back is the waves of the sea that take him home in the book.

Teaching notes are available for download through this link.

Many thanks to Allen & Unwin for supplying this book for review.