Admirers of Gregg Dreise’s picture books will recall his bold, highly patterned and richly coloured stories. ‘Today’s Sun’ is a celebration of Australian birds and animals—possum, kookaburra, kangaroo, emu, tawny owl, koala and wombat plus their various activities. On second reading, the richness of language is striking with verbs such as yawned, munched, stretched, thawed, snuggled, slumbered and rich adjectives like camouflaged and fuzzy.
The most remarkable aspect of this 16-page board book is that the illustrations are entirely in black and white with shades of grey. Each of the double page spreads invites close inspection with their special attraction being their intricate and varied designs. Another clever feature is the initial words on each page which begin, ‘as today’s sun …’. Each page tracks the progression of the sun using rich action verbs such as stretched, thawed, warmed, cooled, faded and slept. Far more than a straightforward board book for the very young, ‘Today’s Sun’ invites many returns for further scrutiny and discussion.
Gregg Dreise is a descendant of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi people of southwest Queensland and northwest New South Wales.
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
