About the Author

Pamela Allen is a phenomenon in the world of children's literature. For almost thirty years her picture books have enchanted generations of children in Australia and overseas and many of her titles have won prestigious awards and commendations. She has earned classic status through the enduring popularity of her stories with the very young. Pamela's books are full of the music of language; they are 'fragments of theatre', designed to be read aloud and shared between an adult and a child. Eight of Pamela's titles were adapted for the stage by Patch Theatre Company, and performed in the Sydney Opera House. In 2004, Grandpa and Thomas won the Children's Book Council Book of the Year Award- Early Childhood and The Potato People was named an Honour Book in the same category in 2003, and Grandpa and Thomas and the Green Umbrella was shortlisted for the same award in 2007, as was Shhh! Little Mouse in 2008. Is Your Grandmother a Goanna? won a 2008 Speech Pathology of Australia Book of the Year Award, as did Our Daft Dog Danny in 2010. 'From Pamela Allen's first publication in 1980 it was clear that here was a creator of picture books with all the glow, gesture, din and dance to capture the attention, engage the imagination, teach, show, tickle and excite small children.' Me

Reviews

K-Gr 2 This very slight story has a baby's wish come true. Tired of lying powerless in her crib, the frustrated baby chooses one of those magic nights when the moon is out and the tide is full to make her escape. Her toy lion becomes enormous and fierce, to carry her out of her parents' castle, over the fields, into the forest, past the church, into the boat, and so on in a circular chase, with the frantic castle-dwellers in pursuit. When they approach too closely, the lion disperses them with a roar. He and the baby are in controluntil the morning, when the great lion disappears, and the stuffed toy is back in baby's crib. Allen's cartoon-like watercolors with pen and ink are amusing but inconsequential. Overall, this book is unmemorable: not to be compared with stronger wish-fulfillment drama such as Where the Wild Things Are.Joan McGrath, Education Centre Library, Toronto, Ontario, Canada