Nop

Description

A heartwarming picture book from award-winning author-illustrator Caroline Magerl about two unlikely loners who forge a forever friendship. Nop is a scruffy kind of bear. He sits on a dusty armchair in Oddmint's Dumporeum surrounded by the beaders, knitters, patchers and stitchers who are much too busy to talk to him. So he watches the litter tumble until, armed with a new bow tie, he has an idea that will change his life forever. This story began with a memory of Caroline's school holidays in Sydney. Her father was welding a steel yacht in a boat yard and she wandered off . . . only to discover the local dump, a home for the things people throw out! Many years later, her daughter Jen made a teddy bear out of scraps for her father. It's a very sorry-looking, but endearing creature. Named Roadkill, ten years later it still sits on top of his desk. This story began with a memory of Caroline's school holidays in Sydney. Her father was welding a steel yacht in a boat yard and she wandered off . . . only to discover the local dump. A home for the things people throw out! Many years later, her daughter Jen made a teddy bear out of scraps for her father. It's a very sorry looking, but endearing creature. Named Roadkill, ten years later it still sits on top of his desk.

Caroline Magerl was born near Frankfurt in Germany and came to Australia when she was two. She lived on the yacht her family built until she was fourteen. In 2001 Caroline won the Children's Book Council of Australia Crichton Award for new talent in children's book illustration for her picture book Grandma's Shoes (written by Libby Hathorn). Since then she has been awarded a May Gibbs Fellowship and received an ASA children's picture book grant to work on her book Hasel and Rose. Nowadays she is a full-time artist, illustrator and printmaker. Maya and Cat was Caroline's first book with Walker.

Nop is a gentle, fantastical story, told simply but with a rich, advanced vocabulary that really suits the rather sophisticated, painterly illustrations. Caroline Magerl has used ink and watercolour to create sensitive pictures with real depth and interesting perspective. * Books and Publishing * Nop is no exception. This scruffy little bear personifies childhoods left behind, love grown old but also the universal need to feel a sense of belonging and purpose...Nop is appealing on many levels; from a visual view point it simultaneously caresses and enlivens your senses...Nop is such a tale and a toy who embodies hope, tenacity, serendipity, purpose and love. * Dims Write Stuff * What an absolutely, divinely delightful book. Turning each page I felt held, wrapped up in the story like a familiar, comfortable blanket. Nop is such an endearing character and we long for him to be happy. Every page is stunning. The language, the art. This is a truly beautiful book. * Pass It On * Caroline Magerl creates the most extraordinary, whimsical worlds in her picture books. Each one is like a treasure box, just waiting to share its wondrous gifts. Nop is another heartwarming story with Caroline's trademark melding of warmth and melancholy, friendship and longing. The exquisite illustrations have an eccentricity that is both magical and poignant. Loose lines of ink and washes of watercolour capture the fantastical world of Nop, which glows with hope amid the dust and litter, and shines with joy in the final scenes. Caroline's text is as deft as her brushwork, colouring each page with rich imagery and sumptuous language that lingers on the tongue. You'll want to hold this treasure in your hands for a long time after you finish reading. Highly recommended. * Kids' Book Review * Nop is loveable and cute and Magerl has masterfully used minimal language to convey her whimsical ideas. Together making this story a great shared read at bedtime for young readers. * Reading Time *