The way to Treasure Island
Book Details
The way to Treasure Island
Lizzy Steward. London: Frances Lincoln, hb, 9 781 7860 3024 5, 2019, £11.99, 36pp.
Picture book, fiction, 3-8 years
Matilda and her dad are on a treasure trail. Matilda has a map and, as long as her dad doesn’t get distracted, there shouldn’t be a problem. Matilda and her dad are quite different. Matilda is quiet, tidy and organised. Her dad is noisy, messy and, yes, easily distracted.
Lizzy Stewart’s story starts quietly at home with Matilda and dad enjoying ordinary things together: painting, making and listening to music, and baking. But, once launched from the beach and in search of treasure, they are quickly adrift in the richly coloured double page spreads of Stewart’s vivid imagination. They are surrounded by the teeming creatures of the ocean and almost capsized by a whale. On their treasure island, setting off in different directions, Dad has all sorts of exciting distractions and gets completely lost and Matilda goes the right way and is quite bored. They get back together, of course, each recognising that they need the other to find and enjoy everything that there is in the world around them. It’s a nice message about friendship and the appreciation of different qualities in people. And, through Stewart’s exuberant illustrations, it’s also a welcome lesson in savouring the variety of the natural world.
Review by Clive Barnes