Review

Diversity in Magic Fish Dreaming

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In Magic Fish Dreaming diversity comes in many forms. There’s the diversity of wildlife and landscape and the diversity of author June Perkins’ Papua New Guinea/Aussie heritage and her European descent Aussie illustrator, Helene Magisson.

Together they have created something truly exquisite that shares the wondrous Far North Queensland, Australian Environment in playful, lyrical, and inspiring ways.

Meet all sorts of wonderful characters as Magic Fish Dreaming encourages children and families everywhere to hunt for their own nature-based or urban poems.

Mira Reisberg Ph.D.  Director of the Children’s Book Academy

Inventive New Patterns

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The whimsical and lusciously evocative poems of Magic Fish Dreaming are subtly imbued with wisdom, and steeped in story.

In playful language, June Perkins takes traditional forms of rhyme and rhythm, twisting and weaving them into inventive new patterns.

Helene Magisson’s delicate illustrations are luminous – the aesthetic interplay between this rich text and these elegant images is a sheer delight.

Robyn Sheahan-Bright, JustifiedText Writing and Publishing Consultancy Services

A Quest of the Most Wondrous Kind

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Magic Fish Dreaming is a quest of the most wondrous kind, entreating young readers and old alike to venture forth into nature and their imaginations. It is an invitation to spend time with the ancients and experience a taste of our country through poem and illustration.

As readers journey through the collection, they unearth secrets and encounter magic. The tropical heart of far north Queensland pulses resolutely throughout this medley of verse and art yet the stories it recites have far-reaching appeal. Odes to the wildlife whose habitats we explore; to those who attempt to make their livelihoods on the same lands and to Mother Nature herself, beat with sublime sincerity.

Look beneath the beautiful camouflage of words and watercolours and you will find an evocative sense of spirit and place, and a plea to respect that from where we came and those that we live amongst.

The lilting rhythms of June’s verse and the creatures and curiosities that swirl throughout each of Helene’s illustrations will entrance and delight children for generations.

Dimity Powell, Children’s Author & Book Reviewer

A Poet’s Review Magic Fish Dreaming

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In secret spots, hidden pools, fields of sugar cane and tangled rainforests, June Perkins and Helene Magisson’s enchantingly illustrated poetic adventure, Magic Fish Dreaming, delves into the delights of the Wet Tropics, where poems are waiting to be caught by children curious enough to notice and question.

Beginning with a hunt for a giggle poem, the sounds and sight of the seashore are collected in a net. As the materials are gathered up we are invited to look, wonder and explore with the senses of a naturalist, reveling in the fun of learning about the world and the spell of pouring it into words.

This effervescent collection of poems is perfect for adults and children to share, in the spirit of its community of people, plants, animals and places. With their insightful stories and dialogues, June’s poems are perfect for reading aloud or performing together.

It is also a book to be relished alone, quietly absorbing the reflective verses that celebrate the wonder in looking into the waters or up to the stars in stillness and silence. Magic Fish Dreaming should be out, open and working its magic in every kindergarten, primary classroom and home—it will certainly stay with me as I set off on my next poetic expedition.

Helen Ramoutsaki, poet, lyricist, performer and educator