For all Creatures

Glenda Millard (author)

Rebecca Cool (illustrator)

Walker Books, Australia: August, 2011

ISBN: 9781921529818 

Genres: animals, picture book

Issues: environment

'For hearts and hoots./ For midnights, masks and mopokes,/ ghostly gazers/ and for hush and hunters, we are thankful.'

Glenda Millard has a gift for poetic prose and in this glorious picture book she has turned her hand to lyrical poetry.

In a sumptuous celebration of all living things, Millard's language lingers in the mouth, her images in the mind; a gentle, loving humour and a childlike wonder at and appreciation of all creatures, great and small, radiates from each verse. Unrestricted by forced rhyme, the lines are filled with alliteration, onomatopoeia and a passionate love for the wondrous world that surrounds us.

Rebecca Cool's vibrant illustrations, combing acrylic painting and fabric collage, echo and emphasise the energy and humour of Millard's verse. The naive style with its intense colours and detailed patterning creates a feast for visual readers, enriching an already entrancing text. In combination with Millard's rich imagery and vivid vocabulary, Cool's images make For All Creatures a sensous banquet of language and art.

'For the unborn and unseen./ For wish and wonder and wait,/ bellies and bumps/ and for newness, we are thankful.'