Peas and quiet by Gabrielle Tozer
Ill. by Sue deGennaro. Angus and Robertson, 2018. ISBN 9781460752395
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Friendship. Getting along. With her lovely
watercolour and coloured pencil illustrations, Sue deGennaro has
beautifully realised the story presented by Tozer. Her understated,
almost muted colours enliven the two little peas as they trip up in
their friendship and learn to solve their problem. Pip and Pop are
two peas in the pea pod, so alike its hard to tell them apart. They
do everything together, but one thing aggravates Pip and another
annoys Pop. Pip loves to sing while she does the dishes, her off key
voice rising if Pop dares question her singing. But Pop has his own
discomforting habit: he snores. One day Pop has had enough of the
singing. He packs his bag and leaves. They say some hurtful things
to each other, but Pip soon learns that life apart is life alone.
She can sing to her heart's content, and cook all she likes, but
when it comes to eating what she cooks, she thinks it better to have
someone there. She wonders if Pop is alright, looking wistfully out
of the kitchen window. One day a parcel is delivered to the door,
and when it is opened, Pop jumps out of the box. He apologises for
his grumpiness hoping Pip will let him in. She suppresses a smile
and welcomes him back and they solve their problem with an ingenious
solution.
Readers will love listening to the lovely rhymes of this tale,
predicting the rhyming words at the end of each verse, and learning
some of the verses to say aloud with the reader. They will adore the
pictures of Pip and Pop in their checked and spotty pants, and love
picking out all the detail which deGennaro includes in her
meticulous drawings. This charming story stands alone but is also a
useful story to lead children into discussions about friendship and
getting along together. And of course, the underlying idiom or
simile, 'like two peas in a pod' could be used to discuss those
figures of speech, including puns as reflected in the title.
Fran Knight