Puddle hunters by Kirsty Murray

Ill. by Karen Blair. Allen and Unwin, 2018. ISBN 9781760296742
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Rain. Puddles. Family. After a rainy morning, the family goes out puddle hunting. The sky has almost cleared as Ruby and Banjo find their boots and set off with mum to find some puddles. There are no puddles to be found in their garden as the flowers have soaked up all the rain. There are no puddles on the glistening footpath and once in the park, they hunt under bushes, beside the path and on the hillside, still without any success. But walking over the bridge to the river flats they find all the puddles they need.
Each of the children, sometimes together sometimes alone, jumps into the puddles they find, making a splash, and squelching in the mud. What fun!
Perth freelance illustrator, Karen Blair has impressed with her wonderful illustrations. I loved Granny Gromet and me, all of her pictures redolent of the great outdoors, reflect her childhood on a farm.
Her illustrations for Puddle hunters are delicious, showing two small children and a quick thinking mum taking their walk through the puddles in the park. Full of movement, each picture reflects the love and familiarity between the three as they do something which in the end renders them all wet and muddy, necessitating a bath when they get home.
This engrossing story will be fun to read aloud and act out. Its repetition will engage, its movement both in the story and in the illustrations on each page will delight all the readers, young and old.
Fran Knight