Tarni's chance by Paul Collins and Jules Ober

Don’t you just love a book that surprises. This beautiful hard cover book fits comfortably in smaller hands. It tells a familiar tale: that of a beloved parent leaving. Tarni waits for her mother to return, the air thinning, her world losing its colour as the days become weeks, then months. One night she hears a garbage truck in the lane and looking outside, sees a dog in its path. She rushes out to save it but when she calls it to her, it runs away. A while later, it reappears and follows her to school, waiting outside until she returns home. She calls it Chance. Chance brings colour back to Tarni’s world and she meets other children at the playground to have fun with Chance.

A wonderful final double page shows Tarni with her friends, blowing bubbles, playing amongst the trees in a city playground. Life is now full of colour.

Spectacular illustrations compliment the text as each scene seems like a stage setting against which Tarni’s life is played out.  And what a setting. Each page is a purpose built miniature, each scene designed and made then photographed by Jules Ober. Her images are breathtaking, a world created by the illustrator to reflect the story, the scenes executed in minute detail. A photo on the publication page gives a tantalising idea of how the pages were developed, and more about her work can be found here.

I am sure readers will want to know more and perhaps try out her creative work for themselves. The background image of an inner Melbourne street is very recognisable, and many readers with help, will be able to create a small section of a street using found materials.

A story of loneliness and friendship, the use of the word chance will intrigue readers as they think about the place chance has in their lives. Tarni is transformed by chance, by a dog that happens along, recovering her equilibrium, bringing hope back into her life, making her feel happy and content once again.

Themes: Hope, Loneliness, Chance, Mental health, Depression, Miniatures, Photography.

Fran Knight