Prefaced with maps to give readers some orientation, each chapter of Aussie Legends is a new adventure. Told in true and very Aussie rollicking rhyme, the educational nature of this book takes on an updated and rhythmic pace that children will enjoy and adults will enjoy reading out loud.

Illustrations by Tracey Gibbs are lustrous in colour and emotion – inked in a slightly abstract style – almost a modern Picasso/Frida Kahlo blend. Her striking wattle wallpaper patterns, scrumptious shadowing and choice of colour give this book the richness its content deserves.

Aussie Legends (2009)

Tom Baddeley, ill, Tracey Gibbs,

Fremantle Press, 48pp.

978 1 9213 6160 9 S19_95 Hb

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Who would you consider to be an Aussie legend? The legends included in this collection of factual verse include Burke & Wills, Nellie Melba, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, Don Bradman, Ned Kelly and New Zealand born Phar lap. The story of each ‘legend’ is introduced with a map showing key places in the story and a portrait style illustration including birth and death dates. While the verse is, understandably, a bit short on detail, the illustrations are striking and vibrant. Tho book has the overall feel of a time gone by, with 1920/ 30′s style fonts and liberal use of Aussie wattle in the layout. This is an attractive introduction to these well known Australians for middle primary school students and could serve as a springboard for further research and discussion.

Tina Cavanough

I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the 5 emerging young talents of WA publishing for Belle Taylor’s feature article in The West Magazine. It was a surreal experience. Having just released my first (title credit) picture book it seems a surprise that I am held in such good company as people like Ambelin Kwaymullina and Alice Nelson. Now of course I am not silly enough to suggest I am on their amazing level but what I can say is it is an honour to even be associated alongside them.

The article is featured below.

Tracey Gibbs:  ‘It was a chance discovery when moving house that made Tracey Gibbs revive her earlier dream of becoming a children’s book illustrator. “When I was packing I found all my art supplies in one of those plastic tubs and it was completely covered in dust,” Gibbs said. “‘It was one of the moments where I thought, “I haven’t touched this for so long because I’ve been so busy doing work that I haven’t had the chance to do things that I love at home, just draw for myself and paint for myself and push illustration’ which is what I want to do.” She left her secure job as a designer and in-house illustrator at Fremantle Press and branched out as a freelancer, taking the plunge to pursue a career she always suspected was out of reach. ‘”I always thought being an illustrator was one of those pipedreams, something that only three or four people in the country ever got to do,” she said with a laugh.

 

Next month Gibbs gets a little closer to that pipedream when the picture book Aussie Legends, illustrated by Gibbs and written by Tom Baddeley, hits the shelves. “It’s very exciting,” she says of the release. “But it’s a bit frightening as well, once the book is released, it’s up for judgment and review and that can be pretty intimidating.”

 

Gibbs was chosen by Baddeley and Fremantle Press to illustrate the book of rhymes on Australian legends, from Ned Kelly and Dame Nellie Melba to Phar Lap. She estimated that she spent about 600 hours working on the illustrations over nine months.

 

Although this will be the first book with her name on the cover, many readers would be familiar with Gibbs’ work. She spent two-and·a-half years at Fremantle Press, where she concentrated on book covers (including Alice Nelson’s The Last Sky) and design.

Gibbs says book illustration is rarely a solitary pursuit; it requires a collaborative effort between the artist, editor and author. “You can’t be self-indulgent, you can’t just do what you want with illustration, you have to do something that the author is happy with,” she says. “It’s their baby too; it’s something they’ve been thinking of and dreaming about for years and years so you can’t just run away with it and complete something they don’t like.

“Editors and writers have a particular way of seeing things which is quite verbal. , might have a brief that says, ‘this is the direction that we think it should go’ and 80 per cent of the time I pitch a cover that is completely different and the author loves it because it sums up their book visually.”