Written and illustrated by Sue Macartney
Pajama Press
978-1-77278-111-3
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
June 2020
Pajama Press
978-1-77278-111-3
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
June 2020
Benjamin is a blue-footed booby who lives on an island in the Galapagos and loves searching for treasure. Unfortunately, with plenty of garbage clogging the oceans, it’s not surprising that much settles on Benjamin’s island. He finds a red “string-stretch-it” and an orange “hole-thing-um” and then he finds a “twink-um-doodle” a.k.a. a mirror.
From Benjamin's Blue Feet by Sue Macartney |
Unfortunately mirrors can be a curse for those of us who see in them what we don’t want to see. Benjamin sees that his beak is straight and very long, his wings are wide and bristly and his feet that are blue and floppy. And everything is different from those of his island mates.
From Benjamin's Blue Feet by Sue Macartney |
Sadly Benjamin looks to his other found treasure to change his appearance, squeezing several onto his body to mask his “unsightly” body parts.
From Benjamin's Blue Feet by Sue Macartney |
Though a host of animals including sea lions, iguanas and finches laugh at his plastic enhancements, it is not until Benjamin recognizes the value in his big feet to his swimming, the beak to his fishing and his wings to his flying that this blue-footed booby appreciates all his attributes as they are.
From Benjamin's Blue Feet by Sue Macartney |
Sue Macartney’s art, created with pen and ink and digital media, always places the emphasis on Benjamin’s blue feet except when the garish garbage is around. His blue feet are vibrant and still harmonious with the earthiness of his environment, unlike the incongruous junk with its artificial and discordant colours. Though Sue Macartney carries the reader to the unique environment of the Galapagos through the content of the landscape and its creatures (she also includes a double-spread of an assortment of "Creatures of the Galapagos"), I was especially mesmerized by her aquatic environment. She imbues her water with such hues of green and blues and textures of crinkly waves and whitecaps that the saltwater spray is almost palpable.
From Benjamin's Blue Feet by Sue Macartney |
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