Masha du Toit

I’ve found another writer / illustrator:  Helen Ward.  I have quite a few of her books already, but they are all illustrated by Wayne Anderson so I never twigged.  I found Wonderful Life at a book sale and promptly bought two copies.

It is the story of a little creature, an Ift called Snutt.  Snutt is an explorer and a dreamer who travels through space finding life all over the universe:

As usual with the children’s picture books, I cannot  convey the impact of the illustrations.  They are large double page spreads about 60cm wide.  The best I can do is show you some details.

This is a great story to read aloud, full of the   funny and fabulous names of the creature he discovers.  ” Blossiblums” , ” tuffetilss”, “euphoric florifors” and “sticky-footed flewimols”.

Snutt it overawed by the diversity and beauty around him.  I defies his attempts to record and measure.

He misses having some-one to share his joyful discoveries with.  He is lonely.

Luckily there is another explorer on the planet, a Waft, and pretty soon, they run into one another:

Snut in his joy at meeting the Waft,  undergoes a surprising transformation, and it turns out that he is just as amazing as the creatures and plants he has been examining:

And Helen Ward reminds us that it is, after all, a wonderful universe and a Wonderful Life: