Tilly

by Jane Godwin, Anna Walker (Illustrator)

Tilly's found the perfect hiding place to keep her special treasures. No one knows about it, not even her big brothers and sister, who know everything. But one day, something happens that Tilly could never have imagined... Jane Godwin and Anna Walker have created a wistful, enchanting and timeless story about an old house, a young girl, and how the small things we hold dear stay with us always.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2019

About the author

Jane Godwin is the Publisher, Books for Children and Young Adults, at Penguin Books Australia. She is also a highly acclaimed author of many books for children. Her work is published internationally and she has received many commendations. The Family Tree won the 2000 Queensland Premier's Award (Children's Books); Sebby, Stee, the Garbos and Me was shortlisted for the 1999 New South Wales State Literary Award (Patricia Wrightson Prize) and was a YABBA finalist; and The True Story of Mary was shortlisted for the 2006 CBCA Book of the Year Awards, Younger Readers. In 2009 her picture book with illustrator Anna Walker, Little Cat and the Big Red Bus, was a notable book in the CBCA Awards and was also shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Awards, Lower Primary division. Jane's most recent novel is Falling From Grace, and her most recent picture book is All Through the Year, illustrated by Anna Walker, due for publication in October 2010.

Jane lives in Melbourne with her family. Her hobbies seem to have fallen by the wayside a little since she has taken on the role of publisher, but from what she remembers, they were playing tennis, walking, reading (things other than manuscripts), doing cryptic crosswords, talking about the need to do gardening (and sometimes even doing it), cooking, playing piano, spending time with friends and mucking around with family which consists of partner Michael and two adolescents, Wil (19) and Lizzie (17). She still manages the cryptic crosswords, friends and family.

Jane also enjoys working creatively with school students, encouraging them to develop confidence in their own creativity, ideas and abilities.

Reviews

[NBPB Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Tilly lives in a house with many hiding places, but with her brothers and sisters running everywhere and covering with their things, Tilly doesn’t find a place for her things. But then she finally finds her secret place inside the wooden stairs in front of her room. Tilly stores all her favorite things in it. She takes them once in a while and enjoys but everything changes when her parents decide to paint the house. So what happened to Tilly’s secret place?

We picked this book for its cover. It is a story of every childhood where we cherish those little treasures, and they stay close to our hearts. The illustrations are warm and work well with the storyline.

Tilly by Jane Godwin is a whimsically illustrated story of Tilly that will remind you of happy memories and treasures of your childhood.
Read the full review at Nothing But Picture Books

[Penny Waring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tilly lives in a big, busy house with lots of people and things. She keeps her most treasured items safe from her siblings in a secret hiding place. What will Tilly do when the hiding place is compromised? This book captures all of the feels and activities of Tilly's tricky situation, as well as a sense of nostalgia for childhood.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gentle story about a young girl in a busy and exuberant family who likes some quiet and personal time to play with her secret treasures. Her clever hiding place for these is lost, along with the treasures, and the way Tilly deals with this provides the thrust of this story. Great for conversations about resilience.
Anna Walker’s soft and gentle illustrations perfectly compliment this story

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story about a girl who keeps her treasures in a secret place. The satisfying resolution is not quite what you expect. Beautiful words and illustrations, as we've come to expect from this superb author/illustrator duo.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tilly is a beautiful book. I read it with my 3 year old son and we both loved talking about the beautiful illustrations. It gives me a bit of nostalgia too as I’m a fusspotter and can relate to keeping items as memory reminders.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about the comfort your special things can bring, but also about resilience.

[Sim ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming but a bit mature for young readers.

[Jaq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written and illustrated. A bittersweet tale, told well.