Koro

by Gavin Bishop

"A day with grandad showing ... the bond between grandfather and child: a small hand in a big one, big gumboots and little, some food, stories and a snooze to finish"--Publisher's website.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Family

Board book

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Gavin Bishop is a highly acclaimed children’s book author and illustrator. Born in Invercargill, he spent his childhood in the remote railway settlement of Kingston on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Studying under Russell Clark and Rudi Gopas, Gavin graduated from the Canterbury University School of Fine Arts with an honours degree in painting. He taught art at Linwood High School (now Linwood College) and at Christ’s College in Christchurch.

He won the Margaret Mahy Medal in 2000, and has also won numerous other fellowships and national book awards. His book The House that Jack Built won the Book of the Year and Best Picture Book at the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards 2000. Weaving Earth and Sky won the non-fiction section and the Book of the Year Award of the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards 2003, and was shortlisted for the LIANZA Elsie Lock Medal in 2003. He has won the LIANZA Russell Clark Medal for Illustration four times. Among his successful partnerships has been that with writer Joy Cowley, with whom he won the Best in Junior Fiction and Book of the Year at the 2008 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards for Snake and Lizard.

The Storylines Gavin Bishop Award for Picture Book Illustration was established in 2009 to encourage emergent illustrators and to acknowledge Gavin’s contribution to the writing and illustrating of children’s picture books. In 2013 he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and President of Honour of the NZ Society of Authors, and he was the recipient of the 2013 Arts Foundation Mallinson Rendel Illustrator’s Award. Gavin’s artwork has featured in exhibitions internationally, including Japan and Czechoslovakia. He has written and designed two ballets for the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company: Terrible Tom and Te Maia and the Sea Devil. In 2003, during the Ursula Bethell Residency, he wrote and illustrated Giant Jimmy Jones, the world’s first three-dimensional animated picture book for HITLab at the University of Canterbury.

Reviews

[Bookrapt (Est. 1983) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Available in both English and Te Reo, this is a straightforward story about a child and their grandfather gathering ingredients, for their sandwiches, telling stories, then having a nap. The text is kept to a minimum with no more than 3 words per page, while the illustrations, set on plain backgrounds, narrow in on what is important. Thus, on the first page we see only a big and a small hand clasped together, while the second page shows one boot and 2 bare feet walking. And child could identify with this book as the child in the story could be any gender and both the child and the grandfather have brown skins, but of different hues. One minor thing imperfection in this book is that while the Grandfather’s face is obviously old, his hands are those of a young man but the intended audience will not notice this. Pops is a sturdy board book and its simple text and unfussy illustrations is pitched perfectly for very small children to whom everything is still an adventure.

Reviewed by Penny Guy for Bookrapt.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this board book contains only minimal text, one, two or three words on each double-page spread, it speaks volumes about a special relationship. Each page reveals some activity enjoyed by a grandfather or "pops," as the child calls him, and a grandchild. The very first image is memorable, showing the large, strong hand of the older grandfather gripping the smaller hand of the youngster. His hand is dark while the child's is much lighter. As the two of them spend the day together, they engage in life's simple pleasures, preparing a meal that includes fresh ingredients from the garden, and then sharing stories before going to sleep. Readers never see the bodies of the two characters in their entirety as the images show small parts of them--their hands, arms, feet, heads, and mouths. One particularly noticeable double-page spread hints at the grandfather's tenderness as he places his hand beneath his grandchild's as the child gently cradles an egg in both hands so that it doesn't accidentally fall to the floor. The love between these two is palpable, and not a single additional word is needed in the text to demonstrate that.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful in its simplicity.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly simple, yet beautiful in the love and affection shown.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Koro – Gavin Bishop
Delightful hardback book in te reo.