The Gift, by Michael Speechley

A year ago I blogged about a terrific book, The All New Must Have Orange 430, an exceptional debut picture book from West Australian school teacher, Michael Speechley. I loved it because it helped me have discussions with my kids about purchasing things, the value of money and the way companies try to sell us their products.

We used this PDF from the penguin website to kick off a great school holiday activity. I gave each child $5 and we went to a market with second hand and new items and they had free choice about how to spend their money, including the option of bringing all $5 home. As we walked around the market I had the opportunity to discuss items they had interest in buying; we talked about whether the item was useful, whether it was overpriced or whether they needed it or wanted it.

This book has been nominated for many awards and it is being – deservedly – well recognised in the children’s book industry.

At the start of June, I went to the CBCA National Conference in Canberra and had the opportunity to meet Michael and to read his next picture book, The Gift, which has now been released. As I read this beautiful book in the trade hall I had to hold back the tears.

Now we have a copy of The Gift from the library (though we’re going to have to get one for ourselves) and it has been really lovely reading it with my kids. The first reading, when I knew what the gift was and tried to get the kids to predict what they thought it would be, was just delightful.

The illustrations are obviously similar to The All New Must Have Orange 430 (the kids could pick that), but the colour scheme is very different and so well used to move the story along.

There are many discussions you could have with your children that naturally flow on from reading The Gift. You’ll be able to talk about their ability to serve and help others, that age is no barrier to acts of kindness, that friendships take time to develop and that loneliness is common but curable.

In short, I really loved it. It’s one of those great books that will reveal its story to kids as they mature. The 2-4-year-olds will enjoy the engaging illustrations, the 5-8-year-olds will begin to understand the plot and appreciate the twist, and older children will be able to ‘read’ the implied story.