[Editor: A review of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (by May Gibbs), included in the “The Bookman” column. Published in The Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW), 24 November 1918.]
A real Australian story book
Here we have the most delightful kiddies’ book ever published in Australia; and for it thousands of youngsters of to-day and to-morrow will surely rise up and call Miss May Gibbs blessed.
It comes with the title, Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, and is all about the adventures of two gum-nut babies, those wonderful creations which alone would have made Miss Gibbs famous.
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie meet with a remarkable series of adventures in their wanderings in bushland, and they get mixed up with all sorts of bush people — snakes, lizards, frogs, grubs, beetles, possums, bears, and the rest. The story is told in a fashion that must make an irresistible appeal to the kiddies, and at the same time there is a humor about it that will tickle grown-ups immensely.
But the great charm of the book lies in the pictures, pages and pages of them showing May Gibbs at her very best, for she has here given her whimsical imagination and her Peter Pan humor the fullest rein. Many of the full-page pictures are a sheer joy, and they smell of Fairyland and the bush.
We have in Snugglepot and Cuddlepie a very real Australian book; and if we had our way every real Australian kiddy should have a copy. It really should be the most popular gift-book for the little ones during the coming Xmas season.
(Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, by May Gibbs. Angus and Robertson, publishers. 5/.)
Source:
The Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW), 24 November 1918, p. 20
Editor’s notes:
Xmas = an abbreviation of “Christmas”
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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