When I knew we were going to have another baby, we wondered how we would prepare Joy for the new arrival. Joy had been the centre of attention wherever we went for the past three years. How would she respond to the tiny, adorable newcomer who would naturally wrest all that attention from her ? We wanted Joy to embrace the baby with all the sisterly love that she could hold in her heart. We also wanted to assure her that in the busy days ahead, she would still be as important to us as before, even though there would be times when we would not be able to attend to her needs immediately. How could we convey all this information to a 3 year old?
So when I chanced upon Mem Fox’s book , Koala Lou, I grabbed it, plonked in on the counter and gurgled, “I’ll take this. How much?”
Koala Lou is beautifully written and eschews the sloppy sentimentality that ”new baby” books
sometimes overflow with. The story begins with the birth of Koala Lou. She is so adorable that every animal in the Australian bush adores her. Her mother expresses her love to her by saying,” Koala Lou, I do love you.”
But then other siblings come along and take up almost all of her mother’s time so much so that Koala Lou wonders where she fits into the family: Is she as important to her mother as before? Does
her mother still love her as before? Koala Lou feels she must prove her worth and regain
the attention and the love of her mother. So, she begins to train for a tree-climbing competetion against the more athletic Koala Claws.
The outcome of the race and its aftermath assures Koala Lou that her mother truly loves her for herself.
I loved the language Mem Fox used . Sentences are concise, and is rhythmic.The gentle refrain,”Koala Lou, I do love you,” is repeated through the story, so that before the book ends, you can’t help but echo along with Koala Lou’s mother ,” Koala Lou I do love you.”
The illustrations are colourful and includes the many fantastic creatures of the Australian
bush such as the frilled-neck lizard, the echidna and the emu. You could embark on a discussion on Australian wildlife. The other good thing about the paintings is that they don’t merely ‘decorate’ the book but add to the narrative. Indeed, the pictures and the words interact to form the story.
This is a good book to read with your child to reassure her of your love for her.
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