Reviewed by Wendy Lipke
This hard-cover children’s book by Andrea Rowe and illustrated by Lisa Coutts tells the story of a young girl called Audrey who skips across the Melbourne skyline during a particular time in history. The story highlights good times and times when parents worry how they will pay the bills and people become homeless. During the bad times her glow dims and she fades away.
As kindness tries to mask the sadness during these dark days, the people miss Audrey and her joyful skipping. The mayor rallies the people and once again Audrey returns, people overcome their gloom and the streets reclaim their spark.
The pages are colourful with images of Audrey as she flits across the roof tops in her bright red dress. The cartoon-like characters illustrate the storyline which is told in rhymes. The illustrations dominate the pages, but the script is easy to read. Repetition, alliteration and onomatopoeic words within the script are used to gain the interest of young readers. There are many opportunities for further discussion with young people about daily life.
This story mirrors one of Melbourne’s most treasured landmarks. Melbourne’s Little Audrey, who used to advertise malt vinegar, was the first animated sequence neon sign which operated until 1968 when the factory she was on was demolished. Community fund raising had the Crusader Plate Company reinstall a smaller and reimagined statue in Victoria Street in 1970, but her lighting was discontinued ten years later.
In 2006 the skipping girl was recognised by the National Trust Victorian Heritage Register and restoration began. With a switch to solar in 2012, Little Audrey once again began skipping across the Melbourne skyline. She now sits above 651 Victoria Street, Abbotsford.
It is wonderful that this award-winning picture book author has chosen to make this part of Melbourne’s history into a children’s book. I am sure any young reader who has access to the story will want to discover this icon in Melbourne for themselves, if they get a chance to visit. Too often little bits of history are lost as the generations go by.
Illustrator Lisa Coutts whose work is featured in over twenty varying genres has done a wonderful job creating this story in visual form. Children of all ages will surely love this book.
Audrey Skips
(2026)
Author – Andrea Rowe
Illustrator – Lisa Coutts
MidnightSun Publishing
ISBN:978-1-922858-71-9
$30.00; 36pp