Gretel Parker
(Templar)
Far away in a valley nestled among the hills, live the cute creatures of Puddletown. And today is a special day, as it is twin sisters Peggy and Meggy Goose’s birthday today. Peggy has been saving her pennies for a while so she can afford to buy Meggy what she has always wanted: a shiny red scooter. She goes off on her way to town but does not realised that the shiny coins are falling out of her pocket! Meanwhile Meggy has woken up and also makes her way to town and finds some coins on the floor along the way. What luck, with that she can buy Peggy the birthday present she has always wanted … guess what it might be!
This is one super-cute book! As well as a writer and illustrator, Gretel Parker is a toymaker whose gorgeous needle felted creations which appear as the main characters in this new series of books, Puddletown Tales, as well as scattered around some of the pages. The book includes some gorgeous multi-layered scenes and the 3D element of the book will prove fascinating for little readers (although beware, those multi-layered pages are quite fragile so will not be suitable for little people under the age of 36 months). There is a lovely quaint, “English countryside” feel to this book. It reminded me of a cross between Beatrix Potter and Emma Thomson’s Lili and Pickle books, both I consider as quintessentially English. I really love the mix of watercolour illustrations and felt creations which work beautifully together. The story is very simple, but nonetheless entertaining, and offers a great platform for the artist to showcase her talent. The layering of several illustrations for the 3D scenes means that there is a lot of detail to be poured over, something that I find little people particularly enjoy.
Peggy’s Lost Pennies is a lovely cosy read which I have no doubt will delight young readers. I certainly enjoyed it and was glad that it allowed me to discover Gretel Parker’s work, which you can find more about here.
Many thanks to Templar for providing a review copy of this book.
Thank you very much for such a lovely review – I am really pleased that you liked it, and am very flattered (naturally) by any reference to Beatrix Potter! I will post a link to this review on my own blog.
OOOOOH! Absolutely adorable. Wish you much luck and many sales w/your book!
I meant congratz to Gretel! And thanks for sharing & posting the review about this adorable book.
@Gretel, You are welcome! I really thought this was a super-cute book. I had a peek on etsy, I love your creations!
@Di, thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
fabulous book by multi talented lady!
iGretel has been a cherished blog buddy of mine for a while now. I have a nice little collection of her needle felted creations and you have to see them in person to fully realize how magical they are.
This is one talented and sweet lady who I wish all the success in the world.
She has earned every bit of it.
Thank you for such a lovely review.
Have a fabulous weekend
Janet xox
http://theemptynest-janet.blogspot.com/