The Old Man Who Loved to Sing

John Winch (author/illustration)

Scholastic Press, Australia: 1994

ISBN: 1865048046

Genres: picture book

Issues: environment, values

In a valley there lives an old man who loves to sing. He moved there from the city when the sound of the traffic and industry drowned out his singing. Now he fills the valley with his gramophone records, his whistling, and his singing.

At first the many native creatures find the sound quite startling but when the old man gets older, and forgets many things - including that he likes singing - the animals and birds miss the sound. So they make music of their own to jog his memory, and soon the old man is happily singing again while he goes about his work.

This is another whimsical tale from the author/illustrator of The Old Woman Who Loved to Read. The double-page gouache and watercolour illustrations are wonderfully detailed, giving listeners plenty of visual clues as to what is going on in the story, as well as a great deal of extra information. The pages are packed with native birds, animals and lizards which are drawn so precisely that brighter children will enjoy identifying them by name. Winch also captures perfectly tones of the Australian country landscape - faded browns and muted, grey-toned greens. This is definitely another worthwhile addition to the picture book collection in any home or library.