Clancy & Millie and the Very Fine House
Illustrated by Freya Blackwood. Published by Little Hare Books 2009
Two new neighbours playing ‘Three Little Pigs’ discover that friends are what make a house a home… Clancy has just moved house. He is missing his old house terribly - the new house is much too big and much too lonely. How will he ever make it his home? As despair takes hold Clancy hears a small voice. Soon, Clancy with the help of his new friend Millie is building towers to the sky and trains to the street outside, and together they build the home that Clancy thought he had lost forever.
Review
The text is flawless and spare, allowing plenty of room for the illustrations to describe Clancy's journey. The drawing is carefully rendered pencil and wash in muted colours. The children's expressions and actions are restrained, reflecting the mood of Clancy's cautious entry into the house and the tentative growth of a new friendship. Clancy and Millie and the Very Fine House is a loving and timeless story about how one small person moves through a difficult passage of time. Judges comments. Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature
