Exit pursued by a Bee (Rosie's Walk - Pat Hutchins)

Member Name: Celandine

Product:	Rosie's Walk - Pat Hutchins
Date:	04/07/01 (194 review reads)
Rating:

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Rosie is a hen. A big, bright red, rather two-dimensional hen, with a very 1970's feel about her. And Rosie's walk is just that. We follow her as she takes her afternoon constitutional through the farmyard. She's a happy hen, as she goes on her little way , beak held high so it looks a little as if she's whistling. Oh, and more to the point, she's a happily oblivious hen.

This is where the book gets interesting. You see, under Rosie's bright yellow henhouse there lurks a rather handsome orange fox. Mr Fox is licking his chops at the sight of Rosie, as she strolls down her ramp, and past the farm buildings, three butter churns, and a wagon. Turn the page, and we spot Mr Fox mid-pounce, as Rosie marches "across the yard", past a rake. We fear the worst, but, turn over again, and (OOF!), silly Mr Fox has blundered into the rake, and up it goes, smacking him in the mouth.

Rosie continues on her purposeful way "around the pond", Mr Fox once more poised to net his dinner. Turn the page....and......(Splosh!), silly Mr Fox has fallen in the water, disturbing a couple of rather funky looking frogs. Rosie, meanwhile, walks "over the haycock" - note the gloriously bored looking goat as Mr Fox lands (Splat!), right in the middle of the hay. She then goes "past the mill", "through the fence", and "under the beehives" followed throughout by an increasingly hapless fox, whose history of pratfalls culminates in his falling into a discarded wagon, and cannonning into the beehives, eventually exiting over distant hills with a swarm of angry bees in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Rosie reaches the henhouse "and got back in time for dinner".

"Rosie's Walk" is a funny book, you see. It's quite funny for adults, even, and it seems to be the epitome of side splitting hilarity for toddlers. Yes, it's 'man-trips-on-a-banana-skin-and-falls-over&#
39; humour, but this is what toddlers like. It is also a deceptively clever book. We know what is coming, and after a few reads, even the smallest child has an idea of 'what happens next', or enjoy having it broadly hinted to them so they can guess. Anticipation is the key. Mr Fox is going to get his comeuppance, but while you're reading it out loud, it's fun to point out how, and why.

This is another thing I like about "Rosies Walk". The story, and all the humour, is visual. I've actually given you the 'book', already, in terms of words. I like this because it gives me a chance, as I'm reading it, to add to the story. The exclamations in brackets, above, are all mine, and we also play guessing games, and look at all the different things to be seen in the pictures. It's a book that needs you to ask questions:

"What do you think is going to happen to Mr Fox?"
"Can you see the two mice?"
"Look at Rosie's foot - what do you think might happen next?"

and lets you exclaim, pull faces, and make silly noises:

"Plosh! Ohhohohoho, look, he's all wet!"
"Therwap! Look at all the white flour!"

The style of picture seems to help this, too. "Rosie's Walk" was first published in 1968, and you can tell. In some ways, the illustrations are dated. But they're dated in a good way. All illustration can be 'placed' because of its style, but then this doesn't really matter, if it works, and the illustration in this book works, in the same way that Eric Carle's collage style in 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' works, and Beatrix Potters sweet little watercolours work. I'd say the modern equivalent would be Lucy Cousins, and her bright, large, poster-painted style in 'Maisie Mouse', if we're looking for modern illustration that could become classic. Anyway, "Rosie's
Walk" is a classic. The illustrations complement the story perfectly. It isn't a particularly pretty-pretty style, but then the book isn't particularly 'pretty-pretty' either.

Rather, it's clear, with lots of flat pattern, and the detail is provided in a nice simple way, which appeals both to me, and to Ellie. For example, a tree is a round green simple shape, but if this particular tree is a pear tree, then rows of pears, intersposed with rows of leaves, fill the round shape. It gives everything a sense of order, and the pages are uncluttered. There are little details to spot, but not so many that a child (or parent) could feel overwhelmed. Flowers are all drawn as recognisable different species, but theyr'e presented in a flat row, rather like how children draw them. I like this. The pictures have a lino-cutty/ wood block feel to them, but the lines are finer, so I think they are probably pen and ink. Pat Hutchins uses limited colours, those being green, brown, red, orange, yellow, and white, and her style is two dimensional and almost cartographical in places. Oh dear, I'm finding this description difficult. Think ClothKits, think 1970's, think children's drawings. Like the book, the illustration is deceptively simple..


Part of this cleverness is how, although Mr Fox lurks and jumps, there is no sense of menace whatsoever in 'Rosie's Walk'. This is a safe, cosy, world, where you know everything will be all right, everything has its place, and you'll always "get back in time for dinner". Rosie herself is impervious, insouciant, happy, and purposeful. She's a bit like a toddler, really. My own toddler is drawn to the pictures, to the laughs, and also to the repetition, in the book. She loves the anticipation of knowing that something funny is about to happen, and as she gets bigger, I'm sure she'll love the anticipation of knowing exactly what is going to happen
next to Mr Fox. I know I did, when I was a toddler, and my Mum read this one to me, over, and over, and over, and over again.

There's something else, too. If you're all thinking we're dreadfully cruel, thinking how funny it is to see a fox bashed by a big rake, then I do remember reaching a stage with "Rosie's Walk" where I became quite concerned about the fox. My poor Mother, thinking on her feet, created a whole other story for me, all about Mr Fox, and how he got home, and had some tea himself, although it 'served him a lesson' for trying to chase Rosie. He never went back to the farmyard again, and lived as a happy vegetarian in the forest. Hmmm. But there you go, Mr Fox was All Right in the end, too. I don't need to worry about this yet. As far as Ellie is concerned, looking at a big, two-dimensional, orange, vaguely 1970's fox being hit by a fence-post (Whaam!) is the funniest thing in the whole world, second only to the time when Mummy's sarong became untied during that tea party. But that's a whole different story.......

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