Drac and the Gremlin, (1988).

Written by Allan Baillie.
Illustrated by Jane Tanner.

Two playful children and their pets star in this delightful mock science-fiction story. Seas of garden sprinklers and volcanic charcoal grills serve as a playground for fantastic adventures.

Two stories told side by side, Drac fighting the evil Gremlin and children acting out the fantasy in the garden, which was the joint winner of the Australian Children's Book Council's Picture Book of the Year Award 1989.

From Australia, a celebration of imaginative play. In an idyllic suburban yard with ferns and eucalyptus trees, a long-haired girl and a smaller boy are shown wielding garbage-can lids and swinging from a rope-hung tire, stalking the family cat, and wrestling with their large, benign dog. Meanwhile, the text describes their activities in Dungeons and Dragons terms: Drac, the Warrior Queen of Tirnol Two, and her erstwhile enemy Gremlin are saving the White Wizard’s planet from the Terrible Tongued Dragon. Taken by itself, the adventure is not particularly interesting, though it might spark similar imaginative activity. There is more urgency in the action seen in the colorful, detailed illustrations (apparently executed in pastels) than in the text, abetted by the use of light and the girl’s lovely, swinging, multi-hued hair. The lush flora and fauna are rendered in loving detail, and in their rare moments of repose the children have a beguiling innocence that will appeal especially to adults. Not essential, but an illustrator worth watching.
— (Kirkus Reviews)
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Personal:

Allan Baillie and I are good friends. He wrote this imaginative, fantasy story with my illustration style in mind. The text needed drawings of the every day for contrast and to emphasise the twists in meaning.

My job was to make the everyday still exciting...not a let down. I used lots of action drawings and surprises to keep the momentum. The theme of nature is always important to me, as is the idea of drawing real relationships and emotions.(It seems to be my recurring theme.)

The children who modelled for me invented their own costumes and cubby house which gave the illustrations more authenticity.The wild garden belonged to my oldest friend...

and the terrible tongued dragon belonged to my sister.

licking-icecream--Jane-Tanner.jpg
 
Drac and the Gremlin.jpg

ISBN: 9780140541427
ISBN-10: 014054142X
Series: Picture Puffin S.
Audience: Children
For Ages: 4+ years old
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 32
Published: 1988
Country of Publication: AU / GB
Dimensions (cm): 23.4 x 23.2  x 0.4
Edition Number: 1


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The Wolf