‘The Lost Girl’ provides an innovative introduction to some of Australia’s best-known paintings. The story imagines children, who like drawing, visiting an art gallery and becoming involved in a particular painting’s story. The painting is Frederick McCubbin’s ‘Lost’ painted in 1886 it depicts a young girl standing in dense bush crying. Our gallery visitors, Will and Maddie hear her crying and learn her name is Clara and she has gotten lost collecting mistletoe and needs to get home to her mother. They offer to help and so begins a quest of sorts as the children make their way through various Australian Impressionist paintings searching for Clara’s mother eventually finding her in another McCubbin painting from 1887 ‘The Shore’.
Weaving through the text are references to various aspects of the individual paintings such as the boys in Jane Sutherland’s 1896 painting ‘Field Naturalists’ who are more interested in catching tadpoles than helping however they do get help from the young girl reading in Tom Robert’s 1889 work ‘Harper’s Weekly’. She sends them to the next room where Clara is reunited with her mother and McCubbin’s ‘The Shore’.
‘The Lost Girl’ is an imaginative way to introduce children to historic Australian art particularly the Heidelberg School of the late nineteenth century. Tony Flowers’ animation style depictions of the various children in the tale provides a level of child appeal not usually found in books about art. At the rear of the book is information about Australian Impressionism and the artists represented in the book.
Anne Gray was the former Head of Australian Art at the National Gallery of Australia and still works as a guest curator. Tony Flowers creates engaging illustrations designed to encourage children to keep turning pages and reading.
Picture Books for Older Readers
