1. Alliteration
2. Animals
3. Anthropomorphism
4. Art motifs
5. Companionship
6. Design
7. Disability
8. Figurative language
9. Loneliness
10. Mental health
11. Pride and vanity
12. Relationships
13. Responsibility
14. Visual literacy

What will young people make of this sophisticated, multilayered picture book? It is not a story. Rather it is a glimpse into lonely lives with touches of dark humour.

The artwork by Sonia Martinez is sophisticated and, like the text, offers multiple interpretations. An artwork for this book held in the State Library of WA, identifies the art as mixed media using acylic paint and collage. The story opens on its endpapers—theatre curtains suggesting this story is about to begin. The title page appears as a theatre billboard announcing, ‘The astounding adventures of Warren: highly trained working dog with unfathomable responsibility and vigilant protector of the visually impaired.’ The following page is entitled ‘Paws for Thought—a Word from Warren’ from a comfy armchair beside a warm fire, Warren addresses the reader with an air of superiority. The reader is now ready for a clever visual journey featuring linguistically challenging language, jokes and inuendoes.

Warren is not keen on performing as a guide dog until he meets Eleanor Rigby who is visually impaired. They go everywhere together except when Eleanor has nightmares. Two possums feature throughout as observers of Eleanor Rigby and Warren’s walk down city streets. The illustrations invite close study and offer multiple interpretations. The streets are full of people, parades, side stories, floating musical notes and perplexing signage. ‘What does it all mean?’ readers will ask. There will be multiple answers.

The Children’s Book Council of Australia nominated this book for the Crichton Award, given to encourage and recognise new talent in illustration. It was also recognised as a Notable picture book in that same year, 2008. The Notable annotation states, ‘This visually stunning picture book is heavy with meaning and scattered with humour.’ As an example, when Eleanor Rigby and Warren walk the city streets, a One-Way street sign points to more signs directing viewers to ‘empty ness,’ ‘sad ness,’ ‘cold ness’ and ‘lonely ness,’ echoing McCartney’s inspiration for his song, ‘Eleanor Rigby.’ This song is the story of an old lady who lived alone and whom Paul McCartney knew. He shopped for her and sat in her kitchen listening to stories and her radio. McCartney said, ‘Just hearing her stories enriched my soul and influenced the songs I would later write.’

1. Craig Silvey’s website contains many interviews about his writing and individual books https://www.craigsilvey.com/writer
2. Booktopia offers ‘Craig Silvey,’ a brief biographical profile https://www.booktopia.com.au/craig-silvey/author85.html
3. The Sydney Morning Herald 9 Dec 2022 Jacqueline Maley interviewer, ‘It feels awful: Craig Silver on writing, relationships and the books that didn’t work out’ https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/it-feels-awful-craig-silvey-on-writing-relationships-and-the-books-that-didn-t-work-out-20221121-p5c00k.html
4. Australian Writer’s Centre Podcast 15 Oct 2011, Sydney Writer’s Centre 42: Craig Silvey talks about his various works https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/craig-silvey-award-winning-novelist/
5. Sonia Martinez Design Portfolio accessed 20 Apr 2024 https://www.smartidezign.com/about
6. ‘Gold: the Greatest Hits of All Time’ 26 Sept 2023, ’Eleanor Rigby’ by The Beatles: The making of the dark pop classic https://www.goldradiouk.com/artists/the-beatles/eleanor-rigby-facts-real-name-grave-daisy-hawkins/
7. YouTube Paul McCartney performs Eleanor Rigby (live London 2007) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weN-l8SOiFU
8. YouTube ‘The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby (Lyrics) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwoCuzGMS_I