Clare is a forlorn little figure as her sister and brother say goodbye to all the familiar and comforting parts of their old home. She won’t be part of their farewell, instead as they make their way through the bare rooms they find her in their old bedroom dancing; a poignant and cathartic dance that they join and silently revel in.

In Clare’s Goodbye I feel that Libby Gleeson’s prose has sensitively depicted the sense of desolation at leaving a loved home and has inspired Pignataro’s best work yet; there is a freshness of strokes and capricious creativity that makes this a beautiful picture book for 3 and up.

Alexa Dretzke