[[justine-clarke-rev]]Justine Clarke is immediately recognisable to most Australian families due to her regular appearances on Play School and her three ARIA-nominated albums, including Great Big World. Her first picture book collaboration is a delightful paean to reading and the many worlds waiting to be discovered between the pages.

The text is simple and rhythmic, perfectly pitched at her target market of pre-schoolers. The gobbledygook is a monster, of course, that delights in devouring books with a few gulps. Along comes a little girl to teach him the error of his ways and show him the benefits of reading books over eating them. The gobbledygook discovers a book about space travel, a cookbook, dinosaurs and fairytales.

Rest assured there’s nothing too frightening for the very young, with the drawings by Tom Jellett conveying one of the cutest monsters you’ve ever seen. This is a perfect book for toddlers and is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser when read aloud.

[[angela__crocombe]] Angela Crocombe