The Lorikeet Tree
by Paul Jennings
The Lorikeet Tree by Paul Jennings (published in Australia by Allen & Unwin and by Old Barn Books in the US) is nominated for the highly prestigious 2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing.
This extraordinary middle-fiction (middle-grade) novel only solidifies Paul Jennings’s outstanding reputation. Some of his previous books include
Unreal, Uncanny, Unbelievable, The Paw Thing, Spooner or Later, Duck for Cover; the trilogy A Different Dog, A Different Boy, A Different Land; How Hedley Hopkins Did a Dare (YA), and picture books The Fisherman and the Theefyspray (illustrated by Jane Tanner) and Grandad’s Gifts (illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe).
He has also written a reading guide for adults, The Reading Bug … and how you can help your child to catch it and a memoir, Untwisted: The Story of My Life.
About The Yoto Carnegies
- The Yoto Carnegies celebrate outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration respectively and are unique in being judged solely by librarians.
- The Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing is awarded annually to a children’s book author whose writing creates an outstanding reading experience. It was established in 1936 in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919).
- The Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration (previously known as the Kate Greenaway Medal), established in 1955, is awarded annually to a children’s book illustrator whose artwork creates an outstanding reading experience. (Carnegie Medal website)
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My review of The Lorikeet Tree by Paul Jennings
(Originally published in Magpies magazine, reproduced with permission)
The Lorikeet Tree (2023)
Fifteen-year-old Emily and her twin brother Alex live with their father in a reforested rainforest in western Victoria with a view to Mt Warrnambool. Emily is writing her memoir for a school assignment. Her work is structured into seasons (which do not always follow the usual cycle) and tells what happened once their father is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Emily is regarded as the stoic family lynchpin even though, underneath, she is adrift, lonely and grieving. Alex is temperamental and anxious. Their mother died when they were six and, influenced by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl, he believed that building matchbook constructions kept others safe. This ‘magical thinking’ has developed into building a treehouse in the branches of an imposing manna gum, the only original tree on the property.
There is conflict between the two siblings when Alex rescues and hides a kitten as his pet. Emily sees it as a predator. Her views are confirmed when she twice finds it with a dead lorikeet in its mouth. This becomes an opportunity for author Paul Jennings to demonstrate his skill in creating multidimensional characters who love each other despite their contrasting beliefs. As well as arguments about protection of the environment and native creatures, discussion flows naturally from grief into how a family could care for the dying, reconciliation and what happens after death.
The narrative tension mounts when Emily helps clip the kitten’s claws without realising the consequences to the cat itself and Alex extends the storeys of his treehouse into a ramshackle but magnificent set of rooms stacked unsteadily on top of each other. Although some of the themes are distressing, the tale culminates in a vintage Jennings flourish with the Lorikeet Tree signifying a glorious hope.
Joy Lawn (NSW, Australia))
The Lorikeet Tree at Allen & Unwin
My interview with Paul Jennings about Round the Twist at PaperbarkWords blog
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Congratulations to all the nominees for Writing and Illustration.
Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration Nominated Titles 2024 by Australian creators include:
Paradise Sands by Levi Pinfold (Walker Studio)
Read my review of Paradise Sands and suggested ways of using with young readers at PaperbarkWords blog
The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham (Walker Books)
Read my reviews of other books by Bob Graham at Paperbark Words blog
The Underhills: A Tooth Fairy Story
Desert Jungle by Jeannie Baker (Walker Books)
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Key Dates for Yoto Carnegie Judging:
Longlists announced – Wednesday 13 February 2024
Shortlists announced and Shadowing begins – Wednesday 13 March 2024
Yoto Carnegie Medal Winners announced – Thursday 20 June 2024
Follow the Carnegies updates: #YotoCarnegies24 / @CarnegieMedals / The Yoto Carnegies
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