Shadow Play

By Kate Forsyth &  Rosalie Street
Reviewed by Meg Rowe

Renowned Australian author Kate Forsyth’s award-winning books span adult fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry, and children’s writing, including the recently published Long Lost Fairy Tales, illustrated by Lorena Carrington (2024). Forsyth’s latest picture book, Shadow Play, deftly opens conversations around fears children may experience and the power of friendship and connection when we face our fears together.

Minnie May is a little girl who is afraid of everything. Just like her shadow, her fears follow her wherever she goes but it’s when night comes, and darkness falls that Minnie May’s fears loom largest. It takes Minnie May’s new friend Ziggy to show her that maybe the things she fears might not be so scary after all. Ultimately, Shadow Play is a story of celebration and joy, as Ziggy helps Minnie May begin to shine a light on her fears enabling her to take flight and soar.

Rosalie Street’s striking illustrations effectively mirror Minnie May’s emotional landscape, moving from muted dark grey tones to vibrant, colour-soaked imagery, and her depiction of Minnie May’s shadow as a butterfly weaves an enchanting and powerful visual thread throughout the story.

Forsyth’s sensitive, insightful narrative combine with Street’s strong visual imagery to make Shadow Play an excellent choice to promote discussion around children’s anxiety and fears, and, as the title suggests, to ‘play’ with them, see them from different points of view, reframe them, and that, most importantly, you don’t have to do this alone.

Wombat Books 2024
Kate Forsyth
Rosalie Street