Let's Build a Backyard

Slip on your overalls, pop on your hardhat and jump in the digger - let's build a backyard!

We dig, we build, we plant, we sow.

We make a place to play and grow.

You and me - one, two, three ... GO!

Work! Work! Work!

A fun look at creating a backyard from scratch; from moving the mud and building the fence through to planting a vegie garden and adding in the compost (Poo! Poo! Poo!). Let's Build a Backyard is a high-energy, brightly illustrated picture book by a real-life engineer, and is the perfect companion to Let's Build a House.

'Children from two or three years up will absolutely love getting into it and chanting along. It's fun to go on the jolly journey from barren block to a garden you'd like to visit, and it seems like the sort of book children will want to read over again, for its rhythms, its logical and simple plot progression, and, of course, the page about spreading manure - "poo poo poo"' BOOKS+PUBLISHING

'The perfect way for adults to introduce big topics like sustainability, environmental care and self-sufficiency to their young children . . . A high-energy, brightly illustrated picture book that will excite young readers and inspire a love for the outdoors' TOOWOOMBA CHRONICLE

A companion to Mike Lucas and Daron Parton's 2021 publication Let's Build a House, this bouncy book illustrates simple steps to creating a garden-dig, plant, water, protect and enjoy the flora and fauna. A little girl and a man work hard and then enjoy the results, in a cheerful yet not overstimulating series of colourful scenes that feel energetic as well as safe. There are three distinct elements to each page: the fact-style headings for each verse ('Put up a fence around the edge'), the short rhyming verses themselves, and the varying three-syllable refrain on each spread ('bang bang bang', 'buzz buzz buzz', 'drip drip drip'). As the refrains are incorporated into the illustrations on each page rather than inside the box containing the rhyming text, there is a bit of an interruption in the reading rhythm (the headings contribute to this). However, the refrain rhythm itself is so satisfying, children from two or three years up will absolutely love getting into it and chanting along. It's fun to go on the jolly journey from barren block to a garden you'd like to visit, and it seems like the sort of book children will want to read over again, for its rhythms, its logical and simple plot progression, and, of course, the page about spreading manure-'poo poo poo'. Anica Boulanger-Mashberg, an editor and writer, is a bookseller at The Hobart Bookshop.

Mike Lucas (Author)

Originally from the UK, Mike moved with his family to Adelaide in 2010. He started his writing career writing funny poetry anthologies and visiting schools and libraries to encourage children to create their own silly rhymes. He has had work published in various magazines and anthologies.

Mike's first picture book, Olivia's Voice, was a 2018 CBCA Awards Notable book, followed by Vanishing, Let's Build a House and Let's Build and Backyard.

As well as being a writer, Mike also owns a bookshop in Adelaide, Shakespeare's Bookshop in Blackwood. In 2017, he was the lead organiser of the first ever Adelaide Festival of Children's Books.

For five days a week Mike works as an engineer and has very little time for sleep.

Daron Parton (Illustrator)

Award-winning New Zealand illustrator Daron Parton was born in the UK, married a Kiwi and moved to New Zealand in 1995. He has been working as an illustrator since 1990 and is also an illustration tutor at Auckland University of Technology. Daron's books include The Ultimate Survival Guide to Monsters Under Your Bed, A Crocodile in the Family, Let's Build a House, Snake Brought Cake and Let's Build a Backyard.

Slip on your overalls, pop on your hardhat and jump in the digger - let's build a backyard! We dig, we build, we plant, we sow. We make a place to play and grow. You and me - one, two, three ... GO! Work! Work! Work! A fun look at creating a backyard from scratch; from moving the mud and building the fence through to planting a vegie garden and adding in the compost (Poo! Poo! Poo!). Let's Build a Backyard is a high-energy, brightly illustrated picture book by a real-life engineer, and is the perfect companion to Let's Build a House .'Children from two or three years up will absolutely love getting into it and chanting along. It's fun to go on the jolly journey from barren block to a garden you'd like to visit, and it seems like the sort of book children will want to read over again, for its rhythms, its logical and simple plot progression, and, of course, the page about spreading manure - "poo poo poo".' BOOKS+PUBLISHING

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