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Tim and Ed (Ursula Dubosarsky, illus by Andrew Joyner, Viking)

Tim and Ed are twin koalas. They look alike, with the same eyes, nose and ears; they think alike; and they do everything together. While they are playing at the park one day, their dad tries to explain that they look the same because they came from a single egg. When Tim falls into the duck pond (after some confusion about duck eggs), Ed jumps in too (‘I want to be the same as him’). The next day the twins’ aunt arrives and takes Ed home with her, and the twin koalas discover that time on their own can be fun too. Tim and Ed is written in rhyme, which not only makes it fun to read aloud, but gives it a very lively, jaunty tempo. Andrew Joyner’s illustrations are warm and colourful, and perfectly match the mood of the text, with cheerful, good-natured characters and reassuring domestic details (there are two of everything on the clothesline; two toy trucks, buckets and spades in the sand pit; and two tennis racquets strewn across the lawn). The sense of companionship and connection that twins often enjoy is conveyed through the words and pictures, as well as the point of view of the twins’ parents. This is a great book about twinship! 

Louise Pfanner is an author, illustrator and bookseller 

 

Category: Reviews