This beautifully illustrated book by the talented Donna Rawlins tells of the story of Shipley (a panda) and Gwendoline (a hippopotamus) who receive birthday gifts more size appropriate for the other. When they meet at playgroup, they resolve their dilemma of a too big pedal car for Shipley and a too small tricycle for Gwendoline by swapping. The text is age appropriate for the beginner reader with concepts introduced and built upon/repeated for word recognition. It has a strong educational value by effectively teaching size, sharing, acceptance and conflict resolution

Author Biography

Donna Rawlins was born and grew up in Melbourne but now lives in Sydney, working as an illustrator, designer and editor. Her illustrations feature multicultural, non-sterotypical characters often with rich background detail. Donna's books include THE KINDER HAT, TUCKING MUMMY IN, MY PLACE, (winner of the Younger Readers Award in the 1988 CBCA Book of the Year Awards), MY DEAREST DINOSAUR, and GUESS THE BABY (shortlisted in the 2003 CBCA Book of the Year Award).