Michelle Langstone

My Favourite
Fiona Pardington’s Still Life with Barley Grass and Freesia, Waiheke

Fiona Pardington’s Still Life with Barley Grass and Freesia, Waiheke

The most magical book I held in my hands as a child was called Ratsmagic, and it belonged to my sister. It was a dark, threatening masterpiece of a picture book, in which a bluebird is kidnapped by a witch, right when she is due to lay her egg. The animals in the valley where she lives whisper to one another “Bluebird is with egg, BLUEBIRD IS WITH EGG” with a fierce and mythological importance. A clever rat is sent to save her from her terrible fate.