Button Boy

Rebecca Young (author)

Sue deGennaro (illustrator)

Scholastic Press, Australia: June 2011

ISBN: 9781741697971

Genre: picture book

Issues: community, differences, friendship

Banjo loves to collect buttons. Being an observant child he finds them in the most unlikely places, including hidden in garden beds, in the gutter and on his way to the park.

'While the other kids shared stories and secrets... While the other kids skipped along, laughing, Banjo looked for buttons.' Every day Grandma Woolly sews the buttons onto his jumper until there was hardly any room left. What will he do then? Find the people who own the buttons of course! And it's amazing how many friends he makes along the way.

This apparently simple story carries a subtext that will particularly appeal to gifted readers, who are frequently all too aware of the difficulties that come with looking at the world differently. It is obvious from the story that Banjo is a shy boy who has little in common with his peers and finds it difficult to talk to anybody except his grandmother. His button collection becomes a communication tool. And as he helps others, they become interested in him. Simple social skills and some essential values are underlined in this whimsical story – accepting others despite their differences, making an effort to reach out to people, and the fun that can be had by looking at the world in a slightly different way.

A thoroughly charming book.