HAIRY MACLARY and FRIENDS

Six LYNLEY DODD picture books in cloth carry bag

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6 softcover books in carrybag, full of the beautiful colour pictures and rhyming text stories we all know and love - great gift for toddlers, pre-schoolers and junior primary kids learning to read.

Here are 6 wonderful stories from award-winning author Lynley Dodd 

• Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy
• Hairy Maclary's Bone  
• Scattercat
• Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper
• Hairy Maclary's Rumpus at the Vet
• Hairy Maclary's Showbusiness

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy was first published in 1983, and became an instant success. Since then, every new story about Hairy Maclary and his gang, not to mention Scarface Claw, has become a firm favourite with children around the world. Lynley Dodd's exuberant text, which helps to extend a child's vocabulary, together with her strong, economical illustrations, bring repeated pleasure to children and adults alike. Lynley's characters are loved by children all over the world. She has won numerous awards for her work. 

About the Author:

Lynley Dodd is New Zealand's bestselling children's author/artist. Her rhyming picture books featuring the irresistible Hairy Maclary, Slinky Malinki and friends are firm favourites, especially for reading aloud, all over the world.

Born: Rotorua, New Zealand, July 5th 1941
Jobs: Art Teacher
Lives: Tauranga, New Zealand
First Book: My Cat Likes To Hide in Boxes, 1974

Lynley Dodd graduated from the Elam School of Art in Auckland with a diploma in Fine Arts, majoring in sculpture. She went on to teach art before taking a break to start a family. She began to work as a freelance illustrator and collaborated with author Eve Sutton on My Cat Likes To Hide in Boxes. There was no looking back as Lynley went on to write and illustrate her own books for children. Exuberant artwork and bouncy rhymes come together perfectly in books like Slinky Malinki and Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy. As well as being a visual delight, these are some of the most rewarding books for children and adults to read out loud. It comes as no surprise that, as a child, she adored Dr Seuss because of his "crazy sounds and the fact that he took such liberties with the English language." Other favourite authors included A A Milne and the fairy tales of The Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen. Today, Lynley is a big fan of Quentin Blake " because of his humour and very clever art work."

Lynley says: "I have 'ideas antennae' sticking out of my head, ready to collect anything that takes my fancy. Funny names and juicy words to roll around the tongue, things I see, things people say and do, programmes on TV, items of news, family happenings etc. I keep an Ideas Book which is a motley collection of bits; lists of words, scraps of drawings, newspaper cuttings, snatches of storyline and verse."

"I work on words and pictures together from the start. As I write, I'm thinking about and planning layout, progression of pages as well as content and composition of each picture. Once story and pictures are planned, I make small 'dummy' books to show what the finished book will be like, with everything in place. Then I paint the final pictures, full size."

"There's a great deal of pleasure in telling a child a story that has the fun of the language as well as the pictures... Some picture-book artists can get very arty and forget what they're setting out to do. They impress the art establishment like mad but not necessarily children."

See other books by Lynley Dodd click here

Hairy Maclary and Friends - Six Lynley Dodd stories in carry bag