When Dad loses his car keys, toddler Mary suspects that they have ended up down the back of the chair so Dad begins to search. But what an odd assortments of objects are living down the back of the chair! This lively, eccentric poem is a visual explosion of fun and imagination, featuring dragons, pirates, treasure, lions, elephants and many more. But what will a troubled father win from down the back of the chair?
Reviews
"Exuberant rhyming story celebrating the chaos of everyday life and the power of the imagination." Independent on Sunday
"Its inventive language and detailed collage illustrations! will amuse children of three and over! This is a simple story but it zips along and !the language really fizzes" Daily Telegraph
"The entertainment, humour, and exuberance of it all arises from what Dad finds... Mahy's text rollicks along in rhythm and rhyme, and Polly Dunbar's graphics are akin to a fireworks display on the page; words, phrases and pictorial images metaphorically pop up and explode like stardust over the double spreads". School Librarian
"When the kids suggest Dad look for his lost car keys in the depths of their wingback chair, the family's fortunes take a dramatic and deliciously silly turn for the better. Mahy's crisp rhyming quatrains, in the voice of a precocious girl, start the action at a comic pitch that escalates with every page. "We're facing rack and ruin./ No car, no work! No work, no pay!/ We're growing poorer by the day." Sticking his hand "down the back of the chair"-a phrase that refers to both a universe under the seat cushion and also the book's refrain-Dad turns up much more than keys or loose change. There's precious jewelry, a menagerie ranging from a conger eel to a pair of tea-drinking elephants plus "a missing twin" and a pirate with a treasure map. Dunbar's (Dog Blue) watercolor and cut-paper illustrations goose the giddiness of the text without sacrificing a visual equilibrium. She creates a tantalizing contrast as Dad grows ga-ga from the magical goings-on while his children maintain a cool sense of delight. The car keys never surface, but a rich uncle's long lost will and treasure do. It's an inspired flight of fancy-and certain to turn "Down the back of the chair" into a rallying cry in many households. Ages 4-7." Publishers Weekly
Author Biography
Margaret Mahy is acknowledged all over the world as one of the outstanding children's writers of today, and has published over 200 titles. Twice winner of the Carnegie Medal, several of her titles have become modern classics. In 2006 she was presented with the Hans Christian Andersen medal, which is the highest international recognition granted to authors and illustrators of children's books. She lives in New Zealand. Polly Dunbar was born in Stratford upon Avon. Daughter of children's author Joyce Dunbar, Polly first started illustrating when she was 16 and has a degree in Illustration at the University of Brighton. She lives in Brighton, Sussex. To visit Polly Dunbar's website click here
