Denis Glover’s iconic New Zealand poem ‘The Magpies’ is illustrated by Dick Frizzell to create a beautiful gift edition that every New Zealand family needs to own.
The delightful refrain ‘Quardle ardle oodle ardle wardle doodle’ is well loved in New Zealand poetry, as are Dick Frizzell’s illustrations for this book. Winner of the Russell Clark award for illustration in 1988, this book has been out of print for some time but there has been continued interest in it.
Even more popular today than he was when he first illustrated the book, Frizzell’s approach to the illustrations was extremely innovative. It is designed
so that the Magpies and their refrain are hidden and then revealed without lessening the impact of the scene with the verse. While it looks simple it was a huge breakthrough in the structure of the book.
Originally published in 1987, this book remains as fresh and original today as it was then. This is the true mark of a New Zealand Classic – the third in Random House New Zealand’s series of classic local picture books. The other classics in this series are ‘Mrs McGinty and the Bizarre Plant’ by Gavin Bishop and ‘The Adventures of Sydney Penguin’ By David Elliot.
