‘I did love the book! I really did! I read the story to my little
five year old in bed. We read it again.
We then had to read it again! And again! And even again! That night,
we read ‘The Perfect Gift’, five times!
It was funny, thoughtful, beautifully illustrated and slightly queer.
All the things that children love.
It is on the top of our reading book pile and I believe my little
boy is taking it to Show and Tell on Friday!
Congratulations and thanks so much for sending your great story to
us!.’
Alannah Hill,
designer
‘How is it in life that such simple messages are lost ?
My children need to understand the messages in your book, and they
will.
But more importantly wouldn’t it be amazing if our business
leaders, politicians,
even world leaders took a few minutes to consume, digest, understand
and appreciate the simplicity
of the story and how happiness can be so close and so easy to achieve.
If I had a red hat, I’d take it off to you. Congratulations..’
Larry Emdur, TV personality/host
'Marc and Gillie take us to the nature of true
wellbeing - that it is better to give than to receive -
and that a meaningful life is underpinned by warmth, kindness and
compassion.
This is difficult to communicate to children without appearing
to preach.
They achieve this key educational message both directly and subliminally,
with the succinct text melding with beautifully sculptured images.'
Professor Gordon Parker, MB BS (Syd), MD (UNSW), PhD,
DSc, FRANZCP,
School of Psychiatry, Executive Director, Black Dog Institute
‘This is a book that parents should read with or to their children
- both
parent and child will get pleasure from the story, and both will learn
something about themselves in the process.
It's a great book - I like the pictures, the story and the idea.'
Professor Ian Frazer,
Director of the Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic
Medicine
and Australian of the Year 06
'The Perfect Gift' is enthralling...I love the subtlety with which
some universal truths are revealed by image
and text. Avoiding sentimentality and without moralising, Marc and
Gillie Schattner
deliver their positive message in a very refreshing way.
Toddlers to grandparents will be enriched by this lovely little book.'
Libby Edwards Galleries,
Gallery Owner
'I read it this afternoon and...I absolutely loved it. At The Happiness
Institute we spend much of our time
helping people understand that happiness comes just as much from giving
as it does from receiving.
Kindness, generosity, compassion and love are all integral components
of
the deeper forms of happiness and they are all illustrated in your
book so very succinctly.'
Dr. Timothy Sharp
Founder
& CHO Happiness Institute
'The
Perfect Gift is a delightful gift-book for loved ones of all ages.
To think of it as a picture book or
a children's book undermines its appeal for a much broader audience.
Simply but beautifully illustrated, The Perfect Gift is about Harry,
a quirky little character in green
shorts and a big red hat. Harry sets off to find the perfect gift
for his friends but comes home empty-handed.
Soon, Harry realises that the perfect gift comes from the heart, not
the shops.
This little book has a lot to say about happiness, about giving and
getting and about real friendship.
Its great strength is that it does so in a way which is warm, witty
and engaging. Gillie and Marc Schattner have a
lightness of touch and clarity of message that renders redundant the
big stick of didacticism.
The Perfect Gift is a joy and could be the perfect antidote to the
crass commercialism
of Christmas in the Mall. Read it and smile.
The
indepentant Weekly
Adelaide
‘Feeling sated with large volumes of prose and narrative on
heavy subjects or ephemeral fiction?
Here’s the perfect gift of a children’s story with a simple
message. It’s also a book that parents or anyone will
enjoy reading by themselves or to their children. Here’s a totally
delightful little tale that is funny and thought-provoking.
Happiness is just around the corner and we can find it if only we
stop for a moment to observe
what is really important in our lives.’
Mary Ann Elliot
‘Often,
the simplest gestures are the most profound. This is what The Perfect
Gift, by the wonderfully
talented husband-and-wife team Gillie and Marc Schattner, teaches
us. Little Harry loves few things in this world more
than his red hat. He wears it to sleep, to think, and to splash water
on his face on hot days.
But when his friends, the birds – who often play with Harry,
catching his hat for him – lose their nest,
Harry realises he has bigger things to think about. So his journey
to find a gift to cheer them up begins.
It's impossible not to be moved by his final decision. Rarely has
the joy of giving
been so frankly captured. A magical offering.’
www.thisisawar.com by Antonella Gambotto-Burke
