Simeon's Gift

This strikingly plush picture book, written by the famous entertainer and her daughter, is a title in the Julie Andrews Collection of traditional and contemporary children’s literature, whose aim is to ‘offer gentle wisdom for the growing years’.

The story is indeed a gentle homily, in which a lutenist, leaving his true love to seek his true voice, wanders through utopianised medieval landscapes and cities, absorbing and finally rejecting sophisticated musical influences. Abandoning his lute, he decides to return home, and on his way is re-inspired by the animal companions he helps and befriends.

Spirin, an extremely talented artist, frames this sentimental story in images as luscious as the prose. His intricate watercolours of pristine panoramas and magnificent cities thickly embellish the text, striving to emulate the hyper-real visions of the Renaissance masters. It’s all a bit over the top for a cynical adult reviewer, but the message is perennial and powerful, and the book itself, if only as a physical object, will be a source of delight for many young readers.