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  • Published: 30 March 2009
  • ISBN: 9780143502081
  • Imprint: Picture Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $19.99

Is Your Grandmother A Goanna?



'Have you seen my grandmother?' asked the little boy.
'There are only goannas here,' replied the station master. 'Is your grandmother a goanna?'
One day a little boy sets out to visit his grandmother. But each station he comes to is full of a different sort of animal, and his grandmother is not a gorilla, or an elephant, or a walrus - or a goanna! So the train steams on - Chuffa Chuffa, Chuffa, Chuffa - until finally, on the very last station, there she is.
A wonderfully fun, imaginative story with a reassuring, heart-warming conclusion that every grandchild (and grandmother!) will love!
Educational potential
Pamela Allen's picture books are ideal for showing students how rhythm, repetition and humour can be used to create a successful and engaging text. Her work is wonderful to share and read aloud with very small children, as the words encourage their active participation.

  • Published: 30 March 2009
  • ISBN: 9780143502081
  • Imprint: Picture Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $19.99

About the author

Pamela Allen

Pamela Allen is a phenomenon in the world of children's literature. Since her first publication in 1980, her picture books have enchanted generations of children around the world, and have garnered a glittering array of awards and commendations including six Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards, two New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, an International Board on Books for Young People Diploma for Illustration, the Margaret Mahy Medal, New Zealand’s most prestigious award for children’s literature, and most recently The Gaylene Gordon Award for a Much Loved Book from the Children's Literature Foundation of New Zealand.

Pamela's books are full of the music of language; they are 'fragments of theatre', designed to be read aloud and shared between an adult and a child. Patch Theatre Company of Adelaide has created three theatrical performances from a selection of Pamela’s books. These have toured throughout Australia and New Zealand, performing to packed houses.

‘From Pamela Allen's first publication in 1980 it was clear that here was a creator of picture books with all the glow, gesture, din and dance to capture the attention, engage the imagination, teach, show, tickle and excite small children.’ Meg Sorensen, Australian Book Review

Also by Pamela Allen

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Awards & recognition

REAL Children's Choice Awards

Shortlisted  •  2008  •  Picture Story Books