Lynley Dodd a Retrospective

Recently we were on holidays and we stumbled across a Lynley Dodd exhibit at the NSW State Library in Sydney. So hauled the family in to have a look and I am so glad I did. In a word the exhibit was wonderful and I had the satisfaction of my partner saying "actually that was pretty good" after we left and my son didn't want to leave in the first place!

If you don't immediately recognise the artists name then you will no doubt recognise the names of Hairy Maclary, Slinky Malinki and Schnitzel Von Krumm to name a few who are the beloved characters in Dodd's illustrated children's books. If you don't know these names you probably don't have children in your life or been under a rock for the last 30 odd years.

This exhibition (which is touring from  Tauranga Art Gallery in New Zealand) showcases a collection of 59 original drawings from Lynley Dodd's popular children's books. The exhibition also includes drawings from her first work dating back to school days, through to the most recent publication, Shoo.

Dame Lynley, to date, has sold over five million copies of Hairy Maclary internationally, and translated into several languages. So her art work is pretty well loved by kids and adults alike.

For the kids there is an interactive section with movies of the books playing, ebooks to look at, drawing stations, and a simple reading corner. My little guy watched the movies then wondered through the art work and happily sat down to read a Hairy Maclary book. I also had to explained we couldn't take the paintings with us (which he was most disappointed by). I couldn't pick a favourite piece of artwork on display as they were all wonderful.

The exhibit is well worth a visit if you have children (or grandchildren). All the families we saw there were having so much fun.

The exhibit runs till March 2015.