‘Picture Purrfect’ by Heather Dickinson

‘Picture Purrfect’ is a self-published picture book written and illustrated by Heather Dickinson.

This is the story of a cat named Zuzu, who wants to paint a picture of her friends. Her friends comply, but soon get fidgety. The result is a hodgepodge of features which together form a surprise.

The illustrations are beautifully done in a nice soft colour palette and the animal characters are cute and expressive.

Quite often with picture books written by the illustrator, the story falls behind in quality while the pictures shine. However, I thought ‘Picture Purrfect’ was a charming story and my son enjoyed it. Tellingly, he remembered what happened in the story a few days after we read it – a sure fire way of telling if it hit the mark.

I wasn’t sure if a young child would quite know that the Queen has pet corgis – or indeed who the Queen is – but I also decided that doesn’t particularly matter and wouldn’t detract from the story.

I particularly liked the end page which features a picture of real-life Zuzu and a note about the influences for the story.

All in all this is a nice book and a reminder that the world of self-published books is well worth exploring.

You can buy Picture Purrfect here.

Robin’s verdict: “I really liked it.”

Hazel’s verdict: “Worth adding to your collection.”