Summary:
Oliver Doliver (who is really just Oliver but he does like having both names) will be mostly Oliver in this story. Oliver is six years (and one month) old and has a friend who is a Dinosaur called Aya Buddn.
This is the story of how they met!
And more adventures will follow.
Information about the Book
Title: Oliver Doliver’s Dinosaur Comes to Stay
Author: Papa Perkins
Release Date: 6th February 2020
Genre: Picture Book
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50655012-oliver-doliver-s-dinosaur-comes-to-stay
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oliver-Dolivers-Dinosaur-Comes-Stay/dp/1913136132
My Review
Nobody can see Aya Buddn the dinosaur until he finds Oliver, a 6 year old boy. So he moves in with him.
It’s a rather sweet story of two lonely people finding a friend. The illustrations are pencil drawings and colouring, which show some skill. I enjoyed the story and the illustrations. I think it will appeal to young children just starting school who might feel a bit lonely because they haven’t made friends yet.
About the Author/Illustrator
Mark Perkins was born in 1951and spent his career in art.
He is married and lives in Poole with his wife, Avril. They have 3 children and 7 grand-children.
He and Avril bred Burmilla cats for 20 years and they still have 6 for company, along with two miniature dachshunds, two snakes, bantams and a few rather lovely pond fish.
Following schooling near Poole and in Wimborne Minster in Dorset, he attended Bournemouth College of Art for four years and followed this by gaining a teaching certificate from Bretton Hall College in Yorkshire where he met Avril.
Returning to Dorset, Mark took up a post in an advertising studio in Bournemouth and remained there as creative director until 1991 at which time he found teaching art more rewarding and began teaching art to students from ages 12-18.
As well as being a teacher he was elected to full membership of the CSD Chartered Society of Designers in 1983 after 10 years in professional practice.
He produced designs for advertising, print and all forms of graphic communication. He specialized latterly in the design and production of large exhibition stands for national and international clients.
Ill-health forced Mark into retirement in 2000, which gave him the chance of pursuing his own interest in drawing and painting for his pleasure; much of which was contained in many sketchbooks, avoiding the necessity of explaining his thoughts to others in a public arena.
Throughout the past few years he has moved from abstract concepts into the more satisfying world of the printed book for children. His printed works include Alphabetcats, A Nature Diary, several volumes of the work of Lesley Anne Ivory and latterly ‘Words, Works & Worlds’ – a compendium of pages from his sketchbooks.
However of all of these, it is writing for children which inspires him most, and even now as he considers the thought of being 70, he reckons it’s not too late to discover what he perhaps should have begun 20 years ago.
He shows some of his later work on his website; http://blueskiesartwork.co.uk
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