Hairy Maclary creator Dame Lynley Dodd visits Albury-Wodonga for Upstream Festival of Art + Culture
Lovers of Hairy Maclary delight, original artwork a wonderful sight.
And even more, to add to the fun, Dame Lynley is there to say how it's done.
Foolishly the above verse goes directly against advice from a famous exponent of rhyming words who's visiting the Border this week.
"Rhyme is so dangerous, don't do it if you can't do it," Dame Lynley Dodd said.
"It's got to sound as though it's easy, not contrived.
"It can't sound clunky, it's got to have the rhythm.
"So many people think that as long as you put a rhyming word at the end of the line, that's rhyme, well it's not.
"It's got to have the musical rhythm, otherwise it doesn't work."
The creator of more than 30 picture books is holding masterclasses, book signings and story readings as part of this weekend's Upstream Festival of Art + Culture across Albury-Wodonga.
Saturday, March 7, brings The Dogs Breakfast, a morning of canine-related activities, workshops and stalls in Albury's QEII Square.
FORGING AHEAD: Curator of The Lynley Dodd Story Penelope Jackson and Dame Lynley Dodd sample one of the exhibits at Albury Library Museum. "It's always strange for me because I never have seen large chunks of my work at the same time, normally it's one book at a time," Dame Lynley says. Picture: MARK JESSER
Providing an ongoing backdrop is the exhibition The Lynley Dodd Story, which can be seen at Albury Library Museum until April 26.
The collection comprises more than 50 original artworks that depict characters such as Scarface Claw, Slinky Malinki and, of course, Hairy Maclary.
Just as interesting are pieces from Dame Lynley's days as an art student and her early projects, where viewers may discern some hints of what was to follow.
Curator Penelope Jackson points out the exhibits aren't copied pages from any published book, "they are the real thing".
"I haven't dumbed the exhibition down," she said.
"It's not just for children, it's for adults, it's for everyone and we've now got a couple of generations of Lynley's books."
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Born in New Zealand in 1941, Dame Lynley graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland and took on "bread and butter" work like illustrating school readers.
In 1975 she illustrated My Cat Likes To Hide In Boxes, written by her cousin by marriage Eve Sutton, with the pair then winning the Esther Glen Award.
The presentation of this honour allowed Dame Lynley to meet one of her heroes, American children's author Dr Seuss.
"It was fantastic, I did a drawing of my cat and his cat in a box together and I thought if the evening turns out the way I'd like it to, you know, just right, I'll give it to him," she said.
"And I did because it did, and he was highly amused, he was a delight to meet."
In post-war New Zealand, most of her childhood books tended towards the "earnest and preachy" until she discovered Dr Seuss.
"His madcap humour after all these earnest things were an absolute bombshell for me," Dame Lynley said.
"And all his silly ways with words, I was hooked; in fact my parents were hooked as well."
Deciding to write as well as illustrate, the author lacked confidence at first and still revises her work constantly.
"Usually about 20 drafts at least," she said.
"Anybody who thinks they can toss a children's book off quickly really are admitting that they don't really understand what a serious thing it is and how important it is to get right."
Her efforts have not been wasted, with the Hairy Maclary series since 1983 particularly beloved.
This well-known dog helped shape a distinctive writing style.
"It began because I looked at him, thought what a scruffy little thing you are, you look hairy and then, OK, it's got to be Hairy and something that rhymes with Hairy, that's how it happened," the author said.
Ms Jackson said Australian writer Mem Fox, whom they met in Perth, told her students "do not rhyme your work unless you are Dr Seuss, Julia Donaldson or Lynley Dodd".
"Which is very flattering," Dame Lynley added.
The curator said children's reactions could provide instant feedback, both positive and not, so authors needed that point of difference.
"It's got to be a good engaging story," Ms Jackson said.
Many of Dame Lynley's ideas come from random snippets of everyday life.
"It's a question of noting down anything that takes my fancy, really," she said.
"I just soak these things up without even thinking, a chance conversation, silly things that people say.
"I think people who want to write tend to do that anyway, they can see possibilities.
"I think that's the important thing, to look for possibilities all the time and don't ever forget to note them down if they're good ones."
Hairy Maclary's Bone arose out of a visit to the butcher, where she saw a dog holding some bones.
"And I thought, 'Well, you're not going to get very far, you know, one of your friends is going to ... and then a sort of light bulb went off over my head and I thought 'Oh, Hairy Maclary'," she recalled.
Both the author and curator praised the Albury exhibition lay-out, watching as a visitor read to her young charge.
"You know, when you've battled on to get the thing as good as you can possibly make it, it's very satisfying to have the feedback that shows all your hard work was worthwhile," Dame Lynley said.
"They got the message."