WE LIVE BY A LAKE Pictures: Ans Westra story: Noel Hilliard William Heinemann Ltd, $3.25.

Te Ao Hou, March 1974, Page 60

WE LIVE BY A LAKE Pictures: Ans Westra story: Noel Hilliard William Heinemann Ltd, $3.25. reviewed by Witi Ihimaera Looking through ‘We Live By A Lake’ is like looking through a childhood photograph album. Of course the photographs are much neater than the ones in a family album (ours were taken with a bix box camera with an accordion type affair that pulled out in front) and some are in full colour too. Professional photographer Ans Westra took them, which conveys just how good they are. And some of them are really striking—like the ones of Hinemoa stretching to dip her

foot into the water and investigating an ant-nest, Moana doing cartwheels in the dam power-house (I wish I could do that!) and looking at the white silk tent of the nursery-spider, and Harvey pointing out to his two sisters from a rock the cloud-country where the Hobbits live. Superb too, is the photograph of the three children looking over the rim of the big tunnel of the dam they visit. Reproduction of the photographs is a little too grey and grainy making them look sometimes as if they've been taken on an overcast day, and the layout could have been more imaginative—for instance the visual effect of the photograph of the three children looking into the dam's big dark tunnel could have been increased if it had been ‘bled’ to the top of the page. However, this does not detract too much from one's enjoyment of the book, and the personal memories engendered by the photographs and text come through delightfully. Thankfully, the text by author Noel Hilliard is more substantial that that normally associated with books of this kind and makes ‘We Live By A Lake’ enjoyable to read as well as to look at. Cleverly wedded to the photographs, it details the adventures of discovery undertaken by Moana, Harvey and Hinemoa, who live by a lake at Mangakino. The things they get up to are things most readers will remember having done—except for cartwheels in the dam (I still wish I could do that!) perhaps—and part of the fun of reading the text is in remembering one summer holiday when you did some of the things they do. And some of the textual touches are really hardcase. Like Hinemoa outdoing her sister and brother by claiming she can see eleventyseven fish (nobody could beat that!). Like Harvey telling Moana in a pretend telephone conversation when she wants him to bring some fish and chips to her place, that she'll just have to cook her own tea tonight. And Harvey again, telling his sisters that the clouds are really the smoke from the Hobbits' houses where they're roasting mutton for their dinner. And of course, those cartwheels. I really feel jealous of you, Moana!