Trying to classify this book is a real challenge - its is partly non-fiction, partly cartoon, partly inpsirational. But perhaps it is not meant to be classified, being, as it is, so different from any other book.

In The Memory Book author/illustrator Neil Curtis chronicles his memories of childhood, from birth till the age of seven. Curtis was born in England not long after the finish of the Second World War, and he and his family emigrated to Australia when he was seven, so these memories are of his childhood in England.

Some of Curtis' memories are happy - like his recollections of the shop windows glowing like gold in the winter - while others, such as the images of his parents fighting, are sad. Whilst often intensely personal, there are also many memories that others will relate to their own childhoods.

Neil Curtis is an award winning illustrator, his most recent effort, the children's picture book Cat and Fish, winning Picture Book of the Year 2004 in the Children's Book Council of Australia awards.

The Memory Book is intriguing.

The Memory Book, by Neil Curtis
Allen & Unwin, 2005

Also by Neil Curtis

Cat and Fish, with Joan Curtis (Lothian, 2003)