Shelly McGee, a noble and kind horse, is the beloved mayor of Murrimba, a quaint Australian town that is home to all sorts of happy and quirky animals.
As Shelly is about to step down at the end of her final term, the town prepares to elect a new mayor. The campaigns of the two candidates, a lawyerly owl by the name of Hooter De Clerque, and a construction magnate goat named Billy, take the town by surprise and signal troubles ahead for Murrimba. As the political debates go horribly wrong, the townsfolk are left to decide what to do.
Can Murrimbians unite to salvage this unpleasant situation and get their town back on track? Who will end up with more votes – Hooter or Billy? One thing’s for sure: the townsfolk are not used to anything but smooth sailing when it comes to their mayor.
Shelly McGee, a noble and kind horse, is the beloved mayor of Murrimba, a quaint Australian town that is home to all sorts of happy and quirky animals.
As Shelly is about to step down at the end of her final term, the town prepares to elect a new mayor. The campaigns of the two candidates, a lawyerly owl by the name of Hooter De Clerque, and a construction magnate goat named Billy, take the town by surprise and signal troubles ahead for Murrimba. As the political debates go horribly wrong, the townsfolk are left to decide what to do.
Can Murrimbians unite to salvage this unpleasant situation and get their town back on track? Who will end up with more votes – Hooter or Billy? One thing’s for sure: the townsfolk are not used to anything but smooth sailing when it comes to their mayor.
The Mayor of Murrimba is a children's picture book by the Australian-born author Jonathan Hall. The story revolves around Shelly McGee, the much loved equine mayor of Murrimba which is inhabited by a range of colourful animal characters. In Murrimba, the mayor can only run for two terms after which the townsfolk must vote for a new mayor. With big horseshoes to fill, who will be the victorious successor to Shelly's reign?
While pitching itself as a picture book, it is hard to know exactly what audience The Mayor of Murrimba is pivoting itself towards. The large amount of words per page suggest an older child demographic (age eight - ten), whereas the large number of colourful pictures are more common in books read by younger readers and their parents. The introductory section which describes how to read the book is confusing, longwinded and shouldn't be needed in a picture book. Within the body of the story rhyming couplets come across as forced at times and the need to footnote explanations for some of the more nuanced references just seems to miss the point. For example, a meaty paragraph to explain the history of the Dickens classic "A Tale of Two Cities".
All of the illustrations are derived from artificial intelligence (AI) software. AI generates illustrative content by scouring the internet which, while on the surface might seem like a nifty hack, its has also become the subject of multiple copyright lawsuits. This, after claims that AI generators steal the work of artists and fail to pay royalties for the subsequent use of the output. If you take a second glance at the images in this book it shows, from bears in clown costumes holding a single balloon to insects with oversized honeycomb eyes, some of the images are quite spooky.
To make this book of a engaging standard, the author needs to rethink the amount and complexity of the copy. The story arch needs to be workshopped to improve the pacing, sent to parents and children for feedback and refinement. A skilled children's artist should be brought onto this project to produce the illustrative content, even if it means reducing the overall page length to balance the increased production costs.
The use of AI may open up new doors, but using it to cut corners on design is not something that will sit easy within publishing.
AEB Reviews