When Rodney and I create something new - whether it be a painting, a story or a piece of music - we always believe wholeheartedly in what we are doing. We really do give it our all, and so when we get a review like we have here, from Dr Simon Cooke, Editor of the prestigous 'Illustration' magazine it really does lift our spirits!
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Oddney's Otherland is an enchanting fantasy picture-book for children, and, like so many books for the young, it's a challenge to take part in a quest: "What would you do," the back blurb inquires, "if you found a tunnel under your shed ...," and "what would you do if you knew it led to a whole other world ... the home to a dragon…..with two heads?" Most adults' response would be to run away, and keep running away, but in the child-like universe of Sarah and Rodney Matthews the natural response is to follow Oddney and Magnus the Magpie as they go in pursuit of the "Two Headed [Fire]drake," an odyssey that leads through many adventures and weird encounters. Those stories are strange and entertaining, with surprise twists and turns; it's tempting to offer a synopsis, but that would spoil the experience of reading this curious mythopoeic tale which owes much to C. S. Lewis and Tolkien. It's also extremely funny - with droll and ridiculous characters - while never losing sight, in the manner of Tolkien, of the endless opposition of good and evil.
Oddney's Otherland is an enchanting fantasy picture-book for children, and, like so many books for the young, it's a challenge to take part in a quest: "What would you do," the back blurb inquires, "if you found a tunnel under your shed ...," and "what would you do if you knew it led to a whole other world ... the home to a dragon…..with two heads?" Most adults' response would be to run away, and keep running away, but in the child-like universe of Sarah and Rodney Matthews the natural response is to follow Oddney and Magnus the Magpie as they go in pursuit of the "Two Headed [Fire]drake," an odyssey that leads through many adventures and weird encounters. Those stories are strange and entertaining, with surprise twists and turns; it's tempting to offer a synopsis, but that would spoil the experience of reading this curious mythopoeic tale which owes much to C. S. Lewis and Tolkien. It's also extremely funny - with droll and ridiculous characters - while never losing sight, in the manner of Tolkien, of the endless opposition of good and evil. The text, by Sarah Matthews, is vigorous and engaging and reads well out loud - a significant virtue for a children's book - and the illustrations, by Rodney Matthews are just as engaging. Indeed, it's as a pictorial telling that the book achieves its main effects and it really excels as a picture-book. The exquisite artwork is by turns comedic and grotesque, with sharp visual characterizations; the main protagonists are realized with the sort of absurd logic and consistency that makes it possible to believe they might exist; and the other characters, among them the Dragon[er] and the Dragoner's Slaves, are amusing gargoyles. Always, the montage has the vividness of a film cartoon, and the book would make an easy transition to the screen, big or small.
Rodney Matthews notes in his Preface that he would have been a naturalist if he hadn't been an artist, and all of his fantastic creations are infused with the plausibility of close observation and realism. His world has texture, and seems to inhabit a space just to the left of reality — a place that seems like it could exist. But sometimes it is pure fantasy, the coinage and signature of a singular and fascinating imagination. Best of all, for this reader at least, are the settings. Matthews commented in an interview with the Editor that he always wanted to evoke wonder and "take someone into a new world" where it is possible to take "delight in our surroundings." His landscapes, trees and natural settings in Oddney's Otherland are certainly wondrous places, decked with strange rock formations and populated with weird, personified trees that recall the arboreal imagery of Arthur Rackham. The world wants to speak to us, and does. This is, in short, an immersive read and look for young readers, and for their parents. It would make an excellent gift for Christmas or birthdays."
- Simon Cooke MA, PhD, Dip Ed, PGCE, Dip CG, Editor, Illustration (Summer 2024 Issue 80)
