Review: Accidentally Kelly Street by Briony Stewart with Tim O'Conner

Accidentally Kelly Street is a beautiful picture book with a title that should be immediately familiar to many Australians. Yep. Just in case the 'with Tim O'Conner' bit didn't give it away, this is a picture book shaped around a classic Australian song--Accidentaly Kelly Street [sic] by Frente! 

This was a beautiful read. Every single word in the book is from the song lyrics. The pictures tell of a new story--one of welcome, where a new family moves to Kelly Street. For this family, the move is a big, big change, but as we see first through the friendships of the children and then the adults, everyone in Kelly Street is just waiting to give this family a warm welcome into their multicultural neighbourhood. The illustrations themselves are absolutely beautiful.

Overall, Accidentally Kelly Street is a lovely picture book about new starts, welcoming and acceptance. The song lyrics fit with the illustrations carefully and it can probably be enjoyed by those who have never heard the song--though I'm willing to bet it will get a few plays in schools across Australia!

Recommended. 

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