Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Snugglepot and Cuddlepie - The Gumnut Babies
(cover detail)

They Found Mr Lizard at the Photographer's

At The Artist's Studio

Mrs Kookaburra's Dinner Party

Sea Dragons in Their Stable

Snugglepot Fights The Red Gumnut

Little Obelia (detail)

The Banksia Men Make a Wicked Plot

The Cabstand

The Cricket Match

The Gum Blossom Ballet

The Lecture

They Began the Homeward Journey

Little Obelia

May Gibbs (1877-1969) emigrated to Australia from England with her parents when she was four years old. Part of her childhood was spent at a farming homestead in Western Australia where Gibbs' love of the unique species in the Australian bush developed. The nuts, leaves and flowers she discovered as a child provided a lifetime of inspiration for her iconic and imaginative illustration work.

The daughter of talented artists, Gibbs was encouraged to draw and paint from a young age and she had her first illustration published in a Perth newspaper by the time she was twelve years old. After finishing school she returned to England for extended periods on several occasions to study art, but eventually settled in Neutral Bay in Sydney in 1913 when her Australian bush illustrations were rejected by publishers in London. In that year the first of her drawings of Gumnut babies (also known as bush babies or bush sprites, seen in many of the above illustrations) appeared as the cover art for another author.

There followed a series of Gumnut booklets which sold well and culminated in the release, during the 1918 armistice celebrations, of 'The Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie'. The gentle bush story about the adventures of our eponymous half-brother Gumnut heroes, and all the anthropomorphic characters they encountered, became an instant classic. The national success was due in no small part to Gibbs' creation of an entirely local mythology. The book employed a traditional narrative style, based on the fairytale stories from Europe, but Gibbs' myriad drawings and paintings, with their faithful portrayal of Australian fauna and flora, turned familiar bush scenes into a proud national identity for childhood imaginations. {the book has never been out of print}

"Since eucalypts and banksias, not to mention all of the bush creatures, are found right across Australia, Gibbs had created images that appealed to the entire nation. Seed pod hats, gum blossom skirts, gumleaf and sea shell houses, leaf boats and stick chairs, set imaginations running wild. Children everywhere couldn't help but wonder when they saw such things, whether Gumnut Babies really did live there, especially when they could actually see their scribbly writing on the trees. Gibbs took what every child could easily find and gave it a fantasy life of its own."

The Gumnut adventures were continued in successful sequels, 'Little Ragged Blossom', in 1920; and 'Little Obelia' in 1921. Gibbs published further books within a similar fantasy bush setting and syndicated newspaper columns and comic strips. One of these, 'Bib and Bub', was published for over sixty years.


IMPORTANT: As part of the terms of May Gibbs' bequest, profits from sales of all merchandise associated with the 'Snugglepot and Cuddlepie' series are used by (exceptional, longstanding and exemplary) charitable trusts to directly benefit disabled children [link].

Although this is a completely unsolicited 'moment', I would urge you to consider buying 'The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie Including Little Ragged Blossom and Little Obelia' if you are in the market for an absolutely gorgeous and delightful children's book. It's also a sweet way to introduce a child to Australia; but really, the quality and uniqueness of the illustrations is ample justification alone. That it will benefit less fortunate children is simply a bonus.

The above illustrations were scanned from an edition (as linked above, although mine has a different cover) that combines all three of the Snugglepot/Blossom/Obelia books. The posted images were drawn from all three works and are in no particular order (there are more in the set). These are only a sampling. There are vignettes, sepia sketches and full colour painted scenes all through the book, reproduced from the original artworks.

• Northcott: Home of May Gibbs [biography].
• Like Father Like Daughter: May & Herbert Gibbs Collection (has horizontal scroll galleries of early painting work among other material)
• Amazon link to book.
• Addit 2012: The State Library of NSW has a Pinterest set with original drawings from Snugglepot & Cuddlepie: Gumnut Babies from the SLNSW May Gibbs Collection. (via AliaCYS)