Possum Magic is about two possums; one of which does magic. Grandma Poss turned her granddaughter invisible, in which Hush (the granddaughter) had many adventures. But eventually she became sick of being invisible and wanted to see herself again, but Grandma Poss didn’t know a spell to turn her visible again. She remembered that Hush had to eat human food but couldn’t remember what food it was so they went on a journey around Australia looking for the right food. They came across the Australian foods vegemite sandwiches, Pavlova and lamingtons and discovered this is what made Hush Visible again!
The image of Australia was conveyed through Mem Fox’s language techniques of rhythm and rhyme, personification and sensory images. “She made wombats blue and kookaburras pink. She made dingos smile and emus shrink.”, “Grandma Poss looked miserable. “Don’t worry Grandma”, said Hush. “I don’t mind.” But in her heart of hearts she did.”.
Possum Magic strengthens and challenges my view of Australia and family. It strengthens my views through the thoughts and motions of doing wonderful things for family and the mentions of all the capitol cities and Australian foods throughout the book. It challenges my views through the reminder of all things Australian; the foods, the cities and the repetition of pictures of Grandma Poss and Hush’s friends – the echidna, koala, dingo, emu, kangaroo and the two possum’s.
This book reminds me of John Foulcher’s poem’s For the Fire and Dawn Sounds through the reminders of Australian animals and nature doing their own thing and being free.