When Henry Caught Imaginitis by Nick Bland, paperback picture book, first published by Scholastic Australia in 2008, this edition published by Scholastic Australia in 2010.

Henry was an unusual child, neat and tidy and always serious. Then a strange thought popped into Henry’s head, and suddenly he was off on a pirate adventure, and wrestling with dragons. This didn’t seem right to Henry, so he looked for a good sensible book to read instead, and discovered he had caught imaginitis. There’s only one cure for imaginitis, and he has a long wait to fill.

Another wonderful book from Nick Bland. I love his style of illustrations, with black and white tones moving into more and more colour as Henry’s imagination is sparked. Children don’t need to be always serious and sensible, they should relish their imaginations and play and pretend for as long as possible, that is the joy of childhood. Henry finds out that he shouldn’t be in a rush to grow up, his imagination can take him anywhere and let him be anyone. This is a nice message for our children.

This book is suitable for lower primary school children to read and for sharing with preschoolers. My preschooler is very fond of this book, she likes the things that pop into Henry’s head, especially the big red dragon. The illustrations are lovely and the story is different and I enjoy sharing it with my kids, and then discussing some of the things we would like to pretend to do.