As folk wisdom has it, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. But in this delightfully offbeat tale, the scavenging instinct belongs equally to girls. Loosely based on the form of the travelling folk tale, Wonderful Junk features Jeremiah the auctioneer and Charlotte, his assertive young niece. Their quest begins when Jeremiah gives up on his old truck and decides that a horse would be more reliable. Since he is a trader, he searches his cluttered (and marvellously illustrated) house for an item with purchasing power. Starting with a ship in a bottle, Jeremiah makes a series of deals that benefit his eclectic array of trading partners but don’t seem to bring him any closer to a horse. Then, at the low point of the journey, when all hope seems lost, Charlotte steps into the bargaining process and the two of them set out again, this time on the road to success.

Most of the text in this book is narrative rather than dialogue, for these are characters of action, not words. The energy of the writing arises from the skillful variation in sentence length and structure, and from the tension built by the sequence of trade scenarios. The sequential structure unifies the text and, along with the sparseness of the dialogue, connects it to the folk tale tradition – an appropriate link, considering its messages. There are a number of social values implicit in this book, but they remain as a kind of muted second voice to its prevailing sense of fun. For instance, Jeremiah balances an eccentric individualism with a reliance on community, and Charlotte champions persistence and ingenuity.

Hocking’s vibrant watercolour illustrations work in perfect tandem with Harrison’s text, particularly in imparting the humorous tone of the story. The figures are pleasingly dynamic and stylized in a manner slightly reminiscent of Richard Scarry’s work. The colours in the book are plentiful and vibrant, with red used cleverly as a focal point and unifying element. For example, the red convertible at the end connects to the red truck at the beginning, providing visual unity and supporting Jeremiah’s very appealing belief that there is no junk – only good, useful objects.