you’ve seen wings on wednesday, you’ve seen the wizard of the umbrella people and you’ve seen please sit still (if you haven’t – quick, go look now). now its time to see the last of my sandra smith illustrated picture books. i really don’t know any more about her than i did when i first posted, but i have had lots of nice people comment or email telling me they remembered her illustrations and love them too. so if you know anything, please share, because there are lots of sandra smith admirers here! can you imagine if we tracked her down and scored an interview? dream!

firebrand push your hair out of your eyes

written by natalie scott

illustrated by sandra smith

published by ure smith, sydney 1968

find your own copy here

once there was a small girl named firebrand who had beautiful thick, red hair and a voice that roared. she lived with her parents and an older sister named carrots (take that gwyneth paltrow – apparently parents were raiding the crisper for names long before little apple was born!) her aunts would visit and comment on her beautiful hair and her mother would say “push it out of your eyes, firebrand” to which firebrand would reply with a roar “NO!”

each morning her mother would comb and tie her hair back and firebrand would turn red and say “i look like a bonbon!”. nonsense! everyone told her. but as soon as she was on the bus she’s let her hair down and fluff it til it fell into her eyes.


at school she learned songs and arithmetic and the teacher would say “fingers, stop sucking your thumb! curlycue, sit up straight! gossip, stop talking so much! firebrand, push your hair out of your eyes!” firebrand would scowl and roar to herself – NO!


after a fight with her sister, firebrand finds a tree and looking up she see’s all the beautiful leaves and so she climbs to the top. at the very top the wind blows her hair from her eyes and she looks out at the wonderful view. on her way down, though she loses her footing and falls hard against the ground.


her father puts her to bed and the doctor comes but finds no broken bones. firebrand was very sore and sorry for herself but everyone makes a fuss over her and her aunts bring her flowers, and chocolates and a gramophone.



the next day firebrand quietly brings her brush and comb and ribbons to her mother. she asks in a small voice, nothing like her usual roar, for her mother to tie her hair back. she discovered that with her hair back she could see all kinds of things she’d never seen before.


for more pages from firebrand visit my flickr

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