Run, Eeki, Run! follows one of my favourite themes in children’s books—children and their pets. A young girl introduces her pet and describes her life with it. Except here, the pet isn’t the usual cat or dog. It’s an emu.
I’ve read picture books with birds as pets, but never an emu. This is the first children’s book I’ve come across which heroes this humble bird, and perhaps emus deserve more stage time than we give them. What’s not to like? As Peggy Sood and Nadia D’Souza’s story outlines, emus are the second-largest bird after the ostrich, though that doesn’t bother them one bit. They have big, curious eyes, a diet of snails, worms and insects, and—best of all—they aren’t very smart. So, you can’t expect them to entertain you; emus do exactly what they feel like, exactly when they feel like it.
The little girl in the book is fond of her pet, whom she names Eeki, despite everything the bird can’t seem to do. At one point, she wonders if her emu is lonely without a friend, and whether she should get a second one—until the impracticality of walking two emus at different paces dawns on her.
The story is short, and there isn’t much to unpack beyond the everyday humour of living with a pet, whoever that pet may be. A house must be built, food procured, and walks taken—even for an emu. I liked the light-heartedness of this slice-of-life approach.
In the illustrations, the emu steals the show. Its ruffled, unkempt hair and big, curious yellow eyes are true to character. The font design adds extra flair, with the ‘n’ in ‘Run’ sprinting along on emu legs, and the ‘i’ in ‘rain’ holding up an umbrella.
Overall, this is an easy, fun read about an unlikely pet loved for exactly who it is. The book opens with: ‘I know you are surprised to hear this, but I have an emu for a pet.’ Yes, we are!