A review of The Peach King by Inga Simpson – Compulsive Reader

Reviewed by Magdalena Ball

The Peach King
By Inga Simpson
Tannya Harricks (Illustrator)
Hatchette (Lothian Children’s books)
Hardcover, Sep 2025, ISBN: 9780734418517, $24.99aud

There was nothing I enjoyed more than reading to my children. My children do their own reading now, in fact they had to tell me, around age 13-14, that it was time for me to stop reading to them because I was happy to continue the practice into adulthood! I still think of those intimate moments at the end of the day where I got to sit in bed with my kids and read them a story as some of the best moments of parenthood, particularly where I read my children books that were read to me. These picture book classics, like Where the Wild Things Are, Babar, and The Lorax remain resonant, they’ve shaped my sensibility. I still feel a particular thrill when I get to the wild rumpus, or a deep sense of loss when the Once-ler cuts the last Truffula tree down. Inga Simpson writes books for all ages, and I’ve loved many of her books for adults, but her new book, The Peach Tree, is one of those picture books that immediately creates an impact. This is the kind of book that will become a classic and be read and re-read, kept and handed down. This is partly because of its subject matter, which picks up on the Peach King and Queen tale told by Simpson’s character Mr Wigg in her novel of the same name.

The narration, like the original Peach King story, builds on a concept, explored by Canadian ecologist Suzanne Simard, that there are mother trees that act as a hub for the forest, providing resources and support for younger trees. In this book the mother tree is the “Peach King”, a large tree with “branches tangled together like a crown” warning the trees about incoming weather, communicating with birds, and protecting the young saplings from seasonal changes, plagues and other dangers.  The story is told from the perspective of a young sapling, “Little Peach Tree”, with just the right blend of wonder and humility. Simpson’s language is pitched for children, with no long difficult words but the language remains beautiful throughout:

When the sky grew dark with grasshoppers,
The peach trees, flush with tender tips, trembled.
But the Peach King called up a cloud of birds,

And instead of feasting, the grasshoppers were feasted upon.

WIth climate change, the rains become less frequent, the fires more ferocious, and the Peach King sacrifices itself for the orchid. It’s a sad tale with a happy ending, one that nods to cycles of life and death. Tannya Harricks’ illustrations work perfectly with the text, adding just the right visuals, rich colours, and evocative, dreamy textured scenes with details that children will enjoy finding. Images like a dog cuddling a puppy, blossoms on young trees, Galahs and Gang Gang Cockatoos, farmers and families picking peaches in the orchard, and the scary colours of the smoke blackened sky are all depicted with care and skill enhancing the text. However you read the book, alone or with children who will love it, The Peach King is utterly charming, full of whimsy and beauty but also an important story that is very relevant. Reading the story is a delight that will also encourage important discussions about climate change, families, life and death, like all good picture books.