Inga Simpson's "The Peach King" teachers' review

Brief description and distinctive features

Recently in The Guardian Sally Rippin wrote an excellent article which celebrates the power of picture books in developing literacy, especially in reading aloud to children: 

Unlike most books, picture books are primarily created to read aloud. Along with being a lovely way to connect with a child, reading aloud is a vital first step to developing literacy. It expands vocabulary, enhances brain development and develops what is called “phonological awareness” – helping children become familiar with rhythms and patterns in language. Research shows that regularly reading aloud to your child from a young age gives them a clear advantage when they start school.

I would take this further and emphasise the role that picture books have in developing higher order skills of critical literacy especially in awareness of environmental issues, building empathy and expanding a broader worldview. The Peach King is one of these picture books and it is a book for its time. Every January Australia is reminded of its precarious and fragile nature. Soaring and searing temperatures, destructive fires and intense storm systems have become normalised which increases the need for awareness, understanding and action to help our fragile environment. 

Brief description of The Peach King

The Peach King is a compelling text. It has many layers and indeed has allegorical elements like a modern fable which adds to the book’s appeal and urgency to be read. Inga Simpson has written the words and the story is touching and relevant. The story opens as we meet Little Peach Tree as a sapling in a vast paddock of peach trees watched over by the Peach King. The Peach King is the protector of the orchard as it warns the others of changes in the weather or predators like grasshoppers. The narrative covers the seasons from the blossoms of spring, the rich, ripened abundance of its fruit in summer, the changes in autumn and bare and sleeping in winter. As the Little Peach Tree grows the natural world is in peril with drought, higher temperatures and bushfires. The Peach King is powerless to call up the rain and the intensity of the fire is powerfully rendered by Simpson’s words and Tannya Harrick’s compelling and evocative paintings. The Little Peach King finds its voice to turn the wind around and the orchard is saved but not The Peach King. But the glory which is nature is restored and “Little Peach Tree’s limbs grew and twisted - into a crown.”

Distinctive features of The Peach King

• The text can be seen as a fable or parable. Fables are an ancient form of story-telling aimed at imparting a moral lesson to humans and the best known are by Aesop in Ancient Greece. A fable usually features non-human characters that talk and act like humans which is known as anthropomorphism. A parable is similar but usually has a more defined moral reflection. A review of The Peach King from The Australian Arts Review (3rd October 2025) includes these insightful comments:

  Though framed as a fable, the story resonates deeply with contemporary anxieties about fire, drought, and ecological precarity. Yet Simpson offers more than a cautionary parable; she gives readers a vision of hope, renewal, and the enduring power of nature to speak, if only we are willing to listen.

• The narrative is partly based on the real events of Black Summer 2019-2020 and specifically the peach orchards around the town of Araluen. Araluen is on the road south of Braidwood to Moruya (near where the author lives). It was a productive stone fruit region but many orchards were devastated during the fires in 2019-2020. 
• The Author’s Note provides fascinating and compelling details about the backstory to this narrative. 
• The narrative takes place over fourteen double pages with each double page capturing a specific time or event.
• The written narrative ranges from two lines to eight lines often incorporating short sentences.
• Some of the written words have a powerful lyricism to them where the imagery is strong and evocative for example: 

  The next day dawned red, the wind oven-hot
  The trees’ leaves browned and withered

• The text explores a range of ideas and themes including resilience, growth, maturity, change, nature, cycle of seasons, courage and  hope. 
• The images are in the form of paintings with thick brushstrokes to enhance the texture and impact. Sometimes the visuals are more impressionistic than realistic like the double pages amidst the searing drought and then the bush fires. 

Ways to use The Peach King in the classroom

Distribute a few copies of The Peach King to groups so students can explore specific pages in depth. It would be very special to have a tray of ripe peaches for the students to enjoy at the end of the reading. 

Background and context 

Background on the 2019-2020 catastrophic fires may be a valuable place to start especially the impact of the fires on native wildlife.  While Stage 3 students are unlikely to have their own memories of this time, there have been subsequent examples of similarly devastating bushfires including January 2026 in Victoria.

A PowerPoint of different images and statistics could be a way to provide context and background. These could be included:

1. Extract from the Currowan -the story of fire and community during Australia’s worst summer by Bronwyn Adcock.

He’s still inside the house when he hears what sounds like a helicopter landing in his paddock…It’s a cyclonic wind, roaring up the gully towards his house…..Then a fireball comes out of the gully and jumps over his empty dam, and “everything just erupts into flames.

2. Access the WWF site (https://wwf.org.au/news/2020/3-billion-animals-impacted-by-australia-bushfire-crisis/) for details on the number of wildlife destroyed:

Nearly three billion animals – mammals, reptiles, birds, and frogs – were killed or displaced by Australia’s devastating 2019-20 bushfires. It’s almost three times an earlier estimate released in January. The breakdown is 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds, and 51 million frogs. 

The interim findings are shocking. It’s hard to think of another event anywhere in the world in living memory that has killed or displaced that many animals. This ranks as one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history.

3.       Images of fleeing wildlife  which were used by international media outlets to cover the story:

Group language work

The story opens with the orientation of place and the growth of Little Peach Tree with the Peach King, the leader of the peach orchard. 

1. What are three examples of the Peach King’s leadership?
2. Why does the writer add “flush with tender tips” to the page on the peach trees trembling at the sight of the grasshoppers?  
3. On the page on spring, the writer uses present tense verbs to describe the growth cycle: “surging”, “budding”, “growing.” What is the effect of these verbs and the chosen tense? The writer also uses alliteration: “sap surging” and “buds budding”- how does this technique add to the dynamism of the spring growth? 
4. In what ways do the images contribute to the meaning on the page “But the rain came less-and less.”
5. Discuss the choice of the verbs “crackled” and “shimmered” on the page “That summer was hotter and drier…”
6. On the double page starting with “The next day dawned red, the wind over-hot” the combination of the specific word choices and Tannya Harricks’s evocative images powerfully capture the unfolding tragedy. In pairs discuss which has the most impact on you: the words or the images or do you think the combination of both is best? Give reasons for your choice. Re-visit the double page: “Smoke hid the sun….” and repeat the same task. This is one of my favourite parts of the book- the words are so well-chosen and precise and the representation of the perilous fire is very powerful. What do you think?
7. Explain two reasons why “the other peach trees trembled…”
8. The death of the Peach King is certainly sad but it is also part of the natural cycle of life and death, seasonal change and regrowth. Given this is a fable to teach the reader about life- what is the main lesson for you about the death of the Peach King?
9. In small groups discuss which double page is the group’s favourite. Prepare a short  presentation to the class which explains in detail the reasons for your choice. It does not matter if groups chooses the same pages as other groups- it is about justifying personal choice with textual evidence. 

The Author’s Note

After reading the story, discuss the use of an Author’s note and why an author might want to add information and context about their story. Share the Author’s Note with the class: what are the three points in this Author’s Note which resonate with you?

Opinions on The Peach King 

Other writers and literature enthusiasts have commented about The Peach King: here are a few:

It’s a work that invites quiet reflection, reminding us of the interconnectedness of all living things, and the responsibility we share in protecting them.

“A modern classic . . . An exquisite book destined to be treasured by generations . . . Its timeless quality and gentle wisdom invite return visits, making it a rewarding and enduring read.” – Books + Publishing

'Simpson's writing is exquisite: spare, lyrical and deeply evocative. There is not a word wasted or out of place. Her story is perfectly matched with illustrations that sweep from corner to corner bringing the seasons alive. Together they create a timeless tale of growth, change and resilience . . . A book destined to become a classic' GOOD READING MAGAZINE

'A fable for our times - one that feels both timeless and urgent' AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW

Task: In small groups, which review does your group think best captures the essence of The Peach King? In your group write your own review of 40-60 words and vote on the best and send it to the publisher: publicity@hachette.com.au

Taking the story further

In small groups write another double page to fit with this story. Be sure to use similar word choices and sentence structures as Inga Simpson. For illustrations you could paint images like Tannya Harricks or choose some photographs or create a collage.

Suggested content:

• Write about what would happen if one spring was particularly cold and the impact on the trees, blossom and fruit
• Include an episode where animals take refuge in the peach orchard to escape the fire
• Write a song that the peach trees could sing to remember and praise the Peach King
• Or an idea from your group

Display your additional section and enjoy looking at what other groups have done. Contact Inga Simpson through her webpage and tell her what you have done and ask if you could send her your creations.

Taking your reading further

Bushfires have been the source of other powerful texts. Provide a few copies of these texts or ask the librarian to create a display for students to access. 

Cobargo Public school collaborated on creating a picture book about the fires around them in the summer of 2019-2020. The book is called The Day She Stole the Sun and it is inspiring to see the creativity, insight and clever work achieved by these year 5/6 students and their teacher Campbell Kerr. It incorporates First Nations lore which adds a powerful richness to the story. 

Students could choose to read one or two of these following texts and discuss their responses and comparison with The Peach King. 

Bindi by Kirli Saunders. This is a wonderful verse novel with evocative line drawings. It provides important insights to First Nations attitudes to fire as well as exploring a community caught in a bush fire. I wrote blog on this which can be accessed from Five Senses (August 25 2023)

Spark was published in 2017 and is a collaboration between Adam Wallace and Andrew Plant.

The narrative follows a small spark in dry grass who is joined by the wind to “play.” At first their play is friendly and fun but soon the wind suggests the sparks “go even faster” and “with the wind at my back, I blasted through the tree tops.” But then it all changes and “it wasn’t fun anymore.” The devastation is powerfully rendered by the images and the bold, black font.                                

Fox is a delightful and very clever picture book published in 2004 and is a powerful collaboration by the talented Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks. This text explores nature and the seasonal changes and covers friendship, survival, cooperation in the characters of Dog, Magpie and Fox. There is a unit on Reading Australia and Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks discuss the making of the book on their website, and Allen and Unwin have published an outstanding and detailed teaching resource: https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/dimo.allenunwin.com/assets/teaching_resource/9781864489330.pdf

Relevant details in relation to the new NSW English K-10 syllabus

Text requirements: Australian literature, hybrid texts

Concepts: representation • point of view • characterisation • connotation, imagery and symbol • genre

Relevant NSW English K-10 Syllabus content

Understanding and responding to literature

A student analyses representations of ideas in literature through narrative, character, imagery, symbol and connotation, and adapts these representations when creating texts EN3-UARL-01

A student analyses representations of ideas in literature through genre and theme that reflect perspective and context, argument and authority, and adapts these representations when creating texts EN3-UARL-02

Narrative

• Describe how narrative conventions engage the reader through models of behaviour, and apply narrative conventions when creating texts
• Recognise that narratives reflect both personal and common lived experiences and offer models of behaviour, which may be rejected or accepted
• Describe how patterns in narratives set up expectations and notice when those patterns are subverted

Characterisation

• Analyse attributes of character and use similar attributes when creating texts
• Recognise how character archetypes and stereotypes are represented in literature
• Analyse how engagement with characters within and between texts invites enjoyment of literature
• Identify the ways different elements of a text contribute to character development and adapt these elements when creating texts

Imagery, symbol and connotation

• Analyse how figurative language in literature can enhance meaning and affect the audience
• Recognise recurring and universal symbols and imagery in literature, describe their meanings and experiment with symbol and imagery when creating texts

Genre

• Explain how genre can be recognised by established codes and conventions that govern content and construction of literature, and apply this knowledge when creating texts
• Examine and experiment with elements in literature that do not follow the form and function of a single genre

Theme

• Identify core social, personal and moral messages within and between texts
• Identify and describe messages common to lived experiences that recur in literature and use these representations when creating texts

Perspective and context

• Identify how perspective is made evident through authorial choices
• Explore how perspective is influenced by personal, social and cultural contexts
• Reflect on and explain how personal, social and cultural context is expressed in own texts

Reading comprehension

A student fluently reads and comprehends texts for wide purposes, analysing text structures and language, and by monitoring comprehension EN3-RECOM-01

Reading for interest and wide purposes

• Select, compare and reflect on texts read for personal interest
• Reflect on reading experiences and identify texts and language features that are enjoyable
• Select texts from print or digital sources to gather and organise research on a topic
• Use criteria to determine the accuracy and reliability of sourced information
• Bring subject vocabulary, technical vocabulary, background knowledge and conceptual knowledge to new reading tasks
• Use and compare different texts on similar themes or topics to synthesise ideas or information

(English K-10 Syllabus 2022 © NSW Education Standards Authority for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2023) 

Connecting texts: taking your reading further