Mem Fox, Possum Magic (1983)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of my favourite childhood stories, and an icon—an ugly duckling who becomes more beautiful via food safari. But down under we’re blessed with the delightful Hush, star of Mem Fox’s beloved and very Australian book Possum Magic. To some the possum is a pest. The banshee bandit rattles on roofs and rumbles in rubbish. Its claws are like a marsupial Freddy Krueger. But the possums in Fox’s rhythmical tale are whimsical and caring. Grandma Poss makes Hush invisible to protect her but then can’t reverse her safety spell—until she realises food is the cure. When I first read Possum Magic I couldn’t have imagined that I would grow up to have an eating disorder. For a sufferer, naming the beast is half the battle but it took time for my mum to accept this because for a parent a diagnosis can seem like failure. The maternal instinct to protect one’s offspring sometimes means hiding problems in plain sight.

Hush and Grandma Poss’s breakthrough comes in the far north of Australia where they eat a Vegemite sandwich. The healing power of yeast extract was lost on me. As a kid I hated vegemite. Some thought that was un-Australian. One day at preschool I snatched a sandwich from a tray at afternoon tea but biting into it I was disgusted to realise the brown spread inside was not Nutella. I loved that hazelnut condiment so much and was often asked if I wanted some bread with it because I would spread it so thickly. As my palate is mature I now endure a smear with smashed avo or cheese and tomato.