Encyclopedia of plants, fungi, and lichens for young readers by Tereza Nemcova. Illus. by Tomas Pernicky
Albatros, 2022. ISBN: 9788000063515. (Age:6-9)
The Encyclopedia of Plants, Fungi and Lichens is a tall hardcover book with an engaging cover that will draw the eye. The contents page separates the information into four sections: Flowering plants, Non-flowering plants, Fungi and Lichens. There is a huge variety of flowering plants and the plants are broken into the following headings:
1. Conifers including the Monkey Puzzle tree one of the oldest woody plants on Earth 2. Deciduous trees including the Rainbow eucalyptus a tree with multi coloured bark 3. Shrubs including the Crimson Bottlebrush with striking red flowers that look like brushes 4. Palms including the Wax palm which is the world’s tallest palm 5. Succulents & cacti including the Saguaro which can live for 250 years 6. Parasitic & carnivorous plants including the Corpse Lily which has the largest flower on Earth and very unpleasant smell 7. Creeping plants including the Magnolia vine that in China is called the plant of five tastes (sour, bitter, sweet, salty, spicy) 8. Marsh plants including the Common water Hyacinth which can cause a problem for shipping with its dense forming of cover in calm waters 9. Meadow plants including the yarrow which helps heal wounds 10. Poisonous plants including Garden monkshood which is used on poison arrows 11. Medicinal plants including Peppermint used in mouthwash 12. Culinary herbs and spices including caraway seeds which are good for digestion 13. Field crops including common flax used for making fabrics such as linen 14. Vegetables including beetroot which is good for liver function 15. Fruit crops including apples that can float because they are one quarter air
Information about non-flowering plants and lichens are spread across a double page. Fungi is broken up into general facts, edible mushrooms, inedible mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms. The appealing illustrations accompanying the accessible explanatory text are an important visual element for readers.
Children have asked questions about fairy tale characters living happily ever after since the stories were first heard, but now they can write to C.C. Cecily, the Senior Secretary of the Fairy Tale Fan Club who will pass on the letters and await their reply. In this collection Cecily has added some editorial content to letters sent to characters like Prince Charming, Humpty Dumpty, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty and Rumpelstiltskin with questions like 'Are you an egg or a human?' In reply to this question Humpty introduces us to the term 'anthropomorphism' and the idea of naked eggs versus the difficulties of keeping cargo shorts up if you are egg shaped. In his letter Pinocchio clarifies the difference between a puppet and a marionette, points out that anyway he could talk and walk about even when he was a puppet pointing to the overall lack of logic in fairy tales.
The letters are quirky and funny with a smattering of insight into the messages these tales impart, with reflections on contemporary interpretations like the Little Mermaid movie. Each page has delightful illustrations and themed borders by David Roberts, with the characters rendered in finely textured ink drawings with touches of subtle colour used with great effect. A witty and fun book for adults and children familiar with the fairy tales in their original form, a perfect gift book for reading together.
Themes Fairy tales, Letters.
Sue Speck
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Wrath of the triple goddess by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and his girlfriend Annabeth are nearing the end of high school and Percy needs another two letters of recommendation from Greek gods to secure his place at New Rome University with Annabeth. While he is a demigod son of Poseidon, he is also dyslexic and has a short attention span hence the letters are very important to make up for his poor grades; so when the triple goddess Hecate asks him to pet-sit her hellhound Hecuba and polecat Gale at Halloween in exchange for a recommendation, Percy takes on the quest with his friends. Hecate’s house is a large spooky mansion and Annabeth declares it a perfect place for a last Halloween party inviting all their half-blood friends. All they have to do is feed and walk the pets and not eat the strawberry ice cream. what could possibly go wrong? Is the powerful goddess Hecate setting the friends up for failure, especially as satyr Grover finds it hard to resist any tasty treat? Are they acting from free will or are their actions controlled by fate? Does it matter as long as they act with courage and compassion, let go of anger and blame to work together?
This fast-paced addition to the highly successful Percy Jackson series is told with drama, humour and fun facts about New York and the Greek gods. Fans of the Percy Jackson series will embrace this addition.
Driver Jason Chaser and navigator, his shy young brother 'Bug', are passionate about racing hover cars, encouraged and supported by their parents. But their car, the Argonaut, is not the latest and they don’t have a sponsor, so when they fail to win the regional championships it looks like they are out of luck. Then legendary racer Scott Syracuse recognizes their talent and offers to sponsor them to study at the International Race School in Tasmania under his supervision. The boys are assigned talented mechanic, Sally McDuff, and a winning team is formed. The race schedule is demanding but exhilarating. In a series of trials they must prove their abilities in navigation, reaction time, teamwork, strategy and courage. What is harder to deal with is the hostility of the other teams and sabotage. As the stakes get higher they not only have to maintain their place in the leader tables but stay alive.
Originally published in 2004 this graphic version captures the fast-paced storyline in a fairly standard black and white comic style with about 10 frames per page. The racing scenes are exciting with lots of sound effects and not too much text. The expressions on the manga influenced characters were sometimes hard to relate to but they were consistent. A successful adaptation that will find a wide readership.
Themes Car racing, Adventure, Science fiction, Graphic novel.
John Grisham has teamed with Jim McCloskey, a long-time activist with the Centurion Ministries organisation working to exonerate innocent prisoners, to produce Framed, ‘astonishing true stories of wrongful convictions’. They each present five stories, told alternately, all of them horrendous travesties of justice.
They are accounts of police bullying and forced confessions, where the suspect is so badgered that he just wants to confess in order to end the ordeal. Police can lie, they can tell the suspect his friends have implicated him, or that his lie detector test showed him guilty, or that they have evidence putting him at the scene of the crime, anything to make the suspect cave in and confess. Most appalling is where so-called experts are called in to provide the necessary evidence required to impress a jury, bamboozling them with pseudo-science. One particular team of forensic ‘experts’ made a substantial business out of showcasing incriminating evidence for a fee.
These are all American cases, where the police decide to follow their own particular hunch, discarding or hiding evidence that doesn’t support their theory, in the drive to get their man. Racism plays a part, and class prejudice, but the selected stories present a variety of cases, where the convicted are black, and white, and the occasional woman. All serve lengthy sentences, wasting away their lives in prison, before there is any chance of exoneration.
The cases are told in a factual unembellished style drawn from police reports, witness statements and trial proceedings. In some cases the police framing is so ridiculous it would be laughable if it weren’t so deadly serious, the consequences for the accused so soul destroying. It can be hard to keep reading the stories. But they serve a necessary purpose, shining a light on miscarriages of justice. They would be important reading for anyone considering police or legal work, a warning to not make the same failures of judgement, the same blinkered decisions, but to keep an open mind, remembering that people’s lives are in the balance.
Whilst the stories are all American, the lessons are relevant to other jurisdictions. LexisNexis recently published an infographic highlighting 6 famous Australian cases where the failures of forensic science has led to wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice. See the Appeal site for similar cases in the UK. Centurion Ministries continues its work in the United States.
When Stanley is born with seven tentacles instead of eight his octopus parents become overprotective of him, believing that his abnormality is a disability. He has regular visits to the doctor and is not encouraged to play like his siblings. For Stanley seven tentacles is normal for him and he just wants to get on with his normal life but he is bullied, teased and left out of activities by his siblings Oswald, Odete and Orion. Oswald even uses Stanley as a ball to practise Octoball and hurts him, so Stanley takes vengeance on the Ball Brutes, Oswald’s team, in a complicated plan involving sea snakes. When his siblings are invited to a party and he is not allowed to go Stanley remembers the story of Octorella who wasn’t allowed to go the ball. He hasn’t a fairy godmother so sneaks along in an outfit he modifies for himself and there he meets Olympia his first friend, who also just wants to be normal, not just the girl from a rich family. Stanley finds life gets better when he is allowed to go to school but there he still has to contend with bullying, ‘even though you get used to others being mean it still hurts” p132. When the whole school is threatened by a shark Stanley’s life changes dramatically and the extra attention is not quite what he had hoped for.
Nicely produced with quality paper and interspersed with illustrations by Kathy Creamer, the first person narrative is reflective and character driven. Septopus’ indeterminate age could be hard to relate to and the lack of action early in the book with quite dense text might discourage some readers. Be true to yourself, is a good message and Stanley’s difficult life does get better so ultimately a hopeful book.
Themes Disability, Bullying, Friendship, Sea life.
Sue Speck
Thunderhead by Sophie Beer
Allen & Unwin, 2024. ISBN: 9781761180958. (Age:12-16) Recommended.
Sophie Beer, Brisbane-based author and illustrator of Thunderhead, has published books internationally, illustrated with companies including Disney and Google and has written for Frankie magazine and The Big Issue. Thunderhead is Sophie's first novel, an illustrated middle-grade fiction work, informed by Sophie's own experience of hearing loss. Thunderhead is an immediately engaging and interactive reading experience as to truly appreciate the central character who speaks in first person voice through the medium of heartfelt internet diary entries and to enhance the reading experience, the reader could listen to the playlists that Thunderhead compiles for each chapter. Each playlist is compiled for a different reason to help Thunderhead (not their real name but their secret superhero identity) navigate emotional states and situations. Playlists include one for luck, a playlist for school of woe and torture, for the future, for Gran, for haircuts, for being a normal teen and others which lead to the final playlist 'for the end of my hearing'.
Thunderhead has an irresistible, energetic and quirky voice. The reader is privy to their innermost thoughts and taken along for the ride as they discover that they have brain tumours that effect balance and hearing, causing tinnitus and vertigo and eventual loss of hearing. The novel traces Thunderhead's rollercoaster emotional journey from diagnosis through to the operation to remove the tumours with the fear, illness and preparation for permanent hearing loss playing out against the background of trying to fit into new high school friendship groups whilst facing impending loss of the thing that is loved the most - music.
This novel, by tracing Thunderhead's journal entries, which are an outlet to try to calm the storm brewing in their brain (check the illustration on the front cover), is recommended as helpful for any young reader who is trying to find the courage to face big life changing events and transitions. Transitioning to high school, navigating shifting friendship groups and finding your true identity and friends is something every person goes through. Knowing that there are others out there who have to negotiate so much more (like Thunderhead) helps the reader to focus less on themselves and to find perspective and empathy for others. Books like Thunderhead are important for teaching that empathy.
Danielle Binks (award winning author of The Year the Maps Changed) states that Thunderhead is 'Australia's answer to Wonder by RJ Palacio.' Although the format is different, the message is as powerful.
Full of hope and fear, love, family and friendship, this is a whip smart, funny, heartfelt and moving story. It is the access to the interiority of Thunderhead's psyche as he processes all his thoughts, impressions, opinions, reactions and inner struggles that make this novel so engaging and moving. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes Resilience, Change, Disability(hearing loss), Music, Friendship, Transition to High School.
In Post-war East Berlin a young couple meet and fall in love. They come from either side of the East-West divide and it is not yet easy to forsake their separate histories. But the young man, Kaspar, does everything he can to enable his love, Birgit, to escape her austere life and join him in the West. The life and history she leaves behind included a daughter she gave up for adoption, and in her later years she is silently tormented by this secret child that Kaspar only discovers after Birgit’s death. When finally he unravels the notes for the story she was writing for her daughter, he is led to discover the granddaughter that Birgit never knew. Bound up in a Nationalist neo-Nazi world, this child connects to her wise and gentle step-grandfather and is slowly drawn to consider truths that have been hidden by her family’s ideologies. The contemporary world of Germany and the Nationalist blindness, and the neo-Nazi focus is counterposed with the gentle Bookseller’s loving embrace of the granddaughter of his late wife.
This slow journey of love and pain, secrets and disclosure, openness and a closed heart are all framed within the personal history of one woman from East Germany and her secret and abandoned child. She tells the early part of this narrative through her own writing and attempt to make sense of her life. The generational distress that is recounted in this powerful but slow-moving story is exceptionally potent. The second part of the book shares the insight into the heart of an older man that is incredibly moving. Told over many years and through the social change from the 1960s to the present in Germany, the insights we have of the world of the uber-nationalist movement and neo-nazis are layered alongside the selfless life of one man and his work as a bookseller and his attempt to bring hope and wisdom to one teenager who had been deprived of a balanced view of the world. This book is an absolute gem and although it has a melancholic feel and confronting aspects, it resonates with gentle grace. Slowly working through big issues in Germany, it does so with a deft and incredibly light touch, like a beautiful piece of music might evoke emotions in an unexpected way. Schlink’s book The Reader had a significant impact, and this book too will be one to discuss into the future. The story does not finish with a grand flourishing conclusion, rather it leaves a note of quiet hope in a minor key.
This is book that resonates and would make a brilliant Bookclub book. For readers aged 16-Adult.
Themes Post-World War II Germany, Right-wing idealism, Neo-Nazism, Family drama, Love, Suicide, Grief.
Carolyn Hull
Underestimated the wisdom and power of teenage girls by Chelsey Goodan
This is a powerful book! My inner teenager wanted to say, ‘Yes!!!’ (And the exclamation marks are a given for a teenage girl.) Written by an experienced counsellor, mentor and tutor who has worked with teenage girls as they struggled to find their voice and navigate life, it is an inspiring and powerful reminder of the best way to support and encourage young women. This book speaks to fellow counsellors, teachers and parents of teens (and parents who are yet to nurture daughters to the teenage years and wish to be well-prepared) and gives wise advice to recognise and listen to these young women who are navigating a complex world. The advice is practical and filled with insight learned from her own experience and even her mistakes. The essence of this book is that teenage girls should not be underestimated as they usually have unrecognised power and a voice that has yet to be listened to, and often instinctively know how to address their own concerns. Their emotions may confront others, but seeing their interests and feelings and listening to them will often enable them to rise above expectations.
With insights on the following topics - feelings, expectations, sexuality, beauty, friends, the media and identity and shame (plus many others), this is a potent insight into counseling strategies and contains practical parenting advice. There is an emotional wheel in the appendix to assist in giving vocabulary to emotions and also examples of wise questions to enable teens to voice their views and clarify their struggles. Always the idea is to affirm a teen’s identity and autonomy, to listen to and affirm and not take on the role of problem solver. This book is easy to read and with many examples of real USA teens speaking their truths (with the use of pseudonyms) to give evidence of their wisdom even in the face of big issues, it has a real-life rather than an academic perspective. Anyone with a teen girl in their lives would benefit from reading this book (and there is wisdom that may help male teens too, even though it does not specifically deal with their unique way of dealing with life.) Secondary teachers, parents and counsellors will particularly appreciate this book of wisdom. I am not a counsellor, but I have raised teen daughters to adulthood and also taught and encouraged school teens and would have valued a book like this.
Santa's new sleigh by Caroline Crowe and Jess Pauwels
Faber, 2024. ISBN: 9780571364473.
Christmas Eve was here at last, The countdown clock was ticking fast . . . But yikes! When Santa turned the key (The reindeer need some help you see) The engine didn't start, it spluttered, 'That isn't right', the elves all muttered . . .
When Santa's sleigh stops working on Christmas Eve the elves all rally round to help. Maybe they could use a slingshot? Or the owls could help? How about polar bears? Will they be able to sort the sleigh out before it is too late? Things are not looking good until one small elf has a bright idea!
From the team who gave our young readers Santa's New Beard and Santa's New Reindeer, comes another rollicking story in rhyme that not only pose a huge problem for Santa, but also for them. If Santa's sleigh is not working, how on earth is he going to do his one, and most important job of the year? Because, just as the elves have all sorts of ideas, each with its own particular issue, so will the young reader. And they will have fun predicting what might be the answer, while being delighted with the very up-to-date solution. Especially, as, once again, it is Lizzie who solves the problem.
With its clever rhyme and detailed illustrations that offer something new every read, this series is definitely one to bring out during your Christmas Countdown.
Wonderfully vivid, dazzling illustrations will catch readers’ eyes as they open this book promoting the involvement of everyone in art. Looking at the cover and endpapers before opening the book, readers will be intrigued at the differences between the endpapers, and think about why the author has presented them in such a way.
Olive Chen is one amazing artist. She is colourful, all inclusive, authoritative, all encompassing as she tries out splashes, dribbles, and brushes full of colour to splash and throw across the canvas. The resultant work is simply beautiful. But her parents take a dim view of her efforts. Mum loves to draw triangles, Dad loves squares, and each artist is drawn to their own rigid boundaries, deploring Olive for thinking outside the regime they honour. But thinking outside the square is Olive’s theme, different from the style she is expected to use.
Even at school, the teacher encourages the sort of art produced by Olive’s parents, telling Olive she will be better next time, while standing in front of Olive’s glowing, vivid painting. But her classmates tell her how they like her work, and wish that they could do some as well. Too easy, Olive responds, picking up the paint brushes full of paint, directing the group to use them with panache.
Over the page we see the results of her encouragement as everything within their environment is coloured. Gone is the first black and white endpaper, now replaced by a bright, colourful streetscape. Her parents call out enough, but when the children pull back the curtain of black and white squares and triangles, the bright, colourful class is revealed. Her parents are overwhelmed and love what their daughter has achieved, asking her to help them colour their work. And of course there is a small twist at the end of this fabulous book.
A wonderful testament to thinking outside the square, of encouraging children to find their own path, is shown as Olive bypasses the work expected by her parents and her teacher, and shows everyone what they can achieved, by seeing differently.
The illustrations are wonderful, paint trailing after Olive as she moves across the pages, all sorts of painting styles shown as she lifts her brush. I love the double page showing the parents with their black and white background, telling Olive to stop, then turning over the page to find the opposite, colour swamping the black and white as we look at the class in all their glory. There are exquisite moments in this book, and younger readers will see lots to look at and to talk about.
Themes Art, Colour, Imagination, STEM.
Fran Knight
The Special Gift by Ruth Doyle & Carmen Saldana
Orchard Books, 2024. ISBN: 9781408369166.
On a bitterly cold, fierce winter's night Donkey wanders from the farm where there is no room for one so little to pull a cart, getting colder and colder as the snow falls. But as he stops to drink in an almost-frozen stream he sees the reflection of a brilliant star that grew brighter as he watched. Suddenly, a silver and white bird flew down, and magically, Donkey is wrapped in a warm blanket and is told to follow the star.
Distressed that he has nothing to offer in return, nevertheless he trudges forward - and so begins a journey that now has hope and purpose. And on his travels, Donkey meets other animals who are lost in their own way: a lonely lamb, an old sheepdog who longs to be useful and a robin searching for a reason to sing. Guided by Donkey, the new friends help each other to navigate the storm to safety . . .
At this time of the year, gift-giving seems to be at the front of mind for many, and while those gifts may seem to have to be the bigger/better/brighter kind, this is a gentle story that reminds us that they can be much simpler. Not a day goes by that we don't hear about the "cost-of-living-crisis" and so it could mean that this year's season is more stressful than ever, so as the characters in this story offer nothing that is tangible but everything that is meaningful, it offers an opportunity for readers to think about what they might offer that could change someone's life for a short time, if not forever. All the creatures have lost their "tribe", lonely and outcast for one reason or another, so perhaps they could think about those in their circle in similar circumstances and consider whether a smile, a visit or a match of homemade biscuits might make the difference. Whether as a family or a class, what can they do to make someone's life a little better - and what might that lead to in the future?
The publishers describe the book as a reminder "of the most special gift we can offer - our own kindness."
Themes Friendship, Resilience, Gifts, Christmas.
Barbara Braxton
The mirror by Nora Roberts
Piatkus, 2024. ISBN: 9780349437538. (Age:Adult) Recommended for Roberts' fans.
Following directly on from the cliff-hanger conclusion to Inheritance, the first in The Lost Bride Trilogy, Nora Roberts has again written a best-selling ghost story combined with romance, friendship and family. She builds on the first story, detailing visions of the seven brides who have died in the mansion in Poole’s Bay that Sonya MacTavish has inherited. Sonya hears footsteps, doors slamming and dreams of events in the past. Together with her cousin Owen, she steps through a mirror and sees a wedding from long ago. Here a bride loses her wedding ring to Hester Dobbs, an evil woman who is determined to dominate the mansion. As Sonya investigates her family history, it is evident that she must break Dobbs’ curse. How is she going to do this?
It took me a few chapters to get into the book as it was a while since I had read Inheritance, and readers new to the series should read Inheritance first before tackling The mirror. The second in the series builds on the characters in the first book, and the emphasis on family, and friendship is dominant. Sonya's best friend Cleo is featured and proves to be a stalwart woman who provides sound advice about combating the ghostly presence of Hester, while Sonya’s cousin Owen helps her out. Her love for Trey, Owen’s best friend and a local lawyer, deepens and she begins to get to know her new family in Poole’s Bay. The back stories of the seven brides are explored and the descriptions of the events that Hester Dobbs can conjure up will bring a shiver to the spine of the reader. Meanwhile the ghostly helpers in the mansion, especially the young boy who throws a ball for the dog, bring moments of lightness.
The mirror is a book that fills out much of the paranormal events and deaths of the brides while expanding on the relationships of the main characters. It ends, like Inheritance, on a sudden cliff-hanger, and it would be worthwhile keeping The mirror to reference back to when the final book in the series is published.
Fans of Nora Roberts’ fantasy and romance will look forward to the next in the series.
Hannah and Jake live in Caper Street in a bizarre and oddly designed house that has been altered by their tinkerer father. Until the new kids arrive at the house across the road their lives are reasonably normal (although their Gran GG and their mother, and sometimes their father, seem to display some considerable eccentricities). The new kids are from the Cruelly family and start to target Hannah and Jake Vann-Wong and inflict unfunny barbs in their direction. Hannah and Jake must discover talents that reveal their family heritage (and special powers) to combat the actions of the Cruelly kids. Their dog Ziggy is also a shape-shifting agent with abilities that are yet to be explored to the full.
In a bizarre way this story involves kid vs kid prank action that has some magical moments of mayhem. It will obviously be the first of more in the Prank War sagas. Initially the chronology of the plot in this book was a little twisted with Friday’s action being followed by Monday to Thursday’s lead up, but this initial confusion did eventually disappear. Hopefully younger readers will persist past the weirdness of the start and will enjoy the strange launch into a magical, spy-like family quest for supremacy over their rivals. Illustrated in humorous cartoon style and with side-bar identification of characters, this is a book for readers aged 7-10 who enjoy pranks and humour. Beating the Cruelly kids in pranking will raise Hannah and Jake’s skill set for the future … they are agents-in-training, and more skills will be added with time (and the next book)!
All baby marsupials are known as joeys, and this lovely easily held board book shows a younger audience the range of joeys in Australia as they go to bed. Informing as well as helping the child settle at bed time through seeing how other animals go to sleep, the board book will be a favourite with its views of the night sky, and the joey snuggling down into their nests.
Joeys are all quite different, some spotted, some flying, some large and cumbersome looking, many are nocturnal, and Treml uses some of their attributes to inform the text. Younger readers will learn of the wombat joeys romping underground, the mice joeys running on the cool soil, the flying joeys gliding from one tree to another, leading through to the beautiful striped number joeys nestling down to sleep. Each page includes a soft reminder that sleep time is upon them, giving information about the joey, all done in wonderfully soothing soft pastel coloured images and accompanied by soothing verses.The second to last page shows a koala cuddling her joey while going off to sleep and turning over the the last page reminds children that it is now their sleep time, as the day is done.
This is a lovely board book to read with younger children as they go to bed, reminding them that all animals sleep and have a bed time, and it is now their bed time too.
