Coco and the butterfly is the second book in a new series by Laura Bunting the first being "Coco, big city kitty". It is a beautifully illustrated large format picture book with an embossed cover. The soft watercolour, pencil and ink illustrations portray the mood of the story perfectly and are reminiscent of books such as Ruby red shoes by Kate Knapp. It is quite a different type of book from her previous offerings in collaboration with her partner Philip Bunting such as "Koalas eat gum leaves", "Kookaburras love to laugh" and "Lyrebird".
Coco has moved from her big, exciting city apartment to the country, and she is not happy about it. She hates nature, such as bugs, noisy birds and scary trees and they all seem to be invading her everyday life too much for her liking. After pleading with her parents to move back to the city she runs outside to avoid more unpacking and meets a caterpillar who seems to be as afraid of change as Coco. As Coco tries to help the caterpillar, she helps herself to see that some changes are not as bad as they first seemed.
Coco and her family are wonderful characters and portray a close loving family trying to make a better life for themselves away from the rat race of the city. Children will recognize and appreciate the things that Coco’s parents are doing to make life in her new home better for her and they will look forward to future adventures from Coco.
Themes Change, Moving house, Country life, Cities, Nature.
Skywake invasion by BBC film critic, screenwriter and gamer Jamie Russell is the first book of a trilogy, kicking off what is sure to be an action packed scifi series for readers aged 9+. This is not the usual story of a portal out of the real world to somewhere else; this is a frightening conflation of real life world and the arrival of an alien world which, it was thought, had previously only existed in the artificial world of gaming.
Casey is the leader of a high ranking gaming team, the Ghost Reapers. She and her team meet for the first time in real life (IRL) at a live SkyWake tournament at a large shopping mall. Simultaneously around the world in other major cities, other top level gamers are meeting to compete at this international level. However Casey sees a sinister shimmer above the mall and there are sinister 'cosplayers' who seem to be overplaying their roles with what looks to be real weaponry. By chapter three the stage is set. Casey, her family and her gaming team have been introduced. Developing the plot rapidly, Russell builds an atmosphere of foreboding with flashes and shimmers of possible illusions that are inexplicable. Interwoven is the team's relationship which has to be built on trust IRL before they can possibly effectively work together to prevail against the massive power of the evil alien forces which is suddenly unleashed upon not only the gamers but on all the human beings at the shopping malls around the world.
The action is savage and lethal. Abductions of the smartest of the gamers are happening and the police forces with all their strongest equipment are rendered powerless against the aliens. Casey and her team have to use their gaming skills and trust each other to stop the aliens. But in book one, after riveting, page- turning, heart in the mouth action and adventure, they haven't succeeded. In fact . . . where is the next book? We need it NOW!
Themes Sci fi, Gaming, Adventure, Teams, Loyalty.
Wendy Jeffrey
Dragon legend by Katie and Kevin Tsang
Simon & Schuster, 2021. ISBN: 9781471193095. (Age:9+) Highly recommended.
A sequel to Dragon Mountain, we travel into the Dragon Realm to defeat the Dragon of Death. Dragon Legend is a story about twelve-year-old Billy and his friends Charlotte and Ling-Fei and their search to find good friend Dylan. This adventurous story begins with the children in a cave, along with their very own bonded dragons Spark, Buttons, Xing and Tank. The children and their dragons need to work together to defeat the Dragon of Death and save their life as they know it. They travel through a portal back in time to search for their friend Dylan, who can help them defeat the Dragon of Death. Dylan, who had previously been kidnapped by Old Gold, was once trusted but now seen as a traitor to them all. Dylan and the children work together with Old Gold's grandson JJ, who they don't know if they can fully trust and travel through a portal back in time to begin their quest.
Together, their close bond of friendship and the magical pearls for extra powers support them in fighting evil and black magic, but will it be enough? The dangers and experiences that they encounter in this new place are both exciting and captivating, keeping the reader enthralled and engaged. During the story, Billy begins to doubt his reasons for being there and his ability to fight the greater evil. Spark, his bonded dragon, reminds him that he is 'loyal, strong, brave and true' and their reason for being there is to save them all for both current and future times.
As they fly throughout the land, they notice many slain dragons. They discover that these dragons have refused to join the Dragon of Death and conquer the land they know. Will they have enough strength to fight and defeat the Dragon of Death, especially if Old Gold joins the forces? Will they be able to find the magical pearls that will give them extra powers? This sequel keeps the reader turning each page to discover what will happen next. An enchanting story with strong imagery throughout, it leaves the reader feeling they are along for the journey. This story will be enjoyed by all who love mythical adventures, suspense and thrills.
Kangaroo Island lies off the mainland of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. This coffee table sized, 90 page, book of colour photographs provides some beautiful and wide-ranging views of the island. Each image is unusual eg. the title page has tree branches covered with cockatoos, almost like cherry blossoms. The editor, Alison Higgs, states that the photographs in the book were taken between October 2018 and June 2019, capturing the unique beauty of the island before the devastating fires of December 2019 and January 2020 decimated large areas of the island.
The photographers are not identified by the editor. However, the views of the wildlife, coastal scenery and vegetation are really spectacular. Each photograph occupies the whole of a page with a white blank page between each shot. Written description is limited to a short title. A wide variety of marine, bird and mammal life of the island is represented.
Photographs vary in perspective from oblique aerial, overhead and extreme close-up. The opening pages show landscapes that are predominantly, yellow, red, green, blue and grey. Some photographs required close observation from the viewer in order to determine the natural features on view, others are very touching, such as the Koala affected by bushfire. Sheep are shown feeding in a large circle and another picture shows one white shorn sheep amongst the grey unshorn. There is a wonderful close up of a wedge-tail eagle in flight and a magnified view of a pink and white pygmy sundew. The patterns, lines and colours in the landscape are very striking.
Many of the images show an island looking sombre with the sky full of dark threatening clouds. These images are contrasted with others that are bright, warm and inviting. There are few images of early human heritage but quite a lot of attractive scenes such as the ocean swimming pool, boys playing with a dog in the shallows and massive waves on the south coast.
A map with place names is included at the end along with a facing note: "Each person who looks at these images will see something different . . . Curating this work has slowed down my life and opened my eyes. Opened my eyes to the spirit of places I'd seen many times before, but never seen at all." I think the reader will want to visit Kangaroo Island after viewing this book.
Shu Lin arrives at her new school and she looks different, does not speak English very well and eats different food at lunchtime. This story is told from the point of view of one of the children in the class and clearly shows how not knowing about someone's culture can make it difficult for some children to accept a new arrival who is vastly different from them.
One day the teacher arranges for Shu Lin's Grandpa to come into her class to show them his traditional Chinese paintings. He doesn't speak but just shows his wonderful paintings. This event becomes the key to unlock the empathy and understanding in the other children as Shu Lin eagerly helps them to master this special artform.
Inside the book is a double gatefold spread revealing a magnificent Chinese painting which creates the opportunity for exploration of this wonderful style of art. This highly acclaimed Chinese-British illustrator, who studied under Quentin Blake, has used a mixture of pencil, paper cut and coloured pencil to bring the story to us. She shows us the wide variety of cultures across this school through her illustrations which could provide a discussion starter in classes who read it.
Themes Friendship, Painting-Chinese, Cultural awareness, Empathy.
When Maeve finds a pack of old tarot cards whilst cleaning out a closet during school detention, she quickly discovers her talent for reading people. Soon, she becomes the most sought-after diviner in her school, everyone wants to know what the cards will say about them. But when Maeve's ex-best friend Lily is forced into a reading, an unsettling card named The Housekeeper appears, one that Maeve has never seen before. When Lily does not come to school the next Monday, they soon discover she has disappeared without a trace. Shunned by her schoolmates and struggling to fully comprehend her newfound romance with Lily's non-binary sibling, Roe, Maeve must dig deeper into her connection with the tarot cards to help find clues as to where Lily may be.
This book has everything you need. A gripping mystery, supernatural elements, romance etc. And as far as inclusivity goes, this story covers it beautifully. Lily is hearing impaired and wears a hearing aid, Maeve's sister is gay, and we explore her relationship and the discrimination shown towards her, Roe is exploring their gender identity, Fiona is mixed race and often calls out and educates Maeve on her behaviour. The supernatural, witchcraft elements of this book are well thought out and bring a unique and different twist to the disappearance of Lily. It is so nice to see Maeve find her feet and discover her talents as at the beginning of the novel we hear a lot about how she is not gifted, smart or talented and will never live up to the expectations of her family. When she finds her niche, you really start to see her grow as a character.
There are so many layers to this story and would highly recommend to anyone who loves a good mystery with a magical twist whilst also covering modern day social justice issues such a race, gender and LGBTQI+ discrimination.
In the early 20th century two amazing intrepid women, Daisy Bates and Ernestine Hill, each separately cast aside the comforts of society, to explore the desert areas of Australia, and seek out the Aboriginal tribes and iconic outback settler life; each of them writers supremely confident that their records were essential to preserving a disappearing piece of Australian history.
Ernestine Hill worked with Daisy Bates on bringing together her famous work The passing of the Aborigines, later falling out when Bates failed to acknowledge Hill's contribution. Hill's view was that she herself was the true author of the work. It was a strange friendship, with 36 years difference in age, and despite the dispute about authorship, they continued to correspond and collaborate together at different times.
Hogan is meticulous in following the lives of these two women, at times venturing out, a lone woman herself, into the desert, to retrace their steps and to gather stories from Aboriginal people who might still remember either of them. Her research reveals the contrasting images of Bates as ethnographer and caretaker for Aboriginal people, and the hateful woman who perpetuated stories about cannibalism and denigrated mixed race children.
Both Bates and Hill were pioneers, casting aside convention, and following their own paths. However each of them struggled with the tasks they set themselves. Later in life, Hill ended up unable to bring her own writing together to fulfil her dream of the great novel; her notes are now kept in archives. It is thanks to Hogan's research that we now have this record of the adventures of these two women, and their genuine though flawed commitment to the understanding and preservation of a unique Australian culture and way of life.
Themes Non-fiction, Biography, Women writers, Australian outback, Indigenous Australians.
Helen Eddy
Can you whistle, Johanna? by Ulf Stak and Anna Hoglun
An enchanting and thought-provoking story that challenges you to reflect and ponder the importance of the relationships that we create and foster. First written in 1992 by Swedish author Ulf Stark, this story was later translated into English. Can you whistle, Johanna? is a story about a young boy, Berra and his friend Ulf. Berra seeks to find a grandfather of his own, after hearing how exciting they are to have from Ulf's own experience. He questions why he doesn't have one already, as they sound really cool. The next day they come up with a plan to find a grandfather and what a better place to start, than the retirement home. On arrival at the home, Berra and Ulf find Ned and it seems that both Ned and Berra are made for each other. Both are unknowingly seeking a human connection and are happy to have someone special to share their life with. Touching moments throughout the story make the reader question the importance and significance of relationships. Both Ned, Berra and Ulf build a respectful and loving relationship as they listen, share and forge a caring and thoughtful connection.
Delightful illustrations throughout the book by Anna Hoglund compliment the storyline and bring further enjoyment to the story. As Berra, Ulf and Grandpa Ned spend time together, there is a sense of warmth and kind-heartedness in their generational bonding. Ned shares elements of his past including his whistling skills with the song, 'Can you whistle Johanna?'. Berra fervently attempts to master the whistling skills that Ned shows him, however, can't quite master them yet. A poignant conclusion leaves the reader with a sense of how sharing special moments, can bring pleasure to people's lives that they will never forget.
Mo and Crow by Jo Kasch. Illus. by Jonathan Bentley
Allen & Unwin, 2021. ISBN: 9781760631758. (Age:4-6) Highly recommended.
"I live alone and I like it that way!" says Mo to a Crow who seems determined to invade his privacy by pecking rocks out of his protective wall. But Mo, who lives on an isolated hill in a house by himself, is lonely. The persistent crow shows him that opening himself up to what is outside his wall can show him a whole new world. This is a powerful picture book about being alone and how much effort it can take for someone to accept friendship. Reaching out to make friends can be one of the most difficult things for some children to do and this story tries to assist them to understand how people build walls to protect their feelings from being hurt by others.
The author Jo Kasch is an award-winning television writer and editor with a love of television aimed at children and teens. She has teamed up with experienced illustrator and writer Jonathon Bentley who brings this story to life with his bright, vibrant watercolour and pencil images. I love the way the endpapers reflect the vast change in the view Mo has on the world once he dismantles his wall; the confined view of the rock wall at the front in contrast to the perception of light and freedom that finishes the book superbly. These endpapers could be used as a discussion point before and after reading the book to a class of children while the uncomplicated text will make it understandable to even the youngest listeners.
Themes Friendship, Loneliness, Fear, Protection.
Gabrielle Anderson
Fozia and the quest of Prince Zal by Rosanne Hawke
University of Queensland Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780702263071. (Age:9+) Highly recommended.
The third in a series which began with Kelsey and the quest of the porcelain doll (2014) this heartwarming story reveals the lives of children whose lives are turned upside down by a natural disaster in Pakistan, the worst flood in living memory. Whole towns and villages are swept away and Fozia loses all she loves, but is taken in by a family, who although loving and inviting, are not her real family.
Cleverly Hawke compares her two lives. If still with her family she would have been working in the brick kiln in the village to cover her father's debts, while now she is able to go to school, an aim she has held all of her twelve years. At night she tells her small cousins a story, one involving a lame prince, the least of his family, searching for his lost sister. The story recalls Fozia's lost family, intertwining stories heard as a child, stories she has known all her life, and it wraps her with comfort and longing.
Two threads weave together within this tale; one a story being told by Fozia, the other about her situation and her lost family, each story impelling the enthralled readers to turn each page with unabashed pleasure and hope.
As with Rosanne's other books, the immediacy of the setting is vivid and memorable. It is ever present, part of the fabric of the book, from the tents in which Fozia lives after the flood, the quilts she is making for the camp, the roti she bakes, the dung cakes the boys are supposed to be making, the sight of the brick kiln and all it means for her family. Each chapter reveals another aspect of the lives of this Pakistani family, so familiar to Rosanne after living in the region for ten years. It is this familiarity which gives her novels about this region of the world their solid base; her stories are built on a love and affinity with the families which make up her stories, each incident something she has seen, heard or shared. And children will love learning the Urdu words that crop up in the text, words used everyday by the family, words that are familiar and will roll off the reader's tongue, rarely having to refer to the glossary at the end of the book.
We know Fozia has a secret and this is revealed by degrees as we learn of the family's debt, their shared secret, the reason the prince in the tale is so named. But when questions are asked of Fozia and conversations hushed as she comes into the room she realises that has a choice to make.
A memorable read that will live with readers long after the last page is read, this story recalls people and incidents from the two preceding novels, adding another layer of interest and delight. Teacher's notes are available.
Dr Jonica Newby, best known for her work on ABC TV's Catalyst program, has written a very personal and absorbing journal, that encompasses feelings of grief and future reactions needed to cope with the emotional effects of climate change.
Snow loss was the initial signal for Jonica in her realisation and grief that the world has changed forever. At the same time, as her partner Robyn Williams, was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, the author came to the realisation that a life-threatening diagnosis had inspired a new way of thinking about the 'roller-coaster emotions of climate grief. The drought, fire, and pandemic events of 2019 and 2020 have heightened our emotional response. As a result, chapters in the book relate to love, courage, anger, creativity, worry, leadership, humour, denial, joy, acceptance and pride.
The personal stories of Jonica's mother and others who suffered through the bushfires were very moving.
Throughout the book the author draws on the creativity of Missy Higgins, knowledge and skills for the future of leaders such as Mike Cannon-Brookes, scientists such as Ove Hoegh-Guldberg and the humour of Charlie Pickering and Craig Reucassel. There are a number of thoughtful observations that readers are invited to consider, such as 'inoculation theory', 'disaster brain'. The book has an appendix with practical tips for those who have been through a disaster, from psychologists Dr Rob Gordon and Professor Sandy McFarlane.
At the conclusion, the author can't tell us what to do about climate change but addresses the importance of harnessing our feelings, whether it's anger or love and doing whatever we can.
Themes Climate change, Emotions.
Paul Pledger
Take me apart by Sara Sligar
Text Publishing, 2021. ISBN: 9781922330673. (Age:15+) Recommended.
This book appears to be a simple story of a young journalist, Kate Aitken, who has encountered some difficulties in her life in New York. When she is offered the chance to research the life and unexpected death of a famous artistic photographer, Miranda Brand, she moves to California to begin this new work. The story takes the reader into the darkness and the details of Miranda's life, the inconsistencies of the events that occurred shortly before her death, and the legacy that her life's work, and death, has left her family.
Choosing to structure the narrative by interspersing the letters that Miranda wrote, including her personal diary notes, with the story of Kate's new life, Sara Sligar plunges us into the depths of both worlds, and the traumas that have impacted on the lives of both women.pSligar does not let us settle down to a gentle story, rather drawing us into the unexpected and dramatic events of Miranda's life, her emotional traumas, and her family issues. We follow Kate's discoveries, her dawning realization that Miranda's life was not a gentle one, as Sliger unravels the actual details of Miranda's life and death.
This is a powerful narrative, vibrant, compelling and captivating, challenging us to consider how people adapt to deal with the events and people in their lives. At its heart is the notion of truth, and its place in our lives, its frequent absence and its essential role in our ability to understand, respect, and often forgive, the actions and personalities of others. While deftly drawing us into these other lives, Sarah Sliger explores how all of these aspects make people react, respond and trust those with whom they share their lives, prompting the reader to consider similar questions about life.
Themes Adaptation to new lives and difficult choices.
Elizabeth Bondar
What is a Virus? by Katie Daynes. Illus. by Kirsti Beautyman
If there is one word that children of today know as well as their name it is "virus". So much of their lives have been affected by this tiny, invisible thing that has had such huge impact. But what is a virus? Using the successful Lift-the-Flap Q&A format of others in this series, readers can investigate just what a virus is, discovering that there are many more than just COVID 19! They also learn the importance of the rules like social distancing, washing their hands and other personal hygiene issues, important because if they understand the why about the what they are more likely to comply. It also alleviates some of the fear that their imaginations can conjure up. In the past we have been teaching our littlies about why they need to eat well, sleep long and play hard to have a healthy body and preventing illness has been a peripheral, but things have changed and this is an important addition to the collection so they can better understand this thing that is going to shadow their lives for a long time to come.
When two Aussie writers such as Christy Burne (children's author and science communicator) and Denis Knight (Science fiction/ fantasy author and computer programmer) decide to write a book together the result is going to be a cracker.
Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows is both clever and funny. Told in first person by Wednesday, the book begins in a year six Robotics class where Wednesday's attempts to code a path for a robot to follow is failing spectacularly. Wednesday is, at this stage, not fully aware that she has inherited magical powers and that it is these powers that are interfering with Science experiments. She has been an unwilling apprentice to her sorcerer grandfather who has been coaching her for years although she doesn't know why. She just wants to fit in with her year six group, try to be a normal girl and achieve in Science classes. Her best friend Alfie is a cheerful geek.
Unfortunately, Wednesday's grandfather is captured by a powerful goblin-king and Wednesday is forced, out of love for her grandfather, to discover and unlock her magical power in order to save her grandfather and the world. She is not alone though as Alfie and Bruce (a bad-Dad joke, wise-cracking skull) accompany her through a frightening, fantastic quest. Their lives are in peril time and time again and it is only through a combination of luck, magic, cooperation and application of remembered science and maths formulae that the clever children make it through- or do they...
This book will appeal to clever children. It is about applied maths and science- thank heavens at times that one or other of them remembered what they had learnt at school! This is a book that celebrates children's initiative, cleverness, love and loyalty.
If you are a fan of Nevermoor, Artemis Fowl or the Witching Hour, then the Wednesday Weeks series will be for you. The next book is due to be released in September 2021... sigh! Such a long wait!
Poison War book 1. Random House, 2019. ISBN: 9780552176293. (Age:15+) Highly recommended.
Winner of the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2018) and Ditmar Award for Best Novel (2019) City of lies is a slow burning epic fantasy that is sure to grab the attention of any fantasy reader. Right from the first sentence "I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me . . . " the reader is taken into the world of Jovan, an expert in poisons, trained as a proofer or taster, to protect Tain, the Chancellor's Heir and his life-long friend. His sister Kalinda, her frail physique unable to manage the poisons, has been trained as a spy; quiet and unassuming, she manages to hear and see things that might threaten her city-state. When the Chancellor is poisoned and their uncle also succumbs, the pair find themselves trying to find out who the murderer is, while protecting Tain, now the head of their city. To make things even more difficult, an army has laid siege to their city and it looks as if the assassinations and rebellion are linked.
Written in the voices of Jovan and Kalinda in alternate chapters, the reader gets to know the feelings of both main characters. Jovan is very anxious and manages to calm himself by pacing and counting repetitively, while Kalinda must work very hard to overcome her physical disabilities. However, they are both intelligent and determined and very loyal to Tain and to their city and use their intelligence and resilience for the good of the state.
Hawke has described a very believable world that will resonate with readers as they catch glimpses of similarities to our world today. Silasta is rich and cultured, but the siege of the city reveals the flaws in the way the countryside has been ruled. The Council members have become greedy and the pacts to look after and educate workers, while respecting their religion have been forgotten. Spirituality is not respected and believers in the strength of the land are disregarded.
Readers who enjoy a mystery, sieges and escapes, and compelling main characters with flaws, are in for a treat and will want to move onto book 2, Hollow empire. Other books with poisons and assassination are Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder and His fair assassin series by Robin Lefevers.
