Three knights walk through the night, trying to find and dispatch the dragon their king fears.
Each scene sees them repeat one of the king's fears, and this is illustrated on the facing page. When the page is turned a different scene awaits the reader, showing a contradictory image of the words spoken. So a dragon with thick, double sided spikes becomes a warren of rabbits with their ears sticking up, the first in outline against the dark, scary night sky, the second illuminated by the knight's candle. When the king fears the dragon's long neck and flared nostrils, over the page we see a group of sleeping animals. Each illuminated illustration gives the lie to the fearful words uttered by the king, showing how words that mean one thing, can reveal something quite different in the light.
Readers will see the link between an imagined fear and a real fear: what is thought about by your imagination at night compared to the reality by the light of day. And each fear brings gales of laughter by the reader, along with snorts of derision by the knights, saying 'ha ha ho ho' whenever they see the reality of the situation they have been sent to contain. They confidently say there is no dragon as they return to the castle and their beds.
But of course the last laugh is on the knights as there really is a dragon as we find out on the last page.
Translated from, Waar is de Draal? by New York Times Best Illustrated Book recipient, Timmers, this delightful story will win hearts as the king needs to be placated by his heroic knights. But the last page shows him in an unenviable position after the knights have returned, convinced that the king is having illusions.
Eye catching illustrations will turn the heads of the readers as they take in the story and its stunning backdrop. Timmer’s use of shadows and outlines is superb, the detail arresting and the Medieval touches intriguing.
Themes Knights and castles, Dragons, Quests, Kings, Fears, Night, Knights.
The vibrant mixed media illustrations making use of watercolour, pencil, screen printing and digital methods, create a rambunctious vision of the fun and laughter alongside the intermittent trials of family life. With both author and illustrator having experience with families of six children, it is to be expected that kids figure on every page, in all their moods.
We see kids playing house, reading books, listening to stories, playing games with Dad, helping Mum with the washing, playing in the garden with an array of things, having meals together, bathing together and finally sleeping. Each sings with the chaos and often shambolic nature of a household with a larger number of children, the children joining together in their activities, and also taking time for solitary pursuits. Mum and Dad are sometimes seen with the slightest of look of discomfort across their faces as they try to take a break, or sit and enjoy a cup of tea, or sit and read only to be interrupted. The looks on their faces are instantly recognisable.
Each double page has an apt line, ‘in my sparkle, you’re the spark’ for example which gives a metaphor for the place held in the parents’ hearts for the children. Each line sings with family and happiness, of being together, of doing things that families do, of sharing and caring. The illustrations show the family playing, eating, sleeping together. The frenzy of such a household, where dirty dishes and piles of washing are secondary, is beautifully realised in both word and image as the family and its interaction is held to be most important.
Readers will be able to predict the rhyming word, perhaps adding a suggestion or two themselves, and in some classes, some students may be encouraged to write their own lines using these lines as a model. Teaching notes are available.
Themes Verse, Family, Relationships, Humour.
Fran Knight
The bird in the herd by Kathryn Apel and Renee Treml
University of Queensland Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780702262944. (Age:3+) Highly recommended.
The soft watercolour and coloured pencil illustrations reflect the farm in which a herd of cows quietly much the grass, stirring up plenty of slugs and bugs underfoot. These insects are snapped up by the bird in the herd as it opportunistically follows the cattle waiting for its lunch.
So the scene is set, and children will love repeating the lines, practising the new words and tasting their rhythm as over the page another two lines are added, telling of the dog, then the drover on his horse appears, sitting on his saddle, looking over his herd of cows. All is at it should be.
But in the distance is a cloud of dust and eager readers and listeners will pick out the fly in the ointment. The peaceful setting is about to be disrupted, the calm of listening to the cows chewing their cud, of the bird picking out the morsels from the earth turned up by the hooves, is shattered when a car appears. It flies up swirls of dust, and the coot driving the ute toots and hollers as he passes by. The inevitable happens as the cows scatter, finding shelter in the paddocks beyond, hiding behind bushes and trees.
Readers will love trying out the verses, predicting then remembering the rhyming words, practising the sounds. They will be intrigued by the pleasant day being had by all in the field until an interloper stirs everything up. The bird flies away, and the last double page will make readers pause and search to find the cows hidden in the field.
This charming story will encourage readers to think about the relationship between animals as one surprisingly helps the other, while the actions of one unthinking motorist upsets the apple cart.
Readers will love picking out the features of the farm and all of tis occupants, detailed in the soft edged illustrations, and some may be intrigued with the pun on the saying, ‘ a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’.
Blue Flower is a gentle and poignant story of one child’s desire to find their place in the world. School is not always automatically the right fit for all students. They may not be the funniest, the loudest, the fastest or the smartest. They may be the quietest, the shyest and that child who struggles to find a friend. Having a caring and understanding parent can make a child’s tumultuous journey so much more bearable. A parent can help a child to understand that feeling and being different is to be embraced and celebrated.
A beautifully illustrated story which will resonate with both adults and children alike.
With Mem Fox's succinct words forming a gentle refrain across each double page, small children will delight in the adventure of finding something for breakfast on the farm. It is early morning and the child is seen waving goodbye to his mother standing on the verandah. He wanders around the farm, looking for something that has been laid. The haystack will not do, neither does the tractor or the pig, as he strides on, confidently pursuing his quest. He checks out a range of farm implements and animals, followed the whole time by a most attentive rooster, until he finally arrives back at the farm, with a chook house nearby. Here, of course, he finds exactly what he is looking for. And he brings the eggs into his mother and they sit for breakfast, eating their boiled eggs.
This understated story sings with the sights and sounds of a farm and its environs as the lad walks around the place, pointing out the features of his farm. Young children will love seeing the different aspects of farm life, see a family during the morning routine, eating breakfast.
The charming illustrations reflect the minutia of farm life: the boy's overalls, the farm trucks, its many animals, the land it is on, the boy's relationship with the animals he sees. And all bathed in a warm morning glow of sunrise and soft hued clouds.
Children will delight in predicting what object or animals the boy will visit next, and call out that the rooster is behind him, following in his tracks, Small children will know from the word what he is looking for and offer suggestions about where an egg might be found on the farm.
For city kids this book will be a revelation of country life, and encourage their questioning about what happens there.
Text Publishing, 2021. ISBN: 9781922330949. (Age:14-Adult) Highly recommended.
This is a vibrant collection of memories that encompass Murray Bail's life. It is not written in any predictable manner, rather being set out as a mixture of memories within recognizable paragraphs, yet these do not always follow any particular time or theme, most unexpectedly. It is powerful, delightful, intriguing, and deeply personal.
Bail begins with his young, early teenage self in dusty shorts, and he takes us into all aspects of his life that he can remember, or writes of that which he considers to be important in this non-analytical but entirely revelatory piece of glorious recollections of his life. He moves between times, and writes in paragraphs, yet these do not always keep to a topic, rather simply ending as if it were him talking and he might need to take a breath.
We definitely learn about him and feel deeply connected to the young man and indeed we are drawn in to seek, as it were, what makes him as he is today, and we are left with a deep respect for this great thinker and humanist. This is the most self-revelatory, extraordinarily energetic, moving and deeply personal writing that I have ever read. The ‘wow’ factor dominates, supported as it is by his love for, and deeply humanitarian concern for the world, in the wider sense, but also his love of life, his interest and concern for human beings, animals, birds, countries, the landscape, the sea, and the universe. This is a powerful, enlightening, and beautiful reaction to a life lived with acceptance, sometimes joy or sorrow, and sometimes angst, yet he reveals, at all times, a life that has been acknowledged as worthwhile.
This is a stunning book and I would highly recommend it for adolescent and adult readers.
Themes Family, Australia, Middle 20th century, Adolescence, Values, Societal Values.
Bright and colourful, the panorama of the backyard is brought to life as the readers’ eyes scan each page, reading the information on one side of the page and searching out the insect described amongst the foliage on the other page. Readers will be excited by the hunt, curious about the information given and informed enough to keep searching in their own backyards
Each rhyming sentence uses a word to describe the insect: an ant marches, a cricket chirps, while the illustrations are executed using techniques recognisably used by Aboriginal artists including patterns, dots and line design, reflecting the environment in which the insect lives. They are just wonderful, evoking the richly detailed designs which have become so familiar.
As an information book for younger readers, a share book for newly able readers, a book to delight and excite, this charming little book has it all, snuggling comfortably in small hands, eager to go outside to see what they can see.
Helen Milroy, a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia was born and educated in Perth. Australia’s first Indigenous doctor, she has held many posts to do with children, medicine and mental health, and was recently appointed as the AFL’s first indigenous commissioner. Wombat, Mudlark and Other Stories is her first book for children and was shortlisted for several major awards.
A board book which celebrate the inclusion of a new child in the family, set amongst charming illustrations will be hard to resist by reader or listener. Any child would feel most comfortable with this easily held, durable book, while an older sibling or adult will read it to the child, pausing at the welcoming message written across each page, lingering at the illustrations and all they convey.
Each double page reflects an emotional response to the child coming to the family and his environment. He was once only a wish, then the stars lit up when he came, the sun beaming with happiness, the birds singing with delight, the flowers dancing with joy. And all the family's hearts shine with love and welcome.
The simple unadorned prose is expressive, ending each sentence with the word, you, making the point that the story is based around the new child in the family. It may well be the first word a baby learns, when the story is repeated by its family.
The illustrations are bold, bright and cheery, representing things which become obvious to a young child learning about his environment: the sun, stars, flowers and birds, and of course his family.
Sally Morgan, an award winning author and illustrator is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, and wrote this story after the birth of her first grandchild.
9 things to remember (and one to forget) is a thoughtful and touching story about enjoying nature and how it can provide us with the simplest of pleasures. The book begins with a child waking to bird song and ends with a child on the other side of the world doing the same. The reader is taken on a gentle journey through the beach, the desert, the forest, the polar lands, the ocean and the night.
Each double page, beautifully painted in water colour, offers the reader a simple fact and a reminder to remember. When the tide turns out, dip your toes in the warm water of rock pools. Remember to look for squiggly lines in the sand. A shell, creeping along on her soft foot, has made the squiggle. Only one foot and still she can carry her house on her back.
This is a perfect story to share with children of all ages. A truly lovely read which will evoke memories of childhood past.
There is a need for books for girls who are on the brink of and going through adolescence. Girls need comfort and guidance. They need to know that they are not the only ones with particular worries and experiences of growing up. Where else better can you find material and experiences that might help you but in a book? Nova Weetman understands this market. Her previous book, Sick Bay (a CBCA notable in 2019) spent no time at all on our library shelves. There was a waiting list for it; we bought extra copies. The girl's network wanted it.
The Edge of Thirteen is unashamedly a "girls' book". The cover design by Jo Hunt and the cover illustration by Bren Luke speak straight to tween girls: uncertainty, change, future. It is pink. Despite everything taught about sexual constructs etc. girls know that this book is for them and there is a time and place to be clear about audience when marketing.
The heroine of the story is thirteen- year-old Clem. Everything is changing around her. Her friends are changing; they are wearing bras and having teenage romances and they are not interested anymore in childhood pursuits. Everything comes to a climax and resolution during that hothouse experience - the school camp.
Clem is an individual with her own interests. This book is about finding who you are and working out where you fit. Clem makes mistakes and embarrasses herself but it all is part of the process of finding herself. Same-sex attraction and sexual identity is considered with great sensitivity and naturalness.
The Edge of Thirteen will be as popular and sought after as Sick Bay.
Because of content, this book is recommended for mature Middle School students.
The front cover shows a skewed motor vehicle and two animals sitting in the front, their eyes staring out to the right. I laughed out loud, wondering what they are looking at, and where they are going, questioning what the bear's name is if the bird is Bertie. The happy pair motors down the road with a rhyming refrain telling us about Bertie and the dog travelling together, 'My bird, Bertie' repeated often, giving children a solid dose of alliteration, rhyming words, repetition, predicting rhymes and singing along. All good fun.
Then Gertie is seen along the road, and the car stops for her. Now there are three, the driver, my bird Bertie and giggling Gertie. All too soon silly billy Tilly is added to the crowd. By now, the looks on the driver's and Bertie's faces tell a different story from the looks on their passengers' faces. And children will be laughing out loud repeating the words and predicting the rhyming words within the verses. When the crowded interior of the car becomes suffocating for the driver and his friend, Bertie, they spy a bus! And just in time as another larger group of people is waving down the car.
A clear, large font, with a text that uses repetition, alliteration, prediction and humour, sit beautifully with wonderfully fluid illustrations, the detail of which will cause eager eyes to pick out lots of smaller elements featured on each page. I love watching the changes in facial expressions, and enjoyed the detail in the end papers.
The old adage 'two's company, three's a crowd' takes on a life of its own in this humorous book, impelling children to think about the application of this adage to the story.
With Sumo Cat, Ninja Bird and Kung-Fu Worm on the case, what could go possibly wrong. These three intrepid heroes make up The Don’t Panic Gang, their promise, We Are Right Here to Help emblazoned across the rooftop near their house on top of a small apartment building, atop a pizza shop. Next door is Sumo Cat's favourite restaurant, Joe's Doughy Donuts, Sumo Cat's favourite food.
One day the trio is quietly resting when across the rooftops comes a cry for help. Without a second’s hesitation, they dress themselves in their superhero costumes: Cat pulls on his Sumo wrestler's loin cloth (mawashi), Bird grabs his disguise which covers his head and eyes, while Worm ties a red scarf around his head. They leap over the apartment buildings around them, crossing from one to another, each time coming closer to the cry for help. As the cry gets louder, their anticipation peaks, until they look over the window sill in the bathroom to assess the problem.
Children will laugh out loud at the twist in the tale, as the one calling for help is not the one children will expect at all, and a fourth member is inducted into The Don't Panic Gang
The illustrations will keep children laughing as they spy detail on each page furthering the story of our superheroes. The detail of the high street with its array of businesses, the apartment buildings of all different shapes and sizes, the detail of the superheroes' living room, all conspire to give readers a richly humorous understanding of what lies behind this outlandish team's aim to help.
Readers will love talking about what scares them and how they deal with it, what things may lurk in their house or garden which need to be avoided, and just who is the superhero they could call on in need.
This is Number 27 in the series involving the intrepid Stephanie Plum. (This reviewer confesses that this is her first introduction to this determined and feisty character, but the book is easily read as a stand-alone book.) Stephanie faces conflict head-on and with her multiple odd sidekicks is able to carry out her job as ‘bounty hunter’, bringing in those who have avoided their court appearances threatening the loss of their bond (bail surety). She is also attempting to assist her grandmother to find a ‘treasure’ that an ageing crime syndicate has hidden. Unfortunately, the clues they seek are often protected by some nefarious characters or are at risk of being lost as the ageing crooks die.
With a mix of humour and action (very much like a Lethal Weapon movie with a female lead), Stephanie leads her entourage of willing and less-enthusiastic family, friends, law enforcement specialists and new acquaintances on a thrilling chase through tunnels and side streets, and with bullets and bad guys aimed in her direction. With a movie-like action narrative, with punchy dialogue, this will appeal to lovers of US Crime drama. Stephanie is portrayed as a character with flaws, foibles and failings and is intensely likeable (and is also conflicted in her romantic life), somewhat akin to the Mel Gibson character – Riggs, from the Lethal Weapon movie series. This will be enjoyed as a great holiday-read escape for adult readers.
Recommended for adults as a light crime drama.
Themes Thriller, Suspense, Crime drama.
Carolyn Hull
The hospital dog by Julia Donaldson. Illus. by Sara Ogilvie
With a lively dog bouncing happily from one ill child to another over pages filled with colour and movement, verve and laughter, children will readily pick up and read about Dot, the hospital dog.
Her owner, Rose takes her swimming each day - then they hop onto the bus to get to the hospital where Dot spends her time being a companion in the Wallaby Ward, full of children. Rose and Dot love their work and this is reflected in the wonderful rhyming lines, impelling readers to predict the last word of each pair of lines, adding some of their own as they reread the story, while the sometimes repeated lines:
Here is a dog, a Dalmatian called Dot Is she quite ordinary? NO SHE’S NOT!
form a refrain that children can easily learn and repeat while the story is read.
The stunning illustrations show the range of children in the ward; a bored teenager, a child without hair, kids on crutches or bed bound, children in wheelchairs, kids who are unsure or unhappy, and Dot visits each helping in some way to make them smile.
I love the depiction of the hesitant mother and toddler, both wary of the dog, but seduced by Dot's enthusiasm and love. The sting in the tale where a deaf boy is about to cross the road without looking brings Dot's abilities to the fore, putting herself in the place of the boy, taken to a different sort of hospital. A wonderful resolution sees the Wallaby Ward children returning the love shown them by Dot as they visit her.
A warm hearted story, children will eagerly talk of their visits to hospital or the vet with their animals, opening the classroom conversation to illness and hospitals. For some who are hesitant about going into hospital, this book provides a model of just what a hospital is and who is in them, and shows the range of things which best children causing them to be taken into a hospital.
The illustrations depict all the sorts of things children might see in a hospital, encouraging them to talk of charts, sanitiser, doctors and nurses. The comparison with Dot in her own form of hospital, recovering from her own accident, is a great lead in to calm children’s inexperience.
But above all The hospital dog is funny and lively, entertaining and absorbing as Dot careers around the hospital, making everyone smile.
By the same author and illustrator who produced The detective dog (2018).
Themes Hospitals, Accidents, Illness, Dogs.
Fran Knight
The thing that goes ping! by Mark Carthew and Shane McG
Ford Street Publishing, 2021. ISBN: 9781925804669. (Age:4+) Recommended.
A funny look at the animals and activities which occur on a farm is presented in this lively picture book pursuing the sound that goes 'ping'.
In the town of Figgy-tra-ling is the ring of something that goes ping. Intriguing the reader, the quest continues over the hills and down the dales, around the houses and across the fields until the source of this noise is found. And all in rhyme.
Animals in their enclosures are asked: a koala (I am not a bear) over there, a snake in the lake, a hen in a pen, a donkey that likes to chat as long as you give it a pat, a duck near the truck and a pig in a sty. All respond to the question about the ping, but to no avail, So the quest continues.
The fun of the rhyming lines will not be lost on the audience, as they predict the rhyming lines, learn some of the lines to repeat when the book is next read, and laugh at how the rhymes are resolved. I spent a few minutes thinking about how the author would think up a rhyme for donkey, only to find that the sentence was twisted around to make something else instead. I did laugh, as will the audience.
The lively illustrations full of detail will invite readers to take a closer look at the animals and activities of living in a small community or on a farm. They will learn the words that apply to the enclosures some animals live in (sty, pen, bog, lake etc) while absorbing some of the things found on a farm (windmill, dam, lake, farmhouse, truck etc). This is a cute introduction to life on a farm, which very few of our kids are involved with, so widening their horizons. And combining the idea of the farm with a quest adds to the intrigue and adventure. Younger readers will love offering information about animals they have come across, or farm activities they have been involved in, but best of all, hearing the story read again. Teacher's notes and other activities are available.
