Ambelin Kwaymullina, the award winning author shortlisted for her books by the CBCA and the Queensland Premier’s Literary Prize, is a Palyku woman from the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Her latest book, Billie and the blue bike, is a First Nations picture book which is up front in its aim to teach younger readers some basic financial literacy. On reading this excellent story, it can be used for all kids, teaching them some home truths about the value of money.
Billie is desperate to buy a new bike, but is told by her mum that all the money she has is taken up with necessities. Her uncle tells that he she can help in the garden with him, earning $10 a week to save for the bike. But she wants it now, so comes up with a few schemes of her own to get the money more quickly. Each scheme is followed through showing the reader that each idea has its flaws, and the story finishes with Billie buying her bike after working for her uncle for ten weeks. I really like the way each scheme is shown with a balance sheet of the money earned. In this way readers can see exactly what work is required to earn that amount of money. Each time Billie earns some money there is a funny corollary. When she enlists the help of her cousins, she find that the money earned is not nearly enough, and when they all decide to buy an ice cream, the money disappears. Entering her dog in a competition seems fine, but when he chases the cat and upsets the judges, the outcome is not what Billie had hoped. So in the end she takes up her uncle’s offer, learning that a slow and steady task means money comes in every week until the amount she is aiming for is saved.
A valuable lesson for all readers, and will lead to much discussion.
Ambelin’s illustrations are full of colour, movement and heightened interest as the readers follow Billie’s escapades in getting her bike.
Simon & Schuster, 2020. ISBN: 9781471178757. (Age:8-11) Recommended.
This is the fourth book in the Nothing to See Here Hotel series and Frankie Banister is yet again up to his neck in fantasy adventure. In this funkdastardly story Frankie is kidnapped and taken into the lower realms of the sewers where more magical and fantasy creatures with weird and wonderful features are threatening his cleanliness and his normal hotel life. With the threat of being dropped into the poop-laden sewer world with no further contact with his own bizarriferous family, Frankie must use all his wisdom and rely on other stranger-than-true friends to escape before it is too late.
With Dahl-esque created language (akin to BFG creations), that I have mimicked in the paragraph above (note: vocabulary not used by the author), Steven Baker has created a romp that is just a giggle from start to finish. Nothing is real and everything is impossible, but I am sure that children aged 8-11 will appreciate the absolute nonsense in this humorous fantasy adventure. I can also imagine that an adult who likes to read with funny voices or wants a read-aloud adventure into oddities and ‘exciterous’ story-lines will also enjoy this latest romp. Lenton’s illustrations also reveal the quirky world and characters with his cartoon-style creativity.
Kai is number 3 in the 4 book series Dream Riders. Each book in the Dream Riders series follows the story of a different young person as they join the Dream Riders equestrian centre called Pocket of Dreams where teenagers are taught natural horsemanship by horse- whisperer Shannon Faulkner. Natural horsemanship involves learning to understand the brumbies through studying their relationships within the wild and building rapport and respect so that they can be handled without saddle or bridle. The sanctuary within these books was inspired by a brumby sanctuary near Tenterfield set in the Byron Shire region of NSW.
Kai is narrated in first person by Kai, a Taiwanese teenage boy. He, like the other protagonists in the series, has been sent to the Pocket of Dreams, because he needed time out. As he tells the story, the reader cannot but see him as a thoroughly likeable person. It comes as a surprise that he has been suspended from school. Gradually, through the unfolding story, the reader learns of Kai's sister's struggle with an eating disorder and of some poor decision making on Kai's part that has led him, like his new friends at the equestrian school, to not really fit in with the crowd.
The young people at Pocket of Dreams develop close friendships and potential romantic relationships as they are brought together to bond with, care for and rescue a wild brumby each. The mutual developing trust and love between Kai and Monty, a dapple-grey brumby, is a beautiful process for the reader to follow. With his new found love for Monty, Kai develops responsibility and embarks on a dangerous rescue mission in the face of wild bushfires when Monty's life is in peril.
The friendships that Kai has with the other three teens, the older horse whisperer Ginger and his ever loving and supportive family along with his new found love for a wild brumby result in an older, wiser young man who learns to face life's challenges in a mature manner.
A series about the Australian wild horse, incorporating character diversity in a warm and natural manner, Dream Riders is recommended for late Primary/Middle years readers. It is recommended that the series is read in sequential order.
Themes Horses, Bushfires, School issues, Friendship, Fitting in.
Nelson hates vegetables but in this story he discovers that broccoli gives him the power to turn invisible. He discovers this, and that vomiting turns him visible again, when he and best friend Olive go to stay with his Grandparents. Nelson’s ex-spy Grandma wants him to use his superpower to catch whoever is stealing her award-winning pumpkins. In a lie that backfires, his Grandpa also teaches him to tap dance. In his pursuit of the pumpkin stealers, he is helicoptered away to spy headquarters that are inside a volcano (a reference to James Bond in You Only Live Twice here!). Tap dancing comes in handy as a way to escape drones firing rockets at him.
Broccoli and Spies is a lightweight, wacky story written for young readers who need short, easy to read, illustrated chapter books. Stories like these have plenty of hooks for reluctant readers and for these reasons they are definitely worthwhile. There’s plenty of bodily functions, slapstick action and humour. The essential ingredients of a spy series; modern gadgets, vehicles and villains, are all here. Plus, the characters have funny food names like Agent Licorice and General Gruyere. Cartoonlike illustrations by Katie Kear definitely match the text, some are full or double page. There is effective use of fluoro-green throughout to match the vegetable hero, broccoli. Children who like Anh Do’s WeirDo series will most likely enjoy the Nelson series too.
Themes Spies, Superheroes.
Jo Marshall
My summer with Grandad by Tom Tinn-Disbury
New Frontier, 2020. ISBN: 9781922326140. (Age:4+)
My Summer with Grandad is an entertaining story about Eric spending time with his Grandad. This is a holiday ritual and this is the year Eric will be finally allowed to go fishing on his Grandad’s boat. However things do not go to plan and Eric is left disheartened. Grandad then gives Eric the job of being the Chief Seagull Shoo-er and Eric takes his new role very seriously. One day Eric and Grandad discover a baby seagull trapped in the net with a damaged wing. They take it home and Eric uses numbered steps to care for the chick and they become firm friends. Of course Eric realizes that the bird must go back to his family on the eighth step but surprise, surprise there is a ninth step still to come.
This a delightful story that will appeal to younger readers. The colourful detailed illustrations complement the text perfectly. Teacher's notes are available.
Can you do this? by Michael Wagner and Heath McKenzie
ABC Books, 2021. ISBN: 9780733335723. (Age:4+)
Two of Australia’s well known storytellers, Michael Wagner and Heath McKenzie, have combined to present this humorous look at sibling rivalry and brotherly love. This book explores the age-old problem of the youngest child trying to keep up with an older sibling. The little brother creatively displays amazing action-packed antics and skills while constantly asking his older brother “Can you do this?” Of course his brother replies yes to being better at everything. The little one becomes despondent and for one final try does incredible hair-raising aerobatics. You guessed it though, big brother can do it all. However the ending is a surprise. Can big brother really do everything better?
This is a book of very few words but the meaning is made very clear to the reader through the bright and colourful illustrations.
Themes Brothers, Sibling Rivalry, Humour.
Kathryn Beilby
Balloon girls by Darrell Pitt
Text Publishing, 2021. ISBN: 9781922330567. (Age:11-15) Recommended.
Balloon Girls by Darrell Pitt is an easily digestible book which dives quickly into the plot and holds the reader's interest through the ready banter between all the characters and the ride through disaster after disaster. The storyline is firmly grounded in the school life (both academic and social) of Middle Years students in the small town of Yallaroo in country Victoria. It is good to read a book that is so strongly wrought against an Australian rural setting. As the girls release and track three ballons, during their rigorous scientific experiment, country Victoria is traversed and information about North Eastern Victoria sheep farming districts and alpine areas is offered to the reader.
The title encompasses the guts of the story - that of three girls who conduct an experiment involving balloons in order to prove that the Earth is indeed round with the aim of winning a competition to travel to the Smithsonian Museum in the USA. A secondary metaphor suggested by the title "balloon girl" is a fat girl and from this stems the bullying theme which is an undercurrent throughout the story.
By using their complementary skills the three girls compete in a national competition. Sub stories run longside this main action including the solving of an age old town mystery, a crime involving arson, unpleasant newcomers to the town, unexpected treasure and the growing understanding of what really matters in life.
The characters are multi-racial. Pitt scatters much interesting information for the student on a variety of subjects throughout the text although the information about the Dog on the Tuckerbox has better interpretations. The central character, Ally, is inspired by Marie Curie. The things that happen in her life combined with her own grit and determination and support from her family and friends help her to remain grounded whilst reaching for the sky.
Middle School students will find Balloon girls easy to read, informative on a number of general knowledge topics and slightly unputdownable. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes Science, family, friends, High School, Australian country community.
Wendy Jeffrey
Poo! And other words that make me laugh by Felice Arena. Illus. by Tom Jellett
This is an immensely silly book designed to be shared aloud that will probably result in rauccous laughter and incredulous guffaws from both adults and children ('That can't be a real word!'). Despite the title, it isn't all toilet words that feature; hidden within the endpapers covered in the word 'poo!' are useful (and genuine!) words, all listed in a glossary at the end of the book. Little used words that are incredibly fun to say may just become part of the everyday vernacular: bumfuzzle, flapdoodle, persnickety, wallop and succotash.
Tom Jellett's (My Dad Thinks He's Funny) illustrations are awesome as always. Larger than life, big expressive faces fill the colourful pages, with the words themselves also taking centre stage. At heart this is all about having fun with language and creating shared meaning. Getting children to discover that words can be fun is not always easy - this will help! It is also an enjoyable way to teach children about the importance of a glossary and how to use one. Creating their own nonsense word and definition or finding other funny words in a dictionary could also be used as fun follow on activities.
Let’s Go, Little Roo is a very appealing story about friendship and taking those first steps towards feeling comfortable in a new situation. Little Roo is safe and warm in her mother’s pouch. Her mother tries to entice her to join the other joeys by mentioning the warm sun, the delicious grass and the fun the other joeys are having. However Little Roo is too shy until her mother mentions another bush creature who is also hiding in his mother’s pouch. They talk about how he might be feeling and Little Roo bravely decides to venture out and offer friendship.
The illustrations are captivating and the soft pastel tones set the scene for a gentle read. Perfect for Early Years children.
Themes : Being afraid, Australian animals, Bravery, Friendship, Wellbeing.
Centred on one young woman, Alex visits a town that is familiar to her from the past, but to her it seems that it offers no welcoming feel. Weaving the narrative between the past and the present, using ‘Then’ and ‘Now’ to orientate the reader, Watson creates a story that is shrouded in mystery and a sense of dread. As a film-maker, Alex is determined to evoke the sense of place in the town, and photographs and films the local pub, the wild sea shore, the places and people who live there. She hopes to evoke her own buried memories but she can barely recall the events that seemingly caused her to leave, realizing that she had forgotten her former name.
Situating this narrative in the wild coast of Northern England, Watson draws us into the story through the gradual hints of the past that occur and as the story progresses, we read about some of her childhood experiences. Shrouded in a mysterious blankness, she gradually recalls some events that clearly caused her to flee many years ago. Weaving the past and present is a strong hook that captivates the reader and the intriguing nature of her memories.
As a film-maker, Alex is determined to take photographs and film the place and the people whom she meets, somehow hoping that she will be able to recall the events of the past that haunt her. The discomforting uneasiness is strong as she tries but cannot recall the events that caused her to leave the town, and not return for years, but she does begin to remember some things. Alex is not her real name but she cannot remember her former name.
Themes Childhood memories that evoke terror, Fear, Determination to discover the events of the past.
Elizabeth Bondar
The darkest evening by Ann Cleeves
A Vera Stanhope Novel 9. Pan Macmillan, 2020. ISBN: 9781509889525. (Age:Senior secondary - Adult) Highly recommended.
A fan of the TV series, I was delighted to pick up a Vera Stanhope novel, not having read one for several years. When driving home on a dark winter’s night, Vera takes a wrong turn and seeing a car abandoned on the side of the road stops to help and discovers a toddler strapped inside. Knowing how dangerous the weather is, she decides to take him to the nearest house, which turns out to be Brockburn, the manor house where Hector her father had been brought up. There, amidst the gaiety of a party, a young woman’s body is found in the snow, and Vera is plunged into a murder investigation.
This has all the hallmarks of a good mystery. There is a country house that is starting to decay and well fleshed out characters from the wealthy landowners, tenant farmers and village people all provide suspects. Lorna, the young woman who had been murdered had suffered anorexia in her youth and had not disclosed the name of the father of her baby to anyone, so Vera and her offsiders, Joe and Holly are faced with multiple suspects and red herrings to follow up.
It was particularly interesting to find out that Vera was related to the people in the big house and to see the divide between the rich and middle class. The book revolves around family and all the problems and rumours that can ripple even the smoothest surface of a relationship. The Stanhope family needs money and Juliet has been unable to have a baby, no one knows the identity of the father of Lorna’s baby and why she is estranged from her father, and even Vera feels a tug towards the little toddler left motherless.
This was an entertaining and engrossing mystery, easy to read, with an exciting conclusion which I did not expect. I found the book gave insights and background to Vera that added to the picture of her I had built up from the TV series. A most satisfying read.
Themes Mystery, Families.
Pat Pledger
Float or sink? by Kylie Covark and Andrew Plant
Ford Street Publishing, 2021. ISBN: 9781925804621. (Age:4+) Recommended.
Float or Sink? is an amusing rhyming story which follows the journey of a stick along a watercourse. Insects that live beside the river habitat balance precariously on the stick with the reader then asked the question if they will float or sink. Floating and sinking are important Science concepts introduced in the Early Years and this easy to read picture book offers students the opportunity to predict the outcome and discuss their thinking with an adult or their peers.
The clever use of repetitive text reinforce the humour of the story as well as offering an entertaining read aloud. The brightly coloured illustrations are visually stunning and offer a depth of detail for the reader to explore. Teacher's notes are available.
This book would be a welcome addition to any kindergarten or primary school library.
Watch out reading this book to younger readers, all sorts of ideas about what to do with their spaghetti will be formulated, egged on by the inviting rhyming lines and riotous illustrations showing one family’s foray into eating spaghetti for tea.
Each rhyming couplet urges the readers to predict the rhyming word, and to try out the words and lines for themselves, giggling at the images both imagined and presented before their eyes.
The spaghetti lover tries all sorts of things with her swirls of pasta: she eats it with her fork, spoon and hands, getting it on the floor and the chairs, telling Spot to eat it up, she makes shapes with the pasta - butterflies and glasses, a giggly face and wriggly feet and finds a monster swimming in the cheesy sauce. But when she fills her father’s cup with pasta, Mum has had enough and she goes off to her room, after stuffing her pockets with spaghetti. Here she develops a spaghetti abc, proudly showing her efforts to Spot, but finding it all so yummy, that she cannot help but eat some, leaving her favourite letters, a, b and c to make a present for her mother.
All is at peace until she makes a suggestion that brings a bemused, long suffering look to Mum’s face.
A hilarious look at meal times with spaghetti on the menu, all the mess of the meaty cheesy sauce swirling around bowls of spaghetti will remind people of the times they have eaten spaghetti at home or in a restaurant. Memories of the messes children can make will cause readers to laugh out loud, while they enjoy reading out the pairs of rhyming lines. This is a wonderful read together, a read out loud, a sharing book for all ages, with rhyming that grabs the listeners attention and images which indulge their flights of fancy with piles of pasta.
Spaghetti is seen on every page as Spot and her owner lap up piles of the stuff. Watch out for the details: Grandma knits hers, the girl feeds hers to the dog, and plays nought snd crosses with some, there are faces hidden in the pasta, Dad eats several bowls, the baby has made bricks of hers, Spot has a new pasta coat and so on, each page draws the eyes in to look more closely at what Niland is offering. The opening double page reveals the alphabet in pasta, surely a prod to try it out for yourself.
A treat awaits all readers, young and old, recalling memories of meal times with young children.
If you have ever seen Dorothea Lange’s photographs of the Great Depression of the 1930s, particularly ‘Migrant mother’, you will know what this book is about. It was a time of drought, dust-bowl conditions, hardship, and unemployment; families uprooted and constantly on the move, starving, and searching for work.
Hannah’s novel begins with the story of Elsa as a young woman, plain and unloved; then a moment of rebelliousness sees her scorned by her family and married off, pregnant, to Rafe, a young Italian man; joining with his parents in the hard toil of working the land.
In the 1930’s, Oklahoma suffered year after year of drought and stifling dust storms that induced dust pneumonia; people with eyes turning red, short of breath and coughing up mud. Elsa, deserted by her husband, has to face the decision of staying on the land, the only true home she has known, or venturing out with two children to seek a better future elsewhere, amidst hordes of homeless people also hungry for some kind of work.
Hannah’s novel vividly describes the suffering and misery of that era, with desperate itinerant workers abused and vilified by their own countrymen. It is a story of epic proportions, and recounts the battle between cotton magnates and the disposable workers, communism, and the workers’ rights movement. But at the heart of the novel, is the relationship between Elsa and her daughter Loreda, changing from resentment and bitter antagonism, to the girl’s gradual appreciation of the strength and commitment of her mother.
It is in the end a heart-warming story of women, of finding inner strength and standing up for beliefs, with the addition of a pleasing thread of romance.
Themes Women, Courage, Great Depression, Drought, Dust, Workers' rights, Exploitation.
Helen Eddy
Dino love by Michette Worthington
New Frontier, 2020. ISBN: 9781922326119. (Age:2-5)
Bright illustrations and simple text capture all the loving moments that happen for a young child within a single day. From sibling love, to parent love, to friendship love and self love. On the way to school/childcare/kindergarten a little dino plays joyfully with a sibling, says goodbye to mum, learns, eats and plays with friends and reunites with family at the end of the day. These adorable and brightly coloured dinosaurs will engage little eyes and simple and repetitive text with hold their attention. 'Love is...goodbye hugs...feeling grown-up...doing your best'. Simple things are conquered, like writing letters and going down big slides and you can see the little dinos chest swell with pride at how he is loved, encouraged and supported.
This is a great book to read to young preschoolers or even those beginning school, especially those who tend to get a bit anxious about being separated from their family. It is a beautiful reminder that love is all around them in many forms, and that their family will be right there at the end of their busy day.
