Roxy & Jones: The great fairytale cover-up by Angela Woolfe
Walker Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781406391374. 254pp.
(Age: 8 -12) Numerous children's authors have been playing with
traditional fairy tales for years. The original stories evoke such
amazing characters and places - no wonder they keep emerging in
films, plays and books. Libraries produce lists of fractured fairy
tales for the avid reader of these all too familiar tales. We all
remember The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
and Lane Smith. Recently my 8 year-old granddaughter has been
enthralled by the Whatever After series by Sarah Mylnowski.
This clever book Roxy & Jones brings together numerous
fairy tales as the 2 heroines battle a false memory enchantment.
There is plenty happening in this rather complicated but very
enjoyable story. The dialogue is slick and clever - just right for
those young readers with minds for mix-ups, knowledge of
fairy-tales, and good senses of humour. They will love it!
Julie Wells
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Bloomsbury, 2020. ISBN: 9781526615251. 214pp.
(Age: 8 - 12) Bloomsbury has republished this delightful story,
originally written in 1975. With beautiful cover illustrations
and chapter headings created by Melissa Castrillon, this edition is
one to treasure. The story of Winner Foster, who is kidnapped
by the Tuck family, learns in time of the family's secret of
immortality, once its members have drunk from a spring in the wood.
It is a classic tale, not lengthy, and simply told, and it has
endured through past decades, thoughtfully revealing great wisdom
about life and death. Natalie Babbitt was awarded the
inaugural E. B. White Award for achievement in children's
literature. Tuck Everlasting has been adapted into two
feature films and a Broadway musical.
A must read for all generations.
Julie Wells
Bluey: Verandah Santa
Puffin, 2020. ISBN: 9781761040610. hbk., 32pp.
Bluey is a six-year-old blue heeler pup who loves to play. Along
with her friends and family, Bluey enjoys exploring the world and
using her imagination to turn everyday life into an amazing
adventure which resonates with the young readers and viewers.
In this story, it's Christmas Eve and Bluey, Bingo and Muffin decide
to play a game called Verandah Santa! Just because their house
doesn't have a chimney, doesn't mean Santa won't come. What will
Santa bring them? As well as having lots of fun, Bluey also learns a
valuable lesson about what being good means and why it is not just
about getting presents. Bluey has been a phenomenal
success since airing on ABC KIDS in October 2018 and is the winner
of an International Emmy for Most Outstanding Children's
Programme. As well as helping our youngest readers learn some
of life's lasting lessons, the link between screen and media is a
critical one as they learn about the value of being able to take
their time with print, examine the illustrations and read it again
and again whenever they want - all critical concepts about print.
To accompany the storybook, there is also a sticker
activity book which encourages little ones to actively engage
with the story rather than just being passive listeners.
Perfect for Christmas stockings.
Barbara Braxton
Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle by Glenda Millard
Illus. by Stephen Michael King. ABC Books, 2008. ISBN:
9780733322495. hbk., 32pp.
This book arrived for review just before Christmas 2008 (just before
the tragic Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria) and things being
what they are, Christmas snuck by and it sat looking at me, begging
for a review and being ignored. Now it seems the delay was almost
prophetic for the first few lines are: "One orange evening,
tiger-striped with blackened trees, a pig sat reminiscing. With eyes
shut tight, she saw her valley as it had been: a breeze blew and the
swing swayed, gently, from a willow bough. But then the raging
bushfire had come and licked the earth bare. Applesauce sighed,
dawdled up the hill and settled in the dust by the shed, where Joe
and Marigold had lived since the fire."
Applesauce is convinced that there can be no Christmas this year -
her heart, where Christmas comes from, is as small as a gumnut and
there was no Christmas in it at all. But then something special
happens and Applesauce discovers that Christmas does not need to be
all about glitzy decorations, fancy foods and expensive presents. It
does indeed come from the heart.
This is a fabulous story that will give those affected by any
disaster, hope. Even though Christmas may be some time away and they
can't see past this day or, at most, this week, there is a strong
message of life continuing, albeit it differently. Stephen Michael
King's watercolour illustrations are delicate and haunting, some
showing sights that have become too real for too many. But they are
a perfect accompaniment to this story.
In the hands of a sensitive adult, this is a book to be shared with
a littlie needing to know that things will not always be as bleak
and black as they are now.
It was shortlisted for the Early Childhood category of the
Australian Children's Book of the Year Award and five years since
its publication it is still one of the most highly recommended
Christmas titles amongst the teacher librarian community.
Barbara Braxton
All the young men: How one woman risked it all to care for the dying by Ruth Coker Burks and Kevin Carr O'Leary
Hachette, 2020. ISBN: 9781409189114.
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Ruth describes this book as a memoir
of love, AIDS and chosen family in the American South. The reader
will find this book is about genuine human kindness and selfless
compassion.
Ruth's life takes an unexpected turn one day when visiting her
friend, Bonnie, who is in hospital for cancer treatment. Observing
nursing staff reluctant to care for a patient calling for help, Ruth
takes action to support a young man as he takes his last breath.
This happened in Hot Springs when the AIDS epidemic had heightened
fears and homophobia in the general public. Misinformation about
ways the disease was contracted marginalised sufferers, and those
who supported them.
The reader comes to understand more about Ruth, her daughter Allison
and her ex-husband. Ruth has a complex history that forged an
enduring resilience and positivity that drove Ruth to create
innovative ways to assist and protect AIDS sufferers. As news of her
special qualities spread, the numbers she supported swelled to being
in the hundreds.
Ruth describes herself as a regular person, however the depth of her
compassion and her capacity to create connections/relationships in
order to advocate for the young men sets her apart from a regular
person. Because of that, this book is difficult to put down and the
reader is moved to tears and/or anger as Ruth describes the
behaviours of families, medical professionals, religious leaders and
community members along with the ways the public health system
failed to take the epidemic seriously. Ruth's selfless love for
others, combined with a persistence and willingness to take
calculated risks meant the world to the young men abandoned by
everyone else and that makes this is an important book for today.
Ruth continues to advocate for the LGBTQ community and decided to
write this memoir following the sharing of an unauthorised film about her work.
Themes: Relationships (family, friends), Homophobia, AIDS, Religion,
Ethics (medical).
Linda Guthrie
Australia under the sea 1, 2, 3 by Frane Lessac
Walker Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781760652272.
(Age: 1+) Highly recommended. Stunning illustrations and easy to
understand information about marine life make this an outstanding
picture book. The reader will be enticed in by the beautifully
designed front cover with its green/blue background and shiny sea
creatures and once inside will be fascinated by the detail not only
of the illustrations but by the information that is offered.
Starting with counting the ocean creatures, 1, 2, 3 on a coral reef,
the opposite page then gives facts about coral, with all the text
set in easy-to-read black type against the ocean with a myriad of
creatures living in it. Following this is a magnificent giant whale
shark that covers both pages to show its size and from then on
readers will be enthralled with pictures of 2 shy dugongs, 3 playful
clownfish, 4 clever dolphins and so on until they reach 12 tired
seahorses. The information about each creature and its habitat is
organised in one or two concise, easy to read sentences that will
give young readers enough to stimulate their interest, while older
readers will want to go on to deeper research.
Astute readers will want to pick out each of the colourful creatures
on the summary page about the importance of coral reefs and then
return to the front pages after reading the book to see if they can
find and identify all the creatures that have featured in the count
to 12. There is also a final double page spread with the numbers 1
to 12 and the corresponding creatures for an easy way to continue
counting to 12 for the young reader.
This book is a wonderful introduction not only to counting from 1 to
12, but to the unique marine life that lives in a coral reef.
Teachers will be able to use this when looking at the ocean, and it
is particularly useful if children are interested in the Great
Barrier Reef and conservation.
A companion to Australian baby animals, this would be ideal
in any library and classroom and is certainly a keeper for me.
Pat Pledger
Christmas wishes by Enid Blyton
Hachette, 2020. ISBN: 9781444957198. pbk., 316pp.
After a year like no other, when things that have been taken for
granted for decades have suddenly become novelties, Christmas is
coming again - almost the one certainty - and people are returning
to the old classic rituals and routines in a way unseen for many
years. It is as though the security of the past is bringing comfort
in this uncertain present and so it seems logical that we should
also turn to the stories that have endured and given such joy in
previous times.
If any writer of previous generations has survived that test of time
it is Enid Blyton and in this collection of 30 Christmas tales taken
from her series and short story collections of yesteryear, young
readers will be taken back to a time when there was just the written
word, the imagination and the magic. Even those who are not as
old as me and who don't recall Blyton being an integral part of
their reading history will revel in the sheer innocence and joy of
these simple stories. From a dog who discovers the joy of Christmas
to Santa Claus who gets himself out of a muddle with a little help
from his friends, these stories celebrate shared times, festivities
and wonder. Even if there is no opportunity to organise a full-blown
Christmas Countdown, sharing just one story a day as a family
or a class will bring back that sense of calm and normality in a
world that seems to have gone mad.
This is a collection that holds so many memories for me that I'm
passing it on to Miss 14 and Miss 9, knowing they will enjoy
them regardless of their ages and that they are likely to hang on to
it for that distant day of their own families. Thanks Hachette for
adding to the nostalgia.
Barbara Braxton
The fifth season by Philip Salom
Transit Lounge, 2020. ISBN: 9781925760644.
(Age: Adult) Jack is a writer, and an ill man. He is intrigued by
the discoveries of unidentified dead people such as the Somerton Man
or the Gippsland Man, still mysteries today, and he is writing a
book about them whilst sojourning at Blue Bay. There he meets Sarah,
owner of the house he is staying in, a young woman obsessed with the
disappearance of her sister Alice. Sarah has become a member of the
Missing Persons Advocacy Network and as an artist paints large
murals of the face of her sister and other missing people around the
country in the hope that somebody will see them and provide a clue
as to their whereabouts. The Somerton Man or the Gippsland Man must
also be known and missing by somebody, surely, so their interests
have some overlap and draw them together.
The story becomes complicated by the fact that the previous lodger
at Sarah's house was also a writer and artist, now missing, and he
has written a book about the local townspeople including Sarah, and
possibly Alice, but how much is based on life or is fiction becomes
very confusing. This intertwining of the known and the unknown, the
real and the imagined, become threads of thoughts and ideas about
life, death, art and writing. There are pages readers will want to
go back over to grapple with the suggestions and possibilities.
It is a book for intellectuals, but at the same time has some really
grassroot renderings of iconic Aussie conversations in the local
bar, and the veggie shop, a vein of humour that lightens the tone a
little.
What is the fifth season? Maybe it's another dimension, maybe it's
time, maybe it's the unknown. That should give you the clue that
this is not your usual mystery story. It is a challenging read, but
it is full of interesting ideas, and I'm sure the book will find its
readers.
Themes: Missing persons, Unidentified dead, Loss, Mortality,
Obsession, Writing, Art.
Helen Eddy
The strays of Paris by Jane Smiley
Pan Macmillan, 2020. ISBN: 9781529052985.
(Age: Middle school/secondary/adult) Highly recommended. A group of
animals lives on scraps and their wits around the Eiffel Tower in
Paris. The horse, Paras is left in her stall after a race, and when
no one comes to take her home, nudges open her gate and walks out.
Following her nose she comes to a broad expanse of wonderful sweet
grass, close by a very tall tower. Here, a dog called Frida
befriends her, and a raven, Raoul, tags along, followed by two
ducks, Syd and Nancy. The gardener chooses to ignore them, as animal
issues are not his concern, people at the markets give the dog
scraps and are amazed when she gives them money in return. The raven
pontificates about the essence of freedom, the ducks squabble about
responsibility, the rat is worried about finding a mate, and the
horse just loves the fresh juicy grass and a place to roll around.
They are watched by an eight year old boy, Etienne, who lives with
his 97 year old blind great grandmother, and one day he takes the
horse home.
A beautifully written story of friendship, the tale enfolds all
readers with its humour and charm, allowing us to believe that this
could really happen.
Etienne keeps the stabling of the horse in their house a secret,
although several shop keepers nearby become aware that something is
not quite as it should be. The baker is sure she is hallucinating to
see a horse in the city streets, and gives her oats and bran, the
butcher provides scraps of meat for the dog, while the greengrocer
is good for carrots, apples and greens, and the gardener happy to
collect the horse poo for the garden. Each separately provides for
the animals as well as Etienne who shops each day for his great
grandmother, but each does not think beyond themselves, only coming
together after the old woman dies, to discuss what happened.
This beguiling story of love and friendship, tugs at the idea of
responsibility. But all comes to a wonderful denouement, more than
any reader could have hoped for, as each delicate strand is woven
together to make a satisfying conclusion. The Parisian background is
an absolute delight, and the characters, both human and animal whose
lives we follow are astonishing in their grasp of their place in the
world.
Themes: Animals, Paris, Humour, Homeless, Love, Loneliness, Freedom,
Friendship.
Fran Knight
Olga by Bernhard Schlink, translated by Charlotte Collins
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2020. ISBN: 9781474611145.
(Age: Adult) Highly recommended. Schlink's novel begins in early
20th century Prussia, with the story of Olga, the strange girl who
liked to observe; and then Herbert, the boy who tripped forward in
his eagerness to go somewhere else. We read of how they are drawn to
each other, the impoverished orphan and the privileged aristocrat,
of how she thirsts for knowledge and he thirsts for adventure, but
perhaps different forms of the same thing. Part 1 is the outline of
their relationship; part 2 is Olga's later life as seamstress in the
family of the young boy Ferdinand; and then part 3 is the discovery
of Olga's long lost letters to her love, finally filling out the
picture with all the secrets previously unknown.
Schlink grapples with questions of how could someone love a person
involved in colonial African massacre, how could someone love a Nazi
SS officer in charge of torture, how could it happen? Any of our
preconceived stereotypes give way to the stories of real people
struggling to understand and care for one another, sharing ideas and
aspirations, lovers overcoming separation, and the complexities of
parent relationships with child.
Olga's life is one of coming to grips with loss, lost love, lost
relationships. But in the end, she determines to make her own
statement, one we only discover in a surprising twist in the last
pages. Schlink the master storyteller brings it all together neatly
at the end, but I challenge any reader to let it rest there; I had
to go back and read the story all over again and just marvel at the
subtlety with which the author gradually reveals more and more of
the story.
Some aspects of the book reminded me of The
Dutch house by Ann Patchett (2019), a completely
different story in a different setting, but what the two novels
share is their portrayal of how children perpetuate the
characteristics of their parents, even those aspects that most
alienate them. And both novels explore themes of love, loss and
obsession.
Olga is an unusually constructed novel, it gives one version of the
story and then like a paintbrush over a painting, we are given
another layer and then yet another. Each layer enriches our
understanding. It is an intellectually rewarding novel to savour and
think about long afterwards.
Themes: Love, Loss, Imperialism, Politics, Parent child
relationship.
Helen Eddy
Little lion by Saroo Brierley
Illus. by Bruce Whatley. Puffin Books, 2020. ISBN: 9780143795094.
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. The incredible true story of Saroo
Brierley's life is presented in this edition for younger readers,
stunningly illustrated by Bruce Whatley. With 80,000 children going
missing in India each year, five year old Saroo was one of many who
arrived at Kolkata railway station, not knowing where he was.
Falling asleep on a train the night before, he woke to find himself
locked in, travelling on the train until it reached Kolkata where he
was able to escape. Luckily another child took him to the police
station, and from there he went to an orphanage and thence to
Australia with his adoptive parents.
All the while Saroo dreamed of his home town, his mother and
siblings, his house and his streets where he lived. When at
university in Canberra he befriended Indian students and they
encouraged him in his search using Google Maps. Over a number of
years, his search continued until one night following yet another
train line, he saw the water tank near his house, the bridge where
he played and recognised the village where he lived.
From there he went to India to find his family, and after a small
hiccup, was reunited with his mother and several of his siblings.
His brother whom he loved to distraction had gone missing the same
night as Saroo, an incredible double blow for his family.
Children will love reading of Saroo and his search for his family,
strengthening the ties that bind us all. Brierley's tale is
laudatory in its strong theme of family, as he finds that they never
forgot him and welcomed his return, just as he never forgot them.
Whatley uses a range of techniques to present the story, including
pastel and pencil, creating pages filled with colour, accompanied by
smaller pencil illustrations underneath the text. The darker colours
used to create the background of life in India, particularly when he
is lost on the train, contrast with the Australian light and the
colour filled pages when he finds his family. The struggle of people
fitting onto the train at Kolkata station must have been
overwhelming for a five year old boy from a tiny village, and this
image like others n the book will create talking points for children
reading of Saroo.
Subtitled, A long way home, readers will be in awe of the
journeys Saroo took: locked on a train, the struggle to survive in
Kolkata, living in an orphanage, the voyage to a new life in
Australia, and the search for his family, followed by another
journey back to India, each journey plucking at the readers'
heartstrings.
Theme: India, Adoption, Homeless, Children. Loss, Village life,
Google maps.
Fran Knight
Consolation by Garry Disher
Paul Hirschhausen book 3. Text Publishing, 2020. ISBN:
9781922330260.
(Age: Adult - Senior Secondary) Highly recommended. Disher visits
the small South Australian town of Tiverton once again as Constable
Paul Hirschhausen begins to investigate a series of crimes that is
plaguing the region. Someone is stealing older women's underwear
from their clothes lines. He has received a call about a child who
might be at risk and one about a farmer who is angry about the
treatment his child has received at the hands of the principal of
the local school. At the same time winter is closing in and
frustrations are growing.
Disher is a master at creating a setting: the dry, cold loneliness
of outback of South Australia comes alive in his descriptions as
Hirsch makes his routine visits to outlying farms and properties,
checking that all is well with these isolated people. He knows the
disparate inhabitants of the small community of Redruth, which is
his patch, and the inner workings of the police in a small town and
their relationship with the city police, are exposed as he traces
the movements of the armed farmer and his son, so angry about
everything, that they have gone on the run.
Hirsch is a likeable character who is easy to relate to. The reader
can sympathise with him as he struggles to work out what to do about
the young woman who appears to be stalking him, and delight in his
relationship with Wendy and her daughter Katie. The wry repartee
between Hirsch and many of the well-fleshed out characters in the
book gives some lighter moments throughout the book.
The pace is fast and Disher juggles several sub-plots with ease
drawing them all together by the conclusion of the book, giving a
vivid insight into the life of a small-town police officer.
I am a fan of all of Garry Disher's books, and have really enjoyed
reading about Hirsch in Consolation as well as Bitterwash
Road and Peace.
Fans of Jane Harper (The
lost man and The
dry) and Sarah Thornton's Lapse
are sure to enjoy this series.
Pat Pledger
A tale of witchcraft by Chris Colfer
Hodder & Stoughton 2020. ISBN: 9781510202191.
(Age: Young Adult). Highly recommended. Brystal Evergreen and her
band of magical friends are back to entertain in A tale of
witchcraft, sequel to 2019's A
tale of magic. The Fairy Council have defeated the evil
Snow Queen and negotiated for the emancipation of women and the
lawful use of magic throughout the four kingdoms. Brystal is now in
charge of the magical academy founded by her mentor, Madame
Weatherberry, and has welcomed magical beings from across the land
to the school. However, from the novel's opening page we know that
something is once again amiss. Legal tolerance of magic does not
automatically equal social acceptance and the ascendance of magic
users has given rise to a movement of magic-haters called the
Righteous Brotherhood, who are determined to stamp out fairies and
their ilk once and for all. If this isn't concerning enough, a
mysterious witch with dark intentions arrives at the academy to
recruit students for her rival school. Brystal knows it is only a
matter of time before the mankind vs magic conflict begins again . .
.
While Chris Colfer's books may be set in fantastical lands with
little similarities to our own, there are always parallels to be
drawn between his plots and our own society. As once marginalised
and oppressed minority groups become more accepted and vocal in the
community, so to do reactionary movements intent on returning things
to the status quo. A tale of witchcraft is in part an
allegory for our times. It is also an entertaining and fitting
sequel for A tale of magic and readers will be thrilled to
follow Brystal and her friends as they once again battle to save
themselves, their community and all of humanity.
Themes: Magic, Magical creatures, Witches, Friendship, Cults,
Adventure, Schools.
Rose Tabeni
Whitney and Britney: Chicken detectives by Lucinda Gifford
Scholastic, 2020. ISBN: 9781743836057.
Highly recommended. Whitney and Britney are back and determined to
help their beloved friend Dora. The fabulous chooks are performing
with Dora, having lots of fun but poor Dora is feeling glum. She is
missing Gloria. The chooks are determined to help their beloved
friend find Gloria and get together and hatch a plan to find her.
They talk to lots of people; they even try disguises but still come
up with nothing.
In the end they meet up with someone who knows what happened to her
and Dora and Gloria are finally reunited. Dora is happy and
they all play Jazz together.
The illustrations in this book enhance the story and help to draw
the reader into the book.
I highly recommend this book. I can't wait to see what these
chickens get up to next.
Karen Colliver
When this bell rings by Allison Rushby
Walker Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781760651947.
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. When eleven year old Tamsin, daughter
of the housekeeper, finds herself part of the investigation into the
disappearance of her next door neighbour, she is at a loss as
to who to trust. Her neighbour, Edie St Clair is a well known
children's novelist and is a working on the concluding chapters of
her graphic novel, the last in a series of ten books called London
of the Bells, so successful that journalists are camped near her
front verandah, eager for an interview. Tamsin is asked inside after
showing her an illustration of the min character, and once there she
is drawn into the mystery, becoming part of the illustrations which
cover the walls of Edie's house.
Tamsin finds herself in the world created by Edie, and here the
significance of the bells of the London churches and the children's
rhyme, Oranges and Lemons, takes on a sinister meaning as the ravens
from the Tower of London have taken over the city, using the bells
to summon the populace to do their bidding. It is a creepy world,
spectacularly reflecting known aspects of London, but equally taking
this knowledge and using it with an unsettling malevolence.
Cleverly entwining the story of Edie St Clair with the novel she is
writing, her characters are given life as the text moves from the
present to the fictional world she has created. But some of the
characters seem to know why Tamsin is in their world, and even seem
to understand that they are a creation of a novelist's imagination,
and seem to be directing Tamsin, but she has no idea where she is
going or why. Eventually Tamsin realises that they are all worried
about what will happen to them when number ten is finished, and they
toss her out of their world, telling her to write an ending which
will please everyone, but a twist brings her much closer to their
world than she expects.
Just like Tamsin, readers are mystified as to what is going on, and
like her, develop a strong idea of place and time as we begin to
piece the jigsaw together, enthralled at its multi layered
complexity.
I loved Rushby's previous novels, The
mulberry tree, The
turnkey and The
seven keys, and their complexity foreshadows the
involving read offered in When this bell rings, a wholly engrossing
and captivating story. Teacher's
notes are available.
Themes: Fantasy, Graphic novel, Writing, Authors, Time travel,
Characterisation.
Fran Knight
