Gecko Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781776572731.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Swedish author, Anna Hoglund has
created a fable like story of a young girl who saves her father
using cunning and ingenuity. Translated for an English audience by
Julia Marshall, the story is wonderfully supported by copper plate
etchings with splashes of watercolour. The simplistic but never
simple drawings are evocative of the bleak landscape and the sparse
life of the girl and her father. He is a knight and must go out and
deal with a giant turning people to stone. She waits at home alone,
and as time passes she despairs that he will not return and so
decides to try and find him. She looks at her mirror and asks
herself what would happen if the giant saw himself in the mirror.
She sets out with her mirror and a knife and swims through the cold,
dark water not knowing where she is going. She stays overnight with
a woman who gives her an umbrella and she moves on to find a land
with many many stones. When the ground begins to shake and the giant
approaches, she unfurls the umbrella, and the giant looks down
through the hole he makes in it and sees himself in the mirror.
Her courage kills the giant and saves those turned to stone. She and
her father now live in a peaceful land and neither will be alone
again.
This is a lovely hand sized book which children will often return
to, reading of the girl using her courage and ingenuity to rescue
her father.
And the delightful illustrations will attract their attention as
they read the text. Gecko Press publishes 'curiously good books' and
the website tells us that one good book can spark a lifetime of
reading. The books they publish are certainly books that spark
interest and are very different to those offered by other
publishers. Read more here.
Themes: Courage, Giants, Mirror.
Fran Knight
The Betrothed by Keira Cass
HarperCollins, 2020. ISBN: 9780008158828.
(Age: Young Adult). Keira Cass fans have been eagerly awaiting for The
Betrothed since the last book in her hugely popular The
Selection series was published in 2016. Unfortunately, they
may be disappointed when they read it. Unlike the author's previous
works which focused on a Bachelor-style love contest set in a
post-dystopian America, The Betrothed is a historical
romance pivoting on a much maligned YA trope - the love triangle.
King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, a noblewoman
who has grown up around the King, constantly vying for his
attention. While initially delighted to have been singled out by the
monarch, during their courtship Hollis meets Silas, an artisan from
a refugee family that has fled a neighbouring country. Hollis is
drawn to Silas, despite her inital attempts to resist him and when
King Jameson proposes to her she must decide whether being queen is
what she truly wants in life.
While the novel begins intriguingly and promises a fun romp, it soon
devolves into cliche after cliche as Hollis 'ums and ahs' over what
she should do and who she should choose. A frustrating ending is the
unfortunate cherry on top for this disappointing plotline.
A positive for the novel is Cass' easy-to-read style. As in The
Selection, her prose is frothy and bubbly; well suited to her
target young adult audience. There are also some well-developed
secondary characters who make for enjoyable reading. However,
readers who were initially ecstatic for the start of a new Keira
Cass series may find themselves reluctant to continue reading
further. Themes: Love, Royalty, Friendship, Identity.
Rose Tabeni
In my dreams by Stef Gemmill and Tanja Stephani
New Frontier, 2020. ISBN: 9781925594928.
(Age: 6-7) Highly recommended. From the moment I laid eyes on the
book In my dreams by Stef Gemmill and Tanja Stephani I was
excited to read it. You are greeted with the most wonderous cover
that has bright colours, hints of gold sparkles, funny creatures,
and a whimsical feeling. I could not wait to open it.
I was not disappointed! This story is about the wonderful places
that a dream can take you, how you can find fruit flavoured
rainbows, race against pirates, fly on a dragon's back, and seek
shelter in an igloo. Each page takes you to another magical,
interesting place where you are drawn into the illustration looking
at the characters' faces and imagining the dreams that could be
conjured up from these very pages.
The same characters are seen throughout the book which adds some
continuity and something to search for - and I especially love the
little puppy who is often having the most amazing time running with
sled dogs or riding on a dragon.
At the end there is a couple of pages about how the darkness and
shadows can be a scary place for some children. The books states
"They have no power over me. I can blink my eyes and they're gone"
which is a great little message for many children and hopefully
another strategy to add to their collection on particularly dark
nights.
Overall, I absolutely love this book and think it would be such a
great addition to any young child's library. I think it would be
suitable for children up to 6-7 years of age, but as I really
enjoyed it too I feel that children of all ages would probably be
able to find something they could relate to within it. Teacher's
notes are available. 5 out of 5!
Lauren Fountain
Respect by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, illus. Lisa Kennedy
Magabala Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781925936315
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Across pages of disarming
illustrations, full of colour and movement, redolent of the reds and
browns of outback Australia as well as the bright blues of coastal
environments, the theme of respect is drawn in tightly written
authoritative prose. Fay Muir, a Boonwurrung Elder of the Port
Phillip Bay area of Victoria, has worked with celebrated author, Sue
Lawson, to create a story that is older than the red earth and older
than the flickering stars.
Respect is held for stories, for the Elders, for Ancestors, for
songs. It is held for the sea eagle, for the leaves on the trees
falling to the red earth, for families who pass on their stories,
for those who listen, learning from the Elders. Through learning to
love and respect Country, we learn to love and respect each other as
well as ourselves.
Respect is at the heart of any Aboriginal community and reaffirming
respect will reinforce its application to all Australians who care
about the natural environment and the people who live there.
Lisa Kennedy a descendant of the Trawlwoolway people of north east
Tasmania, has used acrylic paint and collage to create her vibrant
illustrations which bring together art, culture and story to promote
respect: a quality that underpins Aboriginal sensibilities.
Themes: Respect, Aboriginal themes, Generations
Fran Knight
Dear child by Romy Hausmann
Quercus, 2019. ISBN: 9781529401424.
(Age: Adult - Senior Secondary) Highly recommended for people who
can cope with books in the vein of Room
by Emma Donoghue. Locked in a windowless cabin in the woods, Lena's
life is bound up by rules made up by the man who captured her to be
the mother to his two children. Everything is regimented, and there
is severe punishment if she deviates from, or questions, his demands.
Lena manages to break free from the cabin one night accompanied by
Hannah, but her escape raises many questions. Who is she? What has
happened to Lena who disappeared 14 years ago? Who is the man found
dead in the cabin and what has happened to Hannah's little brother?
This is a tightly plotted thriller that keeps the reader guessing
the whole way through with its twisty, exciting, and often
heart-wrenching events. There are many tense moments, and the
description of Lena's treatment in the cabin is not for the faint
hearted. It is also disturbing to read about her attempts to make a
normal life again and the grief and heartbreak of Lena's father
Matthias and his desire to find out what happened to Lena is very
compelling.
Written in three voices, that of Jasmin, Hannah and Matthias, the
story unfolds as they tell their version of what has happened and
how they feel.
The conclusion is stunning and very memorable. Dear child will
leave the reader determined to read any novels that this talented
author might produce in the future.
Pat Pledger
Manticores are not real by Nick Dyrenfurth
Illus. by Andrew McIntosh. Little Steps, 2019. ISBN: 9781925839500. Manticores are not real is a picture book about Micah, a
young boy who is awoken in his dreams by a manticore (a creature
part lion, part flamingo and part gazelle with a man's face!) who
takes him on an adventure to his mystical land with a pinkish sky,
shimmering mountains and many other manticore friends. They attend a
party and have a wonderful time. The story concludes with Micah
being woken by his father, and he wonders if it was all a dream or
if in fact . . . manticores were real!
To be honest I was not a huge fan of this book. The story was so
similar to many I had read before: child has a dream, wakes within
the dream, goes on adventure, wakes up in the morning and wonders
whether it was all real or not; and unfortunately it didn't really
hit the mark.
The rhyming throughout was clumsy and I found it hard to read with a
good flow - I had to keep going back over sections to get them to
sound right. There were words put in that seemed to be written just
to keep the rhyme but did not make a lot of sense.
The illustrations were nice, I liked the colours and the attention
to detail in the shading and landscapes.
I think this book could have been written about a real child who has
had this very dream! This is a lovely gesture and will be an amazing
keepsake for years to come. I think the rhyming could be refined a
bit more to ensure that it is easy to read with flow and good
intonation.
I give this book 2 out of 5.
Lauren Fountain
Girl from the sea by Margaret Wild
Illus. by Jane Tanner. Allen & Unwin, 2020. ISBN: 9781760524302.
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. The whispers of a young girl, drowned
at sea, reveal her longing for life. She sees a cottage by the sea
where a family plays on the beach. She spies the cat and dog as she
comes to the house, and they spy her. She follows the family as they
collect shells along the water's edge. She longs to be with them,
walking more closely to the mother. If she lived in the cottage, she
tells us, she would sweep the floor, and make the children laugh,
but her feet are always in the water. She wonders if they can hear
her as she sings in the wind, or feel her as she wraps herself
around them, or see her as she stands in the garden.
She is a breathe, a shadow, a murmur of a young girl lost in the
waves, as she sighs for what might have been. The animals know she
is there, waiting to be petted, and Mum becomes more aware of her
presence as she makes her way along the beach, with just the
suggestion of a third child by her side.
Margaret Wild's sparse prose give the bare outline of a lost child
and what she has missed. Each sentence rings with longing as she
sees a life that might have been. She watches the family which could
have been hers as they go about the very ordinary things families do
when together on a beach. She yearns to be with them, to be
acknowledged, to be part of their days.
Readers will fall into Jane Tanner's illustrations, reminding them
of times at the beach, playing with their siblings, watching the
birds and dolphins, making sandcastles, collecting shells. She has
used her darker coloured pencils along with charcoal and a charcoal
pencil to develop the most exquisite of beach scenes. Dark and
ominous, yet enveloping and comforting, the darker tones emphasise
the loss of a child, drowned at sea. Her feet are always in water in
Tanner's drawings, her hair wild and unkempt, her look wistful and
full of longing. Shells appear on the beach and in their hands, near
the gravestone and on the windowsill. The sepia images, sometimes
tinged with blue, urge the reader to look more closely, to compare
their own experiences at the beach with those before them, to
imagine more of the story behind the few words and the images, to
fill in the spaces.
This is an outstanding offering from two of Australia's foremost
book creators, and will be lovingly read by children of all ages.
Themes: Drowning, Sea, Longing, Family.
Fran Knight
Henrie's hero hunt by Petra James
Illus. by A. Yi. Walker Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781760650858.
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. This fast paced sequel to Hapless
Hero Henrie (2019) will have instant appeal after Henrie receives a
call on the Hero Hotline, a phone she is not allowed to answer.
After all her hero status is not confirmed by the Melchior family,
one in which only the male line takes up heroism.
With Aunt Ellie trying to get her away, and Henrie prevaricating on
whether to answer the phone or not, thirty pages roll away with the
two sparring over words, and Henrie speaking directly to the reader
while the stage is set for another foray into the hilarious
adventures of Hapless Henrie.
The girl on the other end is unsure but Ellie traces the call.
Marley has rung them after finding an ad for the House of Melchior
amongst her dead aunt's things. Her great aunt, Agnes Hunt has left
clues behind leading the two to a dig in Egypt, uncovering Agnes's
association with the Carter expedition of 1922 which resulted in the
discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen. Further investigation reveals
that Agnes was accused of stealing a statue from the tomb. Marley is
appalled and they are determined to find the answer to this mystery.
A trip to the Museum of Antiquities reveals not only that the statue
Aunt Agnes was supposed to steal is not on the Tutankhamen
inventory, but there is another operative after it as well. Violeta
Villarne kidnaps Alex and Marley and bribes Henrie into handing over
the tiny key found in Agnes' embroidery box. From there with Alex
and Marley locked in the backroom at the museum, Henrie must work
hard at outwitting the smart Violeta.
Petra James throws lots into the mix, ensuring middle to upper
primary school readers will be absorbed with hieroglyphics, morse
code, deciphering, espionage, walkie talkies using spy jargon, along
with pages of text broken up with notes and letters, lists and
instructions with illustrations by A. Yi, adding to the fun.
They will be intrigued with the sub plot of Henrie's search for her
parents, last seen in Prague nine years ago, and this amongst many
others layers will keep them reading right to the end.
Themes: Humour, Spying, Family, Egypt, Tutankhamen.
Fran Knight
The Puppet Show by M.W. Craven
Washington Poe book 1. Constable, 2018. ISBN: 9781472127440.
(Age: Adult - Senior secondary) Highly recommended for mystery
lovers. CWA Gold Dagger Award 2019. Washington Poe is brought in to
investigate a series of murders where the victims are burnt alive in
prehistoric stone circles. His name has been carved into one of the
victims and accompanied by Tilly Bradshaw, an awkward criminal
analyist, he follows a trail that is obviously set up for him. I
picked up The puppet show after thoroughly enjoying Black
Summer, the second in the series as I found the
personalities of both Poe and Bradshaw to be ones that I really
liked and wished to read more about.
Craven's narrative is engaging and there are enough twists and turns
to keep any mystery fan engrossed in trying to work out what is
happening. And that ending was a surprise for me, which always makes
for a more enjoyable read for a person who reads a lot of mysteries.
There is a gradual fleshing out of the personalities of Poe and
Bradshaw and the growth of trust between them makes for a great
working relationship. Both are unusual characters, Poe dogged in his
following of the case, over-riding his superiors and going his own
way, and Tilly socially inept, but brilliant in her ability to
analyse what is going on.
The cold landscape of Cumbria with its prehistoric stone circles
makes an interesting background to the murders and the serial
killer, nicknamed The Immolation Man, is one scary murderer.
This is a series that is sure to have a strong following from
readers who enjoy clever plotting and excellent narratives.
Pat Pledger
Haywire by Claire Saxby
Australia's Second World War series. Omnibus, 2020. ISBN:
9781742769196.
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. The second book in the new series of
stories set during the Second World War involves a little known
internment camp at Hay in western New South Wales. Here German boy,
Max Gruber is interned as an enemy alien, sent from England on the
notorious ship, Dunera to a place as distant from his home
town as could be imagined. In Hay, Tom has just declined the
opportunity to study in Sydney because his father needs him in his
bakery. Disappointment covers him like a blanket as he watches the
building of the camp, an enterprise his mother despises, reflecting
the animosity of some of the town's folk for the Germans and
Italians detained there.
Saxby neatly reveals the different positions taken by the town's
folk, showing the conversation at the dinner table. The meeting up
of the two boys, when Tom is delivering bread and Max is sheltering
from the bullies at the camp, results in a friendship, but when Max
is bullied again into doing homework for one of the older boys, he
decides to escape.
In this timely plea for people to accept others for who they
are and not judge by appearances or prejudices, Tom sees Max for who
he is, a young frightened boy who has endured immense hardship and
sent to a place beyond his comprehension.
The semantics around the words 'detention' or 'internment' or
'jail', are just so much wordplay then as it is now, and this book
will encourage readers to know more of our past where internment
camps were used to house prisoners despite having not been to court.
That many of these men (900) chose to stay in Australia after the
war, is testament more to their treatment by people such as Tom and
his father, rather than the bigots in the community.
The story of the Dunera can be found here, while
that of the internment camp at Hay here.
Melbourne author, Claire Saxby writes fiction, non-fiction and
poetry for children, with about forty books in print. The first in
the series is War
and Resistance by Sophie Masson. Themes: War, Internment
camp, World War Two, Hay, NSW, Series: Australia's Second World War:
Book 2, Friendship.
Fran Knight
The Lost Witch by Melvin Burgess
Andersen, 2020. ISBN: 9781783448357.
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. Leeds Book Awards Nominee for 14-16
(2019). This is not a book for the faint-hearted or for fans of easy
to read stories about young witches. As the back-cover states, it is
not suitable for younger readers, but for older readers, the
combination of the supernatural and tough realism that Melvin
Burgess, author of Junk, is famous for, makes for an engrossing,
dark and compelling read. Bea has begun to see things that no one
else can see - as the family are returning home late one night, she
sees evil creatures, the Hunt, and discovers that she can summon
help for the creatures that are being chased. Known as the Summoner,
she has the rare ability to call the spirits of people and animals
out of their bodies. She meets a charismatic young man Lars, who has
taught her how to skate board as well as a young girl, Silvis, who
introduces her to her grandfather, Odi, who warns her to be careful
as the huntsmen want to use her to gain these magical spirits.
However her parents believe she is hallucinating and take her to a
hospital where she is chased by the Hunt but rescued by Lars and
from then on Bea is confused, not knowing who she can trust and what
is the right thing to do. Lars assures Bea that he is on the side of
good and is against the Hunt, but gradually the reader becomes
concerned for her well-being as she is introduced to drugs and
begins to summon the spirits of living creatures.
Bea is a likeable but naive young woman who doesn't know where to
put her trust and under Lars' influence seems unable to work out
what is good and what is evil. He assures her that by helping him
her family will be rescued and Bea goes along with what he wants her
to do. The final, dramatic event when Bea must take responsibility
for her actions and try to set things right will have readers on the
edge of their seats.
Burgess' narrative is perfectly constructed, with twists and turns,
leaving the reader wondering who can be trusted. His characters come
alive and it is easy to believe this tale of myth and magic, witches
and the Hunt. Bea's friendship with the loyal and sympathetic Silvis
is a highlight of the story, but the failings of her father make a
grim contrast, as the reader finds that parents are not always right
and do the correct thing for their children.
Pat Pledger
The Unadoptables by Hana Tooke
Puffin Books, 2020. ISBN: 9780241453612.
(Ages: 9+ years). Highly recommended. The Unadoptables by
Hana Tooke is an exciting and cleverly written middle grade read.
The story is action-packed with mystery, danger, adventure and some
very evil characters. In 1800 five orphans are abandoned in the same
week in different receptacles at the Little Tulip Orphanage. Chapter
One begins with the rules for abandoning babies being broken and an
introduction to each child who is given an unusual name by the cruel
and dastardly matron Elinora Gassbeek. The children, named Lotta,
Egg, Fenna, Sem and Milou, have their own special qualities that
they share with each other. They have never been adopted and have a
strong familial bond and survival instinct. They are treated
miserably and work all day and night for little food and no
comforts. Milou is determined to find her parents and is a wonderful
storyteller. She creates all sorts of reasons as to why she was
abandoned and keeps a Book of Theories. Milou is the driving force
behind the five escaping the orphanage after the villainous Mr
Rotman offers to buy them from the matron to become child slaves on
his ship. He and the matron are in partnership and profiting from
the sale of the orphans. Milou with the help of the other children
finds a home in the guise of a windmill using map coordinates left
in her baby coffin. The abandoned property also contains an old
rundown theatre and puppets similar to the one Milou has had with
her from her arrival at the orphanage. Once at the windmill the five
decide to stay and live there but need to earn money to survive.
They embark on a grand plan to raise money by holding a puppet show
for the local community and also in the hope of finding Milou's
parents whom she strongly believes are searching for her. Added to
this scenario is the suspicious neighbour, an official from the
Kinderbureau, a man-eating dog, one of the children held captive,
the dramatic rescue, plus a mysterious stranger and there is the
makings of a great tale for avid readers of mystery and danger.
Themes: Orphans, Family, 1800's, Amsterdam, Adventure, Excitement,
Danger, Mystery.
Kathryn Beilby
Ten minutes to bed Little Dinosaur by Rhiannon Fielding
Illus. by Chris Chatterton. Penguin Random House UK, 2020. ISBN:
9780241386736.
(Ages: 2-5) This is a new title in a series of Ten Minutes to
Bed books (including Little
Monster and Little
Mermaid). It's an overt bedtime story set in The Land of
Nod (the endpapers show a map of the land and where each of the
characters live) and is similar in concept to other books about
bedtime reluctance such as Play and I Am Not Sleepy
and I Will Not Go to Bed. In addition, a counting element is
included as it counts down the minutes until bedtime from ten to
one. 'Ten minutes to bed!' Mum tells Rumble. But Rumble just loves
to have fun. So off he thunders, sending birds and frogs hopping and
fluttering, splashing about in the mud and running all the way to an
erupting volcano. 'Five minutes' say all the dinosaurs racing past
him in a rush to escape the lava. 'Four minutes to bed . . . but
where am I, I wonder?', he says when he finds a safe place to rest.
It's rainy and thundery and getting dark when a shadow appears. It's
Mum, come to take him home. 'Two minutes,' she said. 'You are never
alone.' Before the last minute is even done, Rumble is in bed and
fast asleep, snoring.
Rumble's romping journey will delight young ones, who will see in
the illustrations the progression from sunset light to moonlight.
The mountain forest where the dinosaurs live is vivid and magical
and the depiction of light will cleverly calm and soothe children
(glowing lights within the forest, moon and shimmering stars). There
is a nice message here for children about being responsible and in
control of their own body and winding down for sleep. Little
Dinosaur seems to pay no attention to the countdown but by the end
of the ten minutes he is already asleep. It may even help some
younger children to set in place their own countdown to bedtime and
assist with an understanding of self-settling. Themes: Bedtime,
Counting Book, Rhyming Book, Dinosaurs.
Nicole Nelson
Barkley by Rebecca Crane
Walker Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781760651404.
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Barkley is unsure of just what sort of
dog he is. He compares himself to all the neighbourhood dogs: he is
not big like the biggest dog, or fluffy like the really fluffy ones,
or long and stretched out like the long greyhounds. He looks around
and is concerned that he does not fit any category: he is not fast
or fierce or fancy, and concludes that he is a nothing dog, a dog
that no one values, and runs away. In doing this he becomes lost and
does not know how to get back home. Now he is a tired, cold and wet
dog, and very very lost. But in searching for Max, he comes across a
poster with a picture of himself and Max on it, telling people that
Barkley is a lost dog. The poster describes him as small, black and
white and Max's best friend. Barkley puts the poster in his mouth
and sets off to find Max. In searching for Max, Barkley finds that
he is being searched for as well, and the two are reunited.
Now he is a very happy dog.
This lovely story, reiterating that we all have value, uses words to
describe the traits of the dogs in the neighbourhood, and very
easily, readers will be able to apply those words to themselves. All
of the descriptive words (adjectives); long, short, fluffy, lost,
etc could be used in a variety of ways in the classroom, introducing
the role of such words and how they enhance meaning. The positive
outcome uses affirming words, happy, best friend, encouraging the
readers to apply them more widely. They will see the connection
between these positive words and their self esteem, and recognise
that Barkley's self esteem plummeted when he felt he had no value.
Themes: Self esteem, Mental health, Loss, Dogs, Friendship.
Fran Knight
Hodgepodge: How to make a pet monster by Lili Wilkinson
Illus. by Dustin Spence. Albert Street Books, 2020. ISBN:
9781760877385.
(Age: 6+) Recommended. Artie an eleven year old science nut who
definitely does not believe in monsters, ghouls, ghost or fairies,
finds himself in an old house with his renovation driven single
mother and her new partner David. Not knowing what to call David is
only part of his problem, the main one being that he has moved in
with his twelve yer old daughter, Willow.
Determined not to like her, Artie retreats to the attic where he
finds an old book with recipes for producing monsters. Willow takes
to the book instantly and focusses on which monster to create.
Each few pages of this very funny book has a fact file about a
particular monster, and the whole book is presented with engaging
cartoons, illustrations and different fonts. An easy read, the book
is divided into twelve short chapters, each of about fifteen pages,
thrilling the readers with witty text and comic illustrations.
The relationship between Artie and Willow develops despite their
animosity and when they do create a pet monster, Hodgepodge, are at
a loss as to what to do with it.
He causes some problems which are blamed on Artie and Willow, so
they decide to send him back. Their attempts fail each time and the
monster's farting shows that he is still around. But in the
background is an oddly dressed gentleman wanting to help. They visit
his museum but are unimpressed with his motives and so decide they
must retrieve Hodgepodge.
The first in a sparkling new series, the misadventures of Artie and
Willow are sure to win a wide audience.
Themes: Monsters, Pets, Humour, Step families.
Fran Knight
