Penguin, 2020. ISBN: 9780241410875. 32pp. Peter Rabbit 2: Bunny trouble is a level 2 (progressive
reader) book from the Penguin Young Readers series. It is a
story based on the new Peter Rabbit movie, where Peter
snuggles himself into Thomas's truck and takes a trip to the big
city. He comes into some trouble and is very lucky when his friends
come and help him.
This particular story/level is designed for readers who are able to
use the pictures as clues, can decipher beginning/middle/ending
sounds and can make predictions within an in-depth plot (according
to the levelling information provided). I am guessing that the Penguin
Young Readers series is based on American guided and
traditional reading levels, as I was unfamiliar with the information
provided for parents and educators at the beginning.
This reader would be great for students who enjoy the Peter
Rabbit movies, but are also reluctant readers. This book may
assist them by providing a topic that interests them, and is a bit
different from the regular classroom reader stories.
It has engaging images taken from the movie, along with fun and
bright backgrounds added by the publisher. This may be a bonus for
the unenthusiastic reader, and those that rely on the images for
clues and engagement.
Overall a reasonable reader or story, with the bonus of being part
of the Peter Rabbit empire, which may add to the interest
for many children.
Lauren Fountain
Let's go! On a train by Rosalyn Albert
Illus. by Natalia Moore. Let's Go! series. New Frontier, 2020. ISBN:
9781925594980. 16pp.
(Age: 2+) A simple rhyming story has two friends going on a steam
train journey. Let's go on a steam train
And choo-choo through the land
We wait down at the station
Where we hold each other's hand.
Young children are given the opportunity to examine a train journey
in this book, part of the Let's Go! Series that looks at different
modes of transport. They start off at the station, with its Platform
number and clock with the conductor waving from the train.
They see the fire being stoked and watch the countryside from their
seats.
All the illustrations are brightly coloured and detailed while there
is a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds and gender in the children
and the workers.
Older children looking at forms of transport would be able to
identify how train travel has changed from their grandparents' time
while younger children will enjoy the rhyme and rhythm of the
narrative.
Pat Pledger
Butterfly yellow by Thanhha Lai
University of Queensland Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780702262890.
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Dedicated to the unknowable number of
refugees at the bottom of the sea, Butterfly yellow tells
the story of Hang, a young Vietnamese girl making her way across
Texas, searching for the last remaining member of her family, her
young brother Linh who as a toddler was airlifted to America
following the Vietnam War. As she trudges across the dry landscape
of Texas in long sleeved high necked clothes covering the faint red
scar lines that score her body, her path crosses with a young man,
Lee Roy, a wannabe cowboy with a droopy moustache, seeking out rodeo
excitement. Hang has only a crumpled card with an address, handed to
her many years ago by the American who took her brother, and she
longs to be reunited with the young child she remembers and loves so
much. She is fiercely determined; having endured a horrendous
experience as a refugee boat person, her case file labelled Extreme
Trauma, details that are only gradually revealed as we learn more
about her past.
This is a poignant but heart-warming story of the slow development
of trust and friendship between the Vietnamese refugee and the naive
cowboy. Lee Roy is by Hang's side, initially reluctant, but then
patient and kind, as her Americanised brother rejects any memory of
her. And the people around them, each in their own way, help the
young friends to find a way to a better future.
The writing is beautiful, and very poetic. Hang's forays into
English are captured with Vietnamese tonal typography, and the
reader is grateful for Lee Roy's ear for the accent and his
interpretations of her words. It is a very realistic portrayal of
the struggles to understand different sounds and language
structures. But their differences melt when Lee Roy is astounded to
discover that old Clint Eastwood movies and rap poetry are a shared
connection between them.
In the end it is a positive story of people overcoming hardship,
overcoming differences, building better understanding, friendships
and a new future.
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Themes:
Refugees, Vietnam War, Language, Friendship.
Helen Eddy
Bluey: Easter fun! A craft book by Bluey
Penguin Random House, 2020. ISBN: 9781760896898. 24pp.
(Age: 3+) Recommended. There are lots of activities in this craft
book that will keep young children (and their older siblings)
engaged over the Easter holidays. Fans of the Bluey TV series will
love this book and will want to try many of the activities in it. It
has a useful section on how to use the book and a list of things
that the user will need as a holiday craft kit, in the introduction.
A hint on checking the back of the pages before cutting out is also
useful as is the warning to slow down and relax.
The activities are well thought out and there is a wide variety to
suit the interests of different children. The Easter treasure hunt
sends kids out outside to explore and then bring the items inside,
and could be used at any time. Cut-outs include a Bob Bilby mask and
a sturdy Easter basket with Bluey peering over the top. There are
some pages to be coloured in, a join-the-dots page and a
Hide-and-Seek page where the reader has to find ten Easter eggs.
There is even a recipe for Shadowlands cupcakes, which is written in
clear instructions for both the ingredients and directions. Some
children may want to create their own Easter garden and many will
love Bandit's Easter jokes and the opportunity to draw their own
pictures.
This book will be a boon for parents during the Easter holidays and
would also provide ideas for teachers of young children.
Pat Pledger
Bluey: Bob Bilby by Bluey
Penguin Random House Australia, 2020. ISBN: 9781760896638. 24pp.
(Age: Preschool) Recommended. Bluey is back again for little fans of
the very popular TV series. It is Bingo's turn to have the joy of
taking Bob Bilby home from her classroom, where it is expected that
the family will take photos of the good times that they all have.
Bob Bilby wonders what they will get up to and shows the family the
photo album with all the fun that he has had - off to Scotland with
Mrs Terrier, playing football with Jasper W and karate with another
friend Maxie. Then he is shown a tablet that can take photos and can
be used to play games and watch cartoons. The family goes shopping
but the kids watch more cartoons in the shops and even Bingo's Mum
watches hockey on the big screen. When they return home to look at
the photos Mum has taken to put in the album they discover that in
each of them they are looking at a screen. They will have to remedy
that so Bluey puts all their tablets in a basket and off they go on
some fun adventures.
Bluey's family is a warm loving one and children will love
references to "the big blue guy", Bingo's father. And this time it
is Bingo, the brown dog, who stars in the story although Bluey does
come up with the solution of getting good photos for Bob Bilby to
take back to the classroom.
The book is a sturdy board book that will hold up to much handling
and the familiar TV characters are gorgeous.
The simple message of doing fun things without screens is sent in a
positive, warm way that young readers will relate to and with the
enormous success that Bluey has had on TV, ABC iView and iTunes Kids
Chart, this is one that parents will want to have at home to help
with getting kids off screens and doing other fun activities.
Pat Pledger
What the fluffy bunny said to the lazy llama by P. Crumble and Chris Saunders
Koala Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781743832486. 24pp.
(Age: 3+) Recommended. Fluffy Bunny is a great organiser and is
determined that the animals will all practise for the sports
carnival that is on next week. He approaches each animal in turn,
giving them a sport: the lazy llama gets gymnastics; the zebra is
signed up for skateboarding while the snake is up for kayaking. The
mouse is signed up for weightlifting, the turtle for trampolining,
the hippo for high jump and the lion for ice skating.
Of course as the story is read aloud, readers will immediately shout
out that the animal chosen for the sport is not the best one. How
could a tiny mouse lift a really heavy weight? And the hippo is far
too big and heavy to leap over the high jump. What is Fluffy Bunny
thinking? The narrative gives young children the opportunity think
about the skills that each animal might bring to sports day and what
each could do best, while enjoying a laugh at the wonderful pictures
that accompany each animal. These are done in watercolour and kids
will love the expressions on the faces of each animal, climaxing in
a wonderful double page where each animals does its best to
participate in the sport that Fluffy Bunny has chosen. And those of
us who don't like sports will empathise with the lazy llama who does
lots of stretching after a nap. (Note: the refrain "You'll need to
practice" has the verb 'practise' written in the American spelling
version.)
Pat Pledger
E-Boy: Lightning strike by Anh Do
Illus. by Chris Wahl. Allen and Unwin, 2020. ISBN:
9781760877521.
(Age: 10+ years). Recommended. E-Boy begins with Ethan, a
teenage boy, in hospital for his fourteenth operation in eighteen
months. He has a brain tumour and this final operation is his last
hope. Dr Penny Cook has designed and programmed a medical android,
named Gemini, to operate on Ethan. This is top secret and Ethan and
his family have signed confidentiality papers.
The operation takes place during a violent storm and with one
percent of brain connections to go, a bolt of lightning strikes the
facility. The electricity surges into Gemini and then into Ethan.
The operation appears to have worked brilliantly for Ethan and he
goes home. However Ethan realises he has developed a super power and
affinity with computers and feels like he can see inside and
manipulate any computerised item. This new skill leads to some poor
choices by Ethan, danger for his family and the beginning of life on
the run from the authorities.
Meanwhile Dr Cook and Gemini are under the ever watchful eye of a
People's Service Agent. After the success of Ethan's operation the
agent decides to use Gemini in the Sharo Desert where a war is being
fought. Gemini begins to question what he is being programmed to do
in the desert, as he was originally programmed to heal, which leads
to his memory being erased after every dangerous and dastardly
desert task.
The two complex and fast-moving plots of Ethan and Gemini run
parallel and they meet for a final showdown. It is full of tension
and action with the reader left wanting to read the second book in
the series to find out what happens next. The lightning bolt has
obviously caused a change to both Ethan and Gemini's brain
connectors and the question is: are they half-human or half-robot?
Anh Do has written a fast-paced and dynamic story which readers of
his other series will enjoy. The illustrations are spread throughout
the book and provide interesting and supportive visuals for the
reader. Reading
group notes are available. Themes: Robots, Androids, Good vs
Evil, Fighting, Computers, Family, Illness.
Kathryn Beilby
Monkey's tail by Alex Rance
Illus. by Shane McG. Allen and Unwin, 2020 ISBN: 9781760524487.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Howler Monkey loves nothing more than
to swing through the trees in the jungle with his friends, but one
day a branch gives way and he falls to the ground, damaging his
tail. His bandaged tail stops him climbing. He laughs with the
others, but laughter cannot mask his fear that he will not climb
again. One day Oldest Monkey sits next to him and says that he has
noticed he is sad. Howler Monkey shares his biggest secret with the
older monkey. Oldest Monkey asks him how he learnt to climb and then
what most satisfies him about his ability to climb. Howler Monkey
realises that it is his friends and family who make him want to
climb. He loves playing with them in the trees and helping others
climb just as well as he can. He loves how proud he makes his family
by being good at his climbing skills.
But surely your friends and family will be just as friendly and
proud of you even if you don't climb anymore, Oldest Monkey
suggests. You can still play with your family and friends, you can
still help others to learn to climb, you can still make people laugh
and be happy.
Howler Monkey sees that it is not what you do that counts but why
you do it that makes more sense. Howler Monkey parallels Alex
Rance's own story of having a season ending injury in the first
round of the 2019 AFL year. This story is about a life changing
injury causing serious self doubts, while sharing these with others
lessens their impact. Family and friends have a role to play in
helping overcome concerns while Howler Monkey learns to stay
positive to overcome his sadness caused by his injury. Tiger's
roar (2018) by Rance and McG promotes the same level of
understanding about things going wrong in one's life. A trailer
with Alex Rance is available. Themes: Monkeys, Disability,
Overcoming fear, Wellness, Mental health.
Fran Knight
Our Dark Secret by Jenny Quintana
Pan Macmillan, 2020, ISBN: 9781509839476. 320pp.
(Age: Adult) Our Dark Secret is a dark, slow moving story
focussed on complicated families, angst-filled teenage and adult
relationships and deep mysteries. Beginning in the late 1970s,
introspective Elizabeth, a bulimic teenager, who is bullied by her
classmates narrates her story as her home life disintegrates. When
angel-like Rachel and her family move into the village, Elizabeth
seeks her out as a friend. A fortuitous accident leads the girls
into an awkward friendship, and Elizabeth is overly self-sacrificing
to ensure the relationship continues. As their parents' marriages
fall apart, the teenagers seek refuge in a hidden den in the
orchard. Unfortunately, a murdered man's body is discovered in the
girls' hang-out spot, with long-lasting consequences.
Twenty years later, Elizabeth is a troubled adult, still dealing
with her bulimia, moving from job to job, lonely and struggling. She
wants to leave memories in the past, but when another body is
discovered in the village, she must confront the deep far-reaching
truths. She still connects with Rachel, their friendship strained,
but the consequences of their past actions play heavily on both.
Quintana's introspectively draws on the psychological aspects,
exploring themes of bullying, separation, divorce, abuse, secrecy
and obsessive friendships. She descriptively captures the details of
village life, food, music, gossiping and rumour spreading, in
simpler yet still difficult times. The year references form chapter
titles as she weaves the threads of the story between the
twenty-year gap. Our Dark Secret is a multi-layered
introspective drama, confronting and raw, patience and perseverance
are needed to finally gain insight into the connections between the
two murders. Themes: Friendship, Coming of Age, Mystery, Identity,
Family relationships.
Rhyllis Bignell
Red Day by Sandy Fussell
Walker Books, ISBN: 9781760651886. 240pp.
Highly recommended. Red Day is a coming of age story that
takes the reader into the world of Charlie, a young girl who is in
year 7 in a school in Cowra, NSW. Charlie interacts with the world
as a likeable, well balanced person of her age, with all the usual
struggles and fun. However, Charlie has an additional aspect to her.
She is a person with synaesthesia. This interesting condition,
little known but not wholly uncommon, results in the joining of
normally unconnected senses where stimulation of one sense can cause
involuntary reaction in another sense. Amongst other capacities,
Charlie sees colours in days and attitudes in numbers. People, to
Charlie, are surrounded by auras of different colours. Charlie's
enhanced sensitivities, which when really tested, result in physical
pain and near collapse, hold a mirror to the past and drive the
actions of Kenichi (the Japanese student who is being hosted by
Charlie and her mother) and herself in their efforts to right wrong.
For Charlie there is an additional motivation for solving the
mystery and that is to avoid another Red Day which is associated
with terrible pain and grief.
The other aspect to this book that is not particularly well known to
most Australians is the fact that Cowra was a POW camp and scene of
the largest and bloodiest prison escape during World War 2. The
story unfolds through Charlie's eyes. Her mother has insisted upon
hosting a Japanese student (Kenichi) and his arrival triggers the
subsequent unfolding of intertwining cross cultural family
histories. Charlie and Kenichi work together to pierce together the
pain of the past and make it right for the future of their families.
The story is unrelentingly gripping and haunting too. The pain of
the Japanese POWs and the mystery surrounding both families unfolds
within the settings of such places as the Cowra Japanese War
Cemetery, Garden and Museum.
Readers of this wonderful piece of historical fiction, will learn of
an important and sobering part of Australian history and also of an
interesting neurological condition whilst enjoying the development
of strong cross cultural friendship through the collaboration of
Kenichi and Charlie. Hope for the future (an informed future)
springs from this story.
Teacher's notes are available.
Wendy Jeffrey
Phoenix by Kelly Gardiner
The Fire Watcher Chronicles book 2 Scholastic, 2020. ISBN:
9781742994284. 272pp.
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. What's not to love about a fascinating
time slip novel set in the London blitz and Lundenwic, where the
Saxons are facing an invasion by the Vikings? Fans of both
historical novels and adventure fantasy will really enjoy the story
of Christopher who owns an ancient phoenix ring and an anchor
pendant which have the ability to send him into the past at times
when London is facing devastation by fire.
Gardiner makes it easy for new readers of the series to catch up
with a brief summary of what happened in the first book Brimstone,
as well as reminding others of the main characters and adventure.
The historical background to London in both time periods is
engrossing. The descriptions of the London Blitz and Christopher's
bravery as a firewatcher and as a messenger between fire outbreaks
from bombs really brings the horror of the bombings to life. And
when Christopher time slips to the ruined Roman London with
Lundenwic, with its wooden buildings just across the Thames, he
meets the Vikings and readers will be holding their breath as
Christopher plays the part of Loki the trickster in an effort to
stay alive. The humour of the dialogue will bring smiles to readers'
faces as he tries to joke his way out of danger.
Gardiner's exploration of the role of women and race during war is
subtle and interesting. Christopher's father has come home from the
war badly injured and finds a different place with women taking on
many roles which he at first finds difficult to understand.
Christopher's Mum is a brave firefighter and women like
Christopher's teacher are taking on the war effort. What was of most
interest to me was in Gardiner's Author's note she writes about
research showing that there were women who were Viking warriors and
her portrayal of Longsword and the Saxon girl Elda add to knowledge
of life in London over a thousand years ago.
This is a very exciting middle grade series that is carefully
researched, and Christopher's thrilling adventures will keep the
reader totally engrossed. I can't wait for the next in the series.
Pat Pledger
What a lot of nonsense by Sheena Knowles
Illus. by Jonathan Bentley. Angus and Robertson, 2020. ISBN:
9781460756140. 32pp.
(Age: 5+) Recommended. From the author of the internationally
bestselling and awarded Edward the emu (1997) and Edwina
the emu (1987), comes a book that offers readers a quest - to
find the anagrams hidden on the pages. Dear reader, please take time to note
Two ways to read this book I wrote.
The first way is for everyone,
Just read the book, enjoy the fun.
The second way will challenge those
Who like to look beyond the prose.
Who'd like to ACT just like a 'cat'
(And that's an anagram, in fact).
Follow the rhyming sentences on each page and the antics of an odd
lot of animals, to answer the question of why a bear doesn't want to
be bare, or a seal goes to a sale, and why a dingo is doing a dance.
And for those not wholly sure that they have found them all, a list
appears at the end of the book as an aid.
With this offering, Sheena Knowles has teamed up with renowned
illustrator Jonathan Bentley to create a funny book that not only
stirs the imagination but gives a whole heap of fun with words.
Readers are encouraged to predict the rhyming words along with the
anagram, the funny illustrations offering clues. Themes: Anagrams,
Animals, Nonsense verse, Humour, Word play.
Fran Knight
Duck, apple, egg by Glenda Millard
Illus. by Martina Heiduczek. ABC Books 2020. ISBN: 9780733340185.
24pp.
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Widely respected Australian writer Glenda
Millard well known for her middle school novels, especially the
wonderful Kingdom of Silk series, has worked with
illustrator Martina Heiduczek to create a picture book that
celebrates a child's imaginative life in his sprawling backyard. It
is a lovely sunny day and the scene is set for some playing with
words.
'Duck on the green, sun in the sky, egg in the nest, apple on the
tree and me', is repeated through the picture book but with slight
variations, making the reader watch carefully to see where the duck,
apple and egg are placed as they turn the pages. The changes ensure
that children will take note of the way words can be used to create
a different scene.
Martina Heiduczek works with layers of scanned material, coloured
pencils, water colours and gouache and here she creates a very
European scene with its vistas of green grass and trees, stone
walls, box style house and apple trees, the meadow with its patches
of naturalised flowers. The endpapers display the different things
found in the book: a duck, flowers and butterflies, a lot of eggs,
and apples for readers to count. Young children will enjoy
discovering the different places where the duck, the egg, the apple
and the child turn up, satisfied at the end when he eats his apple
pie under the tree. But who made the pie? Eager eyes will find
images of an old fashioned Mum in the background. Themes: Farms,
Apples, Word play, Childhood.
Fran Knight
Say cheese! by Frances Watts
Illus. by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall. Scholastic, 2020. ISBN:
9781760664046. 32pp.
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. When a group of students at the South
Furriest Public School, line up to be photographed, Maxwell Mouse
and his two co-workers know that their work is not going to be easy.
They have been here before. At first they do the individual
portraits, but all sorts of things seem to go wrong. The giraffe
just doesn't fit into the frame, the frogs are too small and
insignificant in the frame, while the snakes lie along the platforms
without anything interesting to snap. The assistants need to come up
with solutions so that the photos can be taken, and each time they
find a neat resolution the results of which are shown on the next
page with the words, 'Say cheese!' and a picture of the image taken.
Children will adore the animals and the problems with taking their
photos and laugh at the solutions found by the mice. The next
problem involves the cheetahs and tigers. And again children will
laugh at the depiction of thee animals: the striped ones with
striped tops and the spotted animals with spotted tops not happy at
being photgraphed together. The solution? change some of the tops so
the stripes and spots can coalesce. The meerkats will cause laughs
of recognition as the trio turn up with mobile phones aloft, taking
selfies, while the monkeys simply will not look a the camera.
All the hassles of the photographers will be easily recognised by
the readers as they will have all been in school photographs,
waiting for someone to smile, or look a the camera, or stop
wriggling or not wearing the right clothes. Each solution is simple
and funny, while the last few pages show the hardest photo of all to
take: the class photo.
A whole lot of fun will be had reading this book aloud, while
readers will laugh at the illustrations of the workaholic mice,
trying to work under extreme difficulty. The animals are all
identifiable making this a starting point to talk about different
animals of the world. I love the paraphernalia of photographic
equipment littering each page and the endpapers with their happy
snaps of the animals in the room. A very funny look at a school
event children will know well. Themes: Animals, School photographs,
Photography.
Fran Knight
The wife and the widow by Christian White
Affirm Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781925712858. 320pp.
(Age: Mature 16+) Recommended for fans of the mystery genre. This
thriller kept me reading to the end to try and work out what the
twist was that was mentioned in the Author's Note. I often skip to
the end to read this type of note and when warned to turn back, I
did so, with a heightened sense of anticipation. The story is told
in alternative chapters from two perspectives, that of Kate whose
husband doesn't return home when promised and who has been deceiving
her and his family, and that of Abby a woman who works at the
general store on the island where Kate's husband John has a holiday
house. As Kate investigates her husband's disappearance, secrets
emerge that will change her life forever.
This is a quick and easy read and what keeps the reader going is not
just the mystery about why Kate's husband lied to her and who killed
him and her connection to Abby, but the detailed description of the
characters of the two women and the people who surround them. Kate
is a passive stay at home wife until she feels compelled to uncover
the mystery of her husband's death, and Abby has the unusual hobby
of being a taxidermist, using road kill as her specimens.
The atmosphere of the island where the locals rely on rich summer
tourists but resent them, also adds to the feeling of secrecy and
deception. The reader is continually wondering what has happened to
bring Kate's husband back to the island which he said he didn't
like.
Author of The
nowhere child, another thriller, White certainly
knows how to keep his reader in the dark about what is happening and
the twist at the end is certainly not one that I expected - the sign
of a really good psychological mystery.
Pat Pledger
