Book one in the Spirit of the Dreaming series published by Boolarong Press shows a wonderful story redolent of the interconnection between people, animals and the environment. As with many stories, readers are left with an emphasis on life skills, such as respect, kindness, selflessness, environmental protection, and sharing.
In this story, old Grandfather Emu is nearly blind and can barely walk. He is thirsty and hungry. How will Weitj find the creek for food and water? In this amusing Aboriginal Dreaming story, children learn how Mother Yonga kangaroo got her pouch, and the importance of treating others with respect.
The old emu goes up to animals asking them for help. The numbat is busy with her offspring, the goanna needs a sleep after his lunch and other animals give a variety of dubious excuses to not help the emu. Mother Kangaroo comes by and offers help. She takes the old man to the creek so he can drink. She asks him to wait while she hides her baby from the dingoes allowing her to find food for him. When she comes back with food the old emu has changed into the Great Spirit and tells her that from now on, she will have a pouch to put her babies in, so will not have to hide them from dingoes. That is why all marsupials have pouches while the other animals do not. Mother Yonga’s help has rewarded her.
Bold, vivid illustrations roam over every page, drawing the eyes to the detail as well as the main characters of the tale. Beautifully illustrated by Yamatji-Noongar storyteller and artist, Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt, Grandfather Emu includes Aboriginal words from the Noongar language of Western Australia, and a bonus song that children will love to sing. This is set down in the last pages of the book, along with a glossary of the Nyoongar language used in the story.
An interview with the authors can be found here and a clip of Rhonda reading her story can be found here. Both clips are full of fun and laughter as the story is shared, and Rhonda’s use of her own language found in the book is powerful.
Themes Aboriginal language, Dreaming stories, Australian marsupials, Respect, Environment,.
Hasib Hourani’s five chapter free-form poem is an anguished plea for recognition of the suffering of the people of Palestine, with recurring images of rocks, confining boxes, suffocation, oil-slicked migratory birds, and surveillance.
Rocks are the rubble of destruction, they are also the most basic weapon, rocks slung against an enemy, even a date stone spat from the mouth. Instructions to create a paper box seem simple, harmless, until the box becomes fingers over nostrils, palm over mouth, lungs not moving; or the box becomes a refrigerated cell made of cement with no windows for air.
The most disturbing section is that on the torture methods employed by the state of Israel: sensory deprivation and psychological pressures, the sloped child-sized chair forcing shackled detainees into prolonged cramped positions, forms of torture that leave less physical evidence of abuse.
There are many images of birds: the cattle egret in the dumpster, the macaw that lick clay to salve the toxins in their bodies, the migratory pfeilstorch with the African arrow through its neck. The images are stark, confronting, and the words are arranged in fragments, sometimes blacked out as if in redaction. Censorship and surveillance are undercurrents.
Hourani advocates for boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS), demanding Israel’s compliance with international law as a bare minimum, but also dreaming of unified Palestinian lands one day where the only bullet is a bullet train.
The writing is sparse and compelling, mental images shock and confront, words resonate and linger after reading. I liked his play with the idea of the Arabic ‘i’ suffix to indicate ethnic or cultural group, e.g. Pakistani, Israeli. He considers ‘Empti’, a land without people, a lie, a concept that has further ramifications for Australian readers. There are many ideas to explore within the deceptively simple words. This is a book you can read as a hard-hitting poem in one sitting, but then return to and read again to explore the many complexities you may have missed first time around.
For senior secondary students, Hourani's poem would make an excellent English text to consider alongside studies of Israel and Palestine in History.
Kai Masters is a Border Guard, keeping Earth safe by battling beasts. The water beast is a huge speedy serpent-like creature and Kai will need underwater equipment to fight it. He chooses the Torpedo Cross Bow as his weapon, hoping that it will kill toxic jellyfish and take on a wave attack.
Boy Vs Beast: Water Beast will appeal to newly independent readers especially boys. The print is large, each book has 8 chapters and many pages are illustrated, with the final battle drawn in a four-page comic. There is an introduction at the beginning which sets the scene for the adventure that Kai Masters will undergo. And what an adventure he has! There are plenty of thrills, spills, and action galore to engage the attention of the intended audience as Kai battles the mutant beast.
The Boy vs Beast series is a good introduction to first chapter novels and Water beast is sure to appeal to its intended audience.
Themes Science fiction, Monsters.
Pat Pledger
Love like chocolate by Tracy Banghart. Illus. by Alina Chau
As a family welcomes an adopted little girl to their home, her brother takes it upon himself to teach his new sister their traditions. For good days and bad, for birthdays, holidays, and everything in between, their family always celebrates with chocolate. They make super chewy chocolate chip cookies in the spring, very-berry chocolate-cherry mousse in the summer, chocolate banana pancakes in the fall, and warm chocolate sauce in the winter. But the boy soon realizes that his sister might have favourite treats of her own, and that if they work together, they can create new traditions and memories together.
The author's note at the back says that this book was, in part, inspired by her family's experiences in welcoming a child from Thailand into their family, and so this is a story that will allow adoptees to see themselves in a story, but I believe its broader appeal will be because of the subject matter because one of the truisms of this world is that chocolate makes everything better.
And just as the children share and make recipes, it provides an opportunity to be the centrepiece of a display that encourages children from throughout the school to share their special chocolate recipes (focusing on procedural texts), perhaps even sparking new friendships, as well as investigating all other things chocolate. Often the most unexpected storybooks can lead to all sorts of discoveries and this has the potential to do that.
Themes Adoption, Chocolate, Celebrations.
Barbara Braxton
Bin chicken, feeding time at the zoo by Kate and Jol Temple. Illus. Ronojoy Ghosh
In verse form, the ibis at the centre of the story is aware from her rumbly stomach that it is lunch time. She flies past a bunch of children on an excursion, frazzled teachers in tow, and looks in at the giraffe eating its lunch. He offers shoots and leaves which the ibis rejects, flying on to the elephant. But all he has is a bale of hay, which does not appeal. Nearby she spots a bucket of fish, but is warned by the children, pointing out the sign which says, ‘Don’t feed the ibis.’ She is appalled, this is lunchtime after all, and grabs a fish in her beak ready to fly off, but a seal whips around and takes the fish from the ibis. Reeling away from the seal, the ibis lands in a cloud of pink fairy floss. She hears some cheering and sees a bunch of birds, each flying to catch the treats thrown by the keeper. She joins in and in return she shows the birds how to open a lunch box, and of course is berated by the hassled teacher. She gets away with an array of food and is applauded for her dexterity and cleverness.
A very funny look at the bin chickens which have adapted easily to life in the city, this story will have younger readers laughing out loud, prompting them to predict the rhyming word, and act out the noises made while the ibis eats.
Wonderful illustrations cover each page, and impressions of the zoo and its creatures can be seen. The ibis twists and turns on each page as she tries to get some lunch.
A worthy successor to Bin chicken, and Winner, winner bin chicken dinner, Feeding time at the zoo is a funny and easy to digest story about the invasive bin chicken, which most children will have seen in parks and gardens of the cities.
Themes Humour, Zoos, Persistence.
Fran Knight
Girl falling by Hayley Scrivenor
Pan Macmillan, 2024. ISBN: 9781760987206. (Age:16+) Highly recommended.
‘Why would my best friend want to destroy my life?’ This is the opening line of Scrivenor’s mystery thriller about a toxic friendship between two teenagers, Finn and Daphne, both with secrets to hide. While Finn believes that Daphne’s friendship has helped her move on from guilt over her younger sister’s death, it becomes apparent that Daphne is a psychopathic personality who will always use what she knows to wilfully manipulate others. This is most obvious when Finn eventually meets Magda, the love of her life. When Magda raises doubts about Daphne’s motives, the dynamics between the three of them is bound to explode.
From the screaming moment in an abseiling adventure when a flailing body hurtles, no longer attached, down a ravine, Scrivenor has the reader hooked into a psychological drama that has more than one twist. The account flips from present to past and back again repeatedly, gradually building a picture of complex characters whose lives have become entwined through trauma.
This is a fascinating and engaging thriller that holds that reader until the end. Although the final twist may come as a surprise to some, I found a re-reading led to a better appreciation of Scrivenor’s depiction of a co-dependent relationship, and the ending absolutely makes sense. This is a masterful psychological thriller that explores friendships, secrets, and manipulative control.
Picador, 2024. ISBN: 9781761561825. (Age:Adult - Young adult) Recommended.
In this very personal memoir, Markus Zusak takes us on a journey with his family as they invite a succession of tough personalities into their home. Starting with two cats and progressing to two, pound dogs, Reuben a 'big bad brindle' followed by Archie, 'pretty boy assassin (Reuben’s hitman)'. The third dog of the title, Frosty, ADHD on legs, comes later. It seems the family have a knack for choosing difficult pets; the cats, a warrior and a rat eating urinator, are followed by Reuben, a forty-kilo formidable mongrel who once knocked Markus out cold. Then came Archer, a beautiful golden street dog with a name out of one of Zusak’s books, something that was surely good luck; what better criteria for choosing a pet! The two dogs were wild and troublesome but loved. As the family grew and moved, so the dogs became just part of the chaos of family life, challenging but oh so rewarding. In telling the story, Zusak gives us a peek into the writing process, the nuts and bolts of wordsmithing. Foreshadowing and anticipation, wonderful descriptions and robust dialogue, building drama and then giving the dogs dialogue for comic effect; a generous invitation from the author to step inside the writing process.
This is an intimate family memoir through the lens of dog ownership, the tone is light, candid and self-deprecatory but the genuine relationships shine through as we are taken on an emotional rollercoaster. The book is beautifully produced with striking cover and chapter illustrations by Daniel New. There is a centre section with photos of the family with the animals that have given them so much life and caused them so much trouble. A must for lovers of Zusak’s writing and all pet owners.
Themes Family, Dogs and cats.
Sue Speck
Aussie native plants A-Z by Joey Farrell, Jocelyn Gibson (illus.)
A compilation of Australian plants and flowers is shown in this book. B, for example is for Boab tree and we are presented with a one-page summary of this tree. An illustration takes up most of the page which shows the plant in question in its environment. On one side is a close up of its flower and fruit. Boab trees are numerous across the Northern part of Australia, an area which has extremes of temperature and rainfall, which suits this plant well. A paragraph of information is given under the illustration. The text hints about a Dreaming story about the Boab tree, which will be interesting to follow up.
D is for Desert Pea, and the page gives information about the plant under an illustration showing the pea in flower. In South Australia, this is known at Sturt’s Desert Pea, and again the information hints at Aboriginal stories written about this plant.
E is for Emu bush, another plant seen across arid Australia, and it has a range of types and colours, and medicinal uses are again hinted at.
I really enjoyed reading this book but found it did not go far enough. Hints about Dreaming stories need to be more specific as there are many of these stories and for the classroom teacher, it would be difficult to find these out to present to the class. Similarly with the hints at medicinal use, I would have preferred to see specific information about this.
But the range of native plants is wonderful, and children will get a basic understanding of these plants and the environments in which they grow. I can imagine classes going out to collect examples, drawing, photographing, and collecting flowers and seeds, if possible. It is worthwhile seeing if there is remnant vegetation in your area to see what plants were in the area before European settlement. Or visit a native plant nursery or find out that native plants were growing in your area and perhaps set up a native garden in your school or home, showcasing the plants that were there.
Themes Native plants, Environment, Australia flora and fauna.
Fran Knight
The day the Moon came to stay by Gary Eck. Illus. by Nick O'Sullivan
Billy looks out of his round window and notices the Moon looks sad. He makes a paper plane letter and throws it into the sky, offering help and a place to stay. That night, Moon is on his doorstep, surprising Billy’s Mum and Dad. But they chip in and make Moon a tremendous breakfast using every plate in the house it seems. Moon tells Billy that he will need to return to the sky as the sun sets. They go off to have fun and Billy wants to make Moon smile. At the beach, the waves seem to be never-ending, so they go to the playground. Here he sits on the seesaw and the pair is surrounded by all the neighbourhood dogs, howling for all they are worth. But when a rocket lands and two astronauts climb onto Moon and plant flags, causing Moon to shout out in pain, they move on to the country. Here all the cows jump over Moon, saying Moo as they do so. Moon is a bit put out, telling them his name is Moon. But Billy notices the sun is about to set, and they go back home. Here, Moon tells Billy that he does not want to go back to his place in the sky, because everyone on Earth seems so happy. Billy tells him all the things that Earth relies on him doing, telling him that Earth will be topsy-turvey, just like their night together has been, if he is not in his place. He returns to his place in the sky and Billy is thrilled to receive a letter from Moon, thanking him for being his friend.
This disarming story of friendship will captivate younger readers as they follow Moon’s attempts to be happy and Billy’s role as his friend. Moon and Billy’s travels will cause laughter as readers recognise the places Moon has in society, in nursery rhymes and in space exploration. The fun in the text will lead to discussions about how the moon affects tides and time. And ideas and research about space exploration will be shared.
Wonderful illustrations by Nick O’Sullivan will captivate the readers as they look at all the funny situations Moon finds himself in: Moon on the top bunk, Moon on a seesaw, Moon eating breakfast with the family.
I love all the idiotic normality of Moon being with Billy, displayed both in the text and on the pages full of eye boggling images. Author, Gary Eck is a comedian, while Nick O’Sullivan is an animator, having worked on Happy Feet. Two special minds working together have created a memorable book, one that will be shared and talked about by kids with their parents, or kids in classes or in libraries with a teacher librarian.
Ying has been chosen as the bride for the Emperor’s son, but it seems that the path to love is not smooth. She soon discovers that their partnership contains mythological import and that her chosen role is more than just to be a bride to the Prince. Ying is not a passive chattel, and struggles with the man who will be her husband. Her story though experiences a twist when she discovers the parallel existence of the reflection world, where her own Ying-reflection and the Prince’s reflection throw a different slant on her life. The reflection-Prince seems to be more lovable than his real counterpart and their connection takes Ying to new and sensual heights. Learning who to trust and where her true place is in the world becomes Ying’s challenge. Should she return beyond the mirror to the real world and its challenges or is there a new way of living? Can the real Prince ever replace the reflection-Prince in her affections? And will her fated destiny as healer of the world ever come to fruition?
This is a complex story with an interesting premise - that a parallel world and doppelgänger existence lies behind reflective surfaces. The power struggles between the two ‘worlds’ hinges on a mythical history with an Asian flavour, and the central character has to discern her place in the mythology and her own feelings about her ‘identical’ but different suitors. Mythical fantasy with an Asian flavour (including some Chinese language references) always has some surprising features for non-Asian readers, but this story also has a romantic element. This sensual expression of the connection between the central characters becomes quite intensely steamy at times, but does not quite head to R-rated territory. But this is still a significant aspect and therefore the book is best read by older teens, 15+. This Asian-influenced fantasy is not as complex as some, but it always has an ‘other-world’ feel. It also has a feminist-inspired journey with a strong female character who is unwilling to be a passive love interest. I quite enjoyed the journey into this parallel world with its power struggles and mythical history.
Recommended for readers of Asian fantasy .
Themes Fantasy, Asian fantasy, Romance, Power, Destiny, Battle.
Carolyn Hull
Avast! Pirate stories from transgender authors by Michael Earp and Alison Evans eds.
Avast is an anthology of pirate tales written in various long-form styles, including a graphic novella and verse novella. Written by transgender and non-binary authors, several pieces are speculative space fiction, while others are more magical, dystopian or mythological. Even the more traditional high-seas pirate stories are given a new perspective with the range of relationships and sexualities that the characters embody. The final piece, Changelings, fits the pirate theme as the twentieth century Melbourne housemates share bootlegged CDs they have ‘borrowed’ from their workplace.
Each tale is a very different reading experience, due to the wide range of distinct worlds and characters, but the transgender theme binds them all together satisfyingly. Some of the characters appear comfortable with their gender and/or sexual orientation, while others are searching and experimenting. They are all endearing and variously deal with philosophical androids, the crew of a romance film, abducted plant sprites, entitled celestial overlords and UFOs. Despite their bizarre circumstances, the friendships, found family and tender relationships between the characters shine, and the authors tackle issues such as climate change, inequality, morality and the treatment of indigenous peoples and their lands in an engaging way that is never moralising or overbearing.
The editors draw a parallel between pirates who live outside the law and the transgender experience, and this collection makes trans authors and characters seen and heard, in all their diversity. Some pieces are easier to read than others, given the range of styles and concepts, but for an older teen looking for a challenge, this collection is both thought-provoking and fun.
Themes LGBTQI+, Found family, Pirates, Space, Speculative fiction, Anthology.
Margaret Crohn
Passions in death by J.D. Robb
Piatkus, 2024. ISBN: 9780349437446. (Age:Adult)
Another in the bestselling series starring Homicide Detective Eve Dallas, Passions in death is a police procedural that will keep readers glued to the page. Erin, a bride to be, has been murdered at her pre-wedding girls’ night out, garrotted and left in a private room at the club. The killer left behind a suitcase with a surprise, two tickets to Maui for their honeymoon, a trip that her fiancée, Shauna, had dreamt of for years. Soon Eve and Peabody are deep in the investigation, ably assisted by Roarke and Eve’s team at headquarters. The murdered woman had been well liked, surrounded by a group of caring friends and their partners. What was the motive for the murder? Who had the opportunity of sneaking into the club with the suitcase and waiting for Erin to pick it up?
Robb has written an engrossing thriller, following Dallas and her team as they interview the party goers at the club, follow up on people who knew Erin and Shauna and try to pierce together a reason for the grisly murder. The murder was cold blooded and malicious. Leaving behind the suitcase with the tickets for Shauna’s dream trip pointed to the murderer wanting to hurt Shauna as well. It takes determination and patience to discover who it is.
Books in the In Death series are invariably easy to read, with likeable main characters, a touch of humour to lighten the darkness, and a different scenario for readers to become immersed in. Passions in death is no exception and will be welcomed by fans.
Themes Murder, Police procedures.
Pat Pledger
From Gallipoli with Love: A Letter from the Trenches by Neil Doherty
Subtitled, 'A letter from the trenches,' this book of 24 pages in a picture book format is a real letter from an Australian soldier at Gallipoli, found in a box of treasures years later. The letter is presented so that younger readers can access the letter, absorbing some of the background of soldiers risking their lives on this Turkish peninsula. While reading the letter, they will more understand the man who wrote it, his motives and feelings about the whole campaign.
Private Lobwein enlisted in 1914 and was sent to Gallipoli as one in the 5th battalion. He had changed his name from the German, Lobwein to Levine. He fought for a month and then wore a letter to his sister in Queensland. He died three days later. The letter was discovered in an old wooden chest in the family home.
His brief account of his time in Gallipoli gives a personal view of the men’s lives under fire, the privations and narrow escapes.
Doherty has added the background to the letter by adding maps, drawings of the trenches, the men waiting, their leg wear and drawings of the sister, Mary reading his letter.
The whole gives a more personal look at what the war in Gallipoli was like for very ordinary men who had enlisted as privates. Younger readers will be able to see the campaign from a personal level, reminding them of why we celebrate Anzac Day.
Themes Anzac Day, World War 1, Letters, Trench warfare.
Two fish swim, each decrying their boring lives. Same old rock, same old seaweed, some old starfish they say to each other. They both wish for something to happen to make their lives more interesting. The red fish remembers that things were better yesterday. While the yellow fish cannot remember yesterday. They want something amazing to happen. Something unexpected and amazing, red fish says. As they decry their boring lives, a black shape appears behind them, growing larger as each page is turned and I defy everyone to keep the music from Jaws out of their heads!
They are both taken inside the large mouth, and now they wish for their boring loves again. Shot out of the animal, they are restored to their boring lives, reciting the same things they said before. Same old, becomes a refrain once again, the red fish noting that he wishes nothing ever happens again, while the yellow fish gives a caveat, unless it is amazing. And they both agree.
A wonderfully funny look at wishing for something, evoking the idiom, ‘be careful what you wish for,’ is a treat for young and old as the fish wish that something incredible would happen to relieve their boring, same old days.
But what happens almost ends their lives. So, the same old life is happily embraced. But…
I laughed out loud at this book, reminding me of the idiom, ‘be careful what you wish for’, combined with the idea that fish have a short attention span. Yellow fish goes along with the red fish, simply agreeing with him, but the first to say that something needs to happen, when they are expelled, reminding us of his short attention span again.
Digital illustrations by McKinnon are fabulous, the two fish taking up large part of each image, swimming around each other, looking at what is in their universe. Small adjustments to their eyes and noses give a host of behaviours as they navigate their environment, and then cope with the larger fish devouring them.
Fans of mysteries with historical figures are sure to enjoy The Death of Dora Black. Set in 1917, in Adelaide, and featuring Miss Kate Cocks and her off-sider, Ethel Bromley, the novel is an engrossing look at city life during World War 1, with Kate Cooks as the main character, the first woman in the British Empire to be employed by the police on the same salary as men. When shop assistant Dora Black is found dead on an Adelaide beach, Kate and Ethel are told to leave the solving of the murder to the men. When Dora’s colleague, another young woman working at Moore’s Department Store, also goes missing the pair are determined to find the killer.
Lainie Anderson has researched Kate Cocks and the history of Adelaide bringing the war years and the role of women to life. Kate has a reputation for wielding a cane and separating couple with the refrain ‘ Three feet apart,’ while at the same time helping unmarried mothers and their children find secure homes and jobs. Soldiers return home maimed from the battlefield and often addicted to heroin, suffering from undiagnosed post traumatic stress disorder, their wives and children sometimes living in fear. The powerful men of the state and the Adelaide Club where they meet is described, while their wives meet for afternoon tea and plan balls and uniforms, while subtly helping those in need. Kate and Ethel face a challenging time having to overcome the prejudice of men in the Police Force, who look upon them as Petticoat Police, but both are determined characters and bring intelligence and resilience to the job.
With a grisly murder, opium smugglers, young women going missing as well as a fascinating historical account of 1917 Adelaide, The Death of Dora Black is a must read for lovers of crime. I look forward to the next in the Petticoat Police Mystery series, Murder on North Terrace.
