Reviews

Where does a giraffe go to bed? by Craig MacLean

HarperCollins, 2018. ISBN 9781460752272
(Age: Preschool) "When it's too dark to see, a koala sleeps in a tree."
Sleeping until tomorrow, a wombat snores in its burrow."
But where does a giraffe go to bed?
We all need to sleep but not everything curls up in a soft, warm bed like we do, so this story-in-rhyme with its repetitive question explores the sleeping habits of some of the creatures familiar to its preschool audience.
Set against a night sky palette, the illustrations are as perfect as the text to make a lullaby for bedtime, one that the young child will be able to recite within a couple of reads as they snuggle down and close the curtains on their day. And for those who are reluctant to settle they will begin to understand that everything needs to sleep, even the giraffe.
Loved it.
Barbara Braxton

In a house of lies by Ian Rankin

Inspector Rebus book 22. Orion, 2018. ISBN 9781409176893
(Age: Senior secondary - Adult) Highly recommended. Themes: Mystery. Detectives. Murder, Police corruption. When a missing investigator is found in the boot of a car, years after he went missing, it is in an area that was originally searched by the police. This looks bad for the police and is traumatic for the family. As the investigation unfolds, it turns out that there are mistakes and lies and Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke turns to Rebus for information about the old case. She needs his help to curb a stalker who didn't believe that his nephew had murdered his girlfriend and wants the truth uncovered. But there are lies and cover-ups everywhere and Rebus could be in a fix.
In a house of lies reads quite well as a stand-alone for those who are not familiar with the Inspector Rebus series. I have missed several of the books but could easily pick up on the main characters who were all well described. Rebus is supposed to be retired and is suffering from emphysema, but cannot manage to stay away from any investigation that is going on. His police skills shine as he uses his in-depth background knowledge of people and places, cutting through red tape and ignoring threats from cops and crooks alike. DI Siobhan Clarke stands out as she chases up clues and withstands intimidation from her colleagues.
Set against the backdrop of an Edinburgh that wouldn't be familiar to the tourist, Rankin has produced another engrossing murder mystery that will keep the reader guessing to the final pages. The restructuring of the modern Police Scotland and the budget cuts facing the organisation provide an interesting background, as does the contrast between modern day policing with CCTV, the Internet and social media and the old policing ways of Rebus.
Everyone is telling lies and everyone has something to hide and the readers has to weave a way through them all.
In a house of lies is a welcome addition to the series which fans will be very happy with, and readers new to the series are in for a treat.
Pat Pledger

The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

Candlewick Press, 2018. ISBN 9780763688271
(Age: 5-8) Highly recommended. Themes: Fantasy. Princesses. Humour, STEM. Princess Magnolia is off to the Inter-kingdom Science Fair with her entry, a poster about seeds and plants. When she arrives, she sees all the things that her friends have made - Princess Honeysuckle has a mole habitat, Princess Orchid has a Bucket Boosting Teeter Totter and Tommy Wigtower has a talking volcano that turns out to be a goo monster that wants to take over the exhibits. The Princess in Black comes to the rescue.
Fans of the series will be delighted with the latest addition of this feisty, brave and clever heroine and children new to the books are in for a treat. Not only are there interesting displays for the Science Fair, the Princess in Black has to use her problem solving skills to defeat the monster, with a lot of help from her friends.
Readers will effortless learn some scientific facts (how to make a volcano explode, and how to distribute weight evenly) while having a laugh at the antics of the goo monster as it creates mayhem at the fair.
This is a great series: it is scattered with humorous illustrations by LeUyen Pham and these will bring a smile to the faces of any reader. Children will love the escapades of the Princess in Black and would have fun coming up with their own disguises and secret names.
Pat Pledger

Where in the wild by Poppy Bishop and Jonny Lambert

Little Tiger, 2018. ISBN 9781848699557
Inspired by Theodore Roosevelt saying, "The wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so we must and we will", this book takes the young reader on a journey through the world's key habitats and introduces them to some of the creatures that live within them.
From rivers to jungles, the savannah, the desert, woodlands and the frozen extremes, familiar and not-so creatures make an appearance in colourful artwork and rhyming text. Using a double-page spread for each, the two-verse rhyme begins with an introduction to the habitat and then an inhabitant "speaks" to the reader about itself. The rest of the pages are filled with a collage of flora and fauna, each with a clever cutout featuring a creature that lives in the featured habitat but which can adapt to the succeeding one to entice the reader to keep turning, reading and learning. Some of these cutouts have text which encourages closer observation of the illustrations, making the reader engage more through this interactivity. The final message about habitat destruction and the need to protect what is left is very clear and ties in well with the initial quote.
Often, books from the northern hemisphere tend to feature the creatures with which children from that part of the world are familiar but this one spans the globe, although, thankfully, the polar region is confined to the Arctic so there is not the confusion of polar bears and penguins on the same page.
As well as being a comprehensive introduction to the world's habitats so young readers can learn that there is more to this planet than their immediate surroundings, its strong conservation message can also lead to inquiries about the inhabitants of their local area and their protection and promotion; the impact of humans through the destruction of habitat, particularly deforestation; the life cycles, needs and adaptation of creatures as their habitats change (such as described in Moth); and even individual responsibility and actions that could be taken to preserve what we have left.
With the drought in eastern Australia drawing our attention to the land beyond the city environs, this is a great opportunity to have a look at the broader world and how it copes or doesn't, and this would be an excellent introductory text.
Barbara Braxton

The LEGO Book - 60th Anniversary Edition by Daniel Lipkowitz

DK, 2018. ISBN 9780241314227
(Age: All) In 1932 and facing the Great Depression which was engulfing the world, Danish master carpenter Ole Kirk Kristiansen closed his carpentry business and turned his attention to making wooden toys for children. Fifteen years later, after World War II and all its development with technology and materials, particularly plastic, Kristiansen purchased an expensive plastic injection-moulding machine and his wooden toys were now made of plastic. Using a name that is a contraction of leg godt which means "play well" in Danish, the LEGO group was established and by 1954, the idea of a building brick that locked together firmly so they were stable but which also came apart easily was launched with the Town Plan range of construction sets. Finally, in January 1658 the block was perfected, the patent lodged and the rest, as they say, is history.
And it is the history of that block from its evolution as a plan for a toy that could be used to build virtually anything to that realisation that is the focus of this fascinating new release, marking the 60th anniversary of the building block as we know it.
Driven by the belief that children and their development mean everything and that this must pervade everything that is created, and based on the principles that the system must

• provide unlimited play opportunities
• be for girls and boys
• inspire enthusiasm in all ages'
• be able to be played with all year round
• provide endless hours of healthy, quiet and safe play
• inspire imagination, creativity and development
• be topical and provide add-on value for preceding products

The case of the left-handed lady by Nancy Springer

An Enola Holmes mystery. Allen and Unwin, 2018. ISBN 9781760637392
(Age: 10-14) Highly recommended. Themes: Mystery, Sherlock Holmes, Hypnotism, Kidnapping. In this second episode of the Enola Holmes series (involving the younger sister of the famous Sherlock Holmes) Enola is attempting to live independently in London in response to her brothers' attempt to put her into boarding school. She is alone after her mother disappears to make a new life away from her sons and daughter. She starts to publish messages using ciphers to try to communicate with her mother and this brings in the opportunity to discuss with students the different ways to manipulate words and numbers to communicate in code.
Enola sets herself up as a Scientific Perditorian under a male pseudonym to make a living for herself assisting people to find those who are missing. She continues to dress herself in a manner that portrays an older independent woman in the hope that she can elude her famous brother in his quest to find her. Enola establishes a way to help the needy in the poorest parts of Victorian London by disguising herself as a nun.
The pace of the story increases as Enola is almost murdered while on one of her midnight forays. Soon afterward she overhears the story of the disappearance of the sixteen-year-old Lady Cecily, daughter of a baronet who appears to have eloped in the night. She decides to try to solve this mystery as the police seem to be struggling to make progress in finding the missing girl. This part of the story introduces the notion of hypnotism and Enola encounters possibilities she has never encountered before to try to solve this situation. Close encounters with her older brother Sherlock form a major part of the story and adds to the tension and interest.
Recommended for Upper Primary
Gabrielle Anderson

The Chess Raven: The girl who fell by Violet Grace

Factfulness: ten reasons we're wrong about the world - and why things are better than you think by Dr Hans Rosling with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund

Hachette Australia, 2018. ISBN 9781473637467
(Age: Adult - Senior secondary) The main premise of the book is that people in the western/developed world have a pessimistic view about the world (widening gap between rich and poor, poverty, lack of education and health in the developing world, etc). This was surmised from the responses to 13 questions by Gapminder .
Rosling, spends most of the book attributing the poll results to ten human instincts: gap, negativity, straight line, fear, size, generalization, destiny, single perspective, blame and urgency. He postulates that being aware of and using facts or 'factfulness' is the antidote. This would then help towards a better understanding of the world and peaceful achievement of global aims.
Where statistics and diagrams are included, it is frustrating that the source of such data is in such small and faint print, that it is almost impossible to read. The sources are given as notes to chapters at the end of the book rather than as footnotes. The end chapter summaries are very useful.
The most readable parts of the book are those relating to Rosling's many and varied experiences working as a medical doctor in third world (or level 1 as he prefers to call them) countries dealing with diseases such as Ebola outbreaks.
While the author's enthusiasm for his subject and his efforts to convert the world to his point of view, are strongly evident, I found the book somewhat repetitious and did not really appreciate the point of his major premise.
It would probably be of use for IB Theory of Knowledge and possibly Psychology students.
Ann Griffin

More and more and more by Ian Mutch

Fremantle Press, 2018. ISBN 9781925591545
(Age: 4-8) Highly recommended. More and More and More by Ian Mutch is a picture book that has a huge amount of relevance in today's society. The story follows Henry Harper who loves to collect everything. He finds Kate, who also loves collecting - just like him! They collect from everywhere and everything until their once tidy world is full to bursting and the inevitable happens. All the 'stuff' they collected is gone and now they are on a beautiful, clean planet together. And guess what????? They are happy just being together.
I love this book as it shares the notion that just being with each other, and enjoying nature and our surroundings is so much better than having stuff and collecting things we don't necessarily need. I love the explanation of the book by the publisher "this environmentally friendly fable about the perils of over-consumption calls for a realignment of our priorities from products to people". It sums it up perfectly!
More and More and More is a simple book with a big message for your young children, and Ian Mutch really gets the meaning across with some simple prose and enticing pictures. The two alien/space characters look friendly, and the colourful illustrations were interesting and engaging. Both my 4 and 8 year old liked this book and were able to pick up different aspects of the overall meaning. A great book for starting the conversation about our planet and looking after it! 4.5 out of 5
Lauren Fountain

Lego Ninjago Ultimate Sticker Collection

DK, 2018. ISBN 9780241340325
Ninjago is one of 16 connected realms in this themed collection from Lego. Its capital, Ninjago City is protected by Kai, Cole, Zane, Jay, Nya and Lloyd from the powerful enemies including the Vermillion and the Sons of Garmadon.
Young readers are encouraged to read the captions and then use their visual acuity to select the appropriate stickers from the large collection to complete the scenes. There are also extra pages and extra stickers where they can build their own scenes of battles.
While these sorts of books may be seen as just another way of marketing the Lego merchandise, they can play an important role in the young fan's literacy development as they have to read the captions and make the appropriate selections as they learn more about the underlying plot and the characters. By having the opportunity to build their own battle scenes they can retell the story or make up their own, explaining and justifying their choices - all critical elements of understanding and telling stories.
This may be one of those special treat books that you have in your collection ready to engage or settle a child who needs some distraction.
Barbara Braxton

Mr Pegg's post by Elena Topouzoglou

New Frontier Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9781925594195
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Post, Letters, Loneliness, Lighthouses, Greece. For many children this story will have new ideas for them to absorb, as Anna lives in a remote lighthouse, so remote that the only communication with her friends is via the post. Mr Pegg the pelican postman delivers the letters around the island and the lighthouse, and although there are sometimes letters for her parents there are none for her. She feels very lonely.
One day during a particularly ferocious storm she hears a thump at the door. Mr Pegg, buffeted by the heavy winds has landed awkwardly, hurting his wing, letters spread all over the place. Anna helps him, fixing his wing with a sling, and offers to help him deliver his letters until he gets better.
Over the next few days and weeks she rows Mr Pegg to his delivery points, meeting the people whose letters she delivers. She makes new friends and is very sad when Mr Pegg's wing gets better. But a surprise is in store for her as Mr Pegg gives her a postie's hat and a pile of letters from her friends.
This is a delightful story of loneliness and finding new friends. Younger readers will enjoy learning about the post and how it is delivered, perhaps using the opportunity to write their own letters to see how it is done, or watch out for the postman, or visit a post office.
Watercolour images give a wonderful impression of living by the sea, the clear blue waters of the Mediterranean lapping at the cliffs on which the lighthouse sits. London based, Elena's Greek roots surface in her wonderful illustrations.
For more information about Elena visit her website and there I was amazed to find that she worked for ten years as a visual effects compositor, working on two of my favourite films, Paddington Bear and Hugo.
Fran Knight

So you think you've got it bad? by Chae Strathie

Ill. by Marisa Morea. Noisy Crow, 2018. ISBN 9781788001359
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Themes: Ancient Egypt, History. Subtitled, A kid's life in Ancient Egypt, what sets this book apart is that the information given about life several thousands of years ago is compared with that of kids' lives today. So when talking about clothing, the reader is told there is not a tracksuit to be had, and servants walk around naked, while all kids would be expected to wear a pleated linen dress. The comparisons make this book very funny, teaching the reader of life in Ancient Egypt, but making it accessible by using today's customs.
Divided into ten chapters, concerning for example, Diet, Housing, Family life and Discipline, each section makes fascinating reading. Included in the chapters are paragraphs of text divided by humorous illustrations are also boxes of information called "Fancy That!". I learnt that the men did the washing in the Nile because of the crocodiles, and that hyenas were fattened up for feasts, while rich Egyptians ate raw cabbage as an entree! A double page towards the end gives more information about the down side of being an Ancient Egyptian, and this is followed by a glossary of terms and an index.
The illustrations are detailed and reflect the large amount of information found in the text. They are limited to a few colours, paralleling the muddy browns and sand colours of the landscape.
The whole is illuminating and should find a ready audience amongst those fascinated by Ancient Egypt.
Fran Knight

Leverage in Death by J.D. Robb

In Death series, book 47. Piatkus, 2018. ISBN 9780349417905.
(Age: Adult) Recommended. Themes: Mystery, Murder. In the latest in the popular and long running series, Lieutenant Eve Dallas is faced with a strange act of violence. Why did Vice President Paul Rogan, a seemingly happy family man, set off a bomb at his office, killing eleven people? The meeting there was an important one, with two big companies merging and there didn't seem to be a motive for the killing until his wife and daughter were found chained up in the family home and Dallas could confirm that he had been forced to choose between the lives of those he loved dearly or the lives of his colleagues. Then comes another bizarre case and Eve knows that she has a serial killer on the loose. Working with husband Roarke, she investigates the financial and art world to try and find the motivation behind the murders.
Even after so many books Robb does not disappoint. Each book has a very different case for Dallas to solve, and the reader is kept interested and entertained throughout, with this one centred on the financial world. The humour of the dialogue between Peabody and Eve, and the latter's constant strange use of common phrases, add a bit of lightness to the dark of the callousness of the bombings, while the relationship between Eve and Roarke will satisfy those readers who like some romance with their murders.
Sure to keep the reader engrossed, the familiarity of the characters makes it easy to concentrate on the plot. Leverage in death makes for a solid and satisfying read.
Pat Pledger

The Weird Beard by Andrew Hansen and Jessica Roberts

Bab Sharkey and the Animal Mummies. Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 978176060650001
(Age: 8-12) This is a crazy, fun story about a boy called Bab Sharkey who becomes the new Pharaoh of the lost city of Animal Mummies, after a magical Pharaoh's beard attaches itself to his chin. He becomes the ruler of a group of dead mummified creatures who may stink a little but become Bab's friends. They are happy to be ruled by the kind-hearted Babs as they have just endured the cruel Unpharaoh, who has passed into the afterlife forever. Or has she?
The author, Andrew Hansen, well known for his work on comedy shows such as The Chaser, incorporated lots of comical quips and comments in this first book of the series. Bab's sidekicks, the mummified Scaler and Prong have some great lines and their city Mumphis contains many other quirky characters.
Jessica Robert's illustrations perfectly complement the text. They are generously spread throughout the novel and add to the craziness of the book.
Jessica Roberts is married to Andrew Hansen and co-authored the book. They both were inspired by a trip to Egypt where they saw a multitude of mummified animals and were surprised to see a mummified fish and Ibis, which are the two main characters of Scaler and Prong.
This book is a mixture of comedy and fantasy and would be enjoyed by students aged 8-12 years old.
Below is a video clip of the two authors talking about their book.
Jane Moore

The garden of hope by Isabel Otter and Katie Rewse

Little Tiger, 2018. ISBN 9781848577138
"Things had changed since Mum had been gone. The house was untidy. Maya, Dad and Pip were a bit of a mess. And the garden had become wild and overgrown. "
Each of them was sad and anxious, trying to help each other as best they could. One day, Dad tells Maya that whenever her mother was feeling anxious, she would plant some seeds because she knew that by the time they had grown, the worries would have faded. They were her "seeds of hope".
So Maya decides to try her mother's remedy, starting with planting sunflowers which were her mother's favourite. And gradually a transformation occurred - the garden started to flourish and Maya and her father started to heal. Despite the darkness and sadness, there was still beauty and hope in the world.
This is a charming story with illustrations as gentle as the text, that offer a wonderful strategy to help anyone, young or old, to deal with grief. Sometimes when we are overwhelmed by our emotions it is hard to see that time will pass - rather each minute seems to drag into an hour - so having something as simple as planting seeds, something that could be done in almost any situation, and watching the progress of the flowers can not only offer distraction but also shows that there is movement in time, that some some peace of mind is possible and there can be unexpected rewards. For Maya, the new garden brings not only beauty but bees and butterflies and other little creatures who find a home and sustenance because of her efforts. And because gardening can be a solo or a shared activity that healing can help more than just the seed-sower.
Children love to plant things and watch them grow, and many schools have established gardens, particularly kitchen gardens which supply the school canteen. But how wonderful would it be to also have a flower bed, one where a troubled or grieving child can go to potter and seek tranquility and calm as they literally "smell the roses".
This is a gentle, understated story that would be perfect to share with any little one suffering loss or heartache.
Barbara Braxton