Riding a donkey backwards retold by Sean Taylor and Khayaal Theatre
Ill. by Shirin Adl. Otter-Barry, 2018. ISBN 9781910959305
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Read a loud, Myths and
legends, Middle Eastern stories, Trickster. Uqman Ali and Eleanor
Martin set up the Khataal Theatre, devoted to performing the poetry,
stories and tales from Muslim culture, many of which feature Mulla
Nasruddin, a trickster whose stories figure in the myths and legends
of countries from Asia to Turkey. Some of Mulla Nasruddin's tales
are brought together in this book, retold by Sean Taylor and
illustrated by Shirin Adl, stunningly reflecting her Iranian
background. Reading these stories is an absolute treat, learning why
Nasruddin sleeps in his bed in the thieves' house after his goods
were stolen, or why he rides his donkey backwards, or what 'the
other side' means to someone already on the other side. Beguiling,
full of humour, wisdom and jokes, while begging to be read out loud,
children will love the use of language and the seeming simplicity of
the tales as Nasruddin tells of incidents in his life. One very
short tale tells of Nasruddin walking with his umbrella. When it
begins to rain he opens it and sees it is broken. A young girl asks
him why he brought it if it was broken. He replied was that he
didn't think it would rain.
Another story details Nasruddin's early days at school where he fell
asleep when he was supposed to be drawing. When the teacher woke him
and asked him to come to the front of the class and show his
drawing, he only had a blank piece of paper, but he used this to
explain that it is a donkey eating grass. Scoffing, the teacher was
then told, that the donkey ate the grass and when it was all gone,
it left.
Teamed with vibrant, energetic illustrations reflecting the Iranian
motif, they are filled with detail and delight for young readers to
absorb. An introduction gives readers background to the stories
across the Muslin world, and a glossary at the end will help explain
some of the unfamiliar words. A worthwhile addition to any school
library wanting a range of stories from across cultures and
religions.
Fran Knight
The day war came by Nicola Davies
Ill. by Rebecca Cobb. Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406376326
(Age: all) Highly recommended. Themes; War, Refugees, Displacement,
Children in war, Education. The things we take for granted are all
turned upside down in this picture book showing one child's torment
as she loses everything she holds dear, to war. We expect to be
safe, to be housed and fed, to have access to clean water and food,
and be able to go to school. But when war comes, imposing its mayhem
on a small town where the children are at school, and the parents at
home or at work, everything that is known and accepted is no longer
the same. The town is razed to the ground, noise and dust and debris
separates the girl from her peers and family, and without
possessions or friends, she must follow others as they head to a
place of safety. Finding a town she is shunned by the occupants. War
has got to them too. Finding a school, she asks to be let in,
but war has taken hold there too, and she is rejected, the teacher
saying there is no chair for her to sit on.
This heart breaking story will resonate with children when they see
how so simple an excuse can be given for the child not being
accepted. It symbolises the plight of refugees the world over, being
rejected, or left in detention camps, allowed to live out their
lives without hope. And with echoes of the 'no room at the inn'
story, this is a book that will engender much discussion in the
classroom.
The beautiful illustrations will haunt the reader, the wide open
expressions of the children, the devastated village contrasting so
explicitly with the colour and uninterrupted life of the unscathed
town, the symbol of the chair. The story offers hope after the
children bring along chairs for the refugee children to sit upon and
the stunning endpapers begin with a double page of empty chairs, and
at the end all of them filled with children, safe and learning.
An end page tells the background of the story, initiated by the UK
rejection of 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children in 2016, and
hearing a tale of a child being refused entry to a school because
there was no chair for her. Now chairs appear online supporting
refugee children and their right to education.
This is a memorable and moving book. Classroom
ideas are available.
Fran Knight
Is it a mermaid? by Candy Gourlay
Ill. by Francesca Chessa. Otto-Barry Books, 2018. ISBN 9781910959121
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Mermaids, Dugongs,
Philippines, Conservation, Environment, Ocean. This environmentally
aware, laugh out loud story with its perky illustrations will be a
treat for younger readers having it read out loud to them, or newly
confident readers wanting to share in the humour for themselves. Two
friends, Beni and Bel find a dugong on the shore. near their home in
the Philippines. She tells them that she is a mermaid, and tries to
show the pair her attributes.
Her features and appalling singing do not convince Belnju but Bel is
entranced. Younger readers will love the tension between these two
friends as they attempt to convince each other about the animal,
drawing confidence about supporting their own opinions while
listening to another's.
The dugong may be clumsy on land, but once the trio dives into the
water, they see another side to this animal, as she weaves and dives
around the seaweeds and animals that live beneath the surface of the
water.
It is a delight to see a book about the Philippines, a setting
rarely seen, and concerning an animal that is not often shown in
picture books, but is endangered around the world as its seagrass
food source is destroyed and the animal is battered by sea vessels.
More information about this animals, related to the elephant, is
given at the end of the book, intriguing readers once again, and
encouraging them to follow up the weblink given.
The jaunty sun filled illustrations reflect the lifestyle of the
children living in such a beautiful environment.
Fran Knight
Migration by Mike Unwin
Ill. by Jenni Desmond. Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781408889916
(Age: all) Highly recommended. Non fiction. Theme: Animal migration.
With bold illustrations that sweep across the double pages, readers
will thrill at the stories of the animals that migrate across this
planet and the risks they take travelling over inhospitable snow and
ice, or seas or mountains.
From the better known, turtles that return to the place of their
birth to lay eggs, the emperor penguin, the African elephants in
their annual trek for water, the albatross, to the less well known,
the globe skimmer dragonfly or the hummingbird, the pages offer a
brief summary of the animal and its journey accompanied by an
illustrations that begs to be closely scrutinised.
Readers will love the detail, the great white shark that travels
10,000 kilometres to feed on seal, the monarch butterflies that
travel in their millions from USA and even Canada to Mexico, a
distance of some 5,000 kilometres, to roost and lay their eggs.
The hummingbird travels 800 kilometres from Central to Northern
America, but travels over the Gulf of Mexico, a bird the weight of a
sugar lump!
While many are large animals, the elephant, emperor penguin, whales
and sharks, caribou and wildebeest, many are smaller fish, salmon
for example, while some are smaller birds, hummingbird and crane,
and two are insects. This is a magical book to dip in to, to savour
and reread, to learn about the sweep of the animal kingdom and
marvel at the astonishing stories presented.
Fran Knight
Colin the Chameleon by Rachel Quarry
Starfish Bay, 2018. ISBN 9781760360474
(Ages: 3-6) Themes: Chameleons, Problem solving. Rachel Quarry's
"Colin the Chameleon" is a delightful picture book that follows the
journey of a young lizard whose unique colouration first hinders
then helps with his survival and his family.
Colin the chameleon has bright red skin which stands out from the
green and brown forest foliage. He has a problem blending in because
he can't change colour like his brothers and sisters. They all
scurry about catching insects, concerned for their own safety, while
leaving Colin to fend for himself. Camouflage is a key element for
the chameleons' survival. Poor Colin, he just escapes from an
eagle's talons and from the jaws of a large menacing snake. There's
one very dangerous part of the forest the road where vehicles drive
by leaving their tyre prints. Across on the other side are plenty of
juicy, tasty insects. Luckily Colin's bright colouring helps him
boldly stand out from the sandy track, the traffic stops to let him
scurry across. Soon his brothers and sisters realise that being
unique, standing out from the crowd is a very useful quality.
Quarry's simple descriptive and alliterative text is engagingly
complimented by her ink, print and collage illustrations. She
capture Colin's story using natural forest colours that contrast
with his bold red and spotted lizard's skin. Wordless pages move the
story forward, capturing the menacing snake and the camouflaged
siblings. Sharing "Colin the Chameleon" with preschool and junior
primary students provides for dialogue on wellbeing, accepting one
another's abilities and as an introduction to animal report writing.
Rhyllis Bignell
The things we can't undo by Gabrielle Reid
Ford Street, 2018. ISBN 9781925736045
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. Perception or reality? Is there a
difference? We don't see things the same way on a clear day. Imagine
first time lovers, slipping into a dark bedroom at a party -
immature, shy, uncertain and unfortunately intoxicated. They have
been secretly dating for a year, wondering what the other expects
and under pressure from their peers at the party and popular culture
in general.
Sam and Dylan are two star-crossed lovers in Year 11 moving clumsily
together, toward a perceived rite of passage. Dylan senses mere
consensual trepidation. Sam senses coercion but is unwilling to
reject the boy she loves. Later, when Sam confides her regrets or
perhaps her exploitation, to her best friend Taylor, Taylor begins a
crusade to exact revenge on Sam's behalf. Sam's secret romance risks
being exposed to Sam's parents, who have forbidden her to date
whilst still at school.
The decisions and assumptions made on that fateful night and beyond,
send Sam spiralling beyond the everyday depression caused by her
parents' demanding academic and musical expectations.
One of the most compelling YA novels of 2018, themes of sexual
violence and suicide may affect access, but The things we can't
undo is a praiseworthy cautionary tale for both sexes. Just as John
Larkin's The pause so successfully prepares teens for the terrible
but temporary depression following the loss of first love, this
novel is almost a survival checklist for 'losing one's virginity'.
Diary entries, letters and social media threads add to both reader
engagement and the comprehension of polar viewpoints - not least the
problematic self-righteousness of social media. Without these texts,
we would only have Dylan's perspective.
The #MeToo phenomenon echoes as well in Australian suburbia as it
does in the forests of Fredrik Backman's YA novel, Beartown.
Gabrielle Reid proves she is easily as perceptive as writers like
Backman and Joyce Carol Oats, when it comes to encapsulating the
subtle contradictions of human sexuality, whether within a culture,
a gender or within a single mind.
Deborah Robins
Secret world of butterflies by Courtney Sina Meredith
Ill. by Giselle Clarkson. Allen and Unwin, 2018. ISBN 9781760633608
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Butterflies. Nature.
Environment. Published to coincide with the exhibition 'Secret World
of Butterflies' at the Auckland War Memorial Museum (June 2018-May
2019) this stunning book full of colour and information is enough to
make people want to pack their bags and fly over the ditch if not
already there to take in the delights that this exhibition must
display.
Told in rhyming couplets, by Auckland poet, Courtney Sina Meredith,
information about butterflies is there on every page to read and
absorb. From large to small, from flying high to flying closer to
the ground, from how they see, to how we see them, to what they eat
and how they sleep, all is given in rhyming lines that beg to be
read out loud, and invite the readers to predict what word will
rhyme.
The stunning illustrations are luminous across each page, with
detailed drawings of these insects, drawn with accuracy and interest
sure to grab the attention of all who open the book. Wellington
based freelance illustrator, Giselle, produces a monthly comic as
well as illustrating various books and magazines.
I loved the way some pages replicated the display of butterflies in
an exhibition, spaced out on a board for everyone to see, while
others had full page spreads illustrating a scene in the natural
world, with others set in the built environment. I loved the pages
showing the camouflage used by some of these insects to stay alive
and I loved reading all the information given on the last three
pages.
This is a wholly fascinating book, sure to please younger readers
with an inquisitive eye and those who want to know more about
butterflies. Many will adore the little known facts presented:
butterflies drink crocodile tears or butterflies taste with their
feet, but all will look at the butterflies they see with renewed
interest after absorbing this book.
Fran Knight
The Bad Guys: Episode 7: Do-you-think-he-saurus?! by Aaron Blabey
The Bad Guys book 7, Scholastic, 2018. ISBN 9781760279493
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. Do-you-think-he-saurus?! will
need no promotion to fans of the Bad Guys as they time travel
through space, landing on the exact spot they wanted, but at the
wrong time - 65 million years in the past.
Readers will cheer as the Bad Guys face a fierce dinosaur while they
try to repair their time machine and get back to earth in time to
save it from the evil alien.
Even though this book follows on from The
Bad Guys: Episode 6, new readers to the series will
quickly catch onto the characters and the plot and they will be
swept along laughing out loud at the antics of the dinosaur and the
Bad Guys. Blabey also has a little fun looking at the qualities of
leadership that will fascinate kids and the drawings of the
characters are a joy to examine.
To add to the reader's enjoyment is a pilot episode, "The glamorous
life of Dr Rupert Marmalade", at the back of the book and adults and
kids alike will have a laugh at the take-off of reality shows and
the huge ego of Dr Marmalade.
This is a series that will give any readers a lift as they laugh
along with Blabey's fabulous sense of humour and hilarious drawings.
Pat Pledger
Dogasaurus by Lucinda Gifford
Scholastic, 2018. ISBN 9781743810712
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. In Dogasaurus, Molly finds an
egg in The Mysterious Ancient Forest next to her home. Molly is like
any curious child and takes the egg home. It hatches and now Molly
has a new pet. It is small and cute but Molly's new pet is a
dinosaur. What will happen as Rex the dinosaur - who acts like a dog
- grows and grows? Molly and Rex play games, he helps with the
chickens and he herds the animals. Rex might be gigantic and he
might make a lot of mess but Molly loves him. One day, Molly finds
Rex staring at The Mysterious Ancient Forest. They hear roaring from
inside the forest. Is the forest where Rex truly belongs? Dogasaurus is a beautiful story about a friendship between a
girl and her pet. The illustrations are gorgeous and colourful. They
help tell the story and would be great prompts for oral retelling in
the classroom. This story is also fun and the pictures portray that.
Dogasaurus is also a great story to help us say goodbye to
those we love. It is highly recommended for bedtime reading with
readers under 7 and for independent readers aged 7+. Dinosaur fans
as well as readers who love a good story about friendship will enjoy
this book.
Kylie Kempster
Jacob's toys: The big backyard adventure! by Claudia Woods
Harbour Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9781922134943
First to flee were Ted and Dupree, then Tessa Turtle, Poncho and
Mousy Dundee. Not far behind was the smallest of all, the teeny tiny
reindeer that Jacob called Paul. Jacob tells his mother that he is
too old for soft toys and he wants to give them away. His mother
washes them and hangs them on the line to dry. But wild weather sets
the toys free and sends them on an exciting adventure across the
garden.
What will become of the toys? Will they make it to their new home
safely? Will Jacob realise he will never be too old for his soft toy
friends? (Publisher)
This book has very interesting illustrations. They are a mixture of
real images and collage. The text is well written and the rhyming
will be a winner with children from an early age. I can see them
joining in or predicting the rhyming. Friendship and loyalty are
interwoven through the storyline and the look and find challenge at
the end of the book is a welcome addition.
Kathryn Schumacher
Unmasked: An inspirational story of triumph over adversity by Turia Pitt
Random House, 2018. Young Adult edition. ISBN 9780143790396
(Age: Young adult) Highly recommended. Themes: Resilience,
Adversity, Goal-setting, Physical injury. Turia Pitt tells her
inspirational story for young adults. There is no doubt her account
of surviving horrific burns and learning to live life with gratitude
despite the horrors of her experience will be inspiring and
challenging for young readers. The fierce competitive and dogged
resilience that has always marked her life is really put to the test
as she learns to put one foot in front of the other - either in
recovery or on an ultra-marathon. The love and support of her
partner in life, Michael, is also a story of strong, masculine
devotion that should be read by young men too. This is not just a
story for girls. As difficult as the circumstances that Turia has
faced, her advice for young readers is powerful and important, and
because of her experience will echo through the emptiness of a
self-centred culture.
Written mostly from Turia's perspective, she does however include
the voices of family and friends whose lives were also impacted by
the trauma of Turia's burns. Advice for surviving adversity and
difficulties in life is also given, with her perspective adding
power to these words.
Photo pages for reference are included in the centre of the book.
Carolyn Hull
Behold the beautiful dung beetle by Cheryl Bardoe
Ill. by Alan Marks. Charlesbridge, 2018, ISBN 9781580895552
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Dung beetles, Dung, Insects.
All animals leave behind dung or faeces or poo (feces and poop in
this book published in the USA) and it needs cleaning up. The dung
beetle is onto the task almost immediately, sensing when some is
dropped and flying to the poo within fifteen seconds of it hitting
the ground. He needs to be fast, as many thousands of other dung
beetles are on their way as well. Once there, different dung beetles
do different things. Some bury it before others get there, some eat
it, some make tunnels taking the poo down with them where one egg is
left in each piece of dung, some roll the dung into a ball and roll
it away to a place where it can be buried and used to incubate an
egg.
The dung beetle therefore creates air pockets in the soil, aerating
it, as well as fertilising it. And the dung provides food for the
growing grub. No wonder the Ancient Egyptians saw them as symbols of
life and its renewal, calling them scarabs.
This is a fascinating little book with illustrations that
wonderfully complement the text, revealing exactly what the beetles
look like, what they do and how they operate. The last two pages
give information as text, with a glossary and bibliography.
This is an outstanding contribution to the area of simpler texts
about our natural world, produced energetically for beginning
readers. The idea of poo is a surefire winner, but the work of the
dung beetle will hold their attention, prompting children to look
more closely at the poo left around the place and be in awe of how
it is removed by this marvelous insect.
Fran Knight
Ellie Engineer by Jackson Pearce
Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781681195193
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. "Ellie is an engineer. With a tool
belt strapped over her favorite skirt (who says you can't wear a
dress and have two kinds of screwdrivers handy, just in case?), she
invents and builds amazing creations in her backyard workshop.
Together with her best friend Kit, Ellie can make anything. As Kit's
birthday nears, Ellie doesn't know what gift to make until the girls
overhear Kit's mom talking about her present - the dog Kit always
wanted! Ellie plans to make an amazing doghouse, but her plans grow
so elaborate that she has to enlist help from the neighbor boys and
crafty girls, even though the two groups don't get along. Will Ellie
be able to pull off her biggest project yet? Illustrated with
Ellie's sketches and plans, and including backmasters with how-tos,
this is full of engineering fun!" (Publisher)
I have had "Ellie Engineer" highly recommended to me and I was not
disappointed. Ellie is a strong female character who enters a world
normally dominated by boys. She has all the traits we are trying to
foster in the youth of today - friendly, kind, creative and
inventive. Ellie is the perfect mix - although she likes to wear
dresses she also likes to be creative, inventive and wears a tool
belt ensuring she is always prepared. She is a risk taker and fully
understands that when you are inventing things failure is a common
occurrence by one must display persistence and keep going. She
ensures she keeps detailed notes and drawings documenting her
journey which are cleverly interspersed throughout the book. I would
recommend this book for students aged 8 and up. Themes touched on
include STEM, friendship and gender stereotypes.
Kathryn Schumacher
Running on empty by Sonya Spreen Bates
Orca Sports series. Orca Book Publishers, 2018. ISBN
9781459816534
(Age: 13+) Recommended. Themes: Sport - Athletics, Family,
Overcoming difficulties. Leon experiences the worst outcome during
his High School 4 x 100metre relay event - the end of his sprint
career due to a mid-race accident. The turmoil of having his life
turned upside down because of his injury, results in family
difficulties and emotional distress. Nothing will ever be the same
again! A chance meeting at the Physiotherapy clinic with Casey, the
feisty, spirited and attractive teenager, changes his direction, and
potentially leads him towards a new way of living. But is her
direction healthy, or does her own struggle in life put Leon in
danger of some unwise choices? Can he run again, or should he just
give up?
This book takes the reader into the story of an American teenager on
the brink of College life, whose hopes for an Athletics scholarship
get crushed because of injury. Family relationships and disharmony
are addressed, as well as the generational dilemma of coping with a
grandparent on the brink of dementia. But essentially it is a story
of someone at the crossroads trying to deal with difficulty in their
life and to recover from disappointment, all within the context of
school athletics and sporting aspirations. Casey's problems are
intense, and we know there are major problems, but her power to
inspire Leon gives hope where there was none. Problems do not
disappear, but the future for the two teens will not be plain
sailing. This book will be appreciated by sports fans, but also by
others who understand the teenage predicaments that the characters
face.
Recommended for readers aged 13+.
Carolyn Hull
Topspin by Sonya Spreen Bates
Orca Sports series. Orca Book Publishers, 2013. ISBN 9781459803855
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Themes: Tennis, Sabotage, Competition. Kat
has made it to the Junior Tennis championship at Melbourne Park.
This is the chance she has always wanted but Miri, her Doubles
partner, seems to be up to something, and it seems to involve the
unwitting tennis player, Hamish - Miri's very likeable boyfriend.
The tension between Kat and Miri is growing and affecting Kat's
ability to perform on court in both her Singles game and her Doubles
contests. Kat decides she needs to figure out what is behind Miri's
growing secrecy and strange connection with the unpleasant
character, Dray. Kat's sleuthing uncovers a plot that could damage
Hamish's chance in the championship. Will this information put them
all in danger, and will she be able to protect Hamish from Dray's
sabotage?
This is an action book - action on the tennis court and in the
uncovering of the plot to sabotage a tennis player's success. It is
exciting and full of the language, strategy and interest of
competitive tennis for Junior participants. It is also a mystery and
adventure involving the young under 16 characters. This is the kind
of book that young sports lovers will love, because of the
past-paced and intriguing environment of competitive sport. The
action off court is also exciting and slightly cautionary, with
competitive tendencies sometimes making the participants quite
unpleasant in their desire to win.
Recommended for readers who love sport, aged 12+.
Carolyn Hull
