Reviews

Island of Glass by Nora Roberts

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The Guardians trilogy, bk. 3. Piatkus, 2016. ISBN 9780349407906
(Age: Adult) Romance. Fantasy. The third in The Guardians series see Roberts return to Ireland as her setting where Doyle, the immortal, must come to grips with his past when he finds that the house they are living in has been built on the exact spot where he grew up centuries before. As they begin to search Irish history and landscape for the final star and the Island of Glass, both Doyle and Riley must come to grips with the attraction that they feel towards each other and be courageous enough to admit their love. Island of glass is not a stand-alone novel, readers should read the others in the series, Stars of fortune and Bay of sighs, before reading this.
Roberts' love of Ireland is evident in her telling of this tale. The soft landscape, misty mornings, green fields and ancient monuments provide a background to Doyle and Riley's story. The other four protagonists - Annika the effervescent mermaid, Sawyer the time traveller, Bran the Irish sorcerer and Sasha the seer, all play an important role, but it is Doyle and Riley who dominate the story in Island of Glass. There are dramatic moments, action packed incidents and a beautiful fantasy island for the seekers of the stars and readers will be swept along for the quest.
Fans of Roberts will be very familiar with the way she pairs off six people, giving them a seemingly impossible task to perform, while finding love on the way, but her novels always provide a great deal of escapism and ease of reading that brings fans back for more.
Pat Pledger

Owl Bat Bat Owl by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

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Walker Books, 2016. ISBN 9781406364392
Themes: Wordless Picture Book; Differences. A family of owls (is that a small 'parliament'?) settles for the day in a tree. Their rest is interrupted by the arrival of a family of bats. There is room for them all as one group is up, and the other down, but owl mother creates some distance by moving her family away from the intruders. The smallest of each animal species seems to connect to one another to the distress of the parents. A wild wind disturbs their rest and both parents realise that they are alike in being concerned for their family's safety. Over a series of pages, the two family groups connect again, with the two youngest forging the way to a nocturnal friendship.
All of this action happens through simple illustrations involving the wide eyed owls and inverted bats (or are they the right way up, and the owls are inverted?) As with many wordless picture books, this book is one where a pre-reader could tell the story to an adult listener; which makes this a great book to encourage conversation and observation. (Speech therapists might like to add this book to their collection.) On a more mature level, this could be used to begin a discussion about migration and what keeps us apart and draws us together in human society.
Carolyn Hull

Chronologica compiled by the Whittaker's Almanack Team

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Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781472932945
(Age: 10+) Recommended, History, Non fiction. Subtitled The incredible years that defined history, this massive tome is a fascinating book to dip into and read about an event which readers may not know a lot about. Beginning with 753 BC, and travelling through the execution of Joan of Arc in 1431, shipwreck of the Batavia in 1629, the first hot air balloon in 1783, to the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, each year covered, and there are a hundred of them, has several pages devoted to it. The topics covered are as varied as they are different, as interesting as they are entertaining, and they all point to the importance of that year.
Each page offers an illustration pertinent to the text, and a page of text for kids to read, giving a potted overview of the topic. Each of the one hundred dates chosen represents an incredible year in world history, be it the Cornish Rebellion of 1497, 1796 and the first vaccinations, 1895 seeing the first Nobel Peace Prizes being awarded, or 1846 when the first saxophone is patented. The list of things recounted is so varied, it is hard to put a finger on why each is included, or what may follow. But always interesting, intriguing and informative, this book will be read by those kids who hang out looking for facts to read and entertain themselves and others. There was always a bunch of them looking at the almanacks and Guinness books of Records and so on in my library, and this will be eagerly included.
Fran Knight

The nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffman

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Ill. by Robert Ingpen. Walker Books, 2016. ISBN 9781922244550
(Age: all) Highly recommended. Christmas, Classic tale, The Nutcracker, Friendship. This wonderful edition of the well known story, the basis for Tchaikovsky's loved Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker, is given in its entirety, translated from Hoffman's original German story by Anthea Bell and given a brilliantly enticing new set of illustrations by the marvelous Robert Ingpen, to celebrate its bicentenary. Children and adults alike will thrill to the complete story offered here, set alongside seventy glorious illustrations, reminding them of Christmases long past, of half remembered stories of the nutcracker.
When her parents' good friend, Mr Drosselmeier gives Marie and her brother a nutcracker for Christmas, Marie loves the little figure. Her impatient brother throws it in the corner when one of his big teeth is cracked, but Marie cradles him and puts him in the special place with her other toys.
Unbeknownst to her, Mr Drosselmeier has given the figure to Marie for a reason, one he cannot tell anyone. He once built a mousetrap so well that all the mice in the town had been trapped and removed from the place. The mice then cursed his nephew and only he knows what can take away that curse.
When Marie is about to go to bed, mice invade the room with her toys, demanding she feed them or they will eat up her nutcracker. She complies but when she runs out of food, she turns to see the nutcracker and the other toys lined up to defeat the mice. She wakes the next morning, confused and upset to see that her nutcracker has gone. But Mr Drosselmeier returns that day with his nephew and Marie realises who he is and takes him as her friend.
This beautiful story of friendship is complemented with Ingpen's sumptuous illustrations, soft edged and glowingly detailed.
This is a beautiful story to read at Christmas, reminding children that love and friendship are precious and will outlive all the toys they are given. This edition includes a biography of Hoffman and celebrates his influence on fantasy writing, while the tale written in 1816, includes a story rarely seen, The story of the hard nut, which tells the reader how the nutcracker came to be.
This is a magical production and deserves to be shared.
Fran Knight

The anti-Boredom Christmas book by Andy Seed

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Bloomsbury Publishing Place, 2016. ISBN 9781408870105
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. The Anti-Boredom Christmas Book is full of activities to make sure readers do not get bored over Christmas. It has some hilarious activities and is full of jokes, facts, quizzes and other stuff. Each chapter is themed and readers can learn how to make some simple Christmas crafts, challenge their sister to a Christmas quiz or make dad laugh with some Christmas jokes. There are plenty of discussion pages as well which will make for some fun conversations. They include asking questions of family members and getting them to choose Christmas things they prefer. Readers can learn some new games like 'Table Tinker' where someone makes changes to the Christmas table and the other guests have to guess what is different. Try a game of Fangman (a take on the traditional Hangman) where players draw a vampire face to 'hang' the players as they guess the wrong letters. Highly recommended for all readers aged 8+. This book would make a great stocking filler and could also be used in the classroom. Students or teachers could choose an activity to do each day in the lead up to the end of the school year and Christmas.
Kylie Kempster

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

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Six of Crows bk 2. Indigo, 2016. ISBN 9781780622309
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Fantasy. Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction (2016). The stunning sequel to Six of crows, see Kaz Brekker and his crew fighting for their lives. They have been double-crossed and Kaz is determined to have his revenge. In a series of daring heists, they are fighting for their lives and Kaz needs every bit of his cunning and intelligence to find out about the deadly drug known as jurda parem and to bring some peace to his team.
Once again the world building in Crooked Kingdom is outstanding. The city of Ketterdam is brought to life, with its canals, warehouses, merchants and people making a fabulous background to the adventures of the six young people.
The daring exploits of the crew keep the reader totally engrossed as they break into houses, fool dangerous people and fight off their foes. The action is breathtaking but so is the characterisation. Each chapter is told by one of the six characters and it is done so well that the reader has no problem following such a large group of main characters as well as a plethora of minor ones.
The characteristics of each person are richly elaborated, with details of each person's background and reason for being in Ketterdam gradually evolving as their story is told. Kaz of course is central to the story and Bardugo leaves us very satisfied with how he evolves. Of course with such a large cast and with so much danger to contend with, there are some casualties on the way and lots of surprising twists as well.
This is an excellent sequel to Six of crows and I look forward to reading anything else that Leigh Bardugo writes in the future.
Pat Pledger

Dog on a digger: The tricky incident by Kate Prendergast

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Old Barn Books, 2016. ISBN 9781910646144
(Age: 3+) Recommended. Kate Prendergast draws from her transport industry background creating detailed images of machinery set against an urban landscape filled with heavy machinery. This wordless picture book with detailed black and white pencil drawings with highlights of yellow and blue is a story of friendship, loyalty and thoughtfulness.
Dog lives with his owner in a caravan surrounded by trucks, heavy equipment and building supplies. The panoramic front spread highlights the urban landscape at night; an owl flies by watched by a city fox. Morning comes and dog wakes his master up with licks to the face, time to start the day; meanwhile the food truck's owner and her little white dog open up ready to sell hearty meals to the workers. Dog joins his master in the cab of the big yellow digger ready to move all the building rubble into the truck. Both of them wear yellow safety vests. The digger's scoop is humanised - bolts become eyes and the large mouth opens and closes eating up the rubble and scrap wood.
At morning teatime, Dog plays with the small white dog sharing a bowl of food, while their owners chat over a cup of tea. In an instant, the little canine disappears and Dog sets off in a hurried search climbing the stairs of the building next door to see where his friend has gone. With the aid of Dog's owner, he guides him to rescue the lost animal stuck in a grate beside the canal.
Dog on a digger is an enjoyable picture book, when shared with a class; students can add their own narrative, writing text in sticky notes on each page, developing a class book. Pet ownership and being responsible are topics for discussion as well. For Art, explore pencil sketching, highlighting one element in colour; introduce expressive drawing and humanising inanimate objects like Thomas the Tank Engine and the yellow digger.
Rhyllis Bignell

Girl in pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

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HarperCollins, 2016. ISBN 9781460751053
(Age: 15+) Recommended for mature readers. Charlie is really messed up. But so is everyone at Creeley, the health facility for girls who self-harm. Part One of Girl in Pieces chronicles their despair fuelled by anxiety or abuse of one kind or another. Charlotte (Charlie) is dealing with loss of her father in childhood and more recently, her best friend.
In Part Two, Charlie is thrust back into the tenuous reality of the outside world. She is not ready but both she and her counsellor, Casper, have prepared some strategies to avoid self-harm. Mickey, her childhood sweetheart, reaches out to her with a bus ticket and a new start interstate. Inevitably, Charlie's attraction to Riley, a musician and addict working with her in a coffee shop, can only lead to one thing.
The author, who has a history of self-harm, takes us on a journey of gradual understanding. Glasgow's insights into the thoughts of those who self-harm are palpable and full of wisdom. We come to know Charlie's own triggers for cutting and the horrific physiological consequences of cyclical self-loathing. The use of flashbacks confirm that she blames herself for attracting catastrophe.
Life keeps disappointing Charlie but in Part Three, the inclusion of her sketches in a local art show gives us hope that she can ultimately find peace in a world in which she has never felt welcome. The abiding message of this confronting First Person tome, is that you are not alone. You can choose self-annihilation of one kind or another and there'll be no shortage of company - or you can keep trying. Girl in Pieces provides insightful explanations for addiction of any kind, but the sub-text is the importance of mentors, artfully achieved from very well fleshed out and equally flawed but resilient characters.
Deb Robins

Return of the dinosaurs by Bronwyn Houston

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Magabala Books, 2016. ISBN 9781925360370
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. Return of the Dinosaurs is a beautifully illustrated Australian picture book. What if dinosaurs returned? What would they do all day? Better yet, what would they do if they lived in Broome, Western Australia? Author, Bronwyn Houston uses her local knowledge and Broome landmarks to help describe what the dinosaurs would get up to. The dinosaurs could be seen at Cable Beach or the local movie house. Locals could take photos as the dinosaurs splash in the ocean and the dinosaurs could find the secret salmon runs. The text is short and descriptive, making it a great book to read before bed or to a class. The gorgeous illustrations will provoke discussions, children could create their own images to go with the story, real photographs of the landmarks could be compare to the drawings and different art techniques and mediums could be explored to recreate the images. Highly recommended for readers aged 3+ but they will require an adult to read it to them. Children aged 6+ will enjoy exploring the vocabulary and the images.
Kylie Kempster

You are oh so horribly handsome by Eva Dax

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Ill. by Sabine Dully. Starfish Bay Children's Books, 2016. ISBN 9781760360139
(Age: 4+) Image, Friendship. Gregor the monster is unsure of how he is perceived by those around him. He is exceedingly loud and very strong and can run extra fast. But one day sitting alone in his house with a mirror, he looks at his sticky out ears and big nose and asks himself whether he is handsome. He asks each of his friends in turn to find the answer. His mother tells him that his squint is more handsome than anyone else's. Dad tells him that he has the cheesiest, stinkiest feet in the world, while Granddad tells him that no one else in the world has crooked, yellow, rotten teeth like his. On each page Gregor asks someone what he is like, and each time he gets a list of superlatives about his appearance, and by now the readers will have laughed out loud at the words used to describe the monster, Gregor.
By the end of the book when Gregor looks again in the mirror and lists all of his attributes, he also recounts what each of his relatives and friends did when he asked them his important question. Dad threw him into the air, Mum kissed and cuddled him, Granddad sat him on his lap, he was kissed and cuddled, by all he asked, so he knows that he is really handsome.
This is a charming story of how people are valued, not by appearance but by who they are. The book will provide a jumping off point for discussions about body image, or how people show their affection, or family and friends and the strengths they show each individual. First published in New Zealand by Deep Creek Press in 2015.
Fran Knight

The song from somewhere else by A.F. Harrold

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Ill. by Levi Pinfold. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408879337
(Age: 9+) Recommended. Fantasy. Bullying. Acceptance. Fear. Friendship. This is an amazing story of bullying and friendship, yet it also enters into the fantasy world that lives in parallel to our own world. Frank (or Francesca) is alone while her friend is away on holidays and her pet cat has gone missing. The story begins with an encounter with the local Junior School bully and his two goons while she is out putting up Missing Cat posters. Her fear rises and overtakes her until Nick, the big ostracised kid from her class, rescues her from another incident of humiliation. Unfortunately he is not a 'Prince Charming', but rather is the lumpish and large kid who is also the butt of everyone's jokes, and the one that everyone in class avoids because he smells. Without realising it, Frank becomes Nick's friend, and the connection between the two lonely kids is tightened by the mystical and magical music that floats from within Nick's house and which has a restorative influence on Frank, but is also part of the intrigue of the unusual Nick. This music entices Frank's curiosity, and she becomes acquainted with Nick's fantastic family secret. The tangles that this weaves are like shadows that creep around in the middle of the night, with the capacity to trip you over in the uncertainty of each step forward. Frank's encounters with the fantasy world raise her uncertainties about how to act; the moral dilemmas she has to face confront her with her selfishness and her struggles to be friends with the boy she formerly shunned. But the story ends well, despite her mistakes.
The black and white illustrations in this book are atmospheric and ethereal in some places, which adds a hint of mystery to the story. Although we have a fantasy tale at the heart of the story, it is also a 'real-life' tale of friendship, acceptance and the impact of fear. Frank's quirky family adds an element of humour to the otherwise dark mystery. There is nothing in here that would cause nightmares, but it is a moving tale of overcoming dark influences.
Carolyn Hull

All of us together by Bill Condon

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About Kids Books, 2016. ISBN 9780994642806
(Age: 10+) Recommended. Depression (1930's). Australian history. Family. With Dad leaving home to go on the road to look for work, twelve year old Daniel is the man of the house, charged with looking out for his mother and two sisters, Adelaide and Lydia. It is The Depression in Australia and Daniel's father, like many other men, has lost his job and so must search for work away from home. Sending any money he gets back to his family, the budget is never enough, and this book gives a clear idea of what it must have been like for struggling families at this time in Australia's history. Daniel is influenced by his friend Bede, and must make some momentous decisions about his behaviour, particularly after the family is given some sad news about their absent father. Without television, mobile phones and cars, the family will seem quite alien to our middle primary people, but they will learn a great deal from the setting in this book, and follow the family's story with interest.
About Kids Books is a new publishing company set up by Di Bates committed to producing quality books for the age group from middle to upper primary, always a difficult age age to satisfy, and it is pleasing to see solid well written stories offered by this new company, a neat counterpoint to the plethora of poo and bum books seen in bookshops.
Fran Knight

The mountain who wanted to live in a house by Maurice Shadbolt

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Ill. by Renee Haggo. Starfish Bay Children's Books, 2016. ISBN 9781760360030
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Humour. Mountains. Environment. Problem solving. As the mountain stares down at the people in the town, he is envious. People come to him to ski or have picnics, to climb and watch the birds in the trees, but he wants to be just like them and live in his own house where he would be protected from the cold and wind and ice and snow, and not be lonely. So one day with a yell, he begins to walk to the town. People become very anxious and drive away, or walk or paddle down the river. One boy, Thomas stands in front of the mountain to ask what he is doing, and finding that the mountain wants to live in a house, begins to discuss the problem with him.
He tells him about his mother sometimes washing his jumper only to find that it shrinks, so he heads off home for soap and water, but this doesn't work at all. Next he fetches a hammer and begins to chop bits off the mountain, but the mountain doesn't like this idea. At last the boy has a clever idea, and races back home to fetch his father to paint the mountain. In that way the mountain would fit into a house and be seen by everyone. So the mountain can stay where he is but also be in the house.
I really like this story of working together to find a solution to a problem. Readers could begin to discuss why things in the environment are where they are, and how we can protect them. They will enjoy the illustrations of the mountain's face peering out at the readers and could talk about how to go about painting a mountain scene. First published in New Zealand by Deep Creek Press in 2015.
Fran Knight

A dog like that! by Janene Cooper

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Ill. by Evie Kemp. Starfish Bay Children's Books, 2016. ISBN 9781760360047
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Dogs. Pets. Comparisons. In this enticing book, each group of pages introduces a different dog and its owner and what it does best. Uncle's dog, a labrador, is clever and does what he is told, but the girl who owns the scruffy dog on the cover tells us that her dog is not like that. He does what he likes. Her Grandpa's dog is a watch dog, and keeps guard at night, but the scruffy dog sleeps. The neighbour's dog is fearsome, barking at all the other cats and dogs, but the girl's dog likes everyone and licks them all. Each dog is shown for something it does best, and the girl is told that all dogs should be like that. But as we read on we find that her dog is nothing like the other dogs: it sleeps with the girl, is happy to see everyone, is scruffy and rumpled, and unlike other dogs that leap and jump, her dog sits at the gate and waits for her.
Her dog knows when she is sad and licks her face, and stays in her room with her when she has done something wrong. And that is what dogs should be.
The bold illustrations have the reader looking straight into the face of the scruffy dog, comparing its behaviour with the other dogs and knowing which dog is the best. Each page uses one main colour with the dog prominently positioned by the words in a large font. It is a delight to read and look at the illustrations and I can imagine children reading it aloud, repeating the refrain, 'Dogs should be like that' with growing knowledge that the best dog is not like that at all. First published in New Zealand by Deep Creek Press in 2015.
Fran Knight

Why do cats have tails? by David Ling

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Ill. by Stephanie Thatcher. Starfish Bay Children's Books, 2016 ISBN 9781760360085
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Cats. Pets. Problem solving. Surrounded by their family's cats the little girls ask their Grandpa why the cats have tails. Grandpa thinks up some wonderful reasons which will bring gales of laughter to the listening crowd. He suggests that they might use them to swing through the trees, but the girls tell him that this is the reason monkeys have tails. He then suggests that they could use them to swish away the flies, but the girls tell him that cows use their tails in this way. Perhaps the tail helps them swim faster, he says, but no, cats don't like to swim. Suppose the cat uses his tail as a warning, but no say the girls, rattlesnakes do that. Grandpa then asks the girls to offer a suggestion and this is one the readers will discuss as they finish the book. The pastel illustrations add warmth to the story, but are a little washed out in my review copy. I do like the cat's paw endpapers. First published in New Zealand by Deep Creek Press in 2015.
Fran Knight