Reviews

First day at Bug School by Sam Lloyd

Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408868805
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Starting School. Insects. A humourous look at starting school - for bugs! Sam Lloyd has created a funny walk-through of what the first day of school is like and what can be learned. The twist is that all the characters are insects or small creatures that creep and crawl. Because of this, some of the lessons to be learned are unique to this micro-world, and the characteristics of individual creatures impact their participation - Chloe Cricket is singing, the Stink bug is seen in the toilet, and the Ladybird's spots are very useful in Maths! Lessons for young humans are not directly made, so this is not a book that will teach life lessons in a humourous way, but it is just fun! And the illustrations are in a peculiar cartoon style, and there is much to look at for pre-readers.
Carolyn Hull

Ruby Red Shoes goes to London by Kate Knapp

Angus and Robertson, 2016. ISBN 9780732297626
(Age: 7+) Recommended. Nostalgia. London. Travel. The nostalgic stories of the hare, Ruby Red Shoes, have found a warm following; the first two, Ruby Red Shoes and Ruby Red Shoes goes to Paris, both shortlisted for CBCA awards in 2013 and the Readings Book Prize in 2014. A good beginning for a young author illustrator finding her way within a competitive industry.
Ruby and her grandmother live in a caravan, and decide to visit London to stay with her aunt Pinky at Lunar Crescent. They board the underground and alight at the correct station, to be greeted with warmth by their aunt and cousins. A great deal of food is consumed as is appropriate for staying with relatives, and the next day they board the Hop On Hop Off Bus to see more of this great city. They see many sights, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Fortnum and Mason's and buy some sweets there from their famous range. But a surprise is in store at the hairdresser's shop. It is full of dogs and many are corgis, so when the owner comes along to collect her pets, it is none other than the Queen. That night Ruby falls instantly to sleep dreaming of her meeting with the Queen and the horses, and while she is asleep London is coated in a layer of snow. Grandma and Ruby return to their home full of memories to dwell upon and remember, but there is no place like home.
Softly edged, finely detailed and colourful illustrations add life to the story as children will readily follow Ruby's excursion to London. A wonderful introduction to what a city offers residents and visitors alike, and a great overview of what London has to offer the tourist.
Fran Knight

The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong

Text Publishing, 2016. ISBN 9781925355215
(Age: Senior secondary to adult) Highly recommended, Crime Fiction, Cricket. Darren 'Daz' and Wally Keefe have an obsession with cricket. Their childhood memories are all about the backyard cricket matches on their home made pitch on the back lawn. The rules of the game are strict and any twisting or breaking of those strictures lead to a serious bit of 'biffo'.
Pamela, the boy's mother brings them up on her own, supporting them and their cricketing careers through working behind the bar at the local pub. They both have enormous talent, though Darren, who tells the story, doesn't quite know where it comes from. Each shows a definite, but very different character; Wally is contained, seemingly unemotional, technically correct and full of concentration, while Darren is flamboyant, brilliant and a larrikin.
They meet 'Craigo' who sees off a group of private school elitists who are not impressed that a couple of lads from the wrong side of town have given them a cricketing lesson. Craig and Darren develop a friendship, with Darren always there with his dubious contacts in the background somewhere. Wally it seems doesn't want much to do with him, but Darren is content to be part of the boozy, drug taking scene.
As their careers take off Darren is the first to be recognised by the Victorian state team and to play Shield Cricket, but Wally soon follows, and eventually it is Wally who plays for his country, and eventually captains the Australian side. It is also Wally, conservative and careful of his image, who marries and has a child called Hannah.
Then something very strange happens. Hannah is abducted. The police are baffled as no one can see a good reason why. There has been no ransom demand. There is no evidence.
Darren's narrative continues and notes his spectacular fall (or falls) from grace and also his resurrection as a 'media personality', his mother's gradual decline into dementia and of course his relationship with Wally.
This is a fascinating insight into the world of sport, where money and entertainment take precedence over the game itself. The reader will of course find many parallels with cricket personalities past and present and with the role that gambling has had and will increasingly have on professional sport.
With Daz trussed in the boot of a car at the beginning of the book it's no surprise that there will be an unhappy ending, but Jock Serong has ensured that his story of two cricketing brothers will keep you enthralled until the end.
Mark Knight

Frenemies forever by Rachel Renee Russell

Ill. by Nikki Russell; Erin Russell. Dork Diaries bk 11. Simon & Schuster, 2016. ISBN 9781471158032
(Age: 9-11) Nikki J. Maxwell returns with another 'dramafest'; her diary brimming with the ups and downs of home and school life. Each year at Nikki's school eighth graders participate in a one-week exchange program. Her friends are excited about their placement however, Nikki is devastated. North Hampton Hills is a prestigious school with fabulous uniforms, an excellent school program and one big problem. Nikki's archenemy MacKenzie Hollister started there two weeks ago. At home, Nikki's little sister Briana is experimenting in the kitchen trying to perfect a recipe to gain her cooking badge for scouts. Nikki refuses to eat the burnt chocolate pudding complete with eggshells. The cute factor is added with a new golden retriever puppy Daisy who interrupts Nikki's sleeping. Nikki's new school is super-cool, she's excited and nervous as well, there are new friends and experiences - horse riding, French class, Science Club and more MacKenzie dramas. Added to the mix is a new queen bee Tiffany and her gang who make life interesting for all the exchange program students. Nikki is forced to team up with MacKenzie to survive.
Frenemies Forever has all the essential elements fans love. There are expressive diary entries with loads of exclamation marks; cartoon sketches of Nikki's dorky life and humorous situations like the blue face mask and a caramel popcorn explosion. The themes are relevant to preteen readers, a first crush, friendships, school life and overcoming bullying. Rachel Renee Russell's Nikki continues to be admired for her quirky dorky traits and her down to earth relatable portrayal of everyday life.
Rhyllis Bignell

One Small Donkey by Dandi Daley Mackall and Martina Alvarez Miguens

Tommy Nelson, 2016. ISBN 9780718082475
One small donkey
Hunting for a blade of grass
Sees big horses full of power and might
Prancing proudly as they pass.
This is the story of The Nativity told from the perspective of Joseph's donkey. Despite its apparent smallness and insignificance, the donkey still played a massive role in this event that continues to be celebrated around the world. Though the donkey wasn't the biggest, fastest, or strongest of all the animals, he had an important job all the same.
Told in rhyme, this is a way to explain the story behind all the Christmas hype to the very young so they begin to understand what is really being recognised at this time. With its bright pictures and strong message that even the smallest of us has a role to play, it will appeal to parents who want their child to begin to know this enduring story and the common symbols associated with it including the angels, shepherds and the birth in the manger.
Barbara Braxton

Wormwood Mire by Judith Rossell

Harper Collins, 2016. ISBN 9780733333019
(Age: 9-12) Highly recommended. Feisty Stella Montgomery returns in another wonderfully exciting adventure - Wormwood Mire. Orphan Stella is in disgrace, after her escapades in Withering-by-Sea. Life with her puritanical aunts is full of rules and limitations. When a fortuitous letter arrives, they are relieved of the onerous task of raising Stella. She is sent to Wormwood Mire, her family's country estate, to be cared for by a governess along with her cousins Strideforth and Hortense. Let the adventures begin! On the long train journey, Stella reads A Garden of Lillies, a book filled with cautionary tales and rhyming mottoes, given to her by the aunts, 'Be neat and tidy, clean and trim, or your ending will be grim.' These come back to haunt her throughout the narrative.
Stella is extremely worried, when the coachman leaves her, in the pouring rain on the front portico of the dark, spooky looking mansion. Finally when the door opens, she is greeted by her welcoming cousins, Strideforth and Hortense, and Henry the Latin-speaking mollymawk, Stella is quickly drawn into their strange and unusual lifestyle, limited heating, simple food and freedom to read and explore. Wormwood Mire is a dark, cold house with a multitude of closed off rooms, hidden passageways and secret spaces. Miss Araminter their governess is an eccentric botanist who loves to explore the overgrown gardens and gather the strange plants collected by Wilberforce Montgomery, the children's ancestor.
Before she left the strictures of life with her Aunts, Stella had discovered an old photograph of her mother Patience at Wormwood Mire with two babies in an old-fashioned pram. Did she have a twin sister? What had happened to her? In the old nursery, Stella's distant memories of life at Wormwood Mire resurface when she listens to the tune played on an old music box.
There is mystery and mayhem, odd happenings in the woods, quirky characters and strange disappearances, all the required elements woven into this fabulous Victorian mystery-thriller. This beautifully bound book, with a textured cover, embellishments, a forest green font and full-page illustrations is a sensory delight, reminiscent of books published many years ago. Judith Rossell's detailed pictures bring the descriptive narrative to life; they are evocative, capturing the atmosphere of the story. Delicate vignettes of stacks of books, strange plants, the slithering monster, jars piled with teeth, all add to the charm of this story.
Wormwood Mire is a sensational, richly rewarding story, which celebrates one girl's indomitable spirit.
Rhyllis Bignell

Laugh your head off again by Andy Griffiths, Sally Rippin and others

Ill. by Andrea Innocent. Macmillan Australia, 2016. ISBN 9781743549872
(Age: 8-10) Recommended. Bold fluoro orange illustrations, punchy punctuation and bright title pages add zest and excitement to these nine humourous stories written by nine best-selling children's authors. Share them with a middle primary class; encourage them to write their own narratives filled with original characters with unique points of view, puns, alliteration and humour.
In Sally Rippin's Momo and Me, Momo the pet monkey loves spaghetti, the tactile experience of winding it around his fork, round his fingers, in fact his whole body. When artistic Aunt Thelma comes over for Sunday lunch, she surprises the family with her new elaborate hat, a bluebird nesting on a bed of looped wool. The family gather for the meal and Dad's in the kitchen finishing the spaghetti when Momo leaps across the table snatches Thelma's hat and disappears. One mischievous monkey's actions require quick thinking by the family to restore order.
Andy Griffith's Busting is set in a supermarket with a young boy who needs to go to the toilet, an old man with a walking frame and a pair of undone shoelaces. A comedy of errors unfolds, with the pencil seller, the toilets closed for cleaning, a broken escalator, a fire in the shopping centre all making for a fast-paced story with a typical Griffiths twist.
Have fun reading about Lobby the Lobster's ballet moves at the Pet Show, a ten-metre tall concrete tomato, foiling the plans of a demon seagull Caarkula who loves footy pies and a money-spinner Justin Bieber corn chip.
Laugh Your Head Off Again delivers humour and excitement in this short story format.
Rhyllis Bignell

Horse of fire: Horse stories from around the world by Lari Don

Bloomsbury Education, 2016. ISBN 9781472920966
(Age: 8+) Recommended. Myths and legends. Horses. Unicorns. Short stories. The fabulous black horse on the front cover will entice any reader who likes horses to open up this book and dip into the amazing array of stories about horses. As the author writes on her website, 'Any story with a horse in it has so much potential - for speed, for power, for beauty, even for magic. Lots of the adventures I write (about centaurs and about kelpies) are inspired by old myths, legends and folktales about horses, so I've gathered my favourite horse stories into this collection.'
Narrated in a conversational tone, the stories include many tales from all around the world. Of course, the first, Pegasus and the monsters will be one that readers will want to try immediately as the name Pegasus has so many connotations, and they won't be disappointed to learn about the beautiful Pegasus and the heroes who used him to effect rescues. Another one that I really liked was the Scottish folktale, The kelpie with the tangled mane, which tells the story of Meg who lives beside a loch where mythical kelpies and water bulls live. Flint Feet is a Navajo tale of the creation of the first people and the way they used horses while What you learn at Wolf School is a humorous story about a wolf who thinks that he is very clever. At the back of the book, the author has given the origins of each story and the name of a text where it could be found, providing a good bibliography for those who might like to further pursue their interest in these myths.
All the stories were very enjoyable and would be ideal to read aloud to children at home or in the classroom. Independent readers who love myths and legends as well as horses will enjoy the variety of stories.
Pat Pledger

Ice breaker by Lian Tanner

Molly and Mae by Danny Parker

Ill. by Freya Blackwood. Hardie Grant Egmont, 2016. ISBN 9781742975276
A railway station in rural Anywhere, Australia and Molly and Mae are looking forward to their journey to the city. On the platform there is fun to be had like hide and seek to play as they and the other passengers wait for the train to arrive and their friendship is full of laughter and giggles as the excitement builds. Even being stuck in the bubblegum doesn't dampen their delight. And even as the waiting goes on and on, there is fun to be had as they enjoy each other's company. When at last the train comes the fun continues as they colour in, dress up their dolls, experience the dining car, and even do crazy stuff like hanging upside down from the seats!
But slowly as the trip seems interminable cracks start to appear as boredom sets in. Molly thinks Mae is silly and tells her so and Mae doesn't like it and before long the girls are not speaking to each other, turning away and spending their time peering through the window at the wet, smeary countryside. The whole world looks murky, echoing their feelings. Will they resolve their spat or is this the end of something special?
This is a story about so much more than a long train journey as it mirrors real-life friendships - the excitement of new shared interests, the pleasure in just being together and doing everyday stuff and the anticipation of adventures to come. But there are also times when it is boring, when difficulties happen and there is a choice of building bridges and continuing on the main track or branching off onto another one.
This is a true marriage of text and graphics. Blackwood's soft palette and somewhat retro feel and clever headings of platform, timetable, journey, signal failure, destination that replicate both the stages of the journey and the development of the friendship express Parker's concept and text perfectly and the reader is drawn deeper and deeper into the story from the early morning endpaper through the title page to the explosion of the big city station and as night falls over the city. Blackwood has explained her thought processes and choices here  showing just how much goes into such a project.
If teachers were ever looking for a book to explain metaphor, this is it!
Would not be surprised to see this among the CBCA shortlisted titles in 2017.
Barbara Braxton

A monster calls by Patrick Ness

Walker Books, 2016. ISBN 9781406365771
(Age: 10+), Highly recommended. Death. Cancer. Nightmares. Fear. Bullying. School. Hospitals. With this new collector's edition, published to coincide with the film's release in 2016, extra material is included, making this a larger heavier tome than its first publication in 2011. Interviews with the cast, Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones and Lewis MacDonald, extra material from Patrick Ness, Jim Kay and producer, J A Bayona, stills from the film, extra graphics from Kay, all add to the luxuriousness of the book.
I read it from cover to cover, poring over the illustrations and stills, reeling again at its impact. The story of one family, particularly the lone boy and the effect of his mother's cancer, will stop readers in their tracks as they read the tale, augmented by the most emotive of illustrations. This is a marvelous publication and will ensure a dedicated following of the book and forthcoming film. My review written in 2011, follows.
From the start, the creeping menace of the Yew tree outside Conor's window invades the imagination of the reader. The amazing illustrations by Jim Kay storm through the book, evoking the shadow world that the monster lives in, paralleling the world now inhabited by Conor as he tries to care for his mother. The threat evoked by the malice of the monster's presence is palpable, but Conor derides its ability to make him cower in fear, as he knows something far worse. He has lived with his nightmare for a while, waking at 12.07 each night with a thuddering heart and sick dread. His mother sometimes stirs from her own disturbed sleep, vomitting in the basin, or awake with the aftermath of chemotherapy.
In this phenomenal tale begun by the late Siobhan Dowd, and written by Ness, we are treated to a superlative horror story, one that will ensure that word of mouth impels its speed around any group of young people from 10 to 15. Fenced in by the cancer which affects his mother, Conor finds that he is invisible at school, his one time friends avoid him, the bullies eventually giving up on him, bringing his resentment to the surface. All the time, the monster calls at 12.07, telling his stories which impel him to action. His destruction of his grandmother's front room brings no respite. Beating up the bully, finds only compassion from the school, not expulsion. Everywhere he turns he is pitied, not punished, and it is only with the last story that the monster makes him understand what he has kept hidden from everyone else as well as from himself.
Death makes its way into every family and this is the story of how one boy deals with it in the most extraordinary way, transferring his feelings to the Yew Tree outside the house, using it as a prop for his emotionally charged life, coping with an absent father, a grandmother he does not care for, and ultimately his dying mother. What began as a horror story, pulling in the reader through its breathtaking illustrations and storytelling, ends as an acceptance of the reality of death and the coming together of the boy and his mother.
Fran Knight

Dragon Land by Stephanie Bendixsen

Ill. by Chris Kennett. Pixel Raiders bk 2. series. Scholastic Australia, 2016. ISBN 9781760275662
(Age: 8+) Digital Worlds. Computer games. Fantasy. Adventure. Stephanie Bendixsen and Steve O'Donnell continue their gaming series in Dragon Land. When we last saw Ripley and Mei Lin, they had conquered Dig World and had luckily escaped from many dangers. Unfortunately, their fall through the clouds is interrupted when they land on the back of a fierce green dragon Frey. Of course she is engaged in a dragon battle. Corkscrews, barrel rolls, and erratic flying are all desperate moves the beast makes as she tries to shake off the riders.
Dragon Frey is linked to the young gamers by an ancient spell as she owes them loyalty for saving her life. In turn Mei Lin and Rip need her knowledge to face the challenges of Dragon Land. George the wizard returns to guide them on their journey through the Path of Never-Ending Darkness. Hidden inside a magic tree, the gamers choose a new class and Rip becomes a ranger with special weapons and powers and Mei Lin takes on the Mage role with spells and magic to assist her. Their adventure waits, and faced with firebugs, a cranky dragon who can't fly, Mei Lin and Rip ingeniously face their enemies, using snotterballs, cunning moves and invisible spells to advance.
Dragon Land is another energetic adventure for young readers who love gaming and the world of virtual reality. Students in lower primary classes could design new levels for Mei Lin and Ripley to explore, create graphic novels or write fun narrative stories.
Rhyllis Bignell

Undercover: one of these things is almost like the others by Bastien Contraire

Phaidon, 2016. ISBN 9780714872506
(Age: 3+) Recommended. Shapes. Identification. Similarities and differences. The cover shows the reader clearly what will be found on each of the pages inside the book. A set of hats awaits the eagle eye, and readers will instantly laugh seeing the turtle as the odd one out in a group of things that look surprisingly similar. The stylishly presented three colour format with a clutch of things continues on each page, prodding the reader to identify the shapes as well as point out the oddity. Not only will they get used to questioning what is on each page but they will identify the similar objects shown and be able to recognise why one is different. Identification, pointing out similarities and differences are all important skills which the early learner needs to develop and here is a tool which can be easily used at home or in the classroom to further refine those skills.
The bold colours used, the humour, the wordless nature of the book, its design, the spacing of the objects on each page, the selection of the objects shown, all adds to the teaching credentials of the book, and would be very handy in a classroom where the children's exposure to these things is less than it should be.
Fran Knight

The beach at night by Elena Ferrante

Ill. by Mara Cerri. Trans. by Ann Goldstein. Text Publishing, 2016. ISBN 9781925355741
(Age: 6+) Fable. Loss. Abandonment. Beach. This most unusual fable for modern times is narrated by a doll, Celina, left on the beach by its owner, Mari, besotted with her new playmate, a kitten. During the night the doll explains what is happening on the beach, the dark forbidding illustrations making the story feel most unsettling. First comes the beach inspector, a gruff man who the doll does not like, with his friend, Mr Rake. All the detritus left on the beach is swept up into a pile and the man lights a fire. Readers will cry out with distress seeing the pitiful bits and pieces on the beach pulled into one pile to be destroyed. And Celina's eyes peer out at the reader, calling for a response.
At first, Celina is warmed by the fire but after a while sees that her friends from the beach are being affected. Bottle Cap sizzles in the heat, Pony burns, and as Celina feels too much warmth, asks the wave to come closer. Eventually it does and sweeps her away, away from the man who is trying to steal her words. Eventually the kitten finds Celina and takes her back to her owner who has cried all night at her loss.
This unusual tale will have readers thinking about its ramifications. A lost toy, rejected by its owner because something has taken its place, is a familiar tale for younger readers, but the level of horror on the beach lifts it to appeal to an older audience. The stream of saliva taking the words from the doll's mouth too, requires more mature refection by the reader. A fascinating story well worth a look and offered to more mature thoughtful readers.
Fran Knight

When the music's over by Peter Robinson

Hodder and Stoughton, 2016. ISBN 9781444786729
(Age: senior secondary to adult) Highly recommended. Crime fiction, Cold case, DCI Banks, Rape, Celebrity crime, Racism, Prostitution. When DCI Banks is promoted to Detective Superintendent, his first case is likely to be his last at this posting because of the high profile of the accused. He is to investigate an accusation of rape against an under age girl which happened in Blackpool in 1967 by a television and stage show celebrity now long retired. Having to interview this man, now in his mid eighties, as well as the accuser, takes all Banks' patience and stamina. The woman has not called this out lightly, but the recent exposure of such people as Rolf Harris and Jimmy Saville has brought it all back. And the police have several other women come forward with similar stories. During this investigation, Banks comes across the suspicious death of Caxton's road manager in the same year, and this creates another level of investigation which Banks finds was under-investigated, the paper trail now no longer able to be found.
Meanwhile Annie Cabot is called to investigate the death of a young girl, seemingly thrown from the back of a van, naked, in an out of the way minor road. The investigation into her background reveals connections with a group of Muslim men and so the cry of racism stirs up some of the populace of Eastvale. But her short life is exposed as one of a number of girls, groomed by these men to perform sexual acts for them and their friends, part of a network across the north of England, paralleling the sex abuse cases brought to court in Rochdale, Bristol and others in England in the past several years.
Both stories are disturbing, showing the level of sexual exploitation that occurs within our community against vulnerable women. And in some cases how personal influence keeps the stories from being brought into the public eye. The women are all under age, and those groomed for sexual exploitation from dysfunctional and lower socio-economic communities where grooming can be done easily at a local take away where young people gather. Both stories dove tail each other, reflecting some of the nastiest aspects of communities that I have read. Banks and Cabot and the usual entourage keep unearthing evidence and piecing things together to the satisfaction of all readers. And their investigations led me to research the cases alluded to in the book, although with a great deal of trepidation.
Fran Knight