Scholastic, 2014. ISBN 9781742836454.
'Aussie edition' Hokey pokey brings a collection of Aussie
animals together to sing the traditional song 'The hokey pokey'. Get
your child up and dancing with the actions and singing along with
the lyrics. Have them investigate the different images, full of
bright colours and Australian animals doing their own actions. There
is so much going on in this book that your child won't know where to
start and an accompanying CD sung by child entertainer, Colin
Buchanan, is an added bonus. Highly recommended for all young
readers. It would also be great in the classroom where teachers
could use it as a 'brain break' as younger children learn the names
of body parts and learn to follow actions.
Kylie Kempster
Hero 41: Eye of the Gargoyle by Sam Penant
Orchard Books, 2014. ISBN 9781408328286.
(Age: 10-14) Recommended. When Dax Daley cut his tongue on an
envelope and sent it off, he didn't realise how much his life would
soon change. By licking the envelope he had submitted his DNA to the
government and thus exposed himself to possessing the very rare
Lomas Gene.
The combination of Dax having the Lomas Gene and also having parents
who are quite happy to see the back of him for a while (along with a
little financial compensation) means that Dax soon finds himself on
the way to his new school, Scragmoor Prime. Scragmoor Prime is not
the average suburban school for the average suburban kid.
Only 40 kids from around the country have been found to possess the
Lomas Gene. That is until Dax turns up late one night. His
unexpected arrival falls during the welcome dinner where 40 students
are already feasting and excitedly wondering why they have been
invited to this exclusive school. Thus we now have the 41st student
and possible hero 41.
The adventure that ensues sees Dax make friends and enemies with his
new peers. We meet the eccentric teachers and staff of Scragmoor
Prime. Learn about the colourful past of the school buildings which
happened to be a very nasty prison. Dax and his friends battle a
Gargoyle hell bent on turning Dax into stone and have a lot of fun
discovering the powers that the Lomas Gene can bring out in a
person. Hero 41: Eye of the Gargoyle is the first in the Dax Daley
Series. It is a fun ride for younger readers from 10 - 14 with a few
descriptions of past events that would prevent me reading it to
readers any younger. The next book in the series, Hero 41 - The
People in the Wall is already eagerly anticipated by a group
of year 5 students that I have read Eye of the Gargoyle to.
Steve Whitehead
Ava Anne Appleton: Catching a wave by Wendy Harmer
Ill. by Andrea Edmonds. Scholastic Australia: 2014. ISBN
9781743622353.
(Ages: 7-9) Recommended. Wendy Harmer continues the alphabetically
aware Ava Anne Appleton series about the family who has
packed up and left the security of their suburban home to travel
around Australia in a mobile home.
The Mobile home has a problem with the kitchen water pump so the
family are forced to pull into the caravan park at Crescent Cove
until the pump is repaired. Crescent Cove is most inviting with its
beach, surf and well resourced caravan park.
Ava is reluctant to learn to surf even though local Cody is willing
to teach her. Having a ride on the back of his surfboard however
opens up a whole new world below the waves. When she comes face to
face a baby seal with a plastic bag wrapped around its back flipper,
Ava joins forces with Cody to rid Crescent Cove of plastic bags and
clean up the beach. Saving the seal and discovering a love of body
boarding add to the story.
Supported by the engaging drawings of Andrea Edmonds, the
descriptive text in larger font is suitable for readers embarking on
chapter books and looking for a bit of realistic adventure. That
Wendy Harmer has introduced the reader to one of the environmental
issues facing marine wildlife can only be a positive.
Sue Keane
My funny family moves house by Chris Higgins
Ill. by Lee Wildish. Hachette, 2014. ISBN
9781444918410.
Mattie Butterfield reports on the chaotic life of her tight knit
family chronicling their lives and adding to her extensive Worry
List. The family home is bursting at the seams but is moving the
best option?
With the arrival of baby Will the Butterfield family now number
eight and that's not counting Jellicoe the dog and constant visitors
Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Vesuvius. Everyone is packed in. Mattie
discovers during a maths class on division that while some families
have one person to seven rooms her family has less than one room per
person. No wonder they are crowded.
The fortunes of the family change however when the lottery ticket
Uncle Vez bought Mum for her birthday proves to be a winner. When
Mum and Dad start looking for a new house Mattie has more worries to
add to her list, but the biggest one is 'I don't want to move
schools', when it appears they will move to a larger house a long
way away.
Solving their overcrowding problem and the moving schools issue has
Mum wishing she had never won the lottery but a solution is just
next door.
Written in the first person we have Mattie's view of the family
which brims with warmth and love.
Sue Keane
My Grumpy Day illustrated by Felicity Gardner
Lothian Children's Books, 2014. ISBN 9780734415448.
(Ages 2 - 10) Recommended. 'Some mornings, Max wakes up happy. Some
mornings, Max wakes up hungry. But this morning, Max woke up
grumpy.' My Grumpy Day follows a young gorilla called Max as
he contends with his day's adventures. Unfortunately on this day,
Max wakes up with a horribly negative attitude and finds nothing
enjoyable at all.
This lovely book follows a day in the life of Max the gorilla as he
experiences a day that we have all been through, when our frame of
mind seems to not change from the moment we get out on the wrong
side of the bed. While My Grumpy Day makes us smile and at
times giggle out loud it also manages to convey a very sweet
message. In the end the comfort and love of the people we hold
closest to our hearts can be all that we need on those confusing
days. My Grumpy Day is a beautiful picture book with simple and
easy to understand text. It's a fun read for all and a message that
can be repeated on days that follow in our own lives.
Steve Whitehead
Butter by Erin Lange
Bloomsbury, 2012. ISBN 9781599907802.
(Age: 14+) 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for
good men to do nothing.' Edmund Burke
Scottsdale High seems a pretty average high school with the usual
groups of teens including those who are popular and those who are
not. 'Butter' is a 16 year old boy who is clever and funny, plays
saxophone like a professional Blues musician (Charlie Parker is his
idol) and drives a BMW, a not uncommon car choice in his
neighbourhood, even for teens. You might think Butter would have no
problem fitting in with his peers except for just one small, or not
so small, detail. Butter weighs in at over 400 pounds. His obesity
is not a focus for active bullying by schoolmates, rather it has the
effect of making him almost invisible. He is completely and utterly
ignored by all and sundry. Everyone calls him Butter, no one knows
his real name or anything about him (to find out why he has that
nickname is to realise that dark deeds are possible when people
stand by and do ' nothing').
Butter retreats into his own world of his saxophone and the Internet
where he is presently engaged in a cyber-flirtation with his dream
girl Anna. At home he cocoons himself in his room where these two
joys sustain him in his loneliness. Butter's situation is not helped
by his parents, of whom Lange paints a fairly critical picture - a
helicopter mother whose solution to everything is food and a
financially successful father who is revolted by his son's
condition.
Butter's isolation and depression grow exponentially despite
well-meaning efforts from his favourite teacher, the Professor, who
endeavours to focus on Butter's exceptional musical ability and
persistently aims to engage Butter in the band group; his friend
Tucker, from FabFit (summer fat camps), also attempts to bolster
Butter's frail ego without avail.
With the realisation that the Internet provides not only anonymity
for those who crave it but can also invite an audience, Butter
decides to put himself into a macabre limelight by setting up his
own website and vowing to eat himself to death on New Year's Eve. In
a ghastly parody of social popularity, Butter finds himself the
centre of attention from new 'friends' and on his way to being a
dubious kind of 'hero' amongst the 'Barbies and meat-headed Kens' of
Scottsdale High. However, the closer the date with death comes, the
more Butter is forced to analyse his thinking, his decisions and his
life - or death - style.
Providing the reader with an intense scrutiny of bullying from
another angle and the oft-times detrimental implications of social
media fame, Butter is a darkly humorous but confronting must-read
for young adults and adults alike,.
Trailer and study guide available via the author's website.
Sue Warren
New City by Deborah Abela
Random House, 2014. ISBN 9781742758558.
(Ages: 9-12) Recommended. Beginning with a Diary entry by Griff
giving a synopsis of the first book, Grimsdon,is an
interesting way of setting the scene for New City which follows the
fortunes of the Grimsdon survivors as they leave their flooded home
for the safety of New City. From the extreme effects of global
warming to a city governed by strict rules who can they trust?
Isabella, Griffin, Xavier, the twins Raff and Bea, Fly and the only
adult Jeremiah are sad to be leaving Grimsdon where they have lived
independently since the floods, but are looking forward to all that
they have missed; electricity, movies, icecream, shops and
chocolate. The children are keen to all stay together as a family
when they arrive, but New City seems to be grey and forbidding with
no one in the streets and the welcoming party is not very friendly.
Corporal Smith is in charge of the children and the Major General is
in charge of the city which operates under martial law with its
citizens are under camera observation from everywhere including
spider bots, winged soldiers and all seeing eagles, in the guise of
keeping them safe. When Isabella meets Vijay and hears about the
children's camps she is determined to visit and find out the truth
about the refugees.
The children are on a collision course with the all powerful and
threatening Major General as they discover more about inequalities
and harsh treatment meted out to some of the citizens and
misinformation being spread by the media.
Reading along I was reminded of The Hunger Games with the
oppression of the population, the inequalities and central control,
as well as the children in detention debate with the children's
camps being an extreme example.
'What kind of government locks up innocent children?' asks Isabella
towards the end.
Weaving sections of Oliver Twist, read nightly by
Griffin, through the story adds to the poignancy of the children's
plight.
Vijay's determination that Ghandi's peaceful protest will win the
day is in contrast to the violence and military might of the Major
General giving another issue to investigate. Together both Grimsdon
and New City could be used to address the issues of
sustainability and ethical understanding favoured in the Australian
Curriculum.
Sue Keane
Benji the Buccaneer by Craig Cormick
Little Rockets series. New Frontier Publishing, 2014. ISBN
9781925059052.
(Age: 7+) Everyone is fascinated by pirates and so is our main
character, Benji. While waiting for the school bus, Benji is given
the chance to take a different bus, a bus with a variety of
characters and the chance to be a pirate for a day. Using ideas from
books on the bus, Benji becomes captain and the bus becomes the
pirate ship. Benji is a Buccaneer is a fantasy story where the
impossible seems to come true. It is part of the Little Rockets
reading series and is aimed at readers aged 7+.
The adventure begins as a cannon ball is fired but does Benji have
the experience to save his crew? When they find a treasure map where
X marks the spot, does it really mark the spot to fid lost treasure?
Is Benji really cut out to be a pirate captain or should he just
stick to using is imagination?
I would recommend it to independent readers who are moving from
regular classroom readers to short novels. The story is quick moving
so will appeal to younger readers but it would also be good for
parents to read out loud with their child.
Kylie Kempster
The legend series by Marie Lu
Penguin, 2013. Prodigy. ISBN 9780141344096. Champion. ISBN 9780141351964.
(Age: Teens) Prodigy is a well thought out sequel to Marie Lu's
original dystopian tale Legend. With the introduction of new
characters and plotlines, it continues the storyline without
diverting into too many tangents, which some sequels tend to
do. Once more Day and June tell their story chapter by chapter
as in the first book, continuing their rocky relationship, fraught
with all the tension which makes the novel excellent for teen
readers. Whilst occasionally the pace slows, the final chapter
leaves the reader longing for more.
Marie Lu's inventiveness steps up a notch in her final book of the
dystopian Legend trilogy, Champion. Champion satisfyingly
completes the trilogy that started with Legend, followed by Prodigy,
rounding out her characters and plot storylines in a way that is not
expected. The introduction of the Antarctic allies and their
technology adds to plot, and the pace that began in Legend does not
slow down. As the final book in a series, it does not
disappoint and will leave teen readers very happy.
Linda Hunter
Florentine and Pig and the Spooky Forest Adventure by Eva Katzler and Jess Mikhail
Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408824399.
(Age 3+) Florentine and Pig were sound asleep on a quiet, still dark night
when suddenly they are woken by the most ghostly noise. Is it the
sound of the Growling, Prowling Bog Mog? Together they decide to
venture outdoors to find it so it will never frighten them again. So
equipped with their cosiest sleeping bags, biggest binoculars,
brightest torch, warmest hat and their camping cooking stove they
set off on their adventure.
'They walked and talked, and trudged and tramped. They hopped and
hurdled through dry and damp. They splished and splashed through
streams and brooks. They peeked through crannies, and peeped through
nooks. They searched down and up and in between. But the Growling,
Prowling, Bog Mog was nowhere to be seen . . .'
This is a great read-aloud story for younger children, with just the
right amount of suspense to keep them intrigued but not frightened.
The language is perfect for exploring and exploiting the sounds,
rhythms and nuances of our speech, and the use of a variety of fonts
really encourages the use of expression and animation. As well as
appealing pictures, there are ideas for making simple, essential
Growling, Prowling, Bog Mog-seeking tools, and who hasn't made a
tent from a bedsheet? Florentine and Pig take only healthy snacks
with them and the recipes for these are included. Who could resist
'roasty-toasty campfire kebobbles', which are vegetable-based
kebabs? And how yummy does a 'drink-in-your-sleeping-bag honey milk
maltie' based on milk and Maltesers sound?
This is the first in this series about Florentine and Pig that I've
shared with Miss 3 and Miss 8 and both of them really enjoyed it,
especially the cooking part. Now they are waiting till summer so
they can have their own nighttime outdoor adventure - with thick
snow nearby, it's a little too cold to venture outside after dark
now. In the meantime, they're having fun exploring the website.
Barbara Braxton
There's a lion in my cornflakes by Michelle Robinson
Ill. by Jim Field. Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408845608.
(Age: 4+) Recommended, Animals, Humour, Competitions, Family. Seeing
a competition on the cornflake packet inspires Eric and Dan to
collect the 100 tokens to win a lion. They use all their pocket
money to buy the packets from the supermarket ripping off the tokens
and sending them in as requested. They wait and wait. Other people
in the neighbourhood receive their lions but they do not. One day a
grizzly bear is delivered to their house, but mum is not impressed.
Neither is their neighbour whose garden is destroyed by the bear.
The boys write to the company complaining that they have not
received a lion, and get instead a crocodile. The animal takes over
the bathroom, disallowing any of the family to use it while he is
there. The boys complain again and this time they get a gorilla
which stamps on top of their car, pushing in its roof. A year's
supply of cornflakes is delivered, making the boys even more
unhappy, until they realise just how cool it is to arrive at school
with their bear and crocodile and gorilla, unlike the rest of their
class who only have a lion. And these animals do have their uses
after all.
A very funny story about competition on several levels, the tale of
the two boys will immediately engage readers and the illustrations
will have them happily looking for the array of things represented
behind the story. I doubt they will look at their cornflakes in the
same way again.
Fran Knight
Awe of Mercury by Elon Dann
Hot Key Books, 2014. ISBN 9781471401190.
(Ages: 14+ ) Highly Recommended. Survival. Friendship. Gruesome.
Deceit. The Spiral is an underground, circular prison that rotates
each prisoner one cell to their left each day. This will continue
until the prisoner has reached the last cell where they will receive
their last meal. Mo is a 17 year-old boy who is imprisoned in the
Spiral along with his cellmate, Nonstop. Mo is being held for
escaping an institution along with his friends, Harete and Moth.
Unbeknownst to them this also caused a civil war throughout the
Fatherland. The Kernel is the name of Mo's subconscious that has now
taken a mind of its own, offering advice and even sometimes
controlling him. The only method of communication they have is the
Cellphone; this is where prisoners bang out a sequence of coded
words onto pipes, which will then travel to any other cell in the
spiral. Rumours of Moth ruling the Fatherland begin to circulate,
causing much mental as well as physical annoyance to Mo making him
feel betrayed and vowing revenge on Moth. An anagram message reveals
someone he deeply cares about is trying to help him; this causing Mo
and Nonstop to pull off an escape worthy of Houdini himself. Whilst
they were escaping they also befriended a terminally ill prisoner
called Mystrica. Beginning their journey into the woods, a nearby
military drone firing a laser at Mo causes him to go blind. Now Mo
and his friends must find a place to take refuge.
The relationships that develop between the protagonist and the minor
characters in the book as they help each other to adapt to
lives as escapees in a war-torn country are enjoyable to watch
progress and see how one can help another grow. This is especially
evident between Mo and Nonstop who at first could not even bear to
be in the same cell as each other, but eventually grow closer than
brothers. The use of a multi-layered narrative allows the book to be
read as poetic enhancing of the experience and makes you ponder a wide
variety of subject matter including war, redemption, corruption and
even our very existence. Nonstop's comparison between Justice and
Cheese sums up their rights being revoked 'It comes in wheels, it's
often full of wholes, sometimes it's mouldy, and by the time we get
to see any it's been cut very, very thinly. Oh and the stuff they
have abroad is usually better than ours.' An emotionally powerful
story with excellent characters and refreshingly witty dialogue.
Corey Joyce (Student)
One rule for Jack by Sally Morgan and Ezekiel Kwaymullina
Ill. by Craig Smith. Omnibus, 2014. ISBN 9781742990330.
(Age: 7+) Recommended. Aboriginal themes. Family life. When Jack
wants to slide out of jobs to do around the home, he has one rule,
'do it badly'. When showering in the morning, he turns on the tap,
wets his hair, then walks out with a towel around his waist. He
thinks that he has tricked his Mum into believing he has had a
shower.
On Saturday, he wants to go to Thommo's house, but Mum gets him to
do a chore first. Sweeping the leaves from the verandah is easy when
you break the boom handle, but then Mum gives him the dustpan and
brush. The reader will start to get an inkling that perhaps Mum is
not being fooled as easily as Jack thinks. Again Mum asks him to mop
the floor, but instead he puts the mop head into the toilet. When he
must later unblock the toilet, the lesson is driven home.
Gran comes over with cakes and joins the fun of making him aware of
doing things correctly. Then when Dad comes home, he gives his son
the smelliest job yet and he wangles a way around it, just like
other times, but this time, his Dad and uncle have him cornered.
With wonderful illustrations by Craig Smith, the story of Jack
getting his just deserts is very funny, and will intrigue readers.
Fran Knight
An English boy in New York by T.S Easton
Hot Key Books 2014. ISBN 9781471401497.
(Age: 13+) While this is the sequel to Boys
don't knit there are sufficient explanatory references
dotted throughout the story to keep the new reader up to speed.
Having won Knit Fair UK Simon has been invited to New York to attend
Knit Fair USA. Hence begins a lightweight romp through the Big Apple
with the knitter himself, his parents, and mad mate 'innit' Gez who
catches up with his American 'gangster' cousin Keith.
Throughout the visit Simon is constantly teetering on the precipice
of some form of trouble. Starting with losing his suitcase then
being chased by 'the homeless guy', accidentally stabbing someone
with a crochet hook and rescuing his mate from a sleazy
neighbourhood.
After having rashly announced in a radio interview that he is a
faster knitter than a machine the focus for the plot turns into 'man
(or in this case boy) versus machine', the match up for which
becomes the climax of the story.
The story is sprinkled with lively characters. Much to Simon's
embarrassment his risque parents constantly converse in double
entendres and don't mind the odd game of rude scrabble. Gez is a
constant source of concern with his propensity for seeking, and
finding, trouble. While Simon is concerned about the fidelity of his
girlfriend, Megan, still home in England he is not immune to the
attractiveness of Brandi, his agent, with the the gleaming white
teeth or even the attentive Melanee, head of a rival knitting
association.
Throughout the story Easton makes references to the iconic features
of this famous city: hot dogs, baseball, the flat iron building, the
subway, Madison Square Garden and of course every tourist's concern -
how much to tip? At a different level he explores the question of
big business versus cottage industry.
In the end, Simon realises there is 'no place like home' but the
reader suspects he will miss his philly cheese steaks.
A humorous, light-hearted story with appeal to those who can
suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride.
Barb Rye
Alice-Miranda in Japan by Jacqueline Harvey
Random House, 2014. ISBN 9781742757599.
'Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones attends boarding
school at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young
Ladies. A truly positive heroine, she is funny, kind, optimistic and
able to solve just about any problem.'
Alice-Miranda's latest adventure takes her to Japan, together with
all her family and friends. The family cook, Dolly Oliver has been
invited by the Japanese Ministry for Invention and Innovation to
speak at an international conference about her 'Just Add Water'
foods and within days, everyone is on the
Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones' private jet to Tokyo. Intertwined
with Alice-Miranda's story is that of Kiko, a young Japanese runaway
which takes the story to places that make it intriguing and
page-turning as well as showing a behind-the-scenes look at Japanese
life.
Fans of Alice-Miranda will enjoy this 9th book about her; newcomers
may need to use the Cast of Characters at the back to get an
understanding of who's who because of the complexity of the names
and the relationships. The glossary of Japanese words is also a
bonus, although many can be worked out within the context of the
story so the reading is not interrupted.
For those readers who cannot wait for there to be another
Alice-Miranda adventure - there are at least three more to come -
there are now websites to feed their enjoyment http://jacquelineharvey.com.au/
and http://alice-miranda.blogspot.com.au/
with blogs, trailers and activities.
Barbara Braxton
