The Word Spy, an activity book by Ursula Dubosarsky
Illustrated by Tohby Riddle. Puffin Books, 2012. ISBN: 978014
306139. The Word Spy, an Activity Book, by Ursula Dubosarsky, is
absolutely delightful.I found myself tempted to do the activities in
a book that just begs to be read and 'dealt with'. Dubosarsky has
created a colourful book that looks interesting from the cover alone
and Tohby Riddle's illustrations support this vibrant book.
Following a quirkily illustrated page of James Joyce's dedication to
his own work about embedded riddles that will keep 'professors
busy', we turn the page to find an address to 'Word Spies' that
resembles an old buried treasure map. With many silhouettes of
sleuths in many disguise and postures, wearing mackintoshes, or
shining torches into dark holes, one page with an old, metal doorway
that begs to be opened, or black question marks holding up hot-air
balloons, this book promises fun.
There are Magic Doorways, chapters promising Words and Pictures,
Word Games with Letters and Numbers, and many others. It is, itself,
a treasure chest. Dubosarsky includes Hints before you start, and
this is interesting too! She closes this wonderful book with the The
Final Doorway, a maze map, and even more, a certificate to be filled
out on completion, and very useful blank note pages for working out
the puzzles.
This is an out-of-the-ordinary book for young thinkers, and I'm sure
that many parents, or grandparents, would be delighted to spend some
special time working on the puzzles.
Liz Bondar
Frost by Wendy Delsol
Candlewick Press, 2011. ISBN 9780763653866.
(Age: 13+) In this sequel to Stork, Katla Leblanc has to
employ all her energy, determination and courage to save her
boyfriend, Jack Frost. Katla is finally settling into life in
Minnesota and when Jack uses his weather making ability to give her
snow for a white Christmas she is dismayed when a snowstorm of epic
proportions brings disaster and the attention of environmental
scientist Brigid Fonnkona. Brigid is beautiful, intelligent and
really interested in Jack, who begins to help her out with her
research into the environment and gradually falls under her spell.
But the mesmerising Brigid is not what she seems and when Jack goes
missing above the Arctic Circle, Katla has to use all her skill and
bravery to find him.
Delsol has used the traditional story of The Snow Queen as a
basis for this engrossing story. Katla becomes involved in the
school play, which is based on this myth, and soon her personal life
begins to sound like the old story. It is the author's clever
combination of myth and a contemporary heroine that makes both Stork
and Frost stand out as enjoyable reads. Delsol has a deft hand with
dialogue and often had me chuckling over the things that Katla says
and the way that she deals with the elderly Stork society, which
takes a backseat in this story.
Katla's quick mind and inventive spirit shine throughout the story
and Delsol fleshes out all her main and secondary characters in a
way that involves the reader, who learns more about her pregnant
mother and estranged father, as well as her elderly grandfather.
There is plenty of action in Frost, particularly when Katla
goes to Greenland and discovers that the Snow Queen has imprisoned
Jack. The conclusion leaves the story wide open with a terrible
dilemma for Katla to resolve in the next book in the series, which I
look forward to.
Pat Pledger
The horses didn't come home by Pamela Rushby
Angus and Robertson, 2012. ISBN 9780 7323 9354 3.
(Ages: 12+) Highly recommended. WW1. The Battle at Beersheba,
dubbed the last great cavalry charge in history, occurred on October
31 1917, when the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade charged over 6
kilometres to take the Turkish held town. The horses had already
been ridden for 2 days to get there and needed rest and water. What
happened to them afterwards is the climax of Pamela Rushby's
absorbing book.
She presents the story of Laura and Harry in alternate chapters,
giving the reader a different point of view of the war, one from the
home front, with Laura at school in Brisbane, knitting socks for
soldiers, and sending letters to her brother, and the other from her
brother Harry, part of the Light Horse Brigade, training in Egypt
before being sent to fight in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in
the Middle East. Harry's letters include those from Bunty, Laura's
horse, written by Harry for his sister.
When Harry joined the regiment, part of the reason behind his
enlistment was to be able to take his own horse, but on the
departure day, his horse fell lame, and so Laura bravely gave him
her beloved horse, Bunty, a waler, a tough Australian breed of
horse.
So, incredibly the reader has three points of view, and Rushby
cleverly entwines us into the story of Bunty and others like him as
the tale unfolds. We know from the start that horses did not go home
with their riders, so the tale has more than a twinge of sadness all
the way through.
The descriptions of the battles in which Harry and his friend, Jack,
take part are most effectively told, and reflect both the writing
skill and wide ranging research of the writer. The end of the
book includes a glossary of terms used in the novel, author's
notes which includes a background to the Sino-Palestine Campaign,
and a bibliography, all of which is of immeasurable use. The map at
the start of the book too is most useful.
When we hear so much about Anzac which to many means only Gallipoli
and Anzac Cove, it is salutary to read of other campaigns in which
Australians have taken part, and this one, reflecting as it does on
the treatment of the horses taken overseas, will bring all of the
readers up short, widening their perspective and knowledge of
Australia's involvement in war.
Fran Knight
Doodleday by Ross Collins
Gullane Children's Books, 2012. ISBN 9781862338470.
(Age Pre-school-6) Recommended. Harvey's mother leaves him with a
warning not to doodle on Doodle Day, but Harvey has a stash of
pencils hidden and decides that doodling is just what he want to do.
To his surprise his doodle of a fly comes to life and takes over the
kitchen. He then tries to get rid of the fly by drawing a spider who
wasn't interested in flies but attacked his dad and so on, until in
desperation he calls on his mother to help him out.
This is a very appealing and humorous story that will appeal to both
young and old. Collins' text is well written and amusing and will
keep a young reader engrossed as well as being lots of fun for the
pre-school set to listen to. Harvey is an engaging little boy who is
determined to prove his independence from his mother, but it is his
mum who he calls on to fix things up. She proves to be up to the
task and manages to finally contain the chaos with some quick
thinking action.
The illustrations are just great. Harvey is drawn with spiky hair,
while Mum has fantastic pointy-toed boots. There are lots of details
to pore over and to enjoy. The combination of watercolour figures
and background and Harvey's crayon doodling works really well and
will stimulate the imagination of young children. They could have
lots of fun drawing doodles of their own and working out what would
be needed to fix up the resulting chaos if their doodles came to
life.
I really liked the ending and was left wondering just what mischief
Harvey would get up to next Doodle Day.
Pat Pledger
Boggle Hunters: Game On by Sophie Masson
Scholastic, 2012. ISBN 978-1-74169-851-0.
(Age: 9-13) Recommended. You can tell from the powerful front cover
that Boggles are evil therefore pursuing them must be a dangerous
activity. Jenny and her parents are Boggle Hunters and they hunt in
a shadowy world unseen by most humans. The Greys, an evil faery race
send the Boggles to cause havoc and are responsible for many
problems in the world, ranging from machine failure to the mass
destruction of crops and the electronic age has become the new
medium for Boggle attacks. Fortunately Boggle Hunters are assisted
by the Fays, a faery tribe that helps to protect humans.
Jenny and her family live in England and she is to be visited by
cousin Sam from Australia, who has no inkling of the families real
occupation as hunters, but Sam become obsessed with a computer game
called Grim's Castle which leads him into the dangerous Grey world.
Sophie Masson has cleverly woven together the modern and the faery
worlds into a gripping story that simultaneously follows both Jenny
and her quest to help her parents, with Sam's computer adventures,
until they combine in a gripping ending, with a few twists and
disclosures along the way.
This is a fantasy book, full of mystery and adventure. A great read
for 9 to 13 year olds.
A book trailer is available
.
Jane Moore
Wired Up series by various authors
A and C Black, London, 2012.
Man about the house by C. A. Plaisted. ISBN 978 14081 5654 4.
Breaking the rules by Maxine Linnell. ISBN 978 1 4081 5271 3.
(Ages 11+) Recommended. High interest, low literacy. A companion
series to Wired, and similar to those published by
Barrington Stokes, this series will appeal to kids with lower
literacy levels but wanting something more meaty than the usual
stories written for them. Short stories, in larger print, and wide
margins on the pages make these easier to read than most texts. They
will be very handy to have available for readers, and a box set of
them in the classroom will be useful.
With solid stories written around themes present in their daily
lives, these two stories have a high appeal. Man about the house is the tale of Jeza, broken up about his
father living with a new family and having to be the man about the
house for his mother and sister. he desperately wants his father to
come to the soccer to watch him play and is dreadfully disappointed
when his new baby takes precedence. A neat resolution sees both
parties coming to some understanding of their new roles. Along the
way we see how different families react to break ups, and Jeza's
angst at having to do the jobs around the house allocated to him by
his grandfather, who imposes new responsibilities upon the boy. Breaking the rules follows a scenario familiar to many
students who read the papers and participate in internet awareness
programs, but unfortunately new to many. Mo is at a low point in her
life, moving towns and schools sees her friendless and at odds with
her family. She clicks yes on her computer when a boy named Shadow
asks to be her friend, and pouring out her concerns to him receives
solace in response. He seems to know how she feels and becomes a
shoulder for her to cry on. Eventually they agree to meet and she
catches the tram to Derby.
This is a chilling cautionary tale, readers will think about the
possibilities and traps that Mo could be getting herself into.
Fran Knight
The Queen with the Wobbly Bottom by Phillip Gwynne
Ill. by Bruce Whatley. Little Hare, 2012 ISBN 9781921714597. Hbk. RRP
$24.95.
Turn on the television news in this year of Queen Elizabeth's
diamond jubilee and you will see a very elegant, beautifully dressed
woman; ask a child to draw a picture of a queen and you'll get
someone tall and thin, complete with a cloak and crown - what you
won't get is one with a wobbly bottom!
But that's the problem of the queen in this hilarious story by
Phillip Gwynne which is perfectly illustrated by the master, Bruce
Whatley. Despite being beautiful and clever, and being loved
throughout the land, whenever the queen looked in the mirror, all
she saw when she wiggled her hips was her bottom wobbling like a
raspberry jelly! It distressed the queen so much that she posted a
notice on the palace wall . . .
To whoever can solve the problem of the royal wobble, Her Majesty,
Queen of the Land Offers a thousand gold coins. Predictably, this
brought forth a range of people with a range of solutions which the
queen dutifully tried. But whatever other improvements the pills,
potions and inventions might have achieved, at the end of it all the
queen still had a wobbly bottom.
Each failure brought an increase in the reward, and another round of
hopeful winners. Even offering her own hand in marriage didn't bring
the answer until a most unlikely person came to the palace . . . so
unlikely that the queen had him thrown straight into the dungeon
with all the other pretenders. However, in frustration she weakened
and . . .
This is a funny, quirky tale that quickly made it to the top of Miss
Nearly 6's favourites pile. She laughed all the way through, with
just the occasional comment, 'Perhaps YOU could try that, Grandma',
but it was the ending which delighted her the most. 'Ah, just like
you and Grandad in reverse,' she said, with a sigh of satisfaction.
OUCH!
Definitely one for helping children to learn to love themselves
regardless and to build self-esteem - even if mine got a bit
bruised.
Barbara Braxton
Meet Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs
Scholastic, 2012. ISBN 9781742830209.
(Age: Preschool to 6) Recommended. After Mrs Kookaburra tells
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie about the humans who are 'strong as the
wind, swift as the river, fierce as the sun' the gumnut babies are
determined to see one. Before dawn they creep out of bed and go off
on an adventure to find a human and see ('But only in the distance')
a human.
It is wonderful to see the favourite Australian characters of my
childhood, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, appearing again and this book
is a keeper as I am sure it will prove to be a delight for my
grandchildren, just as it was for me.
As always, the delightful drawings of the little gumnuts, the
friendly lizard, Ragged Blossom and the Australian bush, draw the
reader in and make the experience a magical adventure. I
particularly loved the scene where nuts and blossoms were dancing
under the glowing lanterns. The long-lashed blossoms are just
gorgeous and the delicate greens of the gum leaves and the beautiful
browns of the branches bring the trees to life. And of course, who
could ever forget the little gumnuts, with their rosy cheeks, gumnut
hats and leaf clothes?
The book has a sturdy cover and beautiful endpapers of
blossoms, nuts, flowers and insects. The text is stimulating
enough for the newly emerging reader to try and a delight to
read aloud. Its conclusion, 'And so began the adventures of
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie',will leave the reader eagerly
awaiting more books with May Gibbs' marvellous illustrations and
stories.
Pat Pledger
The Ice-Cream War by Edwina Howard
Scholastic, 2012. ISBN 978-1-86291-956-3.
(Age: 9+) Recommended. As the title suggests this book is about ice
cream and a supply war that follows but to me one of the most
outstanding and humorous character in the novel is the Shetland Pony
and you should buy this book just to read about him.
My own experiences with Shetland ponies range from the famous Norman
Thewell cartoons and my sister's pony named Tony (not a very
inventive name I know). The pony in this book is Hoppy and he bears
all the characteristics of your average pony. He is devious, single
minded and not at all prone to accepting orders. How can something
so cute, be so conniving!
Hoppy becomes involved in this story when the main character Jake,
teams up with friend Jeremy in a money making scheme to sell ice
cream during the school holidays. This is in direct competition to
Uncle Sunny, sunny by name but not by nature. His unhygienic ice
cream van delivers lots of special extras with the children's
orders, such as mouse poo and bugs. He considers Jake and Jeremy's
Hoppy - driven ice cream cart an act of war and reacts accordingly.
This is a hilarious book by a first time writer. Jake and Jeremy
have to contend with a lot of underhanded tricks by Uncle Sunny and
his young helpers, as well as deal with the unpredictable behaviour
of Hoppy. The pony has a great scene at the end of the novel that
made me laugh out loud.
There is plenty of fun and action in this book and it will appeal to
students from 9+ years. Boys in particular will love the humour.
Teachers' notes are available
.
Jane Moore
172 hours on the moon by Johan Harstad
Atom 2012, ISBN 978 1 9074 1151 9. 172 hours on the moon is about three teenagers: Mia, Midori
and Antoine who are selected by an International Lottery to make a
trip to the moon. The idea is a publicity stunt by NASA to revive
interest in space travel and to encourage funding to support it.
There is however another motive which unfolds as the story
progresses.It is clear from the beginning that there is not going to
be a happy ending: 'three of them will go on the trip of a lifetime.
Only one will come back.'The format follows each of the teenagers as
they are chosen, trained and finally arrive on the moon. Chapters
are short and this moves the story along but also allows the author
to drop in hints that all is not what it seems and this builds up
the tension.After the disaster on the moon only one teenager returns
and it is here that the author produces the final twist.
I think secondary students who like science fiction and suspense
would find this a compelling read.The characters are fleshed out
enough to be interesting and the interaction would appeal to the
intended audience and the final twist certainly is unexpected and
leaves the reader with a great sense of unease.
David Rayner
Maisy goes to the city by Lucy Cousins
Walker Books, 2012. ISBN 978 1 4063 3830 0
(Age: Pre school) Warmly recommended. Picture book. A Maisy
First Experience Book, this tale has Maisy and her friends
leaving their home, catching the bus to the city to meet their friend
Dotty. She has just moved to the city and is keen to show them her
new surroundings, the traffic, tall buildings, the number of people
walking along the pavement, and the shops. When they go to the toy
shop, they must cross the road using the traffic lights, and once
inside have a choice between using the lift or the escalator. Maisy
pays for her purchases but realises that her friends are not with
her. An announcement is made and they are reunited. They then go to
the square where they have coffee and listen to the music being
played. Travelling home to Dotty's house means going on the
underground and finding their correct line, but while riding in the
carriage is a squash, but they all have had an enjoyable day.
This is a lovely take of being in the city, referencing everything
children would need to know while there with their parents. A
teacher or parent would make good use of this little book in
describing to a child what life in the city is like, talking about
the things they may not know about or may have to deal with while in
a different place. The gentle story with its subtle hints of getting
lost or being overwhelmed with the goods in a shop will be talking
points for a child and their parent, or a teacher and the class.
Lucy Cousin's bold, outlined drawings will be familiar to many
children and delight those new to this lovely series.
Fran Knight
Storm by Brigid Kemmerer
Elementals. Allen and Unwin, 2012. ISBN 9781743310663.
(Age 14+) Paranormal. Becca Chandler is having a hard time. Her
boyfriend has spread lies about her to the whole school and then she
is confronted with the sight of Chris Merrick being beaten up in a
parking lot. Chris is different to the boys that she knows and after
helping to rescue him she finds that he and his brothers are
Elementals. Chris can control water, and his brothers can control
fire, wind and earth. Then there is Hunter, a mysterious boy who
keeps popping up. Can he be trusted?
I really enjoyed this novel on two levels. The paranormal aspects of
the Merrick brothers' powers was interesting, and the fact that they
were in danger kept me glued to the page. Kemmerer's dialogue
sounded very authentic and brought the relationships between the
brothers alive for me. They argued and fought just as many family
members do, but were steadfast in their loyalty to each other.
However, it was Becca's back-story that fascinated me the most. She
had to go to school, day after day, knowing that vicious lies had
been told about her and fighting off the advances and comments of
other boys who thought she was easy. Her plight and the decisions
she had to make about her reputation added a depth to what could
have been an ordinary paranormal story. Teens will relate to Becca's
story and will be forced to think about reputations and how they can
be made.
There was plenty of action and suspense to keep the story going and
the inevitable love triangle of Becca, Chris and Hunter was handled
adroitly, and left the reader wondering what was going to happen.
This was an entertaining read and I know that I will pick up the
next volume in the series when it is published.
Pat Pledger
Boy vs Beast by Mac Park
Scholastic, 2012.
No. 13. Torlavasaur. ISBN 978-1-92168-463-0.
No. 14. Chillterratan. ISBN 978-1-92168-464-7.
Beasts and man shared the world but after many battles the world was
divided into two, man was given Earth and the beasts were given
Beastium. One border wall divides the two domains and it is the job
of the border guards is to stop the beasts from breaking through the
wall.
Beasts have escaped from an experimental compound know as the
Outlands and have entered Beastium as mega mutants. Kai Masters who
was a young border guard and is now a captain can engage the help of
a team of other border guards. In Torlavasaur, Kai has Jay
Armstrong's help to fight the battling beasts, while in
Chillterratan, he is aided by Will Rutter.
This series is directly aimed at young boys who are becoming
independent readers. It uses their love of computer games and
trading cards to promote the stories. The simple sentence structure
and large print aid their understanding of the text. Black and white
illustrations and word art are scattered throughout the book and the
battle scene is described in all its glory in a 4 page graphic novel
style. The book jackets are highly appealing for their intended
audience. There is enough action, special equipment and monsters to
keep the reader happy. The aim of this series to get boys into
books, to be a fun read.
The author/s' name Mac Park, is a mash up of the names of the two
women who write this series, Susannah McFarlane and Louise Park.
Check out the very impressive website where you can even create your
beast at http://www.boyvsbeast.com/
A book trailer is available.
Jane Moore
Promote Reading: Activities and strategies to motivate reading ed. by Pat Pledger
Pledger Consulting, 2012. ISBN 978 1 876678 27 2.
Highly recommended. This is a great resource for any library from
R-12 with a plethora of ideas for promoting reading. Ideas include
displays, working one on one with students, literacy programs, group
or class activities and organising special events. There are
template examples and digital resources ideas. The suggested
weblinks throughout are another great resource.
Contents include; general ideas to promote reading; Finding the
right book for the reader; Talking about books; Book reviews; Book
clubs; Children's Choice Awards; Literature units; Competitions;
Digital and online fiction ideas; Posters; Book Week and Boys and
reading.
Our library loved the idea of 'Pee and Read' and have already
started promoting this way (you will have to buy a copy to find out
all about it!). I also plan to look at the ideas for giving book
talks so that I can re-invent the book chats I give.
This title is sure to motivate your creative juices so that students
are encouraged to READ!
A very timely publication to coincide with the National Year of
Reading. So if you are running out of ideas grab a copy soon.
Wendy Rutten
Editor's note: The book can be purchased here.
Literature to Support the Australian Curriculum: History by Fran Knight
Pledger Consulting, 2012. ISBN 978-1-876678-26-5.
Highly recommended. The Australian Curriculum has teachers and
teacher librarians all over the country busy implementing the new
syllabus in their own schools. The history curriculum has been a
focus for purchasing new nonfiction and fiction resources during
2012 and many teacher librarians have trialled the units.
Book sellers are cleverly packaging their resources into boxes
according to the year level of the history curriculum, to help with
purchasing and while this is helpful it still involves a lengthy
process of previewing and selecting for teacher librarians. Some of
the resources are great, with inspiring ideas and starting points
for designing units that sit well with your school and students, but
some are just collections of tedious worksheets that will kill an
interest in any topic.
What was missing was a detailed bibliography of literature to
support the teaching of history in schools until this publication
came along. For me it was a 'just in time' discovery as I had
started to collate my own literature list. Stories make a time in
history come alive for students, a 'walk in their shoes' type of
experience and this bibliography cites some excellent resources.
The book is divided into year levels from foundation year to year 10
and lists books in author order providing an annotation and extra
information when applicable, such as teaching notes available on the
internet. There is an excellent range of books to please most
reading abilities and interests.
A large amount of the books would be in print with others available
in most libraries. The list is up to date and includes such titles
such as the Our Australian Girl titles, a popular series
currently being read aloud by two of the teachers in my school and
inspiring great student interest in the year 4 and 5 units. It is
these types of experiences that will help develop a love of history
and Fran's book is a must have purchase for every school library.
Jane Moore
Editor's note: The book can be purchased here.
