Using Mary had a little lamb, the well know nursery rhyme as a template, Dumbleton has written a funny version where Mary meets a dinosaur, left over from the meteor shower which blanketed the earth sixty million years ago, wiping out all dinosaurs. Our lone fellow lives in a hole behind the garden shed, and just like the lamb in the original tale, follows Mary everywhere. He goes to school with Mary, causing a sensation as he steps on her face and sits on the bus, but his long tail comes in vey handy as a slide in the pool. But when he eats all the lunches in the school canteen and wrecks some play equipment, he feels he does not belong and so begins to move away. But the whole group stops him, telling him that they love him and asking him to stay. Supporting their friend, millions of likes appear on social media, urging him to reconsider his decision.
Smart rhyming lines will intrigue readers and listeners as they recall the original Mary had a little lamb, and work out how Dumbleton has twisted the story to incorporate the dinosaur. Kids will have a great time predicting the rhyming words and reciting the original as well as comparing the two. And they will learn a little information about dinosaurs along the way and laugh at the twist in the tale as the hole in the garden reveals something unexpected.
Illustrations by London based Peter Bath add another level of humour to Dumbleton’s words, the endearing monstersaur will engage readers as they follow his plight. Not fitting in and feeling left out are common feelings for the young and they will empathise with the dinosaur and his attempts to be sociable.
I loved the green monster and his hovering eyebrows, and surprisingly few lines giving so much expression to his face. Children will love teasing apart the word larrikin, the name of the publishing house which produced this book, to see what part being a larrikin plays in the story.
Larrikin House aims to create quirky, edgy, original funny kid-focussed books. And more can be found here.
You are 25% banana by Susie Brooks. Illus. by Josy Bloggs
Red Shed, 2022. ISBN: 9781405299084. (Age:5+) Highly recommended.
What a title to get young grades interested and involved from the start. Non fiction at its best the story of genetics is told with laughter and merriment as basic information is given linking us all through our genes. Each double page brings to light another arresting and astonishing set of facts.
Using the analogy of a recipe book, we are told about our recipes or genes and so 25% of those recipes are shared by humans and banana. These recipes determine what we look like, what colour our hair is, how tall we will be, whether we have two or four legs, or exist on a stalk. Half of our genes come from our dad, and half from mum. Some genes are bossier than others which explains why more humans have brown eyes, and most tigers are orange. The book goes on telling us who and what we are related to. Some, like daffodils, dogs and dung beetles, will surprise while others like chimps may not. Reading through the book, the percentages increase as we get closer to the chimp (99%) on the second to last page, and along the way percentages continue to surprise. Who would have thought we share 60% of our genes with fruit flies, which explain why they were sent into orbit. Or that we share 80% with cows, another animal like us that relies on milk from its mother when young, or we share 90% of our genes with cats. The very last page shows that every human in the world shares 99.9% of their genes with every other human and it is one gene in every thousand that makes each an individual.
This masterful look at genes and genetics for young readers had me hooked from page one, and there are many active minds out there waiting for information that is relevant, informative, funny and engaging. Illustrations in bright bold colours inform and intrigue as does the layout of each page, drawing the eye to take another look before ht pages are turned.
Susie Brooks travels and develops ideas for her writing that are different and thought provoking. Learn more about her here.
Josy Bloggs is an illustrator who specialises in non fiction, and is from the UK. More can be found out about her here. Her particular interest is in layout and design and this is echoed in her distinctive work.
The inside of the back cover retells the information on each page.
Two dogs with nothing in common, could they possibly find some common ground?
Pugnacious & Scuttlebutt Ready… Steady… ITCH written and illustrated by Adam Wallace and Wayne Bryant is hilarious. Be entertained by the frivolity and silliness of two dogs who are thrown together under terrible circumstances. Could anything good come from it?
Filled with wit, humour and ingenuity, this story will keep its audience captivated until the very end. Fun and light-hearted, this is an enjoyable read that will tantalise the reading tastebuds of even those reluctant readers. If you like a little adventure and enjoy a huge laugh, you must meet these two unfortunate mutts.
Pugnacious is the most volatile creature. He is mean, nasty, vicious and awful, and always looking for a fight wherever he goes and whatever the circumstance. He will turn the most innocent situation into something mean. But maybe he is just misunderstood?
Scuttlebutt is the fastest greyhound ever. That is, until a nasty prank sees his butt itching like nobody’s business. Now he can’t concentrate on anything but his butt! Will he ever be able to focus on anything else again?
This fabulous short fiction novel is extremely fast paced with a highly energetic and engaging storyline. Filled with loads of fun black and white cartoon pictures, speech text and action, and in a style mixed between a graphic novel and standard novel, this targets a wider audience and will appeal to many. Containing short chapters, large print and a really cool layout, this is a great story for all ages. Similar in format to Adam Wallace’s previous series, FARTBOY, so, if you enjoyed them, then you certainly won’t be disappointed.
If you love a little bit of silly humour, and loads of butt jokes, then you won’t be able to resist reading this one.
The slow movement is spreading its influence. From its beginnings in promoting slow food it advocates a cultural shift to slowing down life’s pace, pointing out that all our needs are the same and do not require to be met at a faster step.
This beautiful book exemplifies this movement, advocating a slower pace of life, turning off the digital world as we reconnect with each other and the world we live in.
In seemingly simple rhyming lines, the family resolves to take things nice and slow, to stay longer in bed and forget their worries, have breakfast together with their favourite - pancakes, lounge about spending time together to rediscover what we like about each other, to revisit old toys, do things that have been postponed and dance with loud music or just relax. Each activity is shown with several of the family doing things together, underlining the sense of togetherness and family, making the slowness a house hold theme.
With a strong emphasis on chilling out, the illustrations show a family relaxing together, doing all sorts of things that people hear about but perhaps do not try for themselves; building a fort in the lounge with cushions, meditate, watch a line of ants, cook a meal together, relax under the stars. Using a soft and warm palette of colours, Purnell captures the essence of a family caught up in relaxation and ease, a sense of dreaminess oozes from the page as the family takes life nice and slow.
Every parent’s wish, of sleeping through the night materialises in this disarming rhyming tale of why humans need children to sleep. Hopefully the sleepy verses and calming repetitive words will help the child along its way, and the reasons behind the necessity of sleep will form the reason behind this nightly ritual.
The authors cleverly compare our species with others, creating a platform of facts which emphasise that all creatures need their sleep, but not all in the same way.
So we see possums on the rood - a nocturnal animal which does its sleeping in the day, horses sleeping standing up, contrasting with humans who need to be prone, sea creatures sleeping with their eyes open, meerkats sleeping tumbled together, large flying birds that sleep on the wing, giraffes that are quick naps, while some creatures sleep upside down. Each creature has a different way of sleeping and the text often tells the reader why this is so. Giraffes need to be aware of predators, flying birds cover large distance, meerkats seem to need to bond. While other animals’ need for sleep in a different way begs the question from younger readers - why?
Each creature is different and children will become aware of these differences through the verse and the illustration accompanying it. In this way they will get a double take at how other species sleep, underscoring their own need for sleep. A sleeping child picture on each page further stresses this important part of our daily routine. And all the rituals of bedtime are there to help the child see this as an important part of its routine: a comfortable bed, parents reading a story, it is evening and the stuffed toys are waiting.
A Youtube clip of Teeny Tiny Stevies song which incorporates part of this book can be accessed here.
Byll amd Beth Stephen have a media presence with their website which can be found here.
Themes Sleep, Family, Animal traits, Rituals.
Fran Knight
One book was all it took by Wenda Shurety. Illus. by Amy Calautti
EK Books, 2022. ISBN: 9781922539137. (Age:3+) Highly recommended.
In searching for a book to read that she had not read before, Violet grabs the one book holding up the kitchen table and sets in motion a chain of happenings that result in her one wish coming true; getting a library in her town.
When the table falls over, dad messes his shirt which needs changing and so he is late for his bus to work. Next door the woman asks him for a new cake recipe and he gives her one, but the resultant cake makes her feel ill so she dumps it in the bin, where her cat eats it. Feeling ill, the cat takes her from her job of repairing the town hall roof which now leaks, causing the clerk to fall down the stairs, spilling the bunch of letters he has in his hand. One drops by the Mayor’s feet and picking it up she reads the letter sent by Violet asking for a town library.
The Mayor smiles recalling the library of her youth and so sets in place the building of a new library for the town.
This neatly resolved story will cause much laughter from the reader, most of whom will know the value of their own community or school library and so feel sympathetic to Violet’s wish. The chain of events set in place, like the old woman who swallowed a fly, come thick and fast, one leading to another. Readers will love seeing the link between each event.
They will certainly enjoy the funny, character filled illustrations. Each person illustrated is quite individual, sparking recognisable attributes which children will enjoy. The book parade the Mayor recalls will have children predicting the book from which each character comes, and the library itself will spark stories of their own use of a library.
Born in London but now living in Brisbane, Wenda enjoys writing for children. Amy, an illustrator from Western Australia enjoys dealing with a fun story creating illuminating illustrations as her Facebook page attests.
Three years of living with COVID has seen a resurgence of holidays in our own backyards, as people and particularly families have taken to the roads which wind around Australia. Once the habitat of the grey nomad, now many younger people and families are making the trip, often taking many months to complete their circumnavigation of this island.
One family to do so is that of the Parry-Valentines, setting off in their van, their home on wheels. Along with their young daughter, Hunter, the family explores our continent from Perth and in a clockwise direction taking in many sites around Australia.
In rhyming stanzas the trio makes their way through some very well known spots, taking in the outback, Broome, crocodiles in the Top End, Uluru, hot springs in Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef, hot air ballooning in Sydney, the Great Ocean Road, then across the sea to Tasmania, where they encounter a lavender farm, an underground motel in Coober Pedy, across the Nullarbor Plain, then Esperance and home.
Each spot they visit is shown in detail and children will delight in pointing out the animals and features depicted at each site.
Many they will recognise but some will be more unfamiliar, and they will be able to share common experiences of their travels to these places. Classes will have great fun plotting the route taken around Australia, marking the sites seen and finding out more information about each place. Perhaps some teachers might encourage the class to think about places that could be included on a such a trip. And incorporate those on a map in the classroom.
Alongside such classics as Are we there yet (Alison Lester, 2004) and To the Top End; our trip across Australia (Roland Harvey, 2009) a class unit could be developed using these books as a step into the geography of Australia.
A map of Australia with the places visited is situated on each of the endpapers adding another level of interest for the reader as they track the family’s journey.
A scattering of the family’s photos of their journey too will encourage readers to recognise the place they are visiting in the photograph.
Themes Travel, Journeys, Australia, Tourism.
Fran Knight
Tom Clancy Red Winter by Marc Cameron
Hachette, 2022. ISBN: 9781408727812. (Age:Adult - Young adult)
Set in 1985 this is a prequel to Tom Clancy’s book Red Rabbit featuring CIA agent Jack Ryan. At the time West Germany was communist and there is a helpful map of Cold War Europe and a list of principal characters and “useful terms” at the start of the book to help the reader keep track of abbreviations. The story starts with a note passed to a young State Department Foreign Services officer in Berlin during a bag snatch. The mysterious woman who passed the note disappears and the bag snatcher dies, poisoned. The note offers the US secret information in return for defection. Scene shift and we find Jack Ryan, CIA Liaison to M16 living a luxury life in London with his attractive, sexy wife and family. The phone rings and Jack is suddenly recalled to the US. Scene shift again to the desert testing site where an experimental F117 Nighthawk top secret radar evading US jet crashes, observed by a number of UFO spotters. Unknown to them one of their number is a Soviet spy who, after casually murdering two people, is able to obtain a piece of the crashed jet and sets off with it pursued by all the forces the US can muster. The story shifts back and forth between the search, Ryan and the potential defector so that by page 104 the orienting chapter heading "Moscow” was a relief. The acronyms, code names, nicknames (“clearly something that had to be earned” p. 28) secrecy and paranoia become tiring after a while as does the stereotyping of the East Germans "as if actors hired to play a role” p. 109. There is a lot of detail about guns, cars and the makeup of the various spy networks along with random acts of violence, feeding nostalgia in to American audiences, but by page 155 I had lost track of who was who and I didn’t care. 20 years after Red Rabbit author Marc Cameron revisits Tom Clancy’s style and I am sure fans will welcome this addition to the many that have been written since Clancy’s death but it did not stand alone and was a disappointing read.
Themes Cold War, Spies, Thriller.
Sue Speck
The art of grieving by Corinne Laan
Rockpool Publishing, 2022. ISBN: 9781922579201.
There are many different types of grief, and this book looks at the spectrum of grief and healing. Loss of a relationship, loss of a loved one, losses come in different forms, as does self care and healing. Written by a former specialist nurse, natural healer and licensed acupuncturist and Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, the book is full of tips, suggestions and advice on self care and rituals to aid healing. Starting with a discussion of what grief is and the different kinds of grief before moving into detail about how to use rituals for moving forward, the book then outlines rituals in different areas (release, gratitude, stillness and more), before listing recipes and different food for healing.
Perfect for those interested in learning how to perform meditation and rituals at home, with information about essential oils, materials required and guides through different rituals. Readers can find rituals ideal for a variety of different healing purposes, as well as information about how to set up the space. Useful for those experiencing loss and grief, with lots of tips and suggestions. The author uses their personal experience as well their training in medicine and alternative healing practices, guiding readers with gentleness to find peace and move towards healing.
Ford Street Publishing, 2022. ISBN: 9781922696106. (Age:9+) Highly recommended.
Speck of the Stars by Henry Boffin is the first novel in a fabulous new Starfall Saga series. This brand-new space odyssey adventure feels like some sort of twist on Harry Potter meets Star Trek. With a lead character who is highly relatable and endearing, you will be intrigued and invested from the opening chapter. Jam-packed with suspense and excitement, along with aliens and monsters, this story is a great series for anyone who enjoys science fiction or just loves an interesting adventure.
Floating in a Galaxy far, far away is the Grand Orbital Library which stores all the history of the Galaxy. On this spectacular spaceship lives Speck, a twelve-year-old human orphan who has been raised by droids. He was found, as a baby, by the High Librarian Keeper who sensed this orphan had an important purpose. Given to the ship’s droids to care for, he lives with his robot brother and mother, U-T and Mother-bot.
Speck is a curious and courageous human, but he is unsure of how and where he fits into the world of bots and keepers. When the Night Eaters arrive with a secret discovery, Speck’s curiosity is heightened. Sent by the High Librarian to work with the Guild Leader of the Night Eaters, he wonders if he will find his true calling. But when Speck’s snooping discovers the dangerous Starchild his actions have vast consequences. Can Speck really be anything he wants to be, or will his adventures prove too dangerous for himself and all other galaxy dwellers alike?
Henry Boffin has created an exciting and captivating novel. It is wonderful to have a story with a strong male protagonist who has the courage to create his own destiny, while showing compassion for others. This is a great new series that will be enjoyed by many – sci fi lover or not!
Themes Science Fiction, Adventure, Problem solving, Courage.
Celebrated paper cut out artist Chihiro Takeuchi displays his talents for a younger audience. And with dinosaurs as his theme, the book will win many fans. Each quartet of pages begins with the same question, ‘whose dinosaur bones?’, along with the question is a set of footprints and some food giving clues as to the animal concerned. Facing is a page of scattered bones which show its head shape and a few other clues children may spy. Once the page is turned the bones are assembled into an image of the animal, while the facing page shows what it would have looked like when alive. Each four pages will be well perused for clues and the pages turned back to hunt for clues they may have missed after seeing the complete image. A wonderful group of pages encouraging close inspection, prediction, hunting for clues, assembling of information and so on. Younger children will pursue these pages with determination, discussing with each other what they have noticed, drawing on their knowledge of dinosaurs and clue spotting. The last two pages give some fun facts about the dinosaurs shown in the book, which will delight, inform and amaze younger readers.
A little more about the artist can be found here, and it also includes a list of her books.
And the book begs children to try out their own paper cutting techniques, emulating Takeuchi and her incredible skill.
Themes STEM, Dinosaurs, Prediction, Problem solving, Humour.
Fran Knight
What do you think? by Matthew Syed
Wren & Rook, 2022. ISBN: 9781526364937. (Age:11+)
Matthew Syed, mindset consultant and author of Dare to Be You: Defy Self-Doubt, Fearlessly Follow Your Own Path and Be Confidently You! and You Are Awesome: Find Your Confidence and Dare to be Brilliant at (Almost) Anything, has written his third practical non-fiction book for children encouraging effective social communication, confidence and kindness. The sub-heading of the latest release, What Do YOU Think?, is How to Agree to Disagree and Still Be Friends. The book aims to give positive strategies to children to navigate successful relationships with peers and adults in their daily interactions.
The contents page highlights seven chapters beginning with the chapter one title Are you A jumper? referring to someone who jumps to conclusions and ending with the final chapter, The Battle of ideas: How to argue and stay friends. Following the Contents page is the introduction which discusses personal thoughts, the thoughts of others and how do we let people know what we think. With an interesting layout, accessible text, graphic images, highlighted key words, quirky tips and shared stories especially from the author, this humourous book will appeal to those upper middle grade and early high school readers who are looking for ideas and support to confidently find their place in the world.
Themes Communication, Feelings, Critical Thinking, Social Skills, Confidence.
The recent Men’s Soccer World Cup 2022 t and the upcoming FIFA Women’s world Cup 2023 tournament has continued to foster Australian children’s love of soccer. This latest release What Makes a Matilda provides an informative and in depth look at Australia’s champion women’s soccer team. The introduction gives a straightforward historical account of the struggle women’s football has had in both Australia and around the world, and its journey to 2023. This is followed by a detailed discussion of the ParaMatildas providing an insight into their history and team. Throughout the book are player profiles, including well known Samantha Kerr, presented with easily accessible text, graphic images, comments, quotes and diagrams. In the centre of the book are glossy captioned colour images offering plenty of interesting facts. As well as providing the reader with the history of the sport for women, the book gives aspiring soccer players advice for improving their own football skills. In the final pages are Matilda’s Records including a list of all who have played for the Australian Women’s team. There is a much needed index at the end of the book and a contents page at the beginning would have been an important addition.
Set in a dystopian future, not too distant from the present, Our missing hearts is set in an America that has been through a national economic and social ‘Crisis’, with people losing their jobs and homes, and blaming China ‘that perilous, yellow menace’. Suspicion turns to the Chinese, or Asian looking Americans, in their midst, those with ‘foreign faces, foreign names’. The Protecting American Culture and Traditions Act, or PACT, is introduced to protect American values, report potential threats, and protect children from environments espousing harmful views. Child removal becomes a means of political control. America has a long history of child removals: the separation of enslaved famiies, and of American Indian families, inequities in the foster care system, and separation of migrant families at the U.S. border. It also has a resonance in Australia’s stolen generations. So the world Ng creates has its roots in history, and could be a heightened version of times past, and ongoing.
Bird is the child of an American father and a Chinese American poet. All he knows is that his mother has left them, her books are no longer held in the library, and he has to keep his head down, and not draw attention, because it is just not safe. His only friend, Sadie, is a runaway foster child, removed from a mixed race family. Sadie encourages him to find out what has happened to his mother.
Our missing hearts is a challenge to the reader to think of how they would act in such an environment. So many times in history, people have turned in suspicion against each other with a brooding distrust of those who look different, speak a different language, or follow a different religion. There has been betrayal of neighbours and internment of foreign nationals. How can the individual act with courage and integrity? What can the ordinary person do when any act could put their own family at risk?
For Celeste Ng, there is hope in art, poetry and literature. Folk tales teach us moral lessons. And public art provokes empathy and compassion. Finally, the real heroes of the novel are librarians, guardians of knowledge and protectors of books. Librarians share information, and help the seeker to find what they need. ‘The brain of a librarian [is] a capacious place’ – they collect information, ‘collating it with the Rolodex in their minds’.
Our missing hearts is a kind of quest. Bird has to avoid the constant danger, follow the clues, find the right people to trust, and venture forth to find the truth about his missing mother. Along the journey, the reader is reminded of the cruelties of history and the need to learn from the past, not repeat the same mistakes. It takes courage, trust, friendship and love.
Themes Xenophobia, Racism, Political control, Propaganda, Child removal, Social activism, Protest, Libraries.
Cashore’s brings readers another challenging fantasy in Seasparrow which follows on immediately after the events in Winterkeep. Queen Bitterblue and her half-sister Hava are travelling back to Monsea by ship, carrying with them the notes that Hava had copied about zilfium and its ability to be turned into a deadly weapon. Hava’s Grace lets her disappear in plain sight and has been instrumental in making her the perfect spy for her secret half-sister. On board the ship she notices that a crew member is acting suspiciously, but before her fears are resolved, they are shipwrecked and forced to walk through the ice in an attempt of get home.
This is a harrowing survival story as the party rows through a freezing sea surrounded by icebergs as well as being threatened by bears. Once they reach land, the journey is treacherous, and each must draw on their resilience and inner strength to survive, while also looking after each other on the perilous journey. Not only is it a physical survival story, but it is also the story of Hava’s inner struggle to come to terms with the life that King Leck had forced on her and her mother. Her reflections on her mother who had to hide her from the King until she died when Hava was eight and the accounts of her life afterwards always hiding from people are often difficult to read but compelling, nonetheless. I found myself hoping that Hava would eventually be able to express her feelings without turning into stone. Other characters in the story are exceptionally portrayed, particularly Annet, the captain of the ship and the sailor who had stored a secret in the hold. The one bright spot in the story was the descriptions of the blue foxes, who all had unique characteristics.
With themes of survival of mind and body, a slow burning romance, court intrigue, problems with the use of deadly weapons and vivid imagery, Seasparrow will be welcomed by readers of the series.
Themes Fantasy, Survival, Post traumatic stress, Weapons, Seafaring.
