Illus. by Tull Suwannakit, Scholastic 2020. ISBN: 9781742999920.
32pp.
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. This disarming tale of the
relationship between a dog and his owner will thrill all readers as
they follow the warmth of the bond between the old man and his
rescue dog, to separation then reconnection.
When Charlie plays his trumpet, the dog, Louis, sings alongside him,
the two engrossed in the heart and soul of the music and their
friendship. But one day the old man becomes ill and is taken away in
an ambulance. The dog is left, and wanders the streets, finding
scraps to stay alive. One day he hears a familiar sound and finds
a trumpeter playing on the streets. He begins to sing along
with the busker, and people stop and put money in the busker's hat
which they have not done before. The man is thrilled with the double
act and takes Louis home with him to his share accommodation.
Together they play in the town and their notoriety comes to the
attention of the matron at the nursing home. She asks them to play
on Christmas Eve, and in the home, Louis finds a surprise.
Martin's lovely story will connect with children on many levels - an
animal story will always melt their hearts: the dog once abandoned
at a rescue home finds a home only to lose it, the relationship
between the old man and the dog engenders warmth and understanding,
the reunification at the end a cause for celebration.
Suwannakit's delightful illustrations ground the story, showing a
wonderful old man and his dog, keeping their hearts and souls
together with music. Watercolour, pen and ink present a soft edged
series of illustrations, never sentimental but full of feeling that
readers will love. The tender relationship between the dog and
Charlie is stunningly portrayed, readers will be able to feel the
dog's head on their shoulders and share in their joy at reuniting.
Themes: Dogs, Rescue homes, Nursing homes, Old age, Music.
Fran Knight
The golden cage by Anna Castagnoli
Illus. by Carll Cneut. Book Island, 2020. ISBN: 9781911496144. 56pp.
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. European fairy tale, The golden
cage, is a captivatingly dark story of a selfish princess,
spoiled and indulged, illustrated in the most amazing of painterly
drawings, full of detail to entrance the eye. Valentina has a
sumptuous garden which she fills with cages displaying unique and
exotic birds. To fill her cages she sends her long suffering
servants across the known world to bring back something absolutely
peerless for her cages. A servant failing in his duty has his head
chopped off, so it is paramount that they search high and low.
Sometimes they are able to fudge the edges, so when she wants a
coral beaked bird, they find her one that has a red beak, but in the
main when she dreams up another unknown bird they must try and find
it for her. But now she wants a talking bird, to put in her golden
cage, not a parrot that recites but a bird that will converse with
her. One month she cuts the heads off 100 servants when they fail
her. She is the blood princess.
She finds she is running out of servants and getting new ones is
proving to be costly. She begins to sell her hundreds of pairs of
shoes and multi crocodile belts and even some of the rare birds. A
servant comes to her suggesting that he will find a talking bird for
her but she must be patient and he makes her give him several
promises.
The end of this unusual tale of obsession comes quickly as the
princess waits, bereft of her possessions, in a garden devoid of the
grandeur it once had. The end piece tells the reader that there may
be several different endings, impelling the reader to perhaps
suggest one for themselves.
This wonderful large format picture book would be a delight to share
and discuss with classes, evoking the horror of some nineteenth
century tales.
The painterly illustrations are intense, taking up the large pages,
full of interest and variety, the eye often drawn to the princess,
so obsessed with her idea of perfection, living in a cage of her own
making. Many parallels could be drawn by readers about obsession or
the accumulation of material possessions or how power is
misused.
Book Island's mission is to make stunning world class picture books
available to English-speaking readers.
This internationally-acclaimed example of European literature has
won numerous prestigious awards, including the Flemish Culture Prize
and White Ravens Award, and was also nominated for the Deutscher
Jugendliteraturpreis. It deserves a place in every library to be
read and reread, discussed, pondered and pored over. Themes; Fairy
tale, Birds, Obsession, Selfishness.
Fran Knight
Freefall by Jacqueline Harvey
Kensy and Max book 5. Puffin Books, 2020. ISBN:
9780143796985.
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Kensy (Kensington) and Max (Maxim)
Grey are the grandchildren of the rather magnificent and wealthy
Cordelia Spencer, a woman of amazing talents. Recently Kensy and Max
have discovered that Cordelia is more than a media mogul, and in
fact she powerfully leads a significant espionage group that Kensy
and Max have joined, utilising their well refined talents for
subterfuge and problem-solving. In this story they also have Curtis
as a companion and potential recruit for the Spy Group, Pharos. The
three children join Cordelia travelling across the world from the
Spencer mansion, Alexandria, to Cordelia's New York substantial
residence complete with secret rooms and incredible technology and
engineering. There are secrets at every turn, and the children are
struggling to work out who can be trusted, particularly as they were
recent targets of an evil plot and their lives continue to be at
risk as they find themselves in the midst of a continuing chase for
an evil contact who is connected to their families. In the midst of
all this drama, Curtis seems to possess talents that make him a
useful asset.
This is an action adventure with risks and fast-paced twists and
turns with amazing young protagonists as the heroic stars of the
spy-based narrative.
Jacqueline Harvey has created an amazing and compelling story, and
with a significant dossier at the beginning giving all background
detail needed for new readers, this can be enjoyed by readers
returning to the series and those who discover Book 5 as their first
adventure into the series. This is the kind of book that will be
loved by young readers who love action adventure.
Girls who have loved Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose
may try and keep this series from their male classmates and friends,
but it is definitely a series that boys will appreciate and love
too. Themes: Spies; Adventure; Trust.
Carolyn Hull
Ben Braver and the Vortex of Doom by Marcus Emerson
The Super Life of Ben Braver book 3. Allen and Unwin, 2020. ISBN: 9781760631703. 320pp.
(Ages 7-10). Recommended. A funny, fast-paced adventure that will
appeal to many middle Primary readers especially those who have read
Emerson's other series, Diary
of a 6th grade ninja. This is the third book in a series
which started with The
super life of Ben Braver and then Ben Braver and the
Incredible Exploding kid. The book begins with a brief
explanation of who Ben Braver is and how he came to be at a school
for children, who all have superpowers, when he is just an ordinary
kid and it all has to do with time-travel. The story revolves around
an attack of the school by some ex-students who believe they have
been abandoned and ignored by the school after they graduate. They
are determined to kidnap and kill the Founder of the school, Donald
Kepler, and they will destroy the world to try to do it.
After the introductory chapter the story becomes quite complicated
as the characters go back and forth through time to the 'Outside'
and to different times in their lives to work out ways to save
Kepler and the world. Ben teams up with a misunderstood alien and
although he finally has superpowers Ben's encounter with a very kind
Super-hero on the streets teaches him that having superpowers is not
as straight forward as he first thought. His relationship with the
other characters is tested and he begins to appreciate how important
teamwork is when solving problems.
There were elements of the story where reading the other books would
have helped in understanding all that was going on, so I would
recommend reading these books in sequence. The illustrations and
small cartoons scattered through the story were very well done and
enhanced my understanding of the plot very well. Themes:
Time-travel, Courage, Heroes, Villains, Boarding schools.
Gabrielle Anderson
The ruin by Dervla McTiernan
Cormac Reilly book 1. Harper Collins, 2018. ISBN:
9781460754214.
(Age: Adult - Senior secondary) Highly recommended. After reading
the review of The
scholar (2019) I decided to start with the first book in
the series and I was not disappointed. Right from the beginning when
a very young Cormac Reilly finds the body of Hilaria Blake in her
decaying mansion and takes her children, 15 year old Maude and 5
year old Jack to the hospital, the reader is plunged into a story of
suspense and murder. Twenty years later the body of Jack turns up in
a river, an apparent suicide but Aisling Conroy, his partner is
convinced that he did not die by his own hand. Then Jack's sister
Maude shows up determined to prove that there was foul play.
There are many twists and turns and a couple of sub-plots to keep
the reader guessing. The politics of the police station are explored
as Cormac is given the cold case of Hilaria Blake's drug overdose
to investigate, rather than the death of Jack while both seem to be
connected. Shunned by the members of the force, he has to plough his
way through poorly filed evidence, not knowing whom he can trust.
The plight of children left to suffer abuse at the hands of people
who should care for them is another major theme that threads
throughout the story. Aisling's conflict between her difficult job
as an emergency surgeon and her pregnancy also adds depth to the
story.
All the characters were deftly drawn. Cormac is determined, the
policewoman assigned to domestic violence and missing children cases
conscientious, and Fisher, the young policeman who is Cormac's
offsider is an intelligent and enthusiastic side-kick. Aisling's job
is high pressured and well described while Maude's decision to leave
Jack when he was five tugs at the heart strings.
This series is one that will be welcome by lovers of mysteries -
well structured, tense and crowded with great characters. People who
enjoyed The
lost man by Jane Harper are sure to like the ruin.
Pat Pledger
Wild, fearless chests by Mandy Beaumont
Hachette, 2020. ISBN: 9780733643033. 224pp.
(Age: Adult - Older adolescent) Mandy Beaumont has created a most
powerful and disturbing collection of stories about women. The
treatment, in both sexual and physical abuse, the repression, hurt,
and nastiness inflicted on women is vividly described. Often
horrendous in its impact on the characters, and literally creating a
response that is challenging, it would be impossible to read this
collection and to go on with everyday life without wanting to change
a society that is seriously almost beyond bearing.
Stories of abuse can evoke memories for so many women, whether it be
physical, verbal, sexual or a combination of abuses. In these
stories there is no choice for a reader to disregard what is
happening, with the suggestion of such powerful evidence. The
writer's intention is clearly that we must hear and understand what
is happening to women, so often, in this world in which we live.
This is a small but monumental book with a distinct and very
powerful call to action by both women and men, to no longer hide
what is happening today, and what has happened to so many women in
the past. It is clear that we are called to support Mandy Beaumont's
call to action, to speak out loud, to bring this issue to the world,
to no longer hide it or to be given a panacea of family care and
medication that recognises only the issue or the offence but does
little to re-create a life that has so often been violated in the
extreme.
Not suitable for young readers, I would suggest, because of the
awful, and very disturbing emotional nature of some of the offences
and the terrible repercussions on the women. This is certainly a
suggested read for adults and older adolescents, both male and
female. Beaumont makes it clear that what has gone on for
centuries, extraordinarily still continues to happen in this
supposedly informed, caring modern world. She is making it clear
that the issue of abuse of women is so vital, it should be spoken
of, loudly and truthfully, if we are to care lovingly and decently
for the young women growing up in our society.
Elizabeth Bondar
Wink by Rob Harrell
HarperCollins Publishers, 2020. ISBN: 9781460758878.
(Ages 12-15). Highly recommended. Normal is something all
middle-school students crave, to avoid bullies and fit into school
life. But for Ross Maloy this is proving very difficult when the
results of his cancer treatment mean an eye in a permanent wink,
using a particularly gooey eye ointment in it, no hair and having to
wear a hat everywhere to protect his eyes.
His best friend Abby enjoys standing out with crazy coloured hair
and shockingly eccentric clothes and tries to get him to enjoy his
newfound fame as the "cancer kid". But Ross tries to keep his life
as normal as possible as the cancer treatment starts to take its
toll. Ross is finding himself angry; angry at the kids making
hurtful memes about him, angry at his other best friend Isaac
abandoning him during his illness, angry that he can't seem to
impress the girl of his dreams at school.
Finally, when the added knowledge that Abby will be moving away, he
loses it completely with everybody. His decision to channel this
anger into learning to play the guitar changes everything for him.
Throughout the story the author includes Batpig comic strips written
by Ross and they certainly add humour and interest for this age
group. Batpig seems to be able to overcome many of the things Ross
is struggling with and readers will gain an extra facet to Ross's
situation through them.
The characters in this story are noteworthy as they are well drawn
by the author and develop throughout the book, some quite
unexpectedly towards the end. Most are classic school characters
such as Jimmy, the school bully who still terrorizes Ross even
through his cancer ordeal. Linda, the well-meaning step-mum; did I
mention Ross's mum died of cancer too? Sarah the beautiful girl who
is the object of his desires but hides a nasty side that is revealed
at the end. Frank, the cancer clinic technician who awakens Ross's
love of music.
A powerful, heart-wrenching story drawn from the authors own life
experience of having survived a rare eye cancer. Themes: Cancer, Eye
diseases, Courage, Friendship, Middle-schooling.
Gabrielle Anderson
Beetle and Boo by Caitlin Murray
Puffin Books, 2020. ISBN: 9780143796565. 24pp.
(Age: 3+) Recommended. Beetle is adamant that he is not afraid of
anything. Nothing phases him, but Book is sure there must be
something. He tries different things that others are frightened of;
spiders, the dark, ghosts, bad dreams, thunder and lightning. But
each time, the answer is no, nope, never, uh-uh or not at all. So
Boo tries the reason behind his name, and scares Beetle from is
perch on Book's head.
At last he has found something that Beetle is scared of and each of
their reactions causes a lot of laughter from the friends.
The relationship between the two friends is wonderfully portrayed in
the text and illustrations. The size of Boo compared with his beetle
friend will be a source of merriment amongst the readers and they
will enjoy the humorous conversation between the two as they try to
find something Beetle is scared of. In doing this they are
discussing common childhood fears and by rejecting them, undermine
their importance in the children's lives.
The illustrations show a funny aspect of the fear, spiders playing
in a band and afternoon tea with the big bad wolf, while Beetle and
Boo meander along through it all, Beetle unaffected and Boo trying
very hard, but in the end it is Book that shows Beetle that perhaps
there is one little thing he fears, but because he is his friend, it
is not fearful after all. This is a neat way of starting a
discussion about fears. Themes: Animals, Humour, Fears.
Fran Knight
Ten minutes to bed Little Unicorn by Rhiannon Fielding
Illus. by Chris Chatterton. Penguin Random House, 2020. ISBN:
9780241408339. board book, 28pp.
(Age: 2-5) First published in 2018, this is one in a series of Ten
Minutes to Bed books (including Little
Monster and Little
Mermaid). It's an overt bedtime story set in The Land of
Nod (the endpapers show a map of the land and where each of the
characters live) and similar in concept to other books about bedtime
reluctance such as Play and I Am Not Sleepy and I Will
Not Go to Bed. In addition, a counting element is included as
it counts down the minutes until bedtime from ten to one. "Ten
minutes to bed!" Dad tells Twinkle (unnecessarily labelled "the
naughty unicorn"). But Twinkle isn't tired. So off she trots,
causing a bit of a riot, despite her dad's insistence that she keep
quiet. She is dancing and prancing, chasing pixies and fairies,
following footprint trails and chasing shooting stars. "Four
minutes" she says to herself when she is far from home and can no
longer hear her father's voice. Summoning a rainbow to take her
home, Twinkle makes it just in time; perhaps she is ready for bed,
after all!
Twinkle's magical journey will delight young ones, who will see in
the illustrations the progression from sunset light to moonlight.
The enchanted wood where the unicorns live is filled with wonderful
creatures and the depiction of light has been cleverly used to calm
and soothe children (glowing lights within the forest, moon and
shimmering stars). There is a nice message here for children about
being responsible and in control of their own body and winding down
for sleep. Little Unicorn seems to pay no attention to the countdown
but by the end of the ten minutes she is already asleep. It may even
help some younger children to set in place their own countdown to
bedtime and assist with an understanding of self-settling. Themes:
Bedtime, Unicorns, Counting Book, Rhyming Story.
Nicole Nelson
Peppa Pig: Super Peppa
Penguin Random House, 2020. ISBN: 9780241411971. 32pp. Super Peppa is another book instalment linked to the popular
TV show Peppa Pig. This large book is colourful, full of all
the characters children love from the show and surprisingly contains
a wonderful message for children.
Peppa's playgroup is having a week 'all about me' where they draw
portraits, talk about what they like, what they can do and what they
want to be when they grow up. Peppa struggles as she has no idea
what she wants to be when she grows up, and is worried she will have
nothing to dress up as! Throughout the story she visits the adults
closest to her (Mummy, Daddy and Miss Rabbit) who all show her what
they do and encourage her to give various things a go. She does a
super job at all these different things which helps her decide that
she will dress up as Super Peppa for the Playgroup session.
The aspect of this story that I was very surprised at, but also
loved was that there were some great messages for the reader. Madame
Gazelle celebrates the children's different likes and abilities - no
matter how serious or silly. Then the adults encourage Peppa to
believe in herself and her talents, to practise in order to get
better at something and to work really hard in order to be good at
what you are striving for. I think that in our society these
messages are really important for our children to hear, and if it
has to start young with Peppa Pig then that's okay with me!
This is a wonderful book for the younger children in our schools,
libraries or homes.
Lauren Fountain
Displaced, a rural life by John Kinsella
Transit Lounge, 2020. ISBN: 9781925760477. 336pp.
This is a book written to plunge us into a place and a time, the
'now' in which Kinsella lives and writes with such passion. With
such love for this planet and such despair springing from his dread,
his fear is a terrible sense that we humans are simply destroying
that which we love. He writes of what he envisages as the dreadful
fate of Australia, with damage being done to the atmosphere, the
earth, the seas, rivers, and the people who have lived in Australia
for such an inconceivable number of years. We learn about what lies
under the ground, on which we rely for fuel, that terrible product
that, he writes, will destroy the Earth.
His brilliance lights this text in his understanding of how it all
works, and his determination to communicate his fear of our failing
to change, and the dreadful horrors that we have inflicted on the
earth and its people. Poetic, lyrical and persuasive, Kinsella's
writing grabs us and will not let go. Yet at the heart of his story
is a pragmatism that underlies all that he posits, and indeed it is
this which is so simple, yet he feels is so shunned or ignored by
the peoples of the earth, or at least those who manage to dominate
the world.
Pitched at all English-speaking adults of the world, although
particularly focused on what it is possible to change in Australia,
this testament to the beauty and complexity of the world, that are
both endangered, could be adopted by adolescent students, who, if
interested, may well be significant game-changers of the future. The
possibilities for change are clearly well argued and the need is for
action soon, and the potential for disaster clearly signified in
this eloquent text.
Elizabeth Bondar
We catch the bus by Katie Abey
Bloomsbury, 2020. ISBN: 9781526607195. 32pp.
(Age: 3+) Recommended. Wow! This is one busy, brightly illustrated
book that kids who love looking for details will adore. Readers are
asked to "What will You drive today?" right on the front cover by a
lion wearing a green mask and from then on the fun begins. Astute
readers will notice the monkey on the title page and follow him
through each section as he gives a hint of what type of vehicle is
coming next. Readers will catch all types of buses from a double
decker bus to a banana bus and a ghost tour bus and when they find
the monkey who has a speech bubble "Not me, I fly planes!" they will
know that the next page will feature planes and that the monkey will
tell them what is next. They then continue to drive trucks, trains,
diggers and cars, ride bikes, sail boats, ride emergency vehicles
and tractors and fly rockets.
Each double page spread is full of humorous drawings and strange
animals all done in vivid colours. Instructions like 'Count the
spiders', and 'Can you spot the smallest animal?', and 'Who is
wearing a purple hat?', all make the reader look more closely at the
illustrations on the pages while often getting a huge laugh out of
the weird and wonderful animals who populate them.
Others by Abey include We
wear pants and We
eat bananas and fans are sure to enjoy this one too. It
is one to share with a younger child, discussing types of transport
and laughing together about the antics of the animals, while an
older child will be prepared to spend a lot of time pouring over the
details and finding the answers to the many questions that the
author poses. Themes: Vehicles, Transport, Animals, Imagination.
Pat Pledger
Tabitha and the raincloud by Devon Sillett and Melissa Johns
EK, 2020. ISBN: 9781925820133. 32pp., hbk.
Nearly 50 years ago Judith Viorst wrote a book that has become a
classic called Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very
bad day and that is exactly what Tabitha is having. From the
moment she wakes up in the morning there is a dark raincloud hanging
over her head and nothing goes smoothly. Her scrambled eggs are
soggy; her teacher thinks her picture of a giraffe is a dinosaur;
and no one wants to sit with her at lunch. It really was a terrible,
horrible, no good, very bad day! But then Tabitha remembers that
every raincloud has a silver lining . . .
This is a story that will resonate with every reader, for who hasn't
woken up with a raincloud hanging over them, at some stage. Sadly
though, whether we get out of bed on the wrong side or not, we have
to get up and deal with what eventuates. The redemption is though,
how we choose to respond to those events and although it takes
Tabitha a while, her resilience and natural optimism help see her
through. The most damaging and hurtful things we hear are those our
inner voice tells us (particularly if they're confirming what others
tell us) but as we know from The
proudest blue, we have to learn to "[Not] carry around the
hurtful words that others say. Drop them. They are not yours to
keep. They belong only to those who said them." Instead we need to
be like Tabitha and look for the silver lining and change the
messages and our actions into something positive. We can't always
get rid of the problems, but we can learn strategies to help manage
them so we become more resilient and better people for having to
cope.
The close relationship between the text and the graphics (a unique
form of collage) meld in the final picture that sums up Tabitha's
new knowledge perfectly.
This is an important addition to your mindfulness collection and
there are comprehensive teachers'
notes to tease out all the strands of the story.
Barbara Braxton
The bad Bassinis by Clair Hume
Illus. by Tom Jellett. Scholastic, 2020. ISBN: 9781760663377. 24pp.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Tom Jellett's hilarious illustration
on the front cover - two wide necked mean looking dogs, peering
threateningly at the reader will draw immediate laughter and a
thrilling need to open the book. The small spaniel between them
trying to look equally as menacing cannot compete with his two
companions. So why is he there? The stage is set for a laugh out
loud read.
Hume's wonderful text tells of two bad dogs, patrolling the streets
in search of other dogs to bully and harass. The Bassinis are not to
be thwarted, Tina can open bottles with her teeth,Sid picks flower
heads from their stalks, they taunt and howl, tip over rubbish bins
and generally look for trouble. But one day a pup wanders into their
path. Pipsqueak barks and barks and the Bassinis decide to take him
under their wing, after all they need someone to carry their bones.
But other dogs behave decidedly differently with Pipsqueak around.
The Bassinis are ignored as the pup is petted and spoken to, patted
and ruffled. The Bassinis marvel at how wonderful a friendly face
can be, and decide to take Pipsqueak as their own, even singing at
night to get him to sleep and during the day proudly walking the
streets with him.
This lovely tale of belonging, of finding a family, will delight
younger readers, knowing that they live with a family too, where
they can be themselves. The change in the attitude of the Bassinis
too will tickle readers as they see a pair full of bravado and
attitude, soften when confronted with a younger smaller version of
themselves, and find that life is much happier with a smile!
Readers will love Jellett's dogs, the looks on their faces are
simply divine, the attributes of each dog family easily
distinguished. Themes: Dogs, Behaviour, Bullying.
Fran Knight
The wonderful wisdom of ants by Philip Bunting
Scholastic, 2020. ISBN: 9781743834084. 32pp.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. While showcasing some astonishing
facts about ants, Bunting is cleverly using their lives to promote
our sustained use of the planet, to finish his story with 'leave the
earth in better shape than it was when you got here', a sentiment
exemplified by one of the smallest of creatures which practises
recycling, is omnivorous, cares for the rest of the colony and helps
others. With lashings of humour, Bunting shows us the ants' traits:
power napping, working together, thinking more of the community than
themselves, with an emphasis on family.
A wonderful map of an ants' nest will give readers an overview of
the intricacy involved in being an ant. An ant colony is huge and
for it to work, everyone must work together. Bunting gives an
outline of the different sorts of ants and their roles within the
colony: the queen, simply there to reproduce, the worker, soldier,
drone and princesses, all there with a specific job to do. Readers
will love the smart way Bunting outlines their roles in life. Ants
use their sense of smell to find food, leaving a trail of pheromones
for other ants to follow to that food source. And they are
omnivorous, recycle and work together. Each page Bunting makes the
point that these little creatures care much more for the planet than
we do, working with each other to make the most of what they find,
leading to the quote on the last two pages which will initiate
thought and discussion amongst the laughing and engaged readers.
Bunting shows us through humour that the problems of the world can
be solved if we followed the life of an ant and its colony.
The wonderful illustrations provoke the reader as the ant stares out
at us, willing us to take hold of what the ant teaches. The front
cover has the ant shouldering the world, illustrating how their
skills are what we need to emulate. Believing that the answers to
many of life's questions can be found in our own back yard,
Queensland author, Bunting has produced a book which will provoke
and prod us all to look more closely at what lies in front of our
eyes.
I love his work and laughed out loud at Mopoke,
Another
book about bears, and Bad crab, to name a few.
Themes: Ants, Conservation, Family.
Fran Knight
