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
Mr Nobody by Catherine Steadman
Simon and Schuster, 2020. ISBN: 9781471192265. 384pp.
(Adult) Recommended for mystery lovers. Anybody interested in memory
loss and the functioning of the brain will be sure to learn a lot
when reading Mr Nobody. A man is found on a beach with no
idea of who he is and what his name is. Neuropsychiatrist Dr Emma
Lewis is called in to consult in this small English town, but she
has secrets of her own. Why has she hidden her past identify for
fourteen years and why does she feel haunted by the past she left
behind? And how does the mystery man dubbed Mr Nobody know things
about her past?
Steadman melds the two mysteries together while giving an in-depth
look at different types of memory loss and both the character of
Emma and that of Mr Nobody are ones that the reader can relate to.
The novel keeps up the suspense right until the final chapters with
a highly unexpected conclusion which may prove to be a bit
challenging for some readers. Nevertheless it was a good read and
the setting and plot quite different from the usual police
procedural mystery.
Pat Pledger
Our Planet: The one place we all call home by Matt Whyman
Illus. by Richard Jones. HarperCollins, 2019. ISBN: 9780008180317.
96pp., hbk.
This is the official children's book version of the Netflix
documentary series Our Planet. Endorsed by the World
Wildlife Foundation and with a foreword by Sir David Attenborough,
it is an authoritative exploration of our planet's natural world
using both illustrations and photographs from the series itself.
While each habitat is treated separately, nevertheless this is a
story of interconnection and hope, so much so that Sir David
Attenborough suggests that the children who read it will be "among
the next characters who can, if they wish, tell the most
extraordinary story of all - how human beings in the twenty-first
century came to their senses and started to protect Planet Earth."
So many of our students have access to services like Netflix now and
may well have seen the documentaries so this is a great opportunity
to explore how film and print can work together.
Barbara Braxton
Pretty funny by Rebecca Elliot
Penguin Books, 2020. ISBN: 9780241374627. 336pp.
(Age: 13+) Recommended. Haylah Swinton, sometimes known as 'Hay',
but mostly as 'Pig', is a teen with attitude . . . a funny attitude!
She is comedic and uses jokes (and chocolate) to cope with life. She
is the older sibling of Noah - a 4-year-old with his own naive
comedic spark. Her single-mother lovingly cares for her two children
and also works shift work at the hospital and so relies on Haylah to
organise and look after Noah regularly. The responsible teen though
is seldom seen as anything other than - large. She is a big girl
with a desire to be appreciated and understood for herself, but she
is also happy to be laughed at, particularly as she wants to be a
stand-up comedian. When she connects with the dreamy, older boy Leo
over their mutual enjoyment of stand-up comedy, she begins to think
she might have stumbled across someone who understands her and can
make her laugh and who might actually be interested in her. But not
everything goes smoothly, and her first stand-up gig might just be a
social disaster! When her life does cartwheels and she upsets her
mother's new relationship and her oldest friends, a kiss destroys
her equilibrium and everything seems to be going 'Hay'-wire. Then an
opportunity presents itself to fix problems, to stand up and be
respected and to be laughed at, all in the same evening.
This is a coming-of-age story (set in England) about learning to be
comfortable in your own skin, but also about how to view yourself
when you do not fit the 'norm'. Haylah is both funny and feisty, and
there are moments that are just laugh-out-loud enjoyable in her
life. But the strength of this book is learning to walk in her shoes
and to laugh with her, but also to understand her independence, her
sense of humour and her occasional angst. The fledgling comedian and
feminist is also just a girl who wants to know that someone likes
her, without having to change to meet anyone else's ideas about who
she should be, how thin or smart she should be, or what she should
wear. This is worthy of recommending to teenage girls with a sense
of fun, as they too negotiate where they fit in the world. In
addition, there are many funny lines and jokes throughout the book,
and the extremely charming Noah expresses the naive joy of being
4-years-old in very delightful moments in the book. This is
appealing and a pleasure to read. Themes: Coming-of-age; Comedy;
Family life; Appearance.
Carolyn Hull
Australians all love Easter eggs by Colin Buchanan
Illus. by Sarah Hardy. Scholastic Australia, 2020. ISBN:
9781743834794. 24pp.
(Age: 2-6) Recommended. Australians all love Easter eggs is
a cute rhyming story written by Colin Buchanan and illustrated by
Sarah Hardy. It tells of poor Bunyip Creek, a town too far for the
Easter Bunny to visit. The animals of this town decide enough is
enough and that they are going to work together and help get the
chocolate eggs delivered in time for Easter Sunday. They do
everything they can and get the bunny there on time, so the animals
can wake up to the delicious delivery for the first time.
I liked this charming little story, which has 'Aussie mate-ship' as
an undertone just with animals instead of people! The rhyme was easy
to read and flowed nicely, the text is positioned mainly on a white
background, and the characters are drawn with emotions on their
faces.
The illustrations really make this story, with pencil drawings of
cockatoos carrying the Easter Bunny over the lake, crocodiles
carrying baskets of eggs on their backs, koalas bush walking with
backpacks full and my favourite - the echidna, lizard and possum
filling the baskets!
I think this would be a great story to add in to an Easter book
collection, or as a gift to a younger child (2-6 years). I give it 4
out of 5, and look forward to reading this to Miss 5 at Easter time.
Lauren Fountain
The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey
Mantle UK, 2020. ISBN: 9781529014181. 336pp.
Recommended for adult readers. War threatens London. Not only are
precious children evacuated, but valuable museum artifacts. The
Natural History Museum chooses Lockwood Manor as a safe location,
and Hetty Cartwright as the chosen guardian.
However, Lockwood Manor is large and foreboding, chilling and moody
- a mansion of many rooms. A sad family history echoes in its halls,
and in the eyes of Lucy, the daughter of Lord Lockwood when Hetty
first arrives.
Brusque introductions (and departures) have Hetty on edge, as do the
movement and disappearance of some museum exhibits in her care.
Told in 2 voices - first Hetty, then Lucy, this debut novel from
Jane Healey weaves together historical fiction and mystery, as Hetty
endeavours to protect the collection from war, a zealous host, a
ghost(?) and vengeful past residents of Lockwood Manor.
With gothic elements of doom and gloom (courtesy of WWII), madness,
females compromised simply by being female, and talk of ghosts, The
Animals of Lockwood Manor provides a little twist - with the
relationship between Hetty and Lucy - no Mr Rochester in sight.
Linda Weeks
Peter Rabbit 2: Bunny trouble
Penguin, 2020. ISBN: 9780241410875. 32pp. Peter Rabbit 2: Bunny trouble is a level 2 (progressive
reader) book from the Penguin Young Readers series. It is a
story based on the new Peter Rabbit movie, where Peter
snuggles himself into Thomas's truck and takes a trip to the big
city. He comes into some trouble and is very lucky when his friends
come and help him.
This particular story/level is designed for readers who are able to
use the pictures as clues, can decipher beginning/middle/ending
sounds and can make predictions within an in-depth plot (according
to the levelling information provided). I am guessing that the Penguin
Young Readers series is based on American guided and
traditional reading levels, as I was unfamiliar with the information
provided for parents and educators at the beginning.
This reader would be great for students who enjoy the Peter
Rabbit movies, but are also reluctant readers. This book may
assist them by providing a topic that interests them, and is a bit
different from the regular classroom reader stories.
It has engaging images taken from the movie, along with fun and
bright backgrounds added by the publisher. This may be a bonus for
the unenthusiastic reader, and those that rely on the images for
clues and engagement.
Overall a reasonable reader or story, with the bonus of being part
of the Peter Rabbit empire, which may add to the interest
for many children.
Lauren Fountain
Let's go! On a train by Rosalyn Albert
Illus. by Natalia Moore. Let's Go! series. New Frontier, 2020. ISBN:
9781925594980. 16pp.
(Age: 2+) A simple rhyming story has two friends going on a steam
train journey. Let's go on a steam train
And choo-choo through the land
We wait down at the station
Where we hold each other's hand.
Young children are given the opportunity to examine a train journey
in this book, part of the Let's Go! Series that looks at different
modes of transport. They start off at the station, with its Platform
number and clock with the conductor waving from the train.
They see the fire being stoked and watch the countryside from their
seats.
All the illustrations are brightly coloured and detailed while there
is a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds and gender in the children
and the workers.
Older children looking at forms of transport would be able to
identify how train travel has changed from their grandparents' time
while younger children will enjoy the rhyme and rhythm of the
narrative.
Pat Pledger
Butterfly yellow by Thanhha Lai
University of Queensland Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780702262890.
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Dedicated to the unknowable number of
refugees at the bottom of the sea, Butterfly yellow tells
the story of Hang, a young Vietnamese girl making her way across
Texas, searching for the last remaining member of her family, her
young brother Linh who as a toddler was airlifted to America
following the Vietnam War. As she trudges across the dry landscape
of Texas in long sleeved high necked clothes covering the faint red
scar lines that score her body, her path crosses with a young man,
Lee Roy, a wannabe cowboy with a droopy moustache, seeking out rodeo
excitement. Hang has only a crumpled card with an address, handed to
her many years ago by the American who took her brother, and she
longs to be reunited with the young child she remembers and loves so
much. She is fiercely determined; having endured a horrendous
experience as a refugee boat person, her case file labelled Extreme
Trauma, details that are only gradually revealed as we learn more
about her past.
This is a poignant but heart-warming story of the slow development
of trust and friendship between the Vietnamese refugee and the naive
cowboy. Lee Roy is by Hang's side, initially reluctant, but then
patient and kind, as her Americanised brother rejects any memory of
her. And the people around them, each in their own way, help the
young friends to find a way to a better future.
The writing is beautiful, and very poetic. Hang's forays into
English are captured with Vietnamese tonal typography, and the
reader is grateful for Lee Roy's ear for the accent and his
interpretations of her words. It is a very realistic portrayal of
the struggles to understand different sounds and language
structures. But their differences melt when Lee Roy is astounded to
discover that old Clint Eastwood movies and rap poetry are a shared
connection between them.
In the end it is a positive story of people overcoming hardship,
overcoming differences, building better understanding, friendships
and a new future.
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Themes:
Refugees, Vietnam War, Language, Friendship.
Helen Eddy
