Reviews

Busy Nativity ill. by Emily Bolam

Busy Book series. Campbell Books, 2017. ISBN 9781509828951
(Age: 2-4) Themes: Nativity, Board Book, Interactive Book, Rhyme. This is one of the Busy Book series (comprising more than 20 titles) that includes Busy Park, Busy Baking and Busy Fire Station. Each book contains push and pull tabs and is composed of very sturdy board pages. The tabs and pull-outs are equally robust. Each page contains lots of detail, thereby providing opportunities for children to ask questions, make observations and discuss what they notice. There are also simple questions (e.g., "Who is on the donkey?") to stimulate discussion between reader and child.
The text is very short, with a simple rhyming narration of the first Christmas (e.g., "Sweet baby Jesus was born that night. As angels appeared and a star so bright"). It tells of the birth of baby Jesus but does not go into the meaning of Christmas or why his birth is so celebrated. In fact, God is not mentioned at all.
The illustrations are colourful and depict a happy, all-smiling world. There are lots of animals for young ones to point out and name.
This is a joyful first introduction to the Nativity story that will even engage busy toddlers with short attention spans.
Nicole Nelson

I went to see Santa by Paul Howard

Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408844724
(Age: 2-5) Themes: Christmas. Santa Claus. Author and illustrator Paul Howard follows up on his successful picture book I Went to the Supermarket with this cheerful story I went to see Santa. Youngsters will be familiar with this fun and easy to play circle game, where each one repeats the refrain then adds a new item starting with the next alphabet letter. In this amusing story, a young brother and sister use their creativity and imagination to conjure up some unusual Christmas-themed items.
The amusing illustrations use strong primary colours and close-up scenes to make the characters stand out from their bright backgrounds. There are bright green glasses with Santa hats, amazing magic sets, even a friendly reindeer with twinkling lights on its antlers. From a coin-filled pirate chest, we quickly move on to seven cute seven dancing penguins and a band of merry elves throwing snowballs. Each of the characters actively joins in with the activity on the new double page spread, floating in space, decorating the giant gingerbread tree and cheering as Santa finally appears.
I went to see Santa is a fun story to share with young children who will love the repetitive and cumulative text; they will soon join in and share in the fun of the story, even though the text is not in alphabetical order.
Rhyllis Bignell

How many quacks till Christmas? by Mark Sperring

Ill. by Ed Eaves. Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408871089
(Age: 2-5) Themes: Farm animals, Christmas. There is an air of excitement at Merry Farm; garlands of wheat, shiny baubles and strings of colourful lights decorate the farmyard. The excited farm animals are wearing Christmas scarves, Santa hats and bright red and green collars, all anticipating the coming holiday. Each of the young creatures question their parents with oinks, moos, neighs and cheeps. They want to know how many days until Christmas. The little piglets squeal with glee and question their mamma splashing in a muddy puddle, 'how many oinks till Christmas?' We follow the black and white puppy as he races around the farm yard, skipping with the lambs, then riding on the Christmas tree cart pulled by the mare as her foals ask 'how many neighs till Christmas?' Merry Farm is a buzz of holiday preparation, from the barn, to the fields to the barnyard.
Mark Sperring's cheery rhyme is fun to share with a preschool or kindergarten class and just right to share as a family. Children can respond and guess the animal sounds, the rhyming words and the animal actions. Illustrator Ed Eaves brings Merry Farm to life with bold colours and familiar farm animals preparing for Christmas in a bright snowy setting. This exciting story provides an amusing and engaging countdown to Christmas.
Rhyllis Bignell

Marvin and Marigold: A Christmas surprise by Mark Carthew

Ill. by Simon Prescott. New Frontier Publishing, 2017. ISBN 9781925059991
(Age: 4-7) Themes: Christmas trees. Friendship. It is the 1st of December and Marigold finds a large box on her doorstep. When she carries it inside branches and decorations fall out and she knows that it is a Christmas tree. It is from her mother, who tells her in the accompanying letter that the box contains things that are treasured and have been put on the Christmas tree by the family every year. It now belongs to Marigold who can't wait to tell her friend Marvin about it and together they share the joy of unpacking the baubles and decorating the tree. Tired, at last they enjoy some biscuits and cheese as they admire their work.
This is a joyful story of friendship, sharing and passing on Christmas traditions. Marigold's mother has ensured that the customs that she shared with her daughter are preserved and knows that the decorations will bring back many happy memories. Marigold too, is a kind and loving person who makes sure that Marvin is not left alone during the festive season.
The illustrations show a cute pair of mice and will be enjoyed by young children who will have the opportunity to look at the drawings of the decorations and talk about ones that are treasured in their own homes.
Pat Pledger

The red ribbon by Lucy Adlington

Hot Key Books, 2017. ISBN 9781471406560
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Themes: Holocaust. Auschwitz-Burkenau. Dressmaking. Survival. World War Two. The first section of this book, Green, describes a young woman, Ella living in nightmarish conditions, underfed, abused, forced to work making dresses in a shed with no amenities. At first I thought it to be a dystopian novel of a nasty future, or perhaps a tale of enslaved women today, but it became a story of how some girls lived at Auschwitz-Birkenau, that most hated of Nazi Concentration Camps, used in Poland during the 1940's for the killing of all those whom the Nazis wanted to be rid of. Within this camp the commandant's wife set up a dressmaking room to have the women make them fashionable clothing. Ella and her friend, Rose struggle to keep themselves alive, and befriend one of the guards who likes Ella's dressmaking skills and gives her some extras for her work. But they fall out over a red ribbon and Ella and her friend, Rose are sent to the laundry to work.
The privation, poverty, abuse and utter inhumane way these people were dealt with makes hard reading, and I needed to leave the book for a while before finishing it.
The book gives an insight into a small event in Auschwitz where a commandant's wife did actually set up a dressmaking salon amongst the absolute horror of the place for the use of other officers' wives and some of the guards. Apparently she enjoyed going there to have couturier dresses made for her. That these women could have the skinny enslaved women as their dressmakers reflects the piteous way in which the camp residents were seen.
Descriptions of the thousands brought to the camp in the final years of the war to be killed makes up the background of life lived there, but when the authorities realised that the end of the war was imminent, many more thousands were force marched away from the now burning buildings, to die in the snow. Ella survived through someone's kindness and hope became a catch cry through the rest of her life.
There are many novels written about the Holocaust and they fill in the history for teens who are unaware that such brutality existed in our world. And still does. So this is a novel which many will read, acquainting themselves with the horror of the past and like Ella, hoping for a better future.
Fran Knight

Ban this book by Alan Gratz

Lothian Children's Books, 2017. ISBN 9780734417824
(Age: Middle primary - Middle School) Highly recommended. Amy Anne Ollinger has it pretty tough at home... her youngest sister thinks she is a My Little Pony and the other, whom Amy Anne unfortunately shares her bedroom with, uses Amy's bed for ballet practice and yells at her whenever she comes in the room. No wonder she turns to reading to escape from it all. When her favourite book in the whole wide world is banned from the school library along with 12 other very popular books, the usually quiet Amy Anne rebels. The introverted protagonist begins to collect the list of banned books and starts a library out of her locker. Her idol, the school librarian, gives her occasional hints about how best to run a library; a lending system, for example. The novel focuses on censorship but in a lighthearted way that has the reader cheering for the book lovers.
The books are banned because a member of the School Board deems the book inappropriate. Amy Anne's argument is that a child's parent should be able to decide what is appropriate and suitable for their child on an individual basis. The list of banned books is based on a factual collection of books banned at one or another stage within American schools which could add an interesting element of discussion, as well touching on the first and second amendments. The novel is set in an American school. This novel was light and hilarious at points. Amy Anne engineers a campaign to challenge every book in the school library with her friends by finding ridiculous reasoning to challenge; The magic treehouse raises safety concerns; The Lorax portrays the timber industry in a negative light, and so on. Having a sense of humour in such a serious situation is a tool used by the author to really draw in the reader. The only downside? Amy Anne is written as a fourth grader, which may lose a percentage of middle years readers.
Clare Thompson

Building site zoo by Sophie Masson

Ill. by Laura Wood, Lothian, 2017. ISBN 9780734417534
(Age: 4+) Building. Machinery. Animals. Verse. Walking to school is enhanced by looking closely at the machinery along the way. Granddad and the two children do not see just the machines but change them to animals that replicate the work the machine does. So the bulldozer becomes a bull, flattening the earth and churning it up with a mighty roar. The man using a jackhammer to deconstruct a cement balcony becomes a kangaroo, bouncing up and down and waking the town. The cement mixer becomes a huge hippo, churning all in his big mouth into a creamy sauce, and the cranes are giraffe, stretching their long necks down to the ground.
Each machine and animal are represented in rhyming stanzas, encouraging children to predict the rhyming word at the end of each doublet, and learning the line to repeat with the reader. Pleasing bright illustrations will attract the younger readers and the whole encourages a creative and imaginative look at a building site.
Fran Knight

Star Wars: Absolutely everything you need to know: updated and expanded by Adam Bray et al

DK Publishing, 2017. ISBN 9780241232392
(age: 7+) Recommended for fans of the genre. Themes: Fantasy. Science fiction. Space. Adam Bray has written six books about the Star Wars phenomenon, and this the latest one. Star Wars; Absolutely everything you need to know is an updated and expanded version of a previous publication. You can find information about each of his books on Amazon.
Living up to its promise, the weighty 255 page tome has chapters entitled Protectors of the Galaxy; Bad guys, bounty hunters and the underworld; Weird and wonderful beings; In a galaxy far, far away and The battle continues. So something for everyone. A detailed contents page begins the read, while a comprehensive four page index will please the readers.
Wherever you flip open the book, new information comes to light for even the most avid of fans. And combined with an array of stills, CGI shots and brightly coloured illustrations with text dotted over each page, the book will be sought after in the library.
I opened to the page about the Slime Lords and was treated to an image of the wonderfully inventive character, Jabba the Hutt. On this page I found that Jabba weighed in at 1,358 kilos and was 604 years old at his death, and the sound of him was made using a bowl of melted cheese. Further over is a double page about the Scrap dealers, those hooded, large eyed creatures first seen trying to sell C3PO. Reading the page we find that they smell awful, thinking washing a waste of water, while they are called Jawas, and spend much of their time in the desert, searching for salvage. And further over is a double page, Monsters of the deep. Here the illustrations are of a series of rather nasty toothy looking creatures, and information about the Naboo Abyss where they live. Weight, habits, and the reasons for the Jedi needing to find their way through the abyss and past these creatures is explained.
A fascinating adjunct to the highly successful series of films, this book is full of information that will delight, inform and entertain young readers.
Fran Knight

The adventures of egg box dragon by Richard Adams

Ill. by Alex T. Smith. Hodder, 2017. ISBN 9781444938401
(Age: 5-8) Recommended. The illustrations in this are fantastic but the story is needlessly long and lacklustre. When young Emma makes a dragon out of egg boxes, the local gardener asserts, "That critter's got magic... put him to sleep under the moon and watch what happens". Emma heeds his advice and the next morning Egg Box Dragon is alive and causing mischief with his new fire-breathing ways. It is soon discovered, however, that Egg Box Dragon has a very helpful gift of being able to find lost items. When the Queen discovers the biggest diamond from her crown is missing she sends for Egg Box Dragon to come at once. After he recovers the diamond, he and Emma are given the royal treatment and driven home.
The illustrations have a retro 1960s feel (judging by the clothing and cars) and are ever so intricate. The characters have exaggerated features to add interest (big hair, big glasses, tall hats, etc.) and the pictures are funny, lively and fascinating. The narrative though, comes to a bit of a flat and abrupt end and the whole story is a bit dull and uninspired. It is a shame because the concept is interesting, the character of Egg Box Dragon is amusing and the illustrations are incredibly good. Unfortunately, the book has not come together as a whole.
Nicole Nelson

Have sword, will travel by Garth Nix and Sean Williams

Allen and Unwin, 2017. ISBN 9781742374024
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Fantasy. Knights, Chivalry, Swords. When a reader picks up a book by New York Times bestselling authors, there is always a treat in store and Have sword, will travel is certainly that. From New York Times bestselling authors Garth Nix and Sean Williams, comes this funny adventure story starring a talking sword and two young friends.
When Odo and Eleanor find a magical sword in a river they are astounded to discover that not only does it speak but it claims that Odo is now a knight. Eleanor isn't too happy about this as she had always wanted to become a knight but Odo is the one that Biter insists must carry him so she is forced to go along on a quest to save their village from dragons and villains.
Full of quirky humour and entertaining dialogue this fantasy adventure story is a joy to read. Odo and Eleanor's epic journey finds them encountering a group of bandits, meeting Sir Saskia a real knight, rescuing a young lad from slavery in a village where arms are forged and discovering river that has been dammed up. Eleanor is a feisty young girl, courageous and adventurous and comes into her own in the story. Odo is a steady boy who has no desire to be a knight, but knows that he must do the right thing. The sword Hildebrand Shining Foebiter ('call me Biter'), provides much of the humour in the tale with its funny comments.
This is an easy book to read as the adventures and action keep the reader fully engrossed in what's going on. In addition, the main protagonists are very likeable and the villains satisfyingly dastardly.
I look forward to meeting these characters again in book 2, Let sleeping dragons lie.
Pat Pledger

Koalas eat gum leaves by Laura Bunting

Where's Wally? Destination: Everywhere! by Martin Handford

Walker Books, 2017. ISBN 9781406376241
(Ages: 5-12) Recommended. Picture Puzzles. This special edition celebrating 30 years of Where's Wally? revisits twelve classic scenes from Wally's past adventures, each one slightly altered and with more searches and games than before. On each page Wally recounts his past adventure and sets a challenge for the pictured scene, in addition to finding Wally, the four other characters and five lost items. In addition, there are numerous other challenges for more advanced searchers and puzzlers.
There is a very good reason why Where's Wally has been so successful over the last 30 years and probably will be into the future. The illustrations, even though they come from previous publications, do not look out-dated, proving the timelessness of the format. The crazy, busy scenes encourage hours of puzzling fun and will be enjoyed by new Wally readers as well as those dedicated fans who have seen each of these scenes before.
Nicole Nelson

The epic city by Kushanava Choudhury

Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408888889
(Age: Adult) The subtitle is The world on the streets of Calcutta and this aptly describes the focus of Choudhury's book. Although a graduate of Princeton and Yale and thus successful in the eyes of his proud parents, Indian immigrants who have carved out a new life in the United States away from the tumultuous world of Calcutta, it is that life cut off when he was only 12 that draws Choudhury back again and again - it is there in the streets of Calcutta that he feels his real self belongs. Nobody can understand his decision to live and work in Calcuttta, when he has so much opportunity elsewhere, and it even threatens his relationship with Durba, the Indian girl who becomes his wife.
The book is a love affair with Calcutta and its street life full of hawkers, fish-sellers, idol-makers, the whole gamut of livelihoods lining the alleyways. And most interesting of all is the 'adda', the spontaneous discussions of life and politics that can keep people engaged for hours. Choudhury's book becomes like a collection of adda, he tells us the stories of Calcutta, the intricacies of flat-hunting, the lovers' retreats behind umbrellas in parks, the long enduring crafts handed from one generation to the next, the religious celebrations, and most especially the horrific impact of the 1947 Partition on the lives of the people, divided into Hindu and Muslim regions by the departing British colonialists.
The epic city is a rich revelation of the life and struggles of the people of Calcutta, and would vividly re-ignite a kaleidoscope of memories for any reader who has ever travelled to India.
Helen Eddy

Birthday Boy by David Baddiel

Ill. by Jim Field. HarperCollins Children's Books, 2017. ISBN 9780008200480
(Age: 8 - 12 years) Sam Green is really looking forward to his birthday and wishes it was every day. His very sensible seven-year old sister Ruby disagrees and points out that if birthdays were every day, they wouldn't be special. When Sam's wish comes true, however, he starts to regret his wish. Funnily enough he blames his guinea pig Spock, who looks at him with disdain. Sam takes a long time to decide he just wants things to go back to normal.
For the first six months of repeated birthdays, for at least a third of the book, the author entertained readers with a ridiculous amount of descriptions of parties and presents. Sam's character quickly got on my nerves, particularly when reading about how his family were completely broke and going without necessities in order to pay for his birthday celebrations each day and his nonchalance about this. 'I want I want I want'. However, I'm sure kids will really enjoy the humour in this book.
The illustrations, by Jim Field, added the comic quality to the story line, and it did aid in allowing the reader to recognize how farfetched the Groundhog Day idea was. Unfortunately at points, I felt like the author was sending the wrong message to the 8-12 age group instead of focusing on building firm relationships with family and giving less thought to material things.
Mind you, the first novel by this duo, The Parent Agency won Best Laugh out loud award in 2016, so maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind when I read it.
Clare Thompson

Malala's magic pencil by Malala Yousafzai

Ill. by Kerascoet. Puffin, 2017. ISBN 9780241322567
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Themes: Education. Prejudice. Women's rights. Taliban. Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, has made her amazing story available to younger readers in this outstanding picture book, Malala's magic pencil. Malala came to worldwide attention when a terrorist attempted to kill her in 2012. She had promoted the education of girls in war-torn Pakistan, writing under an assumed name for BBC Urdu. In this book we see how girls are imposed upon by the growing threat of the Taliban in her city.
Malala loves watching a TV show about a boy with a magic pencil, who when hungry would draw something and eat it. Malala wishes she had such a pencil, and put a lock on her door, or nullify the terrible smells from the rubbish dump. But one day taking rubbish to the dump she sees young children scavenging for rubbish to sell. She talks to her father and is saddened to hear that some children never go to school, and girls in particular are kept home to work. She longs for a magic pencil to make the world a safer place, one in which girls can all be educated. But then men with guns appear in their streets and impose more burdens upon women. Malala notices fewer girls coming to class and so she begins to write. Her voice is heard all over Pakistan and further, she gives talks around the country, visiting remote communities and speaking to a television reporter. She is amazed that people want to hear her story. But some people are not happy and try to stop her. They fail.
Living now in Birmingham her voice is a constant reminder of what oppression looks like and how important it is to stand up for women's education.
She found her magic pencil and is using it for the promotion of peace in our world.
This magical story is beautifully illustrated by Kerascoet, a pseudonym for French husband and wife team, Sebastien Cosset and Marie Pommepuy using pen and watercolour to recreate the life of Malala. In the detailed background readers will espy lots of information about living in Pakistan, which will both inform and delight. Information is included at the end of the book about Malala's life and work, while a letter from Malala to her readers is included. I found this a moving and personable story and went back to the first book she wrote of her experiences, Malala: the girl who stood up for education and changed the world (Indigo, 2014) as I am sure others will. I was blown away by her understated reference to what happened to her when she was shot, underlining the insignificance of the Taliban against the global importance of education and peace. In a classroom this book would make a study of its own, involving such themes as life in Pakistan, peace and the Nobel Peace Prize, the role of the United Nations, extremism, women's education, amongst others.
Fran Knight