Reviews

Koala by Claire Saxby

Ill. by Julie Vivas. Nature Storybooks. Walker Books, 2017. ISBN 9781925126396
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Australian animals, Koalas, Australian bush, Habitat. In the fork of a tree a young koala wakes. He goes to his mother, wanting to get back into the safety of her pouch but she repels him. He is abruptly turned out into the world and must now learn to survive on his own. We follow his story as he learns the necessary skills of self preservation: finding trees suitable for his needs, fending off humans and other dangers, avoiding the dangerous male koalas when they are searching for a mate, finding a tree not marked with another's scent. He has a lot to learn without his mother and the story takes the reader through his early achievements complimented with glorious watercolour illustrations showing children exactly how a koala looks and what its habitat is like.
This is not the koala usually presented to readers: this is one on his own, learning to avoid the danger of an aggressive male, a bushfire, snake and humans.
This story of a koala in the first few lone months, one in the series called Nature Storybooks, contains factual information. In a different font, the facts are given along the bottom of the pages, supplementing the story above. Each word in the book is factual, giving the readers not only an engaging story of survival, but knowledge about koalas and their habits, habitat and behaviour, and a brief index at the end is perfect for younger readers to learn how to make use of this tool. Preceding the index is a page of further information designed to intrigue and inform. Readers will be engaged making a note of all that they learn about koalas at the end of the reading session, and the book lends itself to being read out loud, as two children could take the two sections, the one with the story, the other with the facts.
And this story could lead children to ponder on the skills they would need to learn to make their way through childhood.
Fran Knight

A is for Australian animals: a factastic tour by Frane Lessac

Walker Books Australia, 2017. ISBN 9781925381009
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. Factual picture book. Australian animals. This is a unique alphabet book that will enlighten and entertain any child or adult who reads it. Filled with Lessac's signature drawings the reader is given lots of information about each of the animals in the alphabet. In fact, as one peruses the book, it is very easy to forget that it is an alphabet book, and become immersed in the strange and in-depth facts that are given in bite size sections of one or two sentences spread among the beautiful illustrations.
Each of the letters in the alphabet is given a page and often there are a number of animals described and illustrated on the page. For example one double page spread has Cockatoo on one side and Crocodile on the other but both crocodiles and cockatoos are illustrated in a beautiful green river setting, with gum trees which house the cockatoos. There is even a crocodile trying to bite a bird with the information that Crocodiles can leap over two metres out of the water to catch their prey in the air.
At the front of the book is a large map of Australia showing where some of the animals, birds and reptiles live, with general information about what makes them unique. The last page show maps of animal distribution that gives the reader immediate information about where animals and birds featured in the book can be found. The illustrations are in deep blues, greens, browns and ochres reflecting the colours of the Australian landscape.
This would be an excellent addition to a library or classroom and would make an ideal gift for children.
Pat Pledger

A Monster Calls (film) book and screenplay by Patrick Ness

Focus Features, 2016, released in Australia 2017
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. Fantasy, Monsters, Death, Cancer, Bullying, Acceptance. Conor (Lewis MacDougall) screams as he falls out of bed, clutching a hand slipping from his grasp. The clock shows 12.07 and he knows it is the old nightmare. His mum (Felicity Jones) is still asleep when he leaves for school the next morning, and he drags his feet knowing what waits. The bully is relentless, but it is Conor's invisibility which is most hurtful. No one speaks to him, and his teacher talks in a soft voice, offering help. But no one can.
Conor's mother has cancer and sleeps most of the time. When her mother (Sigourney Weaver) comes to stay, Conor does not welcome this bossy interfering woman. Conor becomes more angry when his absent father (Toby Kebbell) arrives from America, full of promises. But when he must live with his grandmother on Mum's return to hospital, his anger builds.
The only thing that knows how Conor feels is the monster who fills his room at night. The yew tree by the church, the same one his mother watches from the window, tells him three stories, each drawing Conor to seeing both his father and grandmother in a different light, and to admit to himself the truth of his mother's illness.
The book, first published in 2011, written by Patrick Ness after an idea sketched out by the late Siobahn O'Dowd, won the Kate Greenaway Medal for its illustrator, Jim Kay, and the Carnegie Medal. Now directed by J A Bayona (Orphanage and Impossible) the film radiates with repressed anger. Conor is unable to admit the truth. His anger manifests itself in smashing his grandmother's front room, and putting the bully into hospital.
Ness has written the screenplay for this film, concentrating on the four main characters and the monster, the yew tree, as it reaches into the dark recesses of the mind, coping with the imminent death of someone very close. The brooding presence of the yew tree, pulling up its roots and striding into Conor's bedroom is mesmerising, his fearsomeness tempered by his voice (Liam Neeson), at once solicitous and fatherly as he tells Conor the stories. The claustrophobic feel of the film, intensified by the acton restricted to four rooms, Conor's house, Grandmother's house, the school room and the hospital room, while going outside the chilling presence of the monster fills the screen. The viewer hardly breathes, intent on seeing what is behind the stories, and how Conor will accept it.
A highly emotive fantasy thriller about a boy's guilt at his mother's disease, the film has further developed the brooding atmosphere of the book, and would suit an audience of teens and adults.
Fran Knight

Tell it to the Dog, A Memoir of Sorts by Robert Power

Transit Lounge, 2017. ISBN 9780995359505
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. This remarkable collection of stories is often deeply emotionally disturbing, yet it is one of the most beautifully composed reflections on life that I have read. Subtitled a 'memoir of sorts', he includes mostly very short tales, his use of 'memoir' suggesting some degree of ownership.
Using poignant quotations from famous writers to begin each chapter, Power further subtitles each short reflection to reflect these words in the telling of the stories. Some stories appear to be his own, told by 'the boy' in the first person, some in the second person but about himself, and some about what he has observed. Power uses these distinct narrative forms, while always inferring a personal history. The separation of the narrator from himself, told in this way, seems to enable him to reveal the often dark side of the life he has lived, and thus explores his reflections on that life and on the lives of others. He infers the intimate details of those lives that he has observed, sparingly told at times, while at other times revealed in greater depth.
His skill in holding our attention through both the lighter and the deeply emotional stories is evident as he switches between holding us gently in the lighter tales then plunging us into the dramatic, dark stories. He appears to draw us into his own life in some stories, yet at other times he takes us briefly into the lives of others, in sad stories. He controls every narrative tightly, telling only the bare short story in some, keeping to a brief 10 lines. Deliberately varying the story-telling method, he creates some stories as told through personal observation, while others are told through impersonal observation, and some by reflection. At other times he composes a more regular, short but complex narrative. The presence of pain is a recurring theme, and violence is often subtly inferred, yet at other times it is brutally described.
Power's lyrical, captivating style seems to demand a recognition of the presence of troubling human emotions. He moves continents, time and theme, in revealing the sense of loss, hurt, and dislocation in the reality of the characters, be that of his own life or that of others. One of the reflections, 'In the Shadows', under the chapter heading that refers to 'happy families', that, he writes, according to George Bernard Shaw would suggest 'an earlier heaven', features a boy who states that he would 'scratch his face' to prove his statement, both shockingly suggesting that we might otherwise not believe his words and that the violence he endures is implied in the option of the self-harm!
Elizabeth Bondar

The secrets she keeps by Michael Robotham

Hachette Australia, 2017. ISBN 9780733638015
(Age: Adult - senior secondary). Recommended. Psychological thriller. I always pick up a book by Michael Robotham and this one is every bit as compulsive as previous novels. It is a stand alone crime, told in two voices: Agatha who works in a supermarket stacking shelves and Meghan, a wealthy mother of two who has a blog. Both have secrets which they have to conceal.
Agatha is very jealous of Meghan, who appears to have everything that she has ever wanted - two healthy children, another on the way, a successful husband and beautiful home. Meghan's life appears to be perfect to Agatha, but everything is not as it appears, her marriage is strained and her third pregnancy was unplanned. Then Agatha meets Meghan in the supermarket, making a bond as they are both pregnant and things escalate from there.
This is a psychological thriller that will keep the reader gripped to the end, as they follow the lives of Agatha, Meghan and Baby Ben. Robotham has successfully got into the minds of the two women, especially Agatha's as she is desperate to have a baby and a husband. The secondary characters of Jack, Meghan's broadcaster husband and Hayden, the sailor that Agatha hopes to marry are fully realised as they become embroiled in the disaster.
Many twists and turns and secrets uncovered create a suspenseful read while the reader is able to empathesise deeply with the two women even though they are very flawed characters.
Pat Pledger

Zombelina school days by Kristyn Crow

Ill. by Molly Idle. Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781619636415
(Age: 3-6) Recommended. Themes: School life, Zombies, Dancing, Rhyming stories. Kristyn Crow's fun rhyming story Zombelina School Days is a perfect picture book for sharing with a younger audience. This story is filled with spooky jokes, funny puns and easy to read rhymes. When she scans her body in her daddy's X-ray machine, after her breakfast of lizard eye gruel, her mom calls her drop-dead gorgeous!
Zombelina the gorgeous green zombie loves to dance; she has practised her special moves for show-and-tell. Something interesting happens as she twirls, her body parts go flying, with her arms or hands landing in some funny places. In a class full of human pupils, Zombelina is just one of the team. When Morty a new student arrives, the little zombie and her best friend Lizzie help him settle in, teaching him new dance moves and playing bug detective at recess.
Molly Idle's cute colour pencil illustrations bring Zombelina, her family and class mates to life. Her artistic style with sharp lines and bright colours are a perfect match for Crow's poetry. Where will Zombelina's arm, hand or leg fly off to when she dances? There is a musicality and fluidity of movement here that adds to the fun and excitement of Zombelina School Days. Crow's understated messages of acceptance, encouragement, friendship and having a go promote inclusiveness.
Rhyllis Bignell

My lovely Frankie by Judith Clarke

Anna by Niccolo Ammaniti

Text, 2017. ISBN 9781925498561
(Age: Middle secondary +) Recommended. Science fiction. Dystopian fiction. A virus has killed the adult population of the world in this future dystopia. The only survivors are children who inevitably die when they reach puberty. All the expected conveniences of contemporary life have gone too, including electricity, transport, medicine, and systems of government. The children who have survived are aged between five and fifteen and increasingly have no knowledge or memory of life before the virus. Anna is a survivor but is approaching adulthood. She lives in Sicily with her young brother whom she hides from gangs of wild children. Her guide is a Book of Important Things written by her dying mother. The Book includes instructions about everyday matters, how to find food, how to store water and a command that Anna teach her brother how to read. They live in a remote farmhouse that is surrounded by corpses of people and their animals, but the children are so used to death that they treat it very matter-of-factly. Their first concern is to eat and they survive on cans of food and bottled soft drink supplemented by pills and alcohol. Looting is an essential skill, and Anna is a skilled and tough forager. On one of her excursions she fights a starving Maremma dog that consequently attaches itself to her. Forced from their home by a marauding gang the three of them, Anna, her brother Astor and the dog, walk to the coast to try to escape to the mainland where Anna hopes there may be adults who have survived the virus. They encounter children who have formed strange religious cults in the hope of being saved, and finally children who live with little knowledge of language or old customs. Anna is aware that time is running out for her as she reaches puberty on the journey. She, Astor and the dog desperately embark on the crossing between Messina in Sicily and Calabria. On arrival they don't at first find any adults but there are several small signs that offer hope for the future. The novel is dystopian; civilization is doomed, and humanity with it, as the children cannot reproduce. However it is not as shocking or bleak as other books in this genre are, for example Cormac McCarthy's The Road. The children are very matter-of-fact about death. Eating is more important than grieving, and the children are practised foragers as well as being innately hopeful. The deterioration of town and cityscapes is realistically described as are the attitudes of the children. Anna is strong and determined, and perhaps a little too resourceful but this is acceptable in a work for young adults. The novel is a thought-provoking addition to the genre of science fiction. It is recommended for middle level readers.
Jenny Hamilton

The secret of the Mona Lisa by Rosie Smith

Ill. by Bruce Whatley. ABC Books, 2017. ISBN 9780733326059
(Age: 5+) Recommended. Art, Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci. Presented in graphic novel form the funny tale of Danny da Vinci and his friend, Mick Angelo, will intrigue, delight and inform readers as the pair hunts around for a subject to paint. The Duke of Milan holds an annual art exhibition, and Leonardo, Danny's uncle has been asked to paint his portrait, but is finding it a little difficult. Danny and Mick search out a subject for their work, but everything is rejected. All the special people are being painted by other artists, and when Danny's sister, Lisa offers herself as the sitter, they dress her up in an array of costumes, and place her in a variety of positions to make her look more interesting. In the end Danny simply paints what he sees and the final portrait draws admiration from the crowd at the art exhibition.
All the while readers will learn more about Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo as asides through the story.
The wonderful illustrations by Whatley, inform the reader as well as he emulates many famous drawings and paintings from the times and includes some of da Vinci's work throughout the book. Readers will be able to use the two pages at the end of the book to gain more information about Leonardo da Vinci checking the illustrations they have seen in the book with the summary.
This is a funny look at the painting of the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa, and will enthrall the readers who pore over the text and illustrations with relish.
Fran Knight

The high note by Harmony Jones

Girl vs Boy Band book 2. Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408878279
(Age: 11-15) Recommended. Themes: Music Industry; Boy bands; Music; Relationships; Fame; Friendship. Lark Campbell is the talented child of a Music Promoter and a Country Music Back-up Musician, who are recently separated and live far apart - one in LA, the other based in Nashville. She lives in the same house as her mother, a bizarre housekeeper and the two British boy band members, Max and Oliver. The boys are more like older brothers, but the third local boy band member, Teddy, stirs her heart and her song-writing. She has also written songs that will propel the Boy Band, Abbey Road, to stardom. Her own talent, although hampered by stage fright, is also worthy of attention by the world, thanks to her friend Mimi whose skills at film-making have caused a You-tube sensation for Lark, aka 'Songbird'. And Lark is only 12 years old!! Most of this book is about the impending Boy Band tour and the growing friendship between Lark and Teddy and the impacts of fame and a music career on the very young.
Anyone who has discovered Nashville - the Country-Music based TV series, will see this book as a Junior version of the 'interesting' world of the Music industry. In a world of Social media pressures, the mindless screaming and attention of a young female fan-base and the strange world of life in the spotlight, we are taken inside this life from the perspective of the performers themselves. They need to negotiate normal teen dramas and moving from 'like to love' in the eyes of a large crowd. Lark stills manages to attend school, submit assignments and avoid the pressure of 'mean' girls, while discovering if a Music career is also what she wants.
This book will be enjoyed by a female reader aged 11 -15. I did feel that the dramas and relationship issues perhaps seemed more likely for a slightly older character, but a Middle School student will connect with the early romance issues in a school environment, as well as the friendship ebbs and flows with a Best Friend. There is nothing unwholesome in this book, and it will be devoured by young readers who will love the romantic journey.
Carolyn Hull

The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale

The ones that disappeared by Zana Fraillon

Lothian, 2017. ISBN 9780734417152
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Esra, Miran and Isa are three children trapped by human traffickers, and forced to spend every day tending to drug plants in a basement for the cruel and merciless Orlando, the leader of the Snakeskins. They have been branded with the Snakeskin brand so that there is no escape, they can always be identified and tracked down, and even if one of them does escape they know that the ones remaining will be brutally beaten. Someone will always pay, possibly with their life.
Fraillon's story is very evocative in the depiction of the terror the children feel, the horror of punishment, and the sense of entrapment; there is nobody they can trust - even the police could be linked to the traffickers. Even more than that, is the feeling that the children have of losing their identity and their sense of humanity, slowly being groomed to enslave others. Esra feels how she craves Orlando's approval, feels how desperate she is for care and attention, to be rewarded, but knows she has to hang on to a sense of who she really is. She has to stay strong, and be a speaker for the dead and the living. Misran is a great source of comfort, with his riddles that challenge their intellect, and his stories that inspire hope and memories of another life. But on a fateful night when Misran urges Esra and Isa to take their chance to run, he is the one that is caught and has to pay.
Hiding in a fox's cave, Esra and Isa are befriended by a boy full of jokes and chatter, running from his own set of family problems. The three of them have to find a way to stay safe, and to rescue Misran before it is too late.
Fraillon's story while incorporating a sense of adventure and aspects of fantasy reveals the very real plight of human trafficking, something that is happening even today in Australia. The author's note at the end of the book states that there are over 30 million people currently enslaved, and more than a quarter of those are children. Her book brings the spotlight to an issue that many are unaware of, and the story is a call to find the disappeared children and help them to be heard.
Helen Eddy

A dog's tale by Barry Jonsberg

Ill. by Tom Jellett. Mates series. Scholastic, 2017. ISBN 9781742991399
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. Dogs. Animals. Friendship.
Another in the Mates series, a wonderful range of stories designed for the young, newly competent reader, with short chapters, a smattering of illustrations and larger print, A dog's tale is full of wit and humour for all readers to recognise and chuckle over.
Michael desperately wants a dog. He systematically works through all the reasons his parents bring up not to have a pet. He has worked out that one from a rescue home would be ideal and pins a picture from the home on the fridge for all to see, negating his father's thoughts about puppy farms.
He glues his old toy puppy to his unloved skateboard and takes the dog for a walk several times a day to show how responsible he is at looking after a pet. He feeds his baby sister, and even changes her napkin, when presented with the idea that dogs need their poo cleaned up. He is remarkably responsible in all the things he does trying to convince his parents of his abilities. But to no avail.
Children will laugh out loud at his devious plan, and cheer him on in trying out different ways to overcome his parents opposition.
When at Christmas something leads him to believe they have relented, the funny twist will delight the readers, knowing that his parents have not given up the idea entirely, leaving Michael with the option of getting a dog in the future. Persistence has almost won out.
The single-mindedness of Michael will cheer the readers, as they recognise that he has gone about making his position clear through subtle determination.
Another level of humour is reflected in Jellett's wonderful illustrations showing wry looks on the parents' faces as they endeavour to deflect Michael's request, or the looks on Michael's face as he changes his sister's nappy. Each page brings a laugh and the story will be eagerly shared by the new readers, eager to show off their new reading skills, as well as their sophistication at understanding both textual and visual jokes.
Fran Knight

That stubborn seed of hope by Brian Falkner

University of Queensland Press, 2017. ISBN 9780702259289
(Age 13+) Highly recommended. Short stories. This is a fabulous collection of stories that will appeal to a wide range of people. Falkner's tales will scare the readers, make them think, feel good and wonder what is going to happen next.
The first in the collection is 'I am s seventeen' and is very frightening to ponder. Falkner has captured the horror of old age as a seventeen year old boy wakes up to find himself in the body of a very old man. He demands paper and pen and writes down his thoughts. Falkner keeps up the suspense until the twist in the conclusion.
Another that really gripped me was 'Lockdown', where a school bully is convinced that another student is coming for him in revenge for his cruelty. This is a very tense portrayal of what it would be like to hide during a school siege.
'Smile' was heart wrenching as a young medical student tries to find a way to communicate with his brother who is in a vegetative state in hospital. In 'The kiss' a teen discovers that her boyfriend may have a life-threatening virus just after she has kissed him, something that is forbidden in her society because of the fear of contagion. The other stories are all equally as powerful and memorable.
In his introduction Falkner talks about how he was going to write about fear, but that the theme of hope emerged strongly in the stories. Other themes include belonging, resilience, perseverance and acceptance. At the back of the book he has given author's notes about each of the stories that would be a boon for teachers if they were using this in the classroom and are an interesting adjunct for the ordinary reader. Excellent teacher's notes are also available.
This would be an ideal collection for a class set or literature circle text.
Pat Pledger

Go, green gecko! by Gay Hay

Ill. by Margaret Tolland. Starfish Bay Children's Books, 2017. ISBN 9781760360337
(Age: 4-7) Highly recommended. Geckos. Lizards. Animals - Food. Gay Hay is a New Zealand school environmental officer passionate about sharing her love of animals, their diets and habitats with a young audience. New Zealand artist and teacher, Margaret Tolland's richly detailed paintings perfectly capture the green gecko's landscape and search for food. The striking front cover with a glossy overlay on the green gecko and bold title with an inquisitive eye staring out from the letter 'O' draws us into this informative picture book. Each double page spread follows the gecko's journey from the treetops, along the branches, scrambling through the rich red rata blossoms, always on the lookout for danger. Tolland captures the sinuous movements of the lizard, as it hides in the green foliage, purple tongue ready to catch a dragonfly or beetle.
The author's simple text is considered and captivating, there is an action, place and food to find, followed by an admonition to watch out for danger. 'Scuttling along branches, snatching at flies,' the green gecko's daily journey is all about seeking nourishment. We follow its passage and look out for the hidden danger as well. Time needs to be taken with each turn of the page, after reading the text to explore the illustrations. There is an anticipation built into the story, and young readers can predict what is about to happen when the foldout page is reached. The winding forest map drawn in tones of grey, highlights the green gecko as he scurries to safety.
Go, green gecko, is an excellent resource for the Early Years Science curriculum - Biological Sciences. In Year 1, 'learners explore and investigate how living things live in different places where their needs are met'. Information written inside notebook boxes at the conclusion allows for a more in-depth study of the Wellington Green Gecko, a threatened New Zealand species.
Rhyllis Bignell