Reviews

Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn

Lord of the Darkwood by Lian Hearn

Books 3 and 4 in the Tale of Shikanoko series. Hachette, 2016. ISBN 9780733635151
(Age: 15+) Recommended. As the series title suggests, the story follows Shikanoko (Shika) throughout his quest to restore the rightful emperor (Yoshi) to the throne. After defeating the Prince Abbot in the first book, Shikanoko retreats to the Darkwood. His deer-mask has become fused to his face until someone who loves him removes it. Years pass and the reign of the imposter emperor continues. No one knows where Yoshi is, and the few that do keep silent. The river-people prove useful in harbouring not just the rightful emperor and Kiyoyori's daughter, Hina, but also, Akihime and Shikanoko's son, Take. But trouble starts when Kiku, one of Lady Tora's sons, grows restless. What can a young man with such a short life accomplish when he only knows the Darkwood? With five fathers his options are endless. While it seems that Yoshi will never be restored to the throne, they will all soon learn that they are simply pieces in a tengu's game - a game that has been paused for so long that it has almost been forgotten.
Picking up where its predecessor, Emperor of the Eight Islands, left off, Lord of the Darkwood serves to complete the prequel series to the highly-acclaimed Tales of the Otori. The prequels adds to the reader's understanding of the main series by giving a history of the prominent families and world of the Tales of the Otori series but does not necessarily need to be read in conjunction with the main series. Standing on its own, The Tale of Shikanoko, has a similar feel to a Japanese fairy-tale or myth. Recommended for lovers of fantasy and fans of the Tales of the Otori series.
Kayla Gaskell (umiversity student)

Trouble and the new kid by Cate Whittle

Ill. by Stephen Michael King. Trouble series. Omnibus Books, 2017. ISBN 9781742990781
(Age: 6-8) Recommended. This delightful new story is the third in Cate Whittle's Trouble series, perfect for new independent readers ready for a chapter book.
Georgia and her family love their blue-winged giant green dragon. He flies them to work and to school and he loves to eat potato chips and drink sarsaparilla. He is well known amongst Georgia's classmates, however owing to a few unfortunate accidents, Trouble has been banned from landing on the school oval.
When a new student arrives in Mr. Frump's class, she is placed next to Georgia. Nina is a very orderly person. While Georgia is busy writing a fantastic creative story about Georgia the pirate, Nina spends all her time organising her pencils and ruling three colourful margins. Nina does not believe in dragons, in fact she only talks and writes about real things - people and animals.
At home, when Georgia shares about Nina's total disbelief, Trouble takes this to heart, loses his appetite and sulks. Georgia tries to tempt him with his favourite snacks; unfortunately, Trouble becomes sadder and starts to lose colour and fade away. Georgia narrates an amusing story and adds some humourous remarks about her classmates, teacher and even the principal to cheer him up.
Illustrator Stephen Michael King's black and white cartoons add to the liveliness of the tale. There are Georgia's many emotive expressions, Trouble's fading skin colours and the cutaway classroom scenes that are perfect for a reader transitioning to junior novels. The author's narrative is in an easy to read style with a few tricky words just right for encouraging language development.
Rhyllis Bignell

A girl called Owl by Amy Wilson

Macmillan, 2017. ISBN 9781509832460
(Age: 9 -14) Highly recommended. A wondrous winter read, A girl called Owl is magical, with relatable characters, adventure and beautiful prose. With a strange name and a father she has never met, Owl is finding things difficult. Her best friend is also having a bad time with her parents separating and there is a strange new boy at school who has noticed that she has weird frost patterns on her skin. Then using her new powers she enters the mysterious world of winter finding links to her father, who has only been described by her mother as if he belonged to a folk story.
The author has written an engrossing story that combines the everyday problems that Owl faces, of fitting in, wanting to know her father, and supporting a friend in need with a wonderful winter world peopled with Jack Frost and the fay. Her writing also reflects these two different worlds: the everyday one is written in a straight forward way while the descriptions of the winter world are lyrical and memorable. Delightful sketches of an owl in different poses are on the chapters about Owl icicles and leaves adorn the chapters peopled by mythical creatures.
Owl is a feisty and caring heroine, who faces danger and adventure in a winter world, and readers will be engrossed with the way she finally meets her powerful trickster father and how she manages her powers in a cold world.
The combination of mythology, magic and a haunting landscape make this a memorable debut that is sure to entrance its readers.
Pat Pledger

Snow Man and the seven ninjas by Matt Cosgrove

Epic fail tales series. Scholastic, 2017. ISBN 9781743811696
(Age: 7+) Recommended. Matt Cosgrove's hilarious series Epic fail tales are twisted classic fairy stories, reminiscent of Roald Dahl's Revolting rhymes and the Fractured fairy tales cartoons.
Being at home during the school holidays is boring, so the narrator borrows and reads his sister's 'Snow White' storybook. He alters the text by adding cut and pasted words, totally changes the characters, includes witty asides and comments in speech bubbles and invents humorous situations to make a crazy new story Snow Man and the Seven Ninjas.
Just before Miss Bacon dies performing her juggling chainsaw act at a talent show, she wishes for 'a monster made of snow with eyes as red as blood, and muscles as big as the butt of a pig.' The little monster magically appears and wins first prize. Hooked on the fame of winning, little Snow Man exercised and grew stronger and stronger, and he even developed a marvellous six-pack. Across town, super dude checks in with his magic mirror, unfortunately. He calls for the stunt man's help, promising him fifty dollars and a Chinese take-away if he can slay the Snow Man. The super dude also threatens the stunt man's pet goldfish and various methods of disposal are illustrated - super cannon bowl or super kitty snack.
The stunt man's knife throwing act becomes quite confronting, as he tries many ways to kill off the Snow Man; after the knives, lemon juice in the eyes, he aims a Brussels sprout filled slingshot at him. When Snow Man escapes to the home of the Seven Ninjas a new level of craziness happens. He becomes their slave, someone to insult, as well as rehearsing for his stage comeback.
Cosgrove's narrative uses silly rhymes, sarcastic dialogue, snappy puns, with the amusing overwritten text; this radically changes the original storyline. This is a laugh out loud story for younger readers and for those familiar with the original, an out of the ordinary fun fairy tale. His cartoons are funny and gross; they often have layered levels of meaning.
As part of Middle Primary English lessons, students could develop their own fractured fairy tales after reading Dahl's narrative poems and Cosgrove's Epic fail tales.
Rhyllis Bignell

Olivia's voice by Mike Lucas

Ill. by Jennifer Harrison. MidnightSun Publishing, 2017. ISBN 9781925227192
(Age: 5+) Recommended. Deafness. Disability. Sometimes books can be used to press home a point and these rarely work, but now and again a book is published that makes the readers aware of one person's disability with panache. This is no inclusivity driven tome, but rather a look at one girl and her particular way of dealing with her deafness.
With photographic realism, the pictures created are full of colour and life, inviting the reader to share Olivia's day.
When she gets up in the morning she loves looking at the beauty around her: the trees outside her window, the butterfly passing by. She notices the colour of the things on the table, she loves the warmth of her mother's face against hers, and then she is off to school with her friends, watching the shapes made by their mouths, joining with them clapping their hands. At school the teacher calls the roll, looking at Olivia as she calls her name. Olivia loves words and numbers and draws with the others in her class. But music is her favourite lesson and the children all know which instrument Olivia will go for.
A story full of life, love and covering all five senses, the fact that Olivia is deaf does not matter, she joins in with all activities both at home and school with enthusiasm and verve, shared by her family and school friends.
This is a charming look at one girl's day, concentrating on all the senses, it will be a great starting point for young readers learning about the senses they use everyday, how important they all are in shaping the world around them, and how the loss of one of those senses can be compensated with love and support.
Fran Knight

Lucy's book by Natalie Jane Prior

Ill. by Cheryl Orsini. Lothian, 2017. ISBN 9780734416605
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Library. Books. Sharing. When Lucy finds a book that really appeals to her she takes it with her everywhere, reading it at home, in her bedroom, while she has a bath, in bed, in church, sharing it with her siblings and friends. When she returns it the following week, her friends race to fetch it from the returns trolley. The following Saturday Lucy borrows it again after her friend returns it, first shaking the crumbs from inside the pages. She extends the book so her ballet friend can read it and returning it finds it is borrowed by the tardy McGarrigle family. They share it all around their family and of course are late returning it. Lucy is anxious, her family is setting out for their holiday and she wants to take the book with her. Adventure after adventure happens to Lucy and her book, everyone she knows reading it until it is taken from the shelves, worn out with use. Lucy is dismayed and no one can find her a copy, until one day the library has a book sale.
A charming story of the power of just one book, the story will resonate with many readers as the book is passed around many hands, each person enjoying it as much as the rest.
Fran Knight

Our fathers cleared the bush: Remembering Eyre Peninsula by Jill Roe

Wakefield Press, 2016. ISBN 9781743054291
(Age: 14+) Local history. The resonating title of 'Our fathers cleared the bush' conjured up for me issues of theft of Aboriginal land. Jill Roe's book however does not dwell very long on the Aboriginal experience, giving it only a chapter towards the end; she reveals the violent frontier and the Elliston massacre. Over all, her book is more a mix of historical research and personal memories of the generations of men and their families who settled across Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, with chapters on country life, water as a vital resource, the school bus and the isolated one teacher schools, farming, agricultural shows, Church and community. Roe's grandparents were early settlers, and Roe herself was born at Tumby Bay in 1940, so she is able to draw on childhood memories which add interest and authenticity to the research. The book, illustrated with black and white photographs, is a valuable record of country life in South Australia in the 1940's, 50's, 60's and onwards.
Helen Eddy

Here I stand: Stories that speak for freedom edited by Amnesty International UK

Walker Books, 2016. ISBN 9781406358384
(Age: 12+) Recommended. This hard cover collection of short stories and poems edited by Amnesty International is not what I first expected. The focus is not so much on political issues and human rights so much as the commonly encountered issues of bullying, abuse, self-identity, LGBT rights, exploitation, loneliness, and similar issues experienced by many young people. The authors are 25 leading writers and illustrators inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, writers such as Neil Gaiman, John Boyne, Tony Birch, Sita Brahmachasi, Kevin Brooks and others. They are simple stories that quickly draw you in and create a connection, leaving you afterwards with much food for further thought. As author Bali Rai writes, 'My story is designed to make you think about what makes us human. I hope that it does.' And all of the stories do make you reflect on humanity.
The last story in the book is different, and is more political. 'Speaking out for freedom' is an interview with Chelsea Manning, an intelligence analyst imprisoned for 35 years for revealing what she had learnt about 'the secret reality of the way the Iraq War was being fought'. To this day she believes what she did was the right thing to do, and although she was very afraid she felt she had to take a stand and speak out.
This is the message of the book as a whole - making a stand for our common humanity, whether it is regarding the bullied child in school, the victim of racism or the child being abused. We have to care about rights and freedoms and speak up for them when they are under attack. In his introduction to the collection, human rights lawyer Jules Carey urges us all to care, question, and act.
Teachers' notes Using fiction to explore human rights are available.
Helen Eddy

Shearing time by Allison Paterson

Ill. by Shane McGrath. Big Sky Publishing, 2016. ISBN 97819235520095
(age: 5+) Warmly recommended. Sheep shearing, Station life, Sheep, Australian rural life. Told by the daughter of the sheep station, this homage to the bush will entertain and inform those who read it. All the elements of shearing time on a station are shown: rounding up the sheep with the motorbikes, herding them into the yard, shearers cleaning their combs, finally shearing, sorting the fleeces, and dinner time for the workers then going back to work. Each element is shown in some detail, enabling the people who do not have access to how a farm is run, to see it all very clearly. The vibrant illustrations serve the text well, making sure younger readers will empathise with the young girl on her motorbike, doing chores around the farm that they think that adults usually do. She will be seen as someone their age doing extraordinary things.
Readers will be able to see the sort of life lived on a station by other people, and given a glimpse of life beyond the cities and towns. One image shows the life years before when horses and wagons were used to haul the fleeces to the market, giving the reader a hint of times long past.
A page at the end of the book gives a glossary of sorts, with information about shearing time and sheep dogs,a s well as a list of words used int he text with their meanings. All in all this book is a worthy contribution to a library's miscellany of books about Australia, books about other people's lives an of course, about an almost iconic part of Australian rural life - shearing.
Fran Knight

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Pan Macmillan, 2016. ISBN 9781925479478
(Age: 13+) Recommended. A tale that is a must read for anyone who enjoyed Alice in Wonderland and fairy tale retellings, Meyer, the New York Times bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles, has given a unique backstory to the woman who was the Queen of Hearts. Catherine Pinkerton is a talented baker and even though she is desired by the unmarried King of Hearts, all she wants to do is to open a baker's shop with her best friend. However her mother is determined that she will be the next queen and having a daughter who owns a bakery is not what she wants. Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome court jester and the two begin to fall in love, but fate intervenes . . .
Readers will become engrossed in the setting of the strange fantasy world that Meyer has created, while identifying with the normality of Cath making delicious cakes and dreaming of opening her own shop. Catherine feels no attraction for the King of Hearts and doesn't want to be the Queen of Hearts, instead falling for Jest a most unsuitable man in the eyes of her mother. Readers will be swept away by the conflict that Cath faces, that of being a dutiful daughter and obeying her mother, while wanting completely different things for herself.
The idea behind the story is very clever, the writing is lyrical, Catherine's dreams and desires are very relatable and the ending will leave readers breathless. This is sure to appeal to people who enjoyed The lunar chronicles, and those who like books by Robin McKinley, Zoe Marriot and Frances Hardinge.
Pat Pledger

Old growth by John Kinsella

Transit Lounge, 2017. ISBN 9780994395788
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. Evocative, intense, and shocking at times, John Kinsella, in this collection of short stories, takes this medium into its absolute best. His constructed worlds seem utterly real, reflecting life as it is today, in the big city, in small towns and in the Australian countryside. Within the style of this medium, he plunges us, seemingly, directly into the real lives of the characters in his little vignettes of the modern world.
In this world, peopled by Indigenous Australians, people who have lived here for generations, and people who are newer arrivals, we are immediately aware of the struggle to survive, to make good lives, or to repair their lives. For some this is not simple, and for many the relationships are damaged, seemingly beyond repair. We hear, in the language that is always apt, the language of children and of adults, the vernacular, the formal communication and the country accent, each reflecting the small worlds that he creates.
Kinsella does not let us off lightly in this collection. Depicting sometimes raw, painful, hurtful, shattering, unsettling relationships and events, Kinsella plunges us into the worlds that he creates to reflect the issues that face us all today and to depict just how difficult it is to make sense of the challenges that this world places before us. We read about the boy who digs a tunnel, living mostly in his own small world and seemingly unobserved. Kinsella challenges us to spend time in his sometimes brutal worlds, or the worlds of slow speech, 'Okay darl' says Beth while a robber is asking her to open the till in the hotel! We slow down with this character, who is unfazed by the situation. Kinsella evokes memories, joy, humour and some element of the tough reality of modern life in his imaginative reconstruction of today's Australia.
Despite the darkness of his world at times, he evokes joy and delight in the reader, and this is at the heart of his storytelling, that quality of shared history, of connectedness, and it is in his human reaction to relationships that he presents a salve for the bruised souls whose lives he has placed, raw, blunt and sometimes horrifying, before us. Kinsella's vivid worlds, his characterization, and his absolutely delightful, lucid prose are a gift to modern readers.
Liz Bondar

Marge and the pirate baby by Isla Fisher

Ill. by Eglantine Ceulemans. Piccadilly Press, 2017. ISBN 9781848125933
(Age: 6-8) Recommended. Swashbuckling pirates and a mischievous baby cousin add to the fun and excitement of Isla Fisher's second junior novel Marge and the pirate baby. Marvellous Marge is a babysitter extraordinaire, no taller than 'seven packets of biscuits', with rainbow-dyed hair and a multitude of magical stories about her past child minding adventures. With Mum taking Auntie Sally out for her birthday, Marge returns to look after Jemima and Jakey as well as little cousin Zara.
Marge has previously worked on board a pirate ship 'The Poison Curse' for Captain Not-So-Jolly-Roger. Marge informs the children that pirates love babies more than treasure. With cottonwool beards and pirate jewellery made from buttons, Marge and the children make costumes and enjoy turning Zara's pram into a pirate ship. Even though they leave a mess all over the house and backyard everyone enjoys the pirate activities with Marge. A little magic happens when the adults arrive home and everything is tidy.
In 'Marge and the stolen treasure' the second story, Marge arrives on a very hot day to take Jemima and Jakey off to the local pool. With her rainbow hair hidden under a bathing cap, a pink dressing gown and gold sandals, she is ready to take charge. Jake's red wagon is loaded up with a big vase of lemonade and toy dinosaurs. Marge informs him that sunscreen scares away tigers and lions, so he slathers it on. Her marvellous tales of animal antics and inventive songs accompany their walk. Many adventures await the explorers at the pool, as they conquer their fears and outsmart baby Zara.
'Marge and the wacky wedding' is another humourous tale, filled with ring bearers, chocolate fountains and contrary children. Of course, colourful Marge and her unique rules turn Uncle Desmond and Annie's wedding into a marvellous day.
Eglantine Ceulemans' line drawings bring Marge to life with her crazy hair, creative costumes and her unique style of childminding. They complement Isla Fisher's amusing tales with her outrageously imaginative and engaging protagonist whose witty dialogue and amazing stories of her menagerie of pets and pirate life are enchanting. This is a brilliant read aloud story for junior primary classes and to share at home; children will love Marge's distinctive style of caring for Jake, Jemima and Zara.
Rhyllis Bignell

Sage Cookson's fishy surprise by Sally Murphy

Ill. by Celeste Hulme. Sage Cookson series. New Frontier Publishing, 2017. ISBN 9781925059755
(Age: 7-9) Recommended. In Fishy surprise Sage's best friend, Lucy is accompanying the family and television crew to picturesque Crystal Bay. Sage Cookson's parents are stars of a special series 'The Cookson's Cook on'. They travel to beautiful locations around Australia and create beautiful dishes from locally sourced food. Ten-year-old Sage loves to travel with her parents; she enjoys experiencing so many wonderful locations, tasting different foods and there is always a mystery to solve along the way. While Mum and Dad are filming with the owner of Australia's best fish and chip shop, Sage and Lucy are caught up in a stinky problem.
When Sheila the cooking show's location scout takes the girls to Picturesque Cove, they are overcome with the awful smell of rotting fish and the sight of hundreds of fish carcasses scattered along the shore. Who is responsible, maybe the person hiding in the rocks? She looks similar to the evil chocolatier who had previously kidnapped Sage in order to win a local cooking contest.
In this easy to read junior novel, Sally Murphy's characters are relatable, she celebrates friendship, combines plenty of fun and adventure with a dash of mystery. There is even a recipe for delicious fish and chips included. The Sage Cookson series books are a delicious addition to the range of spy, princess and fairy books currently popular with young girls.
Rhyllis Bignell

How many dinosaurs deep? by Ben Kitchin and Vicky Fieldhouse

New Frontier Publishing, 2017. ISBN 9781925059731
(Age: 4+) Warmly recommended. Dinosaurs. Fear. Anxiety. Jim is quite happy in the baby pool, but the time has come to move into the middle pool. Mum helps him by telling him that the water would hardly touch a stegosaurus' knee. Jim is amazed and keeps on asking Mum questions about other water receptacles: the fishbowl, the bath, the big pool, the water at the end of the jetty, the river near uncle's shack, the water in the big blue lake, and finally she gives him the dimensions of the Pacific Ocean. Each time he asks about one water source, she responds with a dinosaur and its measurements, allowing the child to see how big one thing is by comparing it with the other.
Readers will learn about a variety of differing dinosaurs and their size as well as learning to compare them with something they know.
With his fears allayed, Jim is able to jump into the pool, knowing that it only comes up to a stegosaurus' knee.
At the end of the book is a double page with information about the eight dinosaurs mentioned, which will thrill the hearts of all those early and middle primary readers who cannot get enough books about dinosaurs.
Fran Knight