Nosy Crow, 2016. ISBN 9780857636812
Bella loves Anna so much that she wants to be just like her - so
much so that she copies everything Anna does. Whether it's playing
with the hula hoop, being a ballerina or a pirate, Bella is right
there being Anna's mirror. But trouble erupts when Anna decides to
be a princess and Bella copies her as usual, but there is just one
crown. Anna gets very cross and tells Bella to stop copying her and
goes off to play be herself.
At first Bella is sad because she has no one to copy and no one to
play with - and then she discovers a skipping rope in her toybox.
And as she practises and practises, Chloe looks on wishing she could
skip too.
'It's easy!' said Bella. 'Just copy me!'
And then Anna comes looking for Bella.
Even though this story stars three cats, it could quite easily focus
on three children in the playground so well does it reflect the
different dynamics of friendships and activities as they ebb and
flow. Told with a lot of repetitive text that invites the young
reader to join in, it not only engages them but also opens up
opportunities to talk about friendships and how to make and maintain
them. The eye-catching, colourful illustrations add an extra
dimension to this well-told tale that is perfect for early childhood
readers who enjoy something a little different.
Barbara Braxton
LEGO: Build Your Own Adventure - Star Wars
ISBN 9781465450456
LEGO: Build Your Own Adventure - City
ISBN 9780241237052
Dorling Kindersley, 2016
Kit including hbk book and LEGO pieces.
Given the buzzword of the moment in school libraries is
'makerspaces' and there are constant requests to the forums I belong
to for
ideas about activities that can be offered, especially those which
enhance
the library experience as well as the design, make, appraise
process, this
series offers a wide-ranging solution.
While we are all familiar with the regular box of Lego bricks and
paper
instructions for making what's inside (instructions which always get
damaged
or lost), the instructions for these creations come in a hardcover
book with
the LEGO pieces in a separate container which can be opened out to
form the
foundation of the adventures. They are enclosed in a sturdy slipcase
which
makes for easy storage. The box also has a pictorial list of its
contents so
putting them back should be easy.
Each comes with a mini-figure and a vehicle related to the theme -
City has
a fireman and a firetruck while Star Wars has a rebel pilot and
Y-Wing
Starfighter - and the makers are encouraged to build them from the
supplied
bricks following the very clear, full-colour numbered instructions.
Then,
within the book there are suggestions for building further
adventures using
their own bricks to create their own story. Each is divided into
chapters
with clear pictures of the models that could be built to enhance the
telling
although instructions are not given because builders might not have
the
precise bricks used. For example, in City which features Ed the
firefighter
there are clear pictures to build the fire station environment as
well as
suggestions for uniform lockers, a town map and a tool bench. Each
chapter
then features a cityscape with a range of related suggestions for
getting
the imagination and creativity into top gear.
For those new to LEGO there is a pictorial 'glossary' identifying
terminology with examples so budding builders can hunt through their
existing LEGO collection to find the sorts of pieces they will need,
as well
as five pre-build checks which would make a handy poster to display
in the
makerspace.
1. Organise your bricks into colours and types
2. Be creative and substitute other bricks if you don't have the
exact
one in the plan
3. Research what you want to build by finding pictures on it in
books or
online
4. Have fun and if something isn't what you thought it would be,
change
it to something else
5. Make a model stable to house the creations
While each of the books in the series would be perfect for an
individual
LEGO fan, their appeal for the library collection is that there are
plenty
of ideas and opportunities for groups of builders to collaborate and
negotiate to build an entire scene that could then be photographed
and used
as an individual story stimulus, allowing each to create and achieve
at
their own level.
Whether your library or school has an existing LEGO collection or is
just
starting to acquire one, this series is an excellent starting point
to
giving its place in the makerspace and the curriculum focus and
purpose, not
just for the thinking and building processes involved but also those
essential people skills of collaborating, negotiating, making
suggestions
tactfully, offering feedback and being a team member.
Barbara Braxton
The House on Hummingbird Island by Sam Angus
Pan Macmillan, 2016. ISBN 9781447263036
(Age: 11-14) Highly recommended. Twelve-year-old Idie Grace's life
changes dramatically, when she is taken from the safety of her
Grancat's English home and sent on a sea voyage to the West Indies
to her ancestral home. Accompanying her is her drunk governess and
the accountant Numbers who leave the child to her own devices on
board. Idie is a wild untameable child who loves to ride her horse
Baronet on the ship's deck. Her past is surrounded by intrigue; her
diary entries record the secrets of her heart as she longs to solve
the mysterious disappearance of her mother.
The bright and shining years before 1914 are filled with light and
freedom, and Idie packs her home with an abundance of rainbow
coloured animals, toucans, a sun fowl in the dining room, a turtle
in the bathroom and her talking parakeet companion Homer. Baronet
her horse moves from the stables to take up residence in the hall.
Her Pippi Longstocking life is wonderfully described as colourful,
poignant, exotic, filled with exotic fauna, lush island foliage,
delicious food and her friendship and adventures with neighbour
Austin. In the background the adult characters have more sinister
intentions: what role does Calypso play in her illness, why does he
want to take her inheritance away? Her ethereal Aunt Celia's madness
and her need to keep the house closed up are worrisome to Idie. The
narrative has a darker subplot that develops - a counterpoint to the
halcyon days Idie experiences. There are themes of racism,
loneliness, British colonialism, mental illness, social acceptance,
prejudice and war. The young protagonist matures, continuing to seek
answers to her mother's death, and the narrative includes letters to
her cousin Myles in England who also keeps an Idie Book filled with
her developing story.
Halfway through the story the onset of World War 1 comes to the
forefront. As the islanders enlist, including servants from Idie's
estate and her friend Austin, the realities of war come to the fore.
Sam Angus weaves these two distinct storylines together; the
multi-layered threads drawn together in a revelatory conclusion.
Sam Angus's The House on Hummingbird Island is a lush
narrative, led by a feisty independent protagonist, and a mystery
that counterbalances the vividness of Idie's life with the dark
shadows that surround her.
Rhyllis Bignell
Chook Doolan: The tiny guitar by James Roy
Ill. by Lucinda Gifford. Walker Books, 2016. ISBN 9781922244963
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Another book in the delightful Chook
Doolan series, finds Chook worried about his friend Eddie
Two-hats who usually busks on a corner that he passes on his way to
school. Eddie has told him that he won't eat if he doesn't busk, so
Chook is dismayed when Eddie is taken away in an ambulance and is
afraid that he will lose his spot on the corner. Chook's dad has
just brought him back a ukulele and Chook decides that he will learn
how to play it and look after Eddie's corner while he is away.
Chook is such a caring boy. Although he is the first to admit that
he is scared about lots of things and that's why his nickname is
Chook, his worry about his friend is paramount as he tries to learn
to play the ukulele and even though he is fearful about playing in
front of an audience he is determined to keep Eddie's corner for
him.
Gifford's illustrations are a delight and the reader is drawn into
the humour and horror of the noise that Chook makes as he tries to
figure out the notes. The expressions on the faces of the family are
priceless and the appearance of Joe, wearing a disguise of a hat and
sunglasses is hilarious. However it is the compassion that Chook
feels for his friend and his determination to help him that makes
this story a stand out.
It is ideal for the young emerging reader and would also be a good
quick read aloud in the classroom or at bedtime.
Pat Pledger
Chook Doolan saves the day by James Roy
Ill. by Lucinda Gifford. Walker Books, 2016. ISBN 9781922244956
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Soccer. Chess. Courage. Chook doesn't
want to play soccer as it is scary. He would much prefer to play
chess in the library or at home with his mother but as his librarian
says, 'you have to exercise your body as well as your brain'. His
friend Joe gives him tips about playing soccer, but it is his
brother Ricky who teaches him how to be a goalie and gives him all
the strategies to save a goal.
Once again James Roy has come up with a realistic story that has
great appeal and goes along at an engrossing pace to keep the
reader's interest. Many children are scared about playing sport and
would prefer to be indoors, but here Chook has some great support
from his friend and brother that helps him save the goal at his
soccer team. Not that doing that seems to impress Chook himself - he
still would prefer to play chess!
The black and white illustrations are full of humour and add depth
to the story, providing the reader with lots of funny moments as
Chook's efforts to become a soccer player are portrayed.
This series is ideal for the child who is just becoming an
independent reader. The warmth, contemporary themes and understated
courage of Chook make the books stand out.
Pat Pledger
No man is an island by Adele Dumont
Hachette, 2016. ISBN 9780733636370
(Age: 16+) Highly recommended. Adele Dumont was one of those eager
young people who answered the call to volunteer for a month at the
Christmas Island detention camp teaching English to refugees.
Finding the joy in teaching such enthusiastic resilient learners
despite their desperate circumstances, she goes from there to gain
employment as a teacher with Serco, giving English classes at the
Curtin detention centre in Derby, WA, for two years. The book No
man is an island is drawn from her experiences recorded in her
personal journals throughout her time there.
I felt completely drawn into her story of the warm relationships and
deep respect that builds between her and the Afghani men who call
her 'My teacher, my teacher'. She becomes someone in between the
'us' of the 'officers' and the 'them' of the 'clients'. She forms
genuine friendships and builds trust. The classes become a highlight
in the days that easily lose meaning in the interminable wait for
some kind of response to the men's applications for refugee status.
The camp is barren, set in a harsh unwelcoming landscape, and the
lives of the refugee men are on hold, not knowing when they will get
a case interview, how it will be decided, and what that will mean
afterwards. It is the interminable waiting and sense of hopelessness
that gradually takes its toll, with the glazing over of the faces,
the self-harm and suicide. Dumont herself starts to share the same
feeling of loss and fear. She describes the disorientation and loss
of identity she feels when she gets to go to the 'outside'. She at
least has that break away, the men 'inside' have no reprieve. They
are held in indefinite detention.
It is a very cruel system and one that all Australians should know
about - it is what our government, our country, is doing to
dehumanise and destroy people who just are seeking safety and a new
future. Dumont's book doesn't argue a case, it is not political in
the way that Chasing
Asylum by Eva Orner (2016) is, it just
quietly draws the reader into that world hidden away from our eyes,
so that we feel what Dumont felt, and gain some insight into the
harm that is being done.
Helen Eddy
Toad delight by Morris Gleitzman
Penguin, 2016. ISBN 9780143309239
(Age: 8+) Recommended. Toads, Humour, Cooking. A fifth in the Toad
series has Limpy wandering the highways saying goodbye to his
flattened toad relatives yet again. Squashed by cars and trucks the
cane toads have no chance of survival, and Limpy spends his time
warning his family of the dangers of lurking there. But his cousin,
Goliath is in love, and the object of his passion is a penguin back
pack. After the aggrieved family comes to grab their child's
backpack from him, things get funnier as Limpy tries his hand at a
road side stall to improve the image of the cane toad with humans,
and Goliath is taken to the city to be part of a TV cooking show, as
one of the ingredients, while brave Limpy cajoles the blue healer
into letting him get into the SUV to follow the TV crew to try and
save Goliath. Gleitzman's humour is infectious and younger readers
will laugh out loud as Limpy tries in vain to help his family. Jokes
using words such as bum and poo will tickle their funny bones, and
the preposterous idea of a cane toad being the hero of the story has
not lost its shine. Readers will hunt out the others in the series (Toad
rage, Toad heaven, Toad surprise and Toad
away).
With the help of the insects and Goliath, readers will take in the
subtle environmental message while Limpy saves the day.
Fran Knight
Marge in charge by Isla Fisher
Ill. by Eglantine Ceulemans. Piccadilly Press, 2016. ISBN
9781848125339
(Age: 6-8) Highly recommended. Marvellous Marge is a babysitter
extraordinaire, tiny in stature, with rainbow dyed hair and a
multitude of magical stories, tricks and unusual child minding
techniques; she sweeps in to Jake and Jemima's ordinary house and
takes charge. Mum and Dad are off for a special dinner and there is
a list on the fridge for this babysitter to follow. Jake's hair
needs a wash and he must eat his broccoli with his macaroni and
cheese. Of course, older sister Jemima knows these are all things
her little brother refuses to do. Marge turns bath time into a
wonderful game with bubbles everywhere from full bottles of shampoo
and a tub that overflows; somehow, Jake's hair turns out squeaky
clean. Marge is a force to be reckoned with, leaving messes in her
wake, she turns dinnertime into a royal dinner party; even the dog
and pet snails become dinner guests.
Marge's second babysitting adventure involves taking Jake to his
best friend Theo's fifth birthday in the park. The tiny babysitter
saves the day with her magic tricks, face painting, rescuing the
rain-drenched jumping castle and of course plenty of tall tales
about Marge's life at the royal palace. She has an irreverent,
slightly cheeky and at times, laughingly naughty approach to
childminding and both Jake and Jemima love her.
In the third short story, Marge at large at school is another
fun-filled day, here she helps Jake conquer his fears, wear his new
school shoes and learn to enjoy playing a musical instrument. Just
like The Pied Piper, Marge takes over music practice and creates an
amazing band with everyone playing and having fun.
Isla Fisher has created a wildly imaginative and engaging
protagonist whose witty dialogue and amazing stories of her
menagerie of pets and palace life are enchanting. Eglantine
Ceulemans' line drawings bring Marge to life with her crazy hair,
creative costumes and her unique style of childminding. This is a
brilliant read aloud story for junior primary classes and to share
at home; children will love Marge's distinctive way of engaging with
Jake and Jemima.
Rhyllis Bignell
Fabish: The horse that braved a bushfire by Neridah McMullin
Ill. by Andrew McLean. Allen and Unwin, 2016. ISBN 9781925266863
(Age: 5+) Recommended. Bravery. Horses. Bushfires. Farm life. Fabish,
once a fine racehorse known for his bravery, is put out to pasture.
Here he is in charge of the yearlings, helping them understand what
is expected of them, training them to obey instructions. But one day
they smell smoke. It has been an extremely unpleasant summer,
everything is hot, the old iron roof crackles and the hot wind
blowing from the hills smells of smoke. The yearlings smell it first
and become unsettled. The owner has no choice but to let them out of
their yard, while he spends the night trying to save his stables,
keeping the other animals calm and safe. Fabish and the yearlings
are on their own.
The illustrations reflect the overwhelming nature of bushfire, with
its flames licking the roof of the stable, the roaring of the fire,
the constant embers falling to the ground, the smoke and heat all
around them as the man fights the fire all through the night.
Emerging in the morning, he finds everything is burnt and scorched,
little left of his buildings, tack house, fences and trees. The
earth is baked hard, embers still fill the sky, the smoke tears at
his throat. He drives off in anticipation of seeing worse but in
nearing his house, sees Fabish leading the seven yearlings towards
him. He has done his job of protecting the young horses and somehow
they have all survived.
Based on a true story, the trainer, Alan Evett had to let the horses
loose, presuming he would never see them again on that terrible
Black Saturday in 2009 when a firestorm rivaling the devastation of
an atomic bomb, hit Victoria.
This book not only gives readers an overwhelming feeling of being in
the bushfire but alerts them to the bravery of some animals in dire
circumstances. As with several other books about bushfire, this will
encourage discussion in the classroom of the incidence of fire in
Australia, how it happens and how people can minimise its effects.
Fran Knight
The great dragon bake off by Nicola O'Byrne
Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408839560
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Dragons. Cooking. Friendship. Humour. When
Flamie Oliver is supposed to be practising his fire breathing dragon
skills to graduate, he'd prefer to be cooking. He just loves pastry
- all sorts of pastry, puff, rough, sweet or salty, he doesn't care.
He justs loves to cook and tries his hand at all sorts of cakes and
desserts and even a wedding cake. When the final day comes to
graduate from the Ferocious Dragon Academy, he fails but is given
one final test to prove his worth. He must kidnap a princess and eat
her. He can do the first part of the task, without a hitch but
eating her creates another problem as he cannot find a recipe which
involves a princess. The two sit down together to nut out a solution
to Flamie's problem.
A lovely story about working through a solution to a problem, and in
so doing, finding a friend, told against the well known background
of the bake off competitions which children will know well from
television, the use of the familiar names will raise laughs as the
dragon cooks his way through the book. The illustrations showing
this lovable dragon with his sly looks at the princess in deciding
how to eat her, or the looks of utter contentment when cooking and
eating his cakes, or the animal with his chef's hat apron and back
pack, are wonderful and will entreat readers to look more closely at
the detail on each page. Children will gleefully recognise the
various bits of cake and pastry illustrated as well as having fun
working out the names of the cooks the dragons parody.
Fran Knight
Macavity's not there by T. S. Eliot
Ill. by Arthur Robins. Faber and Faber, 2016. ISBN 9780571328635
In 1939, T.S. Eliot wrote his iconic Old
Possum's book of practical cats which became the
foundation for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical 'Cats'. Within that
collection, is a poem which begins Macavity's a mystery cat: he's called the Hidden Paw.
For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime - Macavity's not there!
It goes on. Macavity's a ginger cat, he's very tall and thin;
You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in
Drawing on those two lines as the starting point and the constant
refrain of the original of 'Macavity's not there' , Arthur Robins
has again relied on the poem to create a wonderful lift-the-flap
book encouraging young children to investigate just where this
elusive cat might be. Is he in the bedroom? The bathroom? Perhaps
the kitchen? Maybe the rabbit hutch? Ahhh, there he is! Why didn't
we think of there in the first place?
Using very distinctive illustrations, Robins brings Macavity to life
just as he did in his 2014 version of the original poem by T.S.
Eliot. But as well as engaging the young listener is the fun of
discovering Macavity's whereabouts, enticing them to suggest other
places to look before turning the page, it's a wonderful opportunity
to explore language associated with cats - perhaps based on their
observations of their own. Are they always sweet, playful fluffy
kittens or can they be mischievous, cunning, aloof, even fierce?
Using the cover picture, which words would they use to describe
Macavity? Can you take a photo of a cat they know and surround it
with vocabulary? Can you do a comparison chart between their cat,
Macavity and other cats in literature?
Building their language and broadening their concepts about cats
will be a great bridge to sharing the Robins' version of the
original and then travelling on to his Mr
Mistofolees and Skimbleshanks
so they can savour the beauty of the rhyme and rhythm of Eliot's
creations, marvel at his ability to tell a story and paint a picture
in so few words and maybe even enjoy a performance of Cats. At the
very least, they will be introduced to some superb poetry that may
linger with them throughout their lives, as it has with me!
Barbara Braxton
Yong the journey of an unworthy son by Janeen Brian
Walker Books, 2016. ISBN 9781925126297
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Migration, Chinese, Goldfields
(Australia), Prejudice, Australian History. When Yong is told by his
father, the head man in their village in China, that many men are
leaving for Australia to search for luck in the goldfields at
Ballarat, he asks to stay behind and help his grandmother care for
his two siblings. But his father is determined that he go too.
Together they will find enough gold to end their poverty and pay
back the moneylenders. Yong feels he is an unworthy son because he
questions his father's aims. Told from Yong's perspective, the story
of a group of Chinese men sailing from China to Robe in South
Australia, then walking overland to Victoria is mesmerising, as we
walk with them, tramping many miles each day, feeling overwhelmed at
the four hundred miles ahead of them. We listen to the prejudice
doled out to these men and find that many of the stories they have
been told lack substance and the group begins to blame Yong's father
for their predicament.
Janeen Brian's meticulous research gives the tale a strong base of
historical truth, against which we can judge what our actions may
have been in similar circumstances. All stories of migration
resonate with Australians, as we are all dependent upon what our
forebears did in the past to improve their lives.
When Yong finally arrives at Ballarat, after death, desertion,
starvation and derision he realises that in following his father's
dream he is indeed an honourable son. And I am sure that readers,
like me will want to know how he copes in that mining town.
There are only a few novels containing a Chinese immigrant to our
shores so this is very welcome, giving a face to some who came in
the nineteenth century along with so many others (New gold
mountain, Melting pot and Seams of gold, by
Christopher Cheng, 2005-7, Goldseekers, by Greg Bastian,
2005, Gold fever, by Susan Coleridge, 2006).
Fran Knight
Crusts by Danny Parker
Ill. by Matt Ottley. Little Hare Books, 2016. ISBN 9781742979830
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Scientific endeavour, Space travel,
Aliens, Humour. Two parallel stories come together in this
breathtakingly original story with stunning complementary
illustrations sure to have readers pore over them with awe.
Each story has a different font allowing the reader to differentiate
between them as three aliens land on earth trying to find a way back
home carrying most needed bread for their planet. Jacob on the other
hand will not eat his crusts and to placate his mother keeps them in
the shed at the back of their home. He finds a map in his room and
then males plans to help the aliens return home. He works hard on
his plans, gathering crusts at school, from bins and at home, until
he has enough to build what he needs to build. The aliens daunted by
their task return home empty handed but Jacob has built the most
amazing space craft and together with his net, takes the crusts to
the crumbling planet. Here he dons his crust space suit and uses the
crusts he has collected to ensure their planet is restored.
The story is wonderfully imaginative, taking a very ordinary foible,
that of not eating your crusts, something many children will
recognise and making it into a tale of intergalactic space travel.
The story also underlines the warmth of helping others, of using
your imagination, of looking beyond appearances.
The illustrations are magical, from the wonderfully long limbed
humans to the long nosed aliens, the stand out galavanised iron of
the buildings, to the use of the crusts. I pored over the intricacy
of the crusts making up a replica of the statue of David, or the
space craft, the ladder and the space suit. And if that is not
enough, then each page is splendidly different, making use of a
variety of styles to tell the story behind the words.
Fran Knight
Sage Cookson's Sweet Escape by Sally Murphy
Ill. by Celeste Hulme. New Frontier, 2016. ISBN 9781925059618
(Age: 6-10) Recommended. Cooking. TV shows. Sage Cookson is thrilled
that she has finally been given her own phone. She will now be able
to keep in touch with her friend Lucy when she travels with her
parents on their trips away for their TV cooking show. This time she
is off to the west where they meet up with a chocolatier and things
go dangerously wrong.
Sage is an enterprising young girl who leads a very interesting life
travelling with her parents even though she does have to keep up
with her school work on the way. Readers will emphasise with her
happiness about finally being given her own mobile phone and she
certainly makes good use of it to help get her family out of the
bush safely in time for their job.
It is obvious that Sally Murphy loves cooking shows and mysteries
(see her article here)
and many of her young readers are sure to enjoy both as well as they
learn about what it takes to have a TV cooking show and thrill to
the suspense of trying to find their way back when the chocolatier
leaves them in the bush. And of course there are the descriptions of
chocolate and a yummy Cheat's chocolate fondant recipe at the back
of the book.
This is the first in a series, and with its short chapters,
interesting characters and touch of suspense, will have its readers
eagerly waiting for the next instalment.
Pat Pledger
Another night in mullet town by Steven Herrick
UQP, 2016. ISBN 9780702253959
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. Verse novel, Country town, Fishing,
Humour. A new verse novel by Herrick is always eagerly anticipated
and reading this reminded me why I like his books so much. I find
that I stop over each line, drawing breath at the wider implications
of what is written there, marveling at his economy of description,
acute characterisation and restrained emotional detail.
In this story two boys, Jonah and Manx are in year ten, able to see
beneath the veneer of their sleepy seaside town and willing to
embark on what life may offer. They spend a lot of time fishing,
drinking with the others on Friday nights, looking at the girls who
have been their constant companions since kindergarten, but seem now
out of reach.
Jonah realises that the arguments between his parents have
intensified and one night his mother packs to go and stay with her
sister at a nearby town. Jonah counts up the number in his class
with a single parent and sees he is not alone.
The other side of the river sees old houses bought up by city
people, then demolished and holiday houses built in their place.
They lie idle for a greater part of the year and contribute nothing
to the ever shrinking community. The town is on the decline,
overshadowed by a larger and more attractive seaside town some k's
north where they go to school.
But one Friday night, Manx goes back to the town by himself, Rachel
goes off with Angelo, and Jonah and Ella come together. Each
incident creates possibilities and consequences for the two boys,
ones which will see them become more at peace with who they are,
where they are living and their enduring friendship.
The small community is exquisitely drawn, with Manx's fishing line
hanging from his front verandah, the old fish and chip shop now a
coffee shop for the blow ins, the old grocery store a real estate
agency complete with black BMW. It is redolent of so many country
towns, but Herrick's funny warmhearted depiction of the place and
its inhabitants gives all readers a fresh way of looking at the
villages they pass through.
Fran Knight
