Ill. by Liz Anelli. Penguin, 2016. ISBN 9780670077977
(Age: 7+) Highly recommended. Dementia. Family. Mental illness. When
Dad comes home with a camera, one of those old cameras that takes
film which needs to be developed, the family, Mum and their son,
watch on. He seems to be taking photos of things which have no
inherent interest. There are no people in them, they are of things
and places around the house. Photos of his study, of the table at
breakfast time, his coffee cup, the clothesline, the bus shelter. He
takes roll after roll of film to the developer in the city, bringing
the photos home to stick on the window.
The boy and his mum ask him why he doesn't take photos of them, but
he doesn't answer.
They find that he has put things in the cupboard that shouldn't be
there, and puts the hammer in the fridge, so the reader begins to
understand that this man is showing signs of dementia.
More photos appear, until one day he comes home without the camera.
Then he is no longer there. The family receives a parcel in the post
with his camera in it and one undeveloped film. On getting it
developed they see what he was trying to show them, the family he
wants them to remember.
This poignant tale of a family coping with dementia will resonate
with many children in the class or at home. They may have an older
relative with signs that this disease is taking its toll, or may
have seen it in someone younger, the book showing that there is no
age barrier to this disease.
The illustrations are wonderful, showing the family in their house
and all the things which will remind them of their missing father
and husband. All around the house are things which he used and the
photos of things important to him alongside the photo of him with
his family.
There is a growing number of books with this theme for classes and
children to begin discussions about this disease: Newspaper
hats (Phil Cummings) Forgetting
Foster (Dianne Touchell) Wilfred Gordon McDonald
Partridge (Mem Fox) to name a few.
This wonderfully emotive book about one family and the coping
measures undertaken by the father will resonate with some children
and educate others about this disease.
Liz Anelli's wonderful illustrations give the reader a different
view of the family and its worries. The first endpaper shows the
family in its beginnings, Dad's childhood, meeting Mum, marriage and
children, while the last endpaper shows the things he photographed
in the home, his very personal collection of things he thought would
remind them of him. Time passes as shown in the roof top view of the
house and garden, the tree in leaf at the start and later, when he
is not there, it is bare. And I love the page when he has gone: the
afternoon shadows creeping over the furniture with the photos
displayed on top, across the carpet. I could have cried. Anelli's
beautiful, touching illustrations augment this poignant story of one
family's grief.
Fran Knight
Mr Chicken arriva a Roma by Leigh Hobbs
Allen & Unwin, 2016. ISBN 9781925266771
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Travel. Rome. Tourism. After his
successful trips to Paris and London, Mr Chicken now heads for Rome.
As a child he had always been interested in Ancient Rome, and now
learning the language from his beginner's book of Italian, means to
see as much as he can. He has written a list of the sights he wishes
to see, including the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Forum and the
Spanish Steps, and he also wishes to meet some real Romans. On the
first endpaper is his list alongside many images of the places he
wishes to see and a list of words he has learnt. For readers the
first endpaper introduces them to Rome before Mr Chicken takes to
the air.
Business Class suits him with its superior food and greater leg
room, although his neighbour still looks uncomfortable. Landing he
is met by his guide, Federica, who takes him to her Vespa to tour the
city. His day in Rome is eventful as he sees all the sights he has
dreamed about as a child, but then when Federica leaves him at the
Mouth of Truth he falls into a deep sleep and dreams that he is back
in Ancient Rome. Here he finds his face on all the coins, and
statues of him are placed around the city, but when he lands in the
Colosseum, facing a ferocious lion, they both run from the other.
Federica returns, waking him and taking him for his big surprise,
dinner with her family. He gets to meet some real Romans just
as he dreamed.
Throughout the story Mr Chicken tastes a range of food, particularly
gelato and pasta and readers will laugh out loud at his efforts to
steal other people's icecream.
The wonderfully funny illustrations of Mr Chicken on the Vespa, and
stealing a lick of others' gelato, will enthrall younger readers.
And they will learn a few Italian words along the way.
Fran Knight
Dark room by Tom Becker
Red Eye series. Stripes Publishing, 2015. ISBN 9781847154576
(Age: 14+) Horror. Warning on back cover: Not for younger readers.
Darla hopes that she will have a new life when she and her alcoholic
father move to Saffron Hills. But life is not easy at the local high
school where the students are obsessed with beauty and image. Then
Darla begins to have terrifying visions of people being murdered. It
seems that there is a serial killer on the loose. Nicknamed the
Selfie Slayer, the killer likes to display the selfies and other
pictures of his victims.
This has all the hallmarks of an engrossing if gory, read for teens
- a girl who can see into the future, a serial killer who takes
photos, gorgeous girls and handsome boys and many red herrings
leaving false trails about the identity of the killer. Graphic
descriptions of the murders are not for the faint-hearted, but the
suspense keeps the reader on the edge of the seat until the mostly
surprise conclusion - although there were a few clues tossed about
on the way.
Darla and her father are well fleshed out as characters, and the
supporting cast of Sasha and her sidekick Frank are interesting
characters, but the action and suspense as Darla's visions become
gruesome reality are the most important and vivid aspects of Dark
room.
This is a story that may appeal to reluctant readers as well as to
fans of the horror genre since the narrative makes for a relatively
easy but scary read. The use of social media, cyberbullying, and
selfies make it relevant and contemporary as well.
Pat Pledger
Noisy nights by Fleur McDonald
Ill. by Annie White. New Frontier Publishing, 2016. ISBN
9781925059663
(Age: 3+) Recommended. Farms. Noise. Animals. Sleep. When Farmer
Hayden goes to bed, he tries to sleep, but the noise on his farm
does not let him. His animals talk all night. The cows moo, the
sheep maa, the horses nicker, the foxes howl, the crickets chirp. He
tries everything: putting on ear muffs, asking them to be quiet,
yelling at them to keep quiet, covering his head with his pillow,
but all to no avail.
Children listening to or reading this tale will cackle with laughter
at poor Farmer Hayden trying to sleep, and offer suggestions about
how he might achieve this. Young readers will be able to talk about
the things that keep them awake, and share that experience.
The soft watercolour and pen drawings will enthrall the readers as
they see all the animals in Farmer Hayden's farm, and emulate the
noise that they make. I can imagine groups of children making the
noises poor Farmer Hayden hears at night, until a cacophony of
sounds fills the classroom. Especially when a passing train adds to
the mix of noise.
The textual repetition of the animals and the noise that they make
will intrigue readers and they will join in saying the list as they
proceed with the story. And many will see that a new sound is added
as the story progresses.
The culmination will have the children laughing out loud as Farmer
Hayden's problem is solved, and encourage discussion of the age old
advice of counting sheep to get to sleep.
Fran Knight
Guinness World Records 2017
Guinness World Records, 2016. ISBN 9781910561324
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. The Guinness World Records
book needs no introduction to its many fans, who will eagerly pore
over the Guinness World Records 2017 with the new and
strange, fascinating, weird and horrible 4,000 world records ranging
from facts about the moon, music, movies, animals, sports, social
media and lego-ology. The contents page directs the reader off to
the different sections that may be of most interest and allows for
individual interests to be followed. But it is equally of interest
to start at the beginning and read snippets about records that jump
out - like the most times to be made homeless by hurricanes (Five)
and the largest tropical rainforest (Amazon).
Fast facts sections can be found on every double page spread and
each section is highly illustrated with beautiful and interesting
photographs. A detailed index will also help readers to find their
favourite records and The Stop Press has records that were
added to the database after the official closing date.
A section that is sure to appeal to children is the is the Toys
and Games which includes a record for the most views for a
Minecraft video channel as well as a Lego-ology chapter that gives
the largest Lego sets, the largest life-size house made from Lego
bricks and so on. The Sports section is another that will
enthrall readers while the Do try this at home contents will
give readers the chance to see if they could break a record. The Don't
try this at home contents will also fascinate and horrify with
its graphic pictures.
This is a well-produced, easy to read and fascinating book that will
appeal to people of all ages.
Pat Pledger
The famishing vanishing mahoosive mammoth by Hollie Hughes
Ill. by Leigh Hodgkinson. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408862780
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Mammoths, Appetite, Verse, Friendship.
When Mammoth wakes one morning he finds that he is so hungry that he
is vanishing. Bug tells him not to worry as he will find food for
him, and pulls a banana out of his backpack. The two go off to a
restaurant where he easily demolishes a meal, but feels hungry again
after. A tree is eaten on the way to the promenade, where he spies
an ice cream van. He eats some doughnuts and popcorn and chips,
fairy floss, rock and then a ship!
But even after this he feels like he is vanishing from too little
food.
The hairy mammoth's story told in rhyming verse, will elicit gales
of laughter from the readers as they follow his day filling his
tummy with food. Bug tried very hard to fill his friend's tummy but
calls a halt, when he tells the mammoth that he is thinking about
food too much and works out ways to distract him. They play on the
swings, go in a rocket, slide down the slippery dip, dig in the sand
for buried treasure. Mammoth realises that he has not thought about
food all day long, thanks to his friend, Bug, who has distracted
him. And his friendship is all Mammoth needs.
A delightful rhyming picture book about friendship, also lists food
that is found at the seaside for children to recognise. Readers will
love following the pair during their day at the beach, fabulously
illustrated in bold bright colours, and reading about all the things
that can be done when there. But over all it is Mammoth and his tum
that will intrigue the reader as he tries to allay his hunger and
the efforts of his friend at helping him do just that.
Fran Knight
Elmer and the race by David McKee
Andersen Press, 2016. ISBN 9781783444557
(Age: 4-7) Recommended. Elephants. Competition. Elmer the patchwork
elephant is back and this time he organises a race when all the
young elephants decided that they wanted to find out who was the
fastest runner. Each had a different colour and there was great
excitement as they set off on the course that Elmer and Wilbur had
designed. On the way they face some obstacles - the cheeky monkeys
confuse the racers by throwing fruit and pointing in the wrong
direction and Yellow is naughty and trips up Green who is injured.
Readers who enjoyed the adventures of Elmer in Elmer, Elmer
and Rose and Elmer and Wilbur will be delighted to see
more of the characters in Elmer and the Race. The colourful,
eye-catching illustrations make this a stand out story book. Each
elephant has a different face and distinctive characteristics, but
Elmer with his gorgeous patchwork coat and Wilbur with his black and
white squares stand out amongst the colours of the young elephants.
The narrative flows along beautifully, making it a lovely story to
read aloud. There are lessons to be learnt on the way. Yellow cheats
but finds out that he is good at saying sorry. White is very kind
and helps Green, even though it means that he doesn't win the race
and Pink and Violet are funny, and even though Blue wins the race
and Orange comes in second, all of the young elephants win a medal.
Pat Pledger
Escape to the Moon Islands by Mardi McConnochie
Quest of the sunfish series, bk 1. Allen and Unwin, 2016.
ISBN 9781760290917
(Age: Upper primary, Junior secondary) This fast paced novel, the
first of a trilogy, tells of twelve year old twins, Will and
Annalie, and their search for their father, Spinner. He has
disappeared in mysterious circumstances, and as they begin the
search for him, they realise how little they know about their
father.
Their world is post-apocalyptic following a catastrophic flood and
the Admiralty is now in charge, ruling with emergency powers
introduced after the Flood, 40 years before.
Before his disappearance, Annalie's father enrolled her at a school
where she was isolated because her family's poverty made her
different from everyone else. However, she befriends another young
girl, Essie, who is similarly isolated, and when Annalie decides to
run away from the school to begin the search for her father, Essie
joins her. Together, they meet with Will and manage to escape with
Spinner's parrot and his boat, the Sunfish.
They set sail for the Moon Islands, where they believe Spinner has
taken refuge. On the way, they rescue a boy, a former slave, Pod,
and he proves to be a loyal and quick witted member of their team as
they try to elude members of the Admiralty, also searching for
Spinner.
Annalie and Will, although very dependent on each other, clash at
times and Will's forceful nature also creates issues with Essie and
Pod.
There are comments about power and the true nature of those who try
to maintain it at any cost and issues such as bullying, pollution,
slavery and the care of animals. These are conversation points that
students might like to pursue.
Those who value a story which deals with such issues as well as a
battle for survival will look forward to the second book in the Quest
of the sunfish series.
Thelma Harvey
The Ghostfaces by John Flanagan
Brotherband bk 6. Random House, 2016. ISBN 9780857980113
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. I have read a number of books in this
series (but not all) and each of them is thrilling, dramatic and
full of action, and worthy of setting aside time to read and
definitely worth recommending to young male readers who will love
the life-threatening action and combat skills on display. (Note,
young female readers will also enjoy the adventurous spirit and the
fellowship of the band of 'brothers'.) Flanagan has mastered the art
of the historical adventure for teen readers.
In this latest saga we read of the exploits of the Brotherband, led
by the wise-beyond-his-years Hal, who together with a motley
collection of friends with unique skills combine to master their
sailing vessel and battle the elements and any human (or wild
animal) opposition. Their history is well documented in previous
books, but even if this was the first of the series that was read,
Flanagan gives enough detail of their personalities and individual
skills for it to be read as a stand-alone adventure.
Firstly, they have to survive the intense storm that threatens to
blow them far from home and into dangerous and unknown territory.
And then they must face a whole new way of life in a place that
leaves them marvelling and gives them a new sense of home, until
their existence is threatened by 'The Ghostfaces'. Although Flanagan
has created a fantasy world, there are parallels with Viking-like
and North American Indigenous cultures, and this too adds an
intrigue for the reader. A comprehensive sailing vocabulary is
included at the beginning to allow an understanding of the detailed
sailing scenarios that are described in detail. It doesn't take long
to feel like you too have been whipped by the storm in the opening
chapters. But beyond the sailing detail is a story of friendship
that binds these brothers together and allows them to overcome
adversity and loss, and to demonstrate how to esteem individual
strengths and forgive weaknesses.
Carolyn Hull
Quick as a wink, Fairy Pink by Lesley Gibbes and Sara Acton
Working Title Press, 2016. ISBN 9781921504860
(Age: 3+) Recommended. Bedtime story. Fairies. Verse. Children will
get into bed 'as quick as a wink' to hear this verse story read out
to them. They will predict the word that rhymes and laugh along with
the sequence of events that precedes the all important event of bed
time. They will easily learn the lines, repeating them with their
parents as the book is read.
Each time one of the fairies is doing one of the tasks that is done
before bedtime: cleaning teeth, having a bath, dressing for bed,
reading a story, then Fairy Pink cannot be found. The repeating
refrain, Quick as a wink, find Fairy Pink will be one that
is called out by the children and they will need to search the pages
to find the hidden fairy. Younger children will love following the
routines of the fairies in the story as they too go to bed.
Sara Acton's illustrations are deftly done, a few ink lines are
drawn and filled with soft, pastel water colours to give a seemingly
quick impression of the five girls and their activities before bed.
Kids will love looking at Acton's pictures, recognising the five
fairies, and comparing their bed time tasks with those presented to
them in the book. This is a wonderfully gentle story for bed time,
lovely lilting verse accompanied by engaging illustrations.
Fran Knight
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, retold by Terry Deary
Terry Deary's Shakespeare's tales series. Bloomsbury, 2016.
ISBN 9781472917867
(Age: 7+) Recommended. Romeo and Juliet. Another in this series
taking Shakespeare's stories to a wider audience, offers Romeo and
Juliet as seen by the boy who plays Juliet as well as general
dogsbody behind the scenes. Through Sam's eyes we see the company
put on this wellknown play, donning his costume, helping others
with theirs, fetching actors to appear on stage, and watching the
audience. Through his eyes, Deary is able to breathe a different
perspective into the play, offering readers a look by someone their
own age, marvelling at the writing, acting and general demeanor of
the stage craft. The play itself is outlined from beginning to end
so that the reader gains a good coverage of what happens and why.
Stage directions, chats with the actors, illustrations of the Globe
theatre and London at the time all add to the background presented
in this series, making Shakespeare accessible to a younger audience.
And with the plague at London's door and in people's minds, the hint
of someone coughing is enough to divert the audience's attention,
but not for long.
Fran Knight
Up, up and away by Tom McLaughlin
Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408870150
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Experimentation. Science. Space. This picture
book will initiate lots of discussions about what makes up a planet,
how they are made, what we can see in the night sky and so on, as
Orson makes his own planet, but then has to make a tough decision.
Orson loves to make things and one day decides to make something
quite out of the ordinary: a planet. He collects together some rocks
with some water and metal, and gathers as much empty space as he
can. His next quest is for a big bang so he gathers some balloons
and finds it makes the planet with ease. So there it is right in his
bedroom, but it looks unhappy, so Orson tries to do things with his
planet to make it happy. He reads all he can about it and so begins
work cleaning it, feeding it, dusting it and tidying the oceans. But
then it is so happy it begins to grow, and attracts a whole lot of
things to its surface.
Orson notices that the planet has become sad again, so decides that
the best thing to do is to let it go.
Sometimes this is a hard decision to make, but readers will
empathise with Orson and his decision, comparing it with some they
have had to make themselves.
Another theme touched on in the story is that of the environment and
how it can be protected. Orson's regime of cleaning his planet will
touch a nerve with some children, understanding that we have not
been good custodians of our planet and there is a need for more
effort to ensure its preservation.
Fran Knight
Snow White: a graphic novel by Matt Phelan
Walker Books Australia, 2016. ISBN 9780763672331 (Age: Secondary)
Traditional fairytales continue as such a rich source for
adaptations, retellings and reworkings that one is often amazed that
anyone can come up with a new approach.
Acclaimed graphic novel creator Matt Phelan has proven that it is
very possible to revitalise such stories with this interpretation of
Snow White.
With a dark and brooding style reminiscent of film noir, Phelan has
taken 1930s Manhattan as his setting for this evocative rendering of
the favourite tale.
A wealthy man loses his wife but holds onto his fortune despite the
relentless and ominous rat-a-tat-tat of the stock ticker. While the
rest of New York reels under the collapse of Wall Street the man
remarries a glamorous and wellknown Ziegfield Follies star who
swiftly ensures the pretty little daughter, Samantha, known as Snow,
is removed to a boarding school. Before too long, the wicked new
wife decides she cannot be certain that her husband's good fortune
will continue so she cold-bloodedly removes him from the scene via a
poisoned cocktail. Her wrath when she discovers that the canny man
has altered his will in favour of his beloved daughter is ugly and
malicious. However, if anything should happen to Snow, then she
would inherit it all and she is completely prepared to make that a
reality.
She engages a thug to do the dirty work but he cannot bring himself
to do away with the sweet girl and tells her to run. But the seedy
alleys of New York are no safe place for a young woman on her own
and she is pursued by two street hoods. In the nick of time she is
rescued by some small men - in fact, they are just boys who take her
to their hideout.
And so the story goes on - with a wonderfully satisfactory happy
ending.
The amazing illustrations done throughout in grey tones (until the
last few pages) have been done in ink, pencil and watercolour with
some digital adjustments and would be a rich resource to inspire
young artists. It is these illustrations which tell the story with
very little text and make for a sombre and gripping retell of this
classic.
A beautiful addition to your collection for secondary students
particularly those interested in creative writing and illustrating.
You can access teaching
notes and watch a terrific trailer.
Sue Warren
Elizabeth and Zenobia by Jessica Miller
Text Publishing, 2016. ISBN 9781925355031
(Age: 10-14) Highly recommended. I love stories with gothic houses
and strange happenings and was thrilled to read Elizabeth and
Zenobia. Elizabeth and her brave friend Zenobia arrive at
Witheringe House where they find wallpaper that seems to be alive, a
book that tells a different story each night and a weird gardener
who is obsessed with grafting plants. Zenobia is fascinated by it
all, but Elizabeth is not so courageous and she is fearful of what
she will find in the forbidden East Wing where the nursery walls are
covered with a wallpaper that has vines and flowers encroaching
everywhere. When she discovers that she once had an aunt Tourmaline,
who no one has seen for years, she goes on a quest to find out what
happened to her.
The reader is immediately dragged into the unique life of Elizabeth.
They discover that her friend Zenobia is invisible and that her
mother has left her and her father for another man. Her father is
remote and Elizabeth often feels invisible, but Zenobia is the
crutch that she can hold on to when she is feeling frightened.
Zenobia is fearless and goes exploring in forbidden places. She
reads difficult books about clairvoyance and poisons and she dares
Elizabeth to overcome her fears.
One of the fabulous challenges of the story is working out what
belongs to Elizabeth's imagination and what is real. How does Mrs
Purswell, the housekeeper, manage to appear so silently? Is the
wallpaper alive? Does Zenobia really do all the tasks that Elizabeth
describes or is it Elizabeth?
I found myself thinking about this book for days after I read it and
had to re-read the last chapter in an effort to work out what had
happened.
This would be a wonderful book to hand to children who are
imaginative and creative. It would raise numerous questions when
read in a literature circle. Readers would also have fun finding out
about the person Zenobia was named after and researching some of the
things that Zenobia was so interested in. Teacher's
notes are available.
Pat Pledger
The ballad of Henry Hoplingsea by Julia Hubery
Ill. by Lucia Masciullo. Little Hare, 2016. ISBN 9781760121259
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Humour. Aspirations. Medieval times.
Love and friendship. When farmer Henry proposes marriage to his
girlfriend, Carmelita, she declines his offer with tears in her
eyes. She has never imagined herself as a farmer's wife, but longs
to be a princess, waited on hand and foot, with long flowing tresses
and a brave heroic knight who will fight dragons for her.
Undeterred, Henry goes off in the dead of night to join a Knight
School, where he will learn all the attributes Carmelita craves.
Told in verse, each pair of lines begs the reader to predict the
rhyming word, encouraging them to be more involved in the story of
Henry trying to win Carmelita's hand. Predicting the rhyming word
will cause lots of fun as will the story itself, along with
recognising the allusions to fairy tales which children will elicit
in the illustrations as well as the text.
The wonderfully energetic illustrations will have readers looking
for the scatter of things on each page, laughing at the view of
Henry on his majestic steed, his cow, with his rooster tagging along
as his squire.
The humour behind the farmer on his quest begs the readers to look
further at books presenting a view of Medieval life and perhaps
discuss the role of men and women in our society, and Carmelita's
aspirations could be considered when looking at the reality behind
what she wishes for. The old adage, 'be careful what you wish for'
may be a handy dictum for discussion.
Fran Knight
