Magabala Books, 2015. ISBN 9781922142917
Age: 3-6) Aboriginal themes. Australian animals. Belonging. Emu has
lost his mob. He goes searching, asking all the animals he sees
where his mob might be. He follows the tracks to the kangaroo, but
he wants to keep sleeping, he tries to wake lizard, but he wants to
be left alone, the cassowary gives different directions to follow,
the owl refuses to share his food and the dancer puts the emu in
another direction and finally turtle points him to the hills past
the waterhole, and emu finds his mob.
This is a lovely tale of belonging, of finding where you belong, of
searching for your group. Emu asks for advice to help him on his
way, and although some advice is unhelpful, he continues to search
for his companions. In a classroom where belonging is under
discussion this will be a useful resource, starting off
conversations about whose mob we belong to, and as a result just who
we are.
Bright, vivid illustrations done in a naive style accompany the
text, ensuring that younger readers will learn a lot about the bush
and the animals that live there.
Fran Knight
Violet Mackerel's Formal Occasion by Anna Branford
Ill. by Sarah Davis. Walker Books, 2015. ISBN 9781925081091
Highly recommended for readers from 6+. Another enchanting story in
the Violet Mackerel series, that celebrates friendship, family,
thoughtfulness and creativity. Sarah Davis's illustrations are
engaging, a perfect match to the simple, delightful story of Violet,
her family and friends.
Rosie and Violet are twig-digging at Clover Park, keen to discover a
hidden or lost treasure. Violet's love of reading archaeology books
from the library has lead them to this new hobby. To their
amazement, they uncover a dirty, dusty old locket. With Vincent and
older sister Nicola's help, they clean and polish their find, a
little heart-shaped locket with a broken chain. After pondering
about the original owner, they thoughtfully decide to share the
ownership, wearing the locket on alternate days. The next morning
the girls are buzzing with excitement as they dress for a special
formal occasion a tea party with Rose's grandparents at the
BOATHOUSE. Family life is busy, Vincent is making Saturday breakfast
pancakes, Mum is finishing off the knitted toys ready for sale at
the shop while Nicola and Rose help Violet with her hair and
clothes.
Lost and found is an underlying thread throughout this junior novel,
Mum loses her basket of knitted toys when she helps an old lady at
the train station, the girls find the locket and discover the joys
of fine dining. Veronica and Max, Rose's grandparents use
imaginative storytelling to help the girls understand a way to get
over losing something precious.
Violet and Rose decide to cheer Mum up by making up stories about
all the people who are playing with her knitted toys and they share
their locket with her. They make a perfect plan, a surprise FORMAL
OCCASION for Mum, after she spends the whole week remaking all the
little creatures and delivering them to the toy shop.
Rhyllis Bignell
What's in my Lunchbox? by Peter Carnavas
Ill. by Kat Chadwick. New Frontier, 2015. ISBN 9781925059038
Highly recommended for 3-6 year olds.
Today in my lunchbox
I happened to find ...
Take time to explore the front cover and the endpapers first. Ask
the young reader to predict the possible contents of the young boy's
lunchbox. Check out the back cover will it be one of the healthy,
smiling food choices - sushi, a strawberry or a sausage encircling
the blurb?
When the young boy opens his lunchbox for the first time, he finds
an apple. Unfortunately he doesn't like apples and as he discards
the fruit, a little tear slips down the apple's face. Time for
another prediction, after the refrain, he finds a fish swimming in
his lunchbox, serving up two Japanese delicacies. Over the next days
he finds larger and more unbelievable treats served by a variety of
animals. This is one very fussy boy!
The font size is large and the text is very simple, a great story to
share with a young family, at child care or preschool. Kat
Chadwick's complementary pastel backgrounds draw the eye to the big,
bold paint and ink drawings of the surprising food and animals. Each
of the pieces of food has an expressive face showing a range of
emotions.
A delightful story that the young audience can begin to read along
with the text.
Rhyllis Bignell
Beach Holiday by Yvette Poshoglian
Ella & Olivia series. Ill. by Danielle McDonald.
Scholastic Australia, 2015. ISBN 9781743620540
Recommended for 5-6 year old girls. Ella and Olivia are sisters and
best friends. Ella is seven years old and Olivia is five-and-a-half
years old, they live with their mum, dad, brother Max and puppy Bob.
The girls are really excited they are going to stay at Nanna and
Grandad's beach house for a holiday. It's a favourite and familiar
place, they can't wait! Their grandparents arrive in their yellow
and white Kombi van and the girls and Max are soon on their way.
Their day at the beach is filled with fun, swimming, watching the
iron women competing and sharing lunch under the big umbrella. Ella
and Olivia follow the safety rules by swimming between the flags.
After lunch Nanna trusts them to visit the rock pools by themselves,
however, they become separated on the way back. Of course, they find
each other and the family just in time to make a giant sand castle.
Responsibility and beach safety are themes in this junior novel.
Yvette Poshoglian's popular series, Ella & Olivia
continues to engage young girls who are beginning to read chapter
books. They are written in a simple style with relatable characters.
The extremely large font and line drawings add to the fun of the
story.
Rhyllis Bignell
Bums & tums, a lift the flap book about animals illustrated by Mandy Foot
Lothian, 2015. ISBN 9780734415950
(Age: 3-5) Warmly recommended. Animal parts, Rhyming story. A
question is posed on each page, answered by the picture and writing
beneath the flap which will be eagerly lifted by a young reader. The
question, 'Who likes the beach and can live for a hundred years?'
reveals a sea turtle beneath the flap, with a large picture filling
the double page. The simple question contains words which will
engender discussion between the adult and child reading the book,
and the younger person will learn information about world wide
animals as they read. I'm pleased that the sentences do not
patronise the reader, using words like especially, hundred,
bellybutton and stylish.
Children will love to predict the rhyming word at the end of the
next sentence as well as guess what animal is being spoken of. In a
class this could be used as a model for children's writing, learning
about rhyming words as they read this humorous story.
Lift the flap books have a notoriously short shelf life, so this
book will teach younger readers how to use books such as these with
care.
Fran Knight
Dexter the Courageous Koala by Jesse Blackadder
HarperCollins, 2015. ISBN 9780733331787
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. When Ashley's plans for a new puppy
fall through, she is devastated. Fortunately, her Aunt Micky invites
her for a visit. Micky cares for abandoned and orphaned wildlife. A
great way for a young girl to forget her troubles. While we are
reading about Ashley, we also learn about a baby koala called Dexter
and his mother.
Ashley and Dexter's lives are about to become entwined as a storm
blows through town. The roads are closed due to all the rain. How
will they get the baby koala to a vet?
This Australian story is highly recommended for girls aged 10+. The
two perspectives create an engaging story and it's descriptive
language allows the reader to create images. The story moves quickly
and keeps the reader engaged. Dexter would be a great class novel,
linking Geography and English.
Kylie Kempster
Heather has two mummies by Leslea Newman
Ill. by Laura Connell. Walker Books, 2015. ISBN 9781406359404
(Age: 6+) Recommended. Families, Same sex families. First published
in 1989, this book was considered the first lesbian themed picture
book published for children, so it is interesting to see how it
holds up, twenty five years later. The American Library Association
ranked it eleventh in the list of challenged books so it will be
fascinating to see if it is still seen in such a light. Newman wrote
it as a response to friends saying that there were no picture books
which showed their situation that they could read with their kids,
and in producing this book, she laid the groundwork to open people's
eyes that the mum, dad and two kids stereotypical family is simply
not the reality.
Heather loves the number two. She has two arms, two legs, two pets
and two parents Mama Jane and Mama Kate. On her first day at school,
the children talk about their families, and Heather begins to wonder
if she is the only one who does not have a father, as the other
children talk about what their fathers do. Ms Molly asks the class
to draw their families, and when they pin them up, they see that
each family is different. Some of the class live with stepfathers,
some just with a mother, some just with their father, some with
grandparents, some have two adults and one child, some have more
than one child. Each family is different and each family is special
to that child. The book underlines the fact that no two families are
the same, each is different in its own way.
Newman subtly presents a theme that is underrepresented in
children's books and this beautiful production will readily find a
place in school libraries and bookshelves everywhere.
The soft watercolour illustrations perfectly match the tone of the
book, showing children and families in their wondrous variety. Yes
the book certainly holds up and is a welcome addition to the range
of classics being reprinted by Walker books. For a full list of
their reprinted books go here.
Fran Knight
The Girl from the Great Sandy Desert by Jukuna Mona Chuguna and Pat Lowe
Ill. by Mervyn Street, Magabala Books, 2015. ISBN
9781922142054
(Age: 7-12 year) Recommended. The Girl from the Sandy Desert
is a delightful introduction to the life of traditional Walmajarri
people living in north-west Australia at a time when European
settlement was only just beginning to have an impact on their lives.
The personal stories combined with explanatory panels assist in
understanding the cultural history and land usage of these original
inhabitants and act as a valuable resource for areas of the
Humanities curriculum.
Through these stories collected by Pat Lowe over the latter years of
Jukuna's life we learn about the everyday life of Mana, her
siblings, cousins, mothers and dogs as they eke out a living in the
harsh conditions of the Sandy Desert. These are the experiences of a
child born under a tree and growing up within her extended family
structure before marriage and moving into station life.
Stories of the daily battle for that precious commodity water, from
the need to always have water available especially on longer
journeys to the danger of paying in waterholes are a told with
gentle humour and honesty. Hunting and gathering food and using all
the available resources the desert has to offer, from goannas and
snakes to fruits and nuts, and stories centred on cultural
obligations and family relationships are included.
Cultural insights and explanations are provided alongside the
stories giving authentic information and assisting deeper
understanding of these original inhabitants and their way of life.
The black and white illustrations by Mervyn Street assist with a
visual representation of aspects of each story. Walmajarri glossary
and pronunciation guides have been added at the end to help
understanding and round out the book.
Sue Keane
Spirit Animals: Tales of the Great Beasts by Brandon Mull and others
Scholastic, 2014. ISBN 9781743628812
(Age: 7-12 years) Recommended. Tales of the Great Beasts is
a special addition to the Spirit Animals series and acts as
a prequel to the popular series. For those who are unfamiliar with
the story this book could act as an introduction to the animals
which feature so prominently, or round out the back story for those
who have followed the series from the beginning.
Written as a series of short stories by a variety of authors we are
first introduced to the villains of the piece, young King Feliandor
of Stetriol who in his quest to become as popular as his parents is
convinced by the Great Ape, Kovo, to drink the Bile in a quest to
conquer all of Erdas. King Fel bonds with a crocodile and becomes
the Reptile King. The appearance of Gerathon the giant Snake rounds
out the evil trio, though it is clear that Fel has little control
over the situation.
The next series of stories introduce the Great Beasts who come to be
known as the Four Fallen. The stories recount how Jhi, the panda,
Uraza,the leopard Briggan the wolf and Essix the falcon, join forces
with young warriors to save Erdas in the first war which sees the
rise of The Greencloaks who band together to defeat the Conquerors.
Essix observes the battle from above having tried to convince the
other Great Beasts to join the fight before finally succumbing to
her injuries after engaging with Kovo and Gerathon. Reborn as a
Spirit Animal the stage is set for the first book of the series.
Whilst there is some violence in the battle scenes, the emphasis in
all stories is on developing relationships and teamwork as brave
youngsters face their fears and join forces to fight for their
families and way of life.
Sue Keane
Heidi the Vet Fairy by Daisy Meadows
Orchard Books, 2015. ISBN 9781408336472
(Age: (9+) Highly recommended for fans of the series. Heidi the Vet
Fairy is another book in the popular series Rainbow Magic where
different fairies are in charge of looking after different humans.
In this story, we meet Heidi the Vet Fairy who looks after the vets
on Earth. We also meet regular characters Rachel and Kirsty. The
girls have had adventures with fairies before so are not surprised
when a fairy turns up at the vet surgery they are helping out at.
All of the fairy's magical equipment is missing. The girls help
Heidi find it all while chasing Jack Frost's mischievous goblins.
What do they want with the magical equipment? What is Jack Frost up
to?
Divided into three stories, Heidi the Vet Fairy leads its readers
through an exciting adventure.
Kylie Kempster
Winter's flurry adventure by Elise Allen and Halle Stanford
Ill. by Paige Pooler. Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781619632677 The Enchanted Sisters series is a natural extension for
readers who have or are still enjoying the Rainbow Fairy
books. Coming from the Jim Henson Company one expects to see an
animated version anytime. This is the second offering about the four
Sparkle sisters, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring and their
adventures.
Winter and her best friend Flurry, a polar bear are playing together
in the snow when Flurry discovers a baby Artic fox obviously
separated from its family by the previous night's blizzard. Whilst
winter makes a fuss of the cute little creature, Flurry leaves in a
fit of jealousy, and Winter and the baby fox set out to find him
with the help of her sisters.
Unfortunately they discover Flurry has dug so deeply into the snow
that he has broken through to the Barrens, home of Bluster Tempest
and his Weeds. Determined to bring Flurry home the sisters continue
on only to discover Flurry enjoying a party with Quake and
Thunderbolt, two of the Weeds.
With the encouragement of his new friends Flurry rejects Winter's
advances and stays with the Weeds. He eventually discovers that his
new friends are not as kind as they could be and when they all
arrive in Sparkledom it is to destroy Winter's home not just a
social call.
The meaning of friendship mixed with adventure and a little magic
will enchant and entertain young readers. The badly behaved Weeds
could be an attraction for boys but I feel this series will be
favoured by girls.
Sue Keane
Never tickle a tiger by Pamela Butchart
Ill. by Marc Boutavant. Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781408839034
(Ages: 3+) Highly recommended. Energetic Izzy is always on the move,
always shuffling and jiggling, squirming and twitching, wriggling
and fiddling. She fiddles at home, she knots Grandma's knitting, and
as for parties she brings in the jelly jiggling on her head. When
Miss Potterhurst her class teacher bravely takes her students to the
zoo, she warns Izzy to behave. Does young Izzy listen? Of course
not, she runs from one animal exhibit to another, stroking the snake
behind the glass, bothering the bear and tapping the giant
tortoises' shells. Her teacher warns lively Izzy 'And never tickle a
tiger!'
She slips away after lunch, skips past the aviary, acquires a
feather from a surprised parrot and yes we know just what Izzy does!
She causes chaos as a catastrophic chain of events occurs.
French illustrator Marc Boutavant's vibrant, computer drawn
illustrations bring Izzy to life. Her energy, personality and
adventurous nature is evident as she shimmies, bounces, wriggles and
skips from scene to scene. The gatefold pages are an exciting
explosion of animal pandemonium, so take time to share both the
alliterative text and discover all the creatures. Engage with their
wide eyes, surprised faces and funny interactions, observe as the
crocodile snaps at the skunk, who then pongs the panda and ever so
quickly there's uproar at the zoo. Never tickle a tiger is a wonderful read-aloud story for a
young reader, and a kindergarten or junior class. Just right for an
introduction to action verbs as well.
Rhyllis Bignell
Alice-Miranda at the palace by Jacqueline Harvey
Alice-Miranda bk 11. Random House Australia, 2015. ISBN
9780857982728
(Age: 8-11) Highly recommended. Mischief and mayhem, parties and
plots, spies and surprises are all wonderfully woven threads in the
latest and much anticipated Alice-Miranda novel.
Queen Georgiana's celebrating her silver jubilee at Evesbury Palace
and Alice-Miranda's family and friends are all invited. The prologue
introduces the intrigue, a mysterious man in a bowler hat receives a
folder with instructions to kidnap someone close to the queen.
Meanwhile, after the last assembly of the term, annoying Caprice
overhears Jacinta, Millie and Alice-Miranda discussing their palace
holiday plans. Caprice tags along with her mother Venetia Baldini, a
famous chef catering for the Queen's celebrations.
Mysterious rhyming messages foretelling the kidnapping are being
handled by agents from SPLOD - the Secret Protection League of
Defence. When Head Agent Marjorie Plunkett and Chief of Staff
Thornton Thripp finally inform the Queen of the plot, she decides to
keep the girls safe at the palace for the whole week.
Meanwhile, mystery surrounds a cottage in the woods where a
reclusive lady and her protective raven live. Edgar and Louis, the
queen's grandsons are also up to something secretive in the old
hunting tower. Alice-Miranda, Millie, Jacinta and Sloane enjoy the
fun and festivities, minding the babies, playing games and dressing
up for the special dinner party.
Jacqueline Harvey has delivered another fabulous Alice-Miranda
adventure filled to the brim with all the exciting elements that her
readers love.
Read about the series on the author's website.
Rhyllis Bignell
Budinge and the Min Min lights by Uncle Joe Kirk with Greer Casey and Sandi Harrold
Ill. by Sandi Harrold. Scholastic, 2015. ISBN 9781743628577
(Age: Preschool and primary) Recommended. Aboriginal themes. Min
Min lights. The Min Min lights is a recurring
theme in many stories and tales told of the Outback and is sometimes
seen as a harbinger of something sinister in Aboriginal culture.
In this one, Budinge fishes at the waterhole each evening, but one
night is frightened by a light he sees in the trees. His grandmother
has told him that if he did not behave then the light would take him
away.
He runs from the light, but as he runs the light divides into two,
then it grows even bigger. He runs through the bush, becoming more
scared even hiding behind some of the bushes. He runs for home, runs
up the verandah and through the door, gets under the mosquito net
and pulls the blankets up around his chin. And then he finds what
has been following him. This is a delightful story of an Aboriginal
boy learning about his environment and the rules which are part of
his growing up. We learn about his fishing at the waterhole, the
bush that surrounds him, the mosquito net he uses at night, the
house in which he and his grandmother live. But most of all we learn
about the story of the Min Min light, how it is used as a cautionary
tale by Aboriginal people and classes will be able to learn more
about this light using the Internet.
The illustrations, presented in a naive style, suit the innocence of
the lad scurrying through the bush at night to escape his perceived
fate. The strong colours crowd in on him, the bright green of the
bushes frame his face, the multi colours of the Min Min light stand
out against the duller colours of the background, and the blanket
makes a welcome soothing colour for the boy when he reaches the
safety of his bedroom.
It is wonderful to see a new range of Aboriginal stories for kids to
read, whether they be at home, in a library or in class. All
Australian children will learn more about the culture that has
been here for thousands of years, students will increase their
awareness of other stories they have not heard, and stories such as
this can be included in the curriculum for all to share. This is the
second story by Uncle Joe Kirk of the Wallu Wakku people in
Brisbane, with Karara, the story of the father emu published
by Scholastic in 2014.
Fran Knight
Moon at nine by Deborah Ellis
Allen & Unwin, 2015. ISBN 9781760111977
(Age: 14+) Recommended. Same sex relationships, Iran, Historical
novel, Prison. Fifteen year old Farrin goes to an elite school in
Tehran, one her mother also attended as a young woman, but she is
ambitious and smart and does not want to be part of the afternoon
tea group her mother attends with her friends. It is 1988, and the
country is at war with Iraq, which supported by the USA, is trying
to take over the country now that the Shah has been deposed and the
Ayatollah Homeini is in power. But her parents are not happy with
this situation.
At school, Farrin must always be aware of keeping her secrets,
especially when one of the school monitors, Pargol dislikes her and
taunts her. But one day Farrin meets another girl in the school,
Sadira, one to whom she can confide her secrets and as their
relationship matures they fall in love.
This is an engrossing story of two young woman in a country where
they have no voice, where they are told that their relationship will
bring disgrace upon their families, and their parents advised to get
them married as soon as possible. It is Pargol who has seen them and
she tells the school principal what she saw. Already another in
their peer group has been taken away to prison by the Revolutionary
Guard for distributing pamphlets about women's rights, so they know
what can happen to them.
They fight to communicate with each other, eventually deciding to
escape, but the Revolutionary Guard arrests them both. In prison,
Farrin is almost hanged but her father's driver whisks her away, but
as she finds out she is in a position just as precarious.
Ellis crafts a taut, moving story, taking us into the minds of two
gay girls with no support whatsoever in a country where being gay
means being executed. Based on a true story told to Ellis several
years ago, this tale will widen her fan base. Ellis is the award
winning author of the Parvana series of books, amongst many
others telling of young people surviving in appalling situations.
The background revealing the utter chaos as opposing forces vie for
power after one power base has disintegrated, reflects what is
happening in many countries around the world. No more so than when a
right wing group takes control, seizing all power within their own
hands and using fear, torture and execution as a means of
maintaining that power.
Fran Knight
