Ill. by Lorenzo Mattotti. Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408861981
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Fairy tale, Witchcraft, Graphic
novel. With brooding black and white illustrations covering every
second double page, the familiar text between is permeated with
ominous dread as the children are duped into going into the forest
with their parents. There they are left, the first time finding
their way back home using small white stones dropped to show them
the way, and the second time using breadcrumbs which when eaten by
the birds, leaves them stranded. They discover a gingerbread house
in which lives an old woman who cages Hansel to fatten him up to
eat, forcing Gretel to cook and clean the house for her. But she
eventually outwits the old woman, killing her, releasing Hansel and
so finding their their way back home.
Gaiman has added to the original story, ensuring that modern readers
will equate the situation of the woodcutter and his family to the
plight of many children living with war in our world. Famine forces
the family to make this appalling decision, and today's readers will
have seen instances on television news of families deciding to send
their children to another country in the hope of keeping them alive
or children sold into slavery to save the remainder of the family.
The illustrations are outstanding, shadowing the story with an
overwhelming feeling of disquiet. The black threatening forest wraps
the pages, highlighting the small figures of Hansel and Gretel,
easily overshadowed by its ominous presence.
This is a book to read and reread, to ponder and discuss. It will
send readers back to the original story and its many rewritings, and
encourage readers to discuss the different versions available. An article
on Wikipedia will help here, and it is worth the while to check
library shelves to find other versions which can be read aloud and
shared with the class.
And Gaiman includes an outline of the history of the story and its
retellings at the end of the tale which adds another level of
interest and information. In reading this with a class, it maybe
helpful to encourage children to share what they know of the story
before this version is read, so there is some common understandings
of what the story is about, and when it was originally written, and
readers will clearly see the additions and changes made by
successive authors. This book is an absolute treat.
Fran Knight
Cooper Bartholomew is dead by Rebecca James
Allen & Unwin 2014. ISBN 9781743319239
(Age: 15+) Nineteen-year-old Libby has just lost her new boyfriend,
Cooper, to an apparent suicide. In a series of flashbacks we learn
of their romance, which began after meeting again post-high school.
Libby slowly learns that Cooper is far more than the popular boy she
believed didn't notice her. Thrown into the mix are two other Cooper
admirers, popular, catty ex-girlfriend Claire and rich best friend
Sebastian.As the romance develops we are also transported to
the present and drawn into the fallout of Cooper's death and the
possibility of foul play. Libby is searching for the truth and clues
are slowly, if not subtly, revealed. Learning more about the
characters and their respective feelings and secrets draws readers
into Cooper's world. Friends and family members become suspects in
the mysterious death and incidents from Cooper's past also muddy the
waters.
Realistic characters and a sweet love story at the heart of this
mystery provide much appeal. The final revelation is satisfying, if
a little anti-climatic. The fact that Libby alone believes Cooper
did not commit suicide beggars belief, but her determination to find
the truth makes for a good story. Rebecca James does succeed early
on in creating a compelling read in the whodunit style. Chapters
told from different characters' perspectives add to the empathy and
also work well to create, and then solve the mystery for readers.
Also delving into themes of popularity and 'not judging a book by
its cover', the combination of romance and suspense will appeal
mostly to girls aged 15 and over.
Jessica Smith
Dreamers by Ezekiel Kwaymullina
Ill. by Sally Morgan. Fremantle Press, 2014. ISBN 9781922089700
(Age: 3+) Aboriginal themes, Dreaming. Children run, jump, dance and
sleep across every page as the vibrant colurs swirl around them,
cocooning them, and at the same time, making us more aware of their
creativity and enticing the young reader to look more closely at
their various poses. The images of the children at play in a
multitude of situations are infectious, making the reader marvel at
the variety. Sally Morgan's illustrations bring movement to the
book, showing kids in all sorts of poses, making readers take note
of the few words and what they mean.
Each nine syllable sentence is full of imagery, often an unusual one
which readers will love to think about and discuss as they read the
book. Where else have they come across children described as animal
talkers and river runners, or rainbow dancers and night callers. I
had to stop at the end of each phrase to muse on the range of
meanings implied.
Full of fun and the joy of living, the book is a treat to read a
loud and read alone. The luminous illustrations will grab the
readers' attention and easily lure them into the fun and happiness
of life. I can imagine lots of classes using this book as a model
for their art and dance, acting and movement
I was surprised that so little information was given in the book
about Ezekiel and Sally as this always gives clues about the
background of the author and illustrator and perhaps point to where
the ideas came from.
Information on Fremantle
Press website, gives more information about this partnership
of author and illustrator and teacher notes can be found here.
Fran Knight
Jake in Space: Moon Attack by Candice Lemon-Scott
New Frontier Publishing, 2014. ISBN 9781925059090
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. The opening chapter of this story
should engage its readers - driving at age 11, telepathy, living on
a space station, going to the moon . . .
Our main character, Jake, has struggled to pass his space car
driving test and is now being sent to remedial driving school. To
say he is embarrassed is probably an understatement! The story
continues as Jake starts to make new friends but there is something
strange about Henry. He talks funny, seems to know everything and
Jake is sure he saw Henry going outside without a space suit.
Impossible! Who is Henry? Is he a robot? Is he the good guy? Why is
he always sneaking around? Jake in Space: Moon Attack moves quickly, is full of all
things 'spacey' and will take readers on an imaginative journey to
the impossible. It is highly recommended for readers aged 9+. The
vocabulary used is descriptive but easy to read, it is full of whizz
bang technology we see in the movies and will have readers engaged
from beginning to end.
Kylie Kempster
The talkative tombstone by Ursula Dubosarsky
Ill. by Terry Denton. The cryptic casebook of Coco Carlomagno
series. Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN 9781743319529
(Ages 6-9) Highly recommended. This is the sixth book in the popular
Coco Carlomagno series. Alberta the guinea pig is very
excited to receive a card from her cousin Coco, the chief of police
in Buenos Aires. She travels to South America where together they
must solve the mystery of why the tombstone of a beloved tango
singer has started to talk. Once again Alberta's practical nature
helps the anxious Coco to remain calm when his nerves threaten to
get the better of him.
Containing puzzles, codes to break and amusing illustrations by the
wonderful Terry Denton, this book will delight children as they help
the characters to solve the mystery. There are some great examples
of amusing word-play to engage the imagination, and as with the
other titles in the series, readers are also introduced to some
Spanish words via a glossary.
Donella Reed
The Awesome Book of Awesomeness by Adam Frost
Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014. ISBN 9781408851180
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. The Awesome Book of Awesomeness is a
fun filled fact book with eye catching illustrations. Find out how
big the largest donut is. Find out how many hours of sleep different
animals need compared to humans. Do you want to find out how long
the longest roller coaster is?
Highly recommended for all readers aged 8+. It would be great for
reluctant readers due to the small amounts of text and a different
topic on each page.
Kylie Kempster
Look and See by Shane Morgan
Magabala Books, 2014. ISBN 9781922142221.
Highly recommended for emerging readers or your kids who may be
struggling with reading. What a delightful Early Reader book this
is! Apparently first released 1999, this a super picture book
with simple text and striking illustrations for beginning readers.
Earthy colours and an array of Australian native fauna are combined
to give the developing young reader a resonant reading experience.
This is the Australian version of those wonderful PM Early Readers
my Year 1s thrived on many years ago. The rhyming text is not
complex but also never dull.
Shane Morgan, can you please do some more?
I love the simple and repetitive but not 'same' text and I adore the
stylised illustrations with the echoed colours.
If you have Preppies, children challenged to read or young
disengaged readers, this is a terrific book - and I do hope to see
more.
Sue Warren
The unexpected crocodile by Kim Kane
Ill. by Sara Acton. Allen and Unwin, 2014. ISBN 9781760111731
(Ages: 5+) Recommended. Picture book, Paperback edition, Cautionary
tale. The glorious scene of the unexpected crocodile turning up to
Peggy's place to join the family for dinner, will entice readers
into this book. With his bright red umbrella and jaunty red bow tie,
the crocodile almost swaggers into the house. It has rained for
weeks, and mum and dad have been frantically getting the sodden
house ready for their neighbours, but when answering the doorbell,
Peggy is surprised by the crocodile asking if the Dawsons have
already arrived. 10 minutes later, they do arrive, complete with
their three rather unlovely boys and a croquembouche that Mrs Dawson
has made for desert, telling everyone that the boys made it. The
boys each reject the food offered and the crocodile eats their
mother, boots and all. Later, when looking at the clock, he eats Mr
Dawson, and when the odious boys ask for croquembouche rather than
the coleslaw, he eats them too. A wonderful end to an obnoxious
family. This story will bring whoops of laughter from its
audience as the crocodile does the most unexpected things. Readers
will laugh as the crocodile dressed in his best bow tie turns up to
dinner, and whoop with delight when he eats the lying mother, the
timid father and the three nasty boys. Salting them first of course.
The wonderful illustrations will beguile the most diffident of
readers into the story, adding another level of humour to the words,
and acquainting them with a wide vocabulary as they read. Sara
Acton's website gives
further illustrations which children will love, particularly the one
of her on the home page, burrowing away with her drawing. Kim Kane's
other books include Pip, the story of Olive and The vegetable ark,
both of which are award winners. This is a paperback edition of the
book first published as a hardcover in 2012. It is great to see it
once more, and I laughed out loud all over again, as will the
readers.
Fran Knight
Rooms by Lauren Oliver
Hodder and Stoughton, 2014. ISBN 9781444760774
(Age: Adult - Senior secondary) Recommended. 'People, Caroline
thought were like houses. They could open their doors. You could
walk through their rooms and touch the objects hidden in their
corners. But something - the structure, the wiring, the invisible
mechanism that kept the whole thing standing - remained invisible,
suggested only by the fact of its existence at all' p310. This is
the premise behind Lauren Oliver's latest book. A premise she
explores through the creation of a house in Coral River which is
initially inhabited by the ghosts of Margaret and Alice. But their
tenuous peace is rudely interrupted when the current owner of the
house, Richard Walker dies and his somewhat estranged and definitely
dysfunctional family return to 'clean up'. The reader is introduced
to Richard's alcoholic ex-wife Caroline, her sex crazed daughter,
Minna and barely functioning son, Trenton. As the family cleans out
each room the reader is given background commentary of events that
have taken place both in the lives of the living and the dead: some
that are shocking and others that are just sad. As the traumatic
days before Richard's Memorial service pass secrets and lies are
revealed. To add to the mix another ghost arrives and a strange girl
enters Trenton's life who in the end could be his saviour.
While the story is a jigsaw of events in its structure it is bound
together by the remembrances of all of these personalities and the
reader's desire to know the truth behind their apparently
dysfunctional lives. Yet despite their behaviour it is difficult to
really dislike any of the characters especially as more and more of
their history is revealed. The death of a family member, as always,
evokes memories of forgotten times, both pleasurable and disturbing.
A bright light of the narrative is Minna's young daughter Amy, who
while being aware of the ghosts is innocent in her perception.
While this novel is 'disturbing' it is not the supernatural that
makes it so. It is the tragedy of these people's lives and the truth
of what Trenton says at the end that, 'The past 'comes' along with
you whether you want it to or not' p336.
Barb Rye
Tim and Ed by Ursula Dubosarsky
Ill. by Andrew Joyner. Penguin, 2014. ISBN 9780670074631
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Siblings, Twins, Similarities,
Difference, Independence. Twin koalas, Tim and Ed are the same. they
have the same faces, arms, legs and noses. They look at their father
and wonder why there is only one of him, and the ducks when there
are so many ducklings. When Tim falls into the pond he is pulled out
by Dad, and Ed jumps in as well. After a noisy bath time Dad tells
the boys that Auntie Pim is taking Ed to stay with her for one
night. Tim is rather dismayed but Dad says they will do lots
together. At each house, Tim is shown with Dad having a good time on
their bikes, while Ed is enjoying his stay with Auntie Pim, playing
trains. But at night when they go to bed, a little wistfulness
occurs, as Tim looks over at the empty bed in their bedroom, and Ed
looks sadly at his image in the mirror.
The following day when Ed returns, Auntie Pim says that she will
take Tim for an overnight stay next time. The three go down to the
pond again and see that the ducklings are no longer there. They have
grown up and flown away.
In four line stanzas, Dubosarsky tells her story of difference. Tim
and Ed may be the same, looking the same, but they are different
beings, and in this story they are growing up, like the ducklings,
soon to fly on their own, but with a strong family and sibling bond
behind them. This is a lovely story of difference, of accepting
difference and similarity, of a child's place in the family, of
growing up. With its wonderful vibrant illustrations, showing the
two being together, of doing all sorts of things together, then
staying apart for one night, Joyner ensures that the readership will
empathise with the two little boys and their developing
independence.
Fran Knight
Deadly D and Justice Jones: Making the Team by Scott Prince and Dave Hartley
Magabala Books, 2014. ISBN 9781922142184
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Dylan is 11 and has moved from Mt Isa
to Brisbane as a result of his mum's new job. On his first day of
school, Dylan tries to help a boy being bullied when he is attacked
as well. Unfortunately, Dylan is cursed and the bullies get a bit
more than they bargained for. When Dylan gets angry, he changes into
a huge, hairy man creature. Thankfully, Dylan still manages to make
a friend - Justice Jones. There is also another good thing that
comes from this curse - he is seen by the Broncos rugby league team
and asked to join them as a player.
Deadly D and Justice Jones is an easy to read, quick moving story.
The main character is Aboriginal and his best mate is from New
Zealand, giving all boys who love reading a positive role model no
matter their cultural background. The book has a definitive Aussie
flavour, from the slang used by Dylan to the towns it is set in. It
would be great for reluctant readers who are a little bit sport mad
and the fact this was co-written by a rugby league player is another
drawcard. Highly recommended for boys aged 8+.
Kylie Kempster
Santa's Outback Secret by Mike Dumbleton
Ill. by Tom Jellett. Random House, 2014. ISBN 9780857982254
(Age: Preschool - Yr 3) It is just a couple of weeks before
Christmas and Santa is very busy carefully reading his Christmas
mail. But when he opens a letter from Ben, he pauses and thinks and
reads it again and again. For Ben has requested something really
special . . . something that makes Santa interrupt his Christmas
preparations, put on a disguise and leave the North Pole.. Dressed
in some torn blue jeans stained with dirt, a snake-skin belt and an
open shirt, old boots, a hat, a waterbag, a stockman's whip and a
canvas swag, he has his reindeer fly him to the outback where he
finds an old homestead and knocks on the door . . . (if I say much more I
will give away the secret!)
This is another fun story in rhyme from Mike Dumbleton and Tom
Jellett who brought us Santa's Secret a couple of years ago and
which was such a hit with young students. They really liked the idea
that they might meet a stranger on the beach and I'm sure many spent
their Christmas holidays in anticipation! Finding Christmas stories
that are a bit different can be a difficult task but I really
enjoyed this one because it focuses on the giving side of Christmas
rather than the getting. Santa is struck by the unselfishness of
Ben's request and it opens up the possibilities of what we can do
for someone as a gift rather than what we can buy.
If you are looking for a new Christmas story to add to your
collection, this would be an ideal addition.
Barbara Braxton
Cartboy goes to camp by L.A. Campbell
Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN 9781743317754
(Ages: 8-12) Hal Rifkind, a.k.a. Cartboy, returns in this second
title in the series. Hal's dad is sending him to summer camp at Camp
Jamestown, the only problem being that this is a history camp, where
nothing has changed for 400 years. Of course, the school bully is
also at the camp, tormenting Hal and generally making life even more
miserable. At least Hal and his new friends have something to keep
their minds off their worries - a treasure map!
The book is written as a series of letters to a futuristic being
(Hal is hoping they will find a way of travelling back through time
to save him from camp) and it feels too contrived, playing to the Diary
of a Wimpy Kid format. While some of the time-line
illustrations are amusing, many of the other photos and pictures
don't really add anything to the book other than breaking up the
text. The stereotyping of the major characters and too many
coincidences and story-leaps may be annoying for many readers, and
Australian children won't relate to the American idea of summer
camp.
Donella Reed
Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston
Heart of dread series, bk 1. Orchard, 2014. ISBN 9781408334669
(Age: 15+) Post-Apocalyptic fiction. Gambling. Dystopia. Adventure.
Natasha Kestal is trying to get out of New Vegas, a city now covered
in ice, but still a place where crowds come to the casino in a
desperate bid to win. Nat is a blackjack dealer who longs to go to
'the Blue' a mythical place where the sky is still blue and the sun
shines. She bets on a little group of mercenaries led by Ryan Wesson
to get her there, but can she keep the mark showing her magical
nature a secret from this ragtag group?
This is a strange blend of fantasy and science fiction. There are
the usual features of fantasy: dragons and little men, but the world
that is inhabited is one that has been taken over by ice and fits
into a scenario usually found in Science Fiction. This interesting
world provides the background for the action that is the predominant
feature of the book. Thrills and spills galore, chases through the
countryside and danger at sea and evil pirates all keep the reader
engaged.
Natasha, the main character is likeable and it is easy to become
engrossed in her struggle with her magical nature and her dream of
arriving in a safe place. The budding romance between her and Ryan
is secondary to the action, but there is enough to keep those who
enjoy romance keen to find out how it progresses.
Short sentences would make it a relative easy read for less able and
reluctant readers. However the gambling background of Las Vegas and
the age of the protagonists lends itself to older adolescents. A
cliff-hanger will ensure that those who enjoyed the story will pick
up the next in the series.
Pat Pledger
Chu's First Day at School by Neil Gaiman
Ill. by Adam Rex. Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408847039
It is Chu's first day at school, and like every new-starter he is
worried that the others won't like and they won't be friendly. He is
somewhat dismayed when his teacher asks them all to share their
names and something they are really good at. One by one, she writes
their names and special talents on the board - so many that she has
to keep rubbing them off and starting again. All the while Chu says
nothing but at last it is his turn and suddenly everyone finds out
what he is good at - with catastrophic results.
I've been holding this book back until schools start thinking about
next year's new entrants as transitions to Kindergarten start to
happen and 'big school' is really in the picture. This is lovely
blend of the anticipation and nerves that beset every child who is
starting this new adventure, delightfully offset by Gaiman's humour
and Rex's illustrations.
Barbara Braxton
