Ill. by Jacqui Davis. Frankie Fox - Girl Spy. Lothian
Children's Books, 2015. ISBN 9780734415707
For afficiandos of EJ 12, Frankie Fox, aimed at a
slightly older audience, has all the attributes to keep them
reading. Not only is she a capable spy but the boy band of the
title, Band of Brothers, is enough to make any music fan
curious, especially as they appear to be modelled on One
Direction.
Frankie (Francesca) lives with her father, a billionaire scientist
and her dog Boss in Harbour City where she attends school and
pursues her career as a junior spy for Griffin, against the evil
Alliance. After participating in a school Robot Wars Tournament and
progressing to the next round, Frankie is sent to Edinburgh
Scotland, by Griffin, where she meets up with other agents and is
excited to attend a Band of Brothers concert. There they
discover that the band's song Freedom appears to brainwash
the audience. Despite what appears to be an earthquake in the middle
of the concert which causes chaos, the band members carry on their
performance unfazed. Alliance is suspected.
Attending a Symposium of Bright Young Minds at the Institute of
Autonomous Robotics and Artificial Life in Aberdeen, Frankie and
partner JJ are to investigate the involvement of Professor Boffini
who it is believed is developing a robot army with less than
honourable intentions. Frankie escapes after a confrontation with
Boffini and his army which confirms all their suspicions.
The action then moves back to Harbour City where it is up to Frankie
and JJ to save the city by preventing Band of Brothers singing their
signature tune, Freedom, and expose Boffini and his robots army.
The easy to read text has a quote from the Spy's Handbook to begin
each chapter which will help readers predict the action to follow.
The smaller font size of the print may be a turn off for some
readers who otherwise would enjoy the characters and action packed
adventures.
Sue Keane
Alice in Wonderland : Down the Rabbit Hole a Modern Retelling by Lewis Carroll <br>
Retold by Joseph Rhatigan and Charles Numberg. Ill. by Eric
Puybaret. Koala Books, 2015. ISBN 9781742761411
The 150th celebration of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by
Lewis Carroll this year, was the impetus for publishing this picture
book retelling of part of the classic tale. Young readers are
introduced to Alice, the White Rabbit and a few of the animals that
inhabit the topsy-turvey world down the rabbit hole, in a way that
retains the magic of the original but in a simplified, modern style.
Sitting on the river bank Alice is having an ordinary day when a
white rabbit ' . . with pink eyes, a red jacket and a great big
pocket watch' runs by. Being a curious girl, Alice follows him and
finds herself falling down the hole only to see the rabbit disappear
down a hallway at the bottom.
Alice has a disconcerting time either drinking or eating cake,
making her smaller or bigger in an effort to access the beautiful
garden on the other side of a tiny door. There she meets Mouse,
Duck, Eaglet and Dodo before once again following the rabbit and
finally coming across the Blue Caterpillar who helps her return to
normal size. As Alice wonders how to get back to the riverbank she
knows that what lies ahead will not be so ordinary after all.
The phrases which are most remembered from this early part of the
story such as 'Curiouser and curiouser!' and 'Oh my ears and
whiskers how late it's getting' are retained in this retelling which
is but a small part of the whole and certainly much more accessible
for young readers than the original.
The richly coloured illustrations help the reader manage the
absurdity of Alice's situation as we look down on a shrinking Alice
and up at her growing. The animal characters have a human feel
dressed as they are in top hats and coats especially the White
rabbit as he zooms through the pages focussed on his watch. The
background plants and trees have a surreal look with the last page
hinting at other characters yet to come with a tea party setting in
the distance and a smiling cat perched in a tree.
Sue Keane
First Things First: Selected Letters of Kate Llewellyn 1977-2004 edited by Ruth Bacchus and Barbara Hill
Wakefield Press, 2015. ISBN: 9781743053645
(Age: 16+) Highly recommended. Ruth Bacchus and Barbara Hill are
researchers at Charles Sturt University (Bathurst). They have
compiled an anthology of letters written by Kate Llewellyn to her
friends and fellow authors and writers.
Kate Llewellyn (poet and author) has published many notable works,
including her most recent book, A Fig at The Gate (2014).
These letters have the reader peeking into Kate's life to see her as
funny, vulnerable, weary and energetic. The letters give insight
into her simple pleasures such as making Christmas cakes, growing
seeds and gardening. They also describe her as a writer, from
miserable experiences as a writer in residence to pleasant surprises
such as a reviewer (SA's Katherine England) actually reading her
work when Kate's experience was that many reviewers had not actually
read her work.
They also reveal an author who was constantly on the move and had
opinions on feminism that were bold for their day.
'I took a taxi home and the driver said I was the third drunk lady
he had driven that night and wondered what was going on in the town
and I said 'It's the Women's Arts Festival, mate, and there's about
a thousand of us in the same state'.
Kate, and the recipients of the letters, are still alive.
Opportunities to hear her speak lend authenticity to these letters
and reinforce the frankness and honesty with which she writes.
Linda Guthrie
Splosh for the billabong by Ros Moriaty
Ill. Balarinji. Allen & Unwin, 2015. ISBN 9781760112127 Summer rain by Ros Moriary
Ill. Balarinji. Allen & Unwin, 2015. ISBN 9781760112110
(Age: Junior primary) Recommended. Early readers. Aboriginal themes.
Indi Kindi Early Literacy Project. The Indi Kindi
Early Literacy Project aims to assist young Aboriginal
children in remote communities reach the basic levels in Australia's
literacy benchmarks. With this aim in mind, Moriarty has produced
these two books, Splosh for the billabong and Summer
rain, with an emphasis on words and images found in these
communities. Kangaroos hop and Ten scared fish have
also been reviewed on Readplus. Each of these books introduces children to aspects of
their community and adds words, some known and others not well known,
to describe what they are seeing on the page. Accompanying the
boldly placed words are images which swirl around the page, offering
colour and patterns amongst which are animals easily recognised by
the student.
In Splosh for the billabong, we see the billabong at river's
bend where ants and flowers, tree roots, birds and fish can be
found. Each description is brief, with wonderful words for young
children to say out loud, to ponder their meaning and add their own
flavour. The rain comes making the land by the waterhole squishy,
allowing the crabs to dig their hidey holes, and making the ground
soft to do some finger painting.
In Summer rain, too, words and images fill each colourful
page, showing the things which occur through the day from sunrise to
sunset. The words used all evoke images and feelings, such as
lizards crawl, wind scatters, rain splutters, wattles burst and fish
feed. Each describes an activity which children could emulate, and
discuss the various uses of that word while watching the brightly
formed pages.
For any early learner these books fill a niche in encouraging
younger children to open their eyes to what is about them, using
their natural environment to help their vocabulary and understanding
of language. The last two pages of each book has the story in
Yanyuwa language of Northern Australia.
Fran Knight
Muddle & Mo by Nikki Slade Robinson
Starfish Bay, 2015. ISBN 9780994100757
(Age: 2-5) Ducks. Goats. Identity. Muddle is a small yellow
duck who peppers her friend Mo, a very long-suffering white goat
with lots of questions. Muddle compares her duck features with Mo's,
they are different colours, the goat's beak is hairy, his wings are
on his head, even his poos are different. As they walk together, Mo
is silent, he's a listener. When they arrive at Goat Farm, Muddle's
lightbulb moment occurs and he sees why Mo is different. Mo finds
his voice and explains to his little friend 'You are one hundred
percent duck!'
Set on a textural background of compressed cardboard, Muddle and Mo
are simply and expressively painted. With simple brush strokes, we
see Muddle's beak opened wide to state his ideas about wings or be
surprised about the different kinds of beaks. This is an easy to
read story, a simple tale of two animals' friendship and a search
for identity. Nikki Slade Robinson's observations about her own pets
gave her the core idea for this story.
Rhyllis Bignell
12 annoying monsters: Self-talk for kids with anxiety by Dawn Meredith
Shining Press 2013. ISBN 9781876870669
As a teacher, Dawn Meredith has encountered and worked with many
children suffering from anxiety - anxiety so debilitating that it
interferes with their daily lives. As a sufferer herself she felt
she had something to offer them to help them help themselves and so
she has written this book in which she talks directly to the child
to help them understand their fears and then overcome them.
Using language they can understand but which treats them with
dignity and acknowledges their intelligence, she explains what
anxiety is and invites them to analyse their feelings, offering
lists of words that will help describe them. She also offers
step-by-step suggestions for getting in control such as breathing
deeply, letting yourself go floppy and banishing the bad thoughts.
Because she has already taught the child about the physiological
effects of feeling anxious, these steps connect directly to this and
so make sense. That in itself is calming and helps the sufferer
understand that they can be in control.
She then tackles the twelve annoying monsters that are the most
common causes of anxiety in children such as 'Bad things always
happen to me'; 'Everything must be perfect'; 'I'm all alone and no
one loves me' and 'It's my fault.' For each one there is an
explanation of the message the monster is giving showing that the
monster is wrong, is a liar, or is pathetic and then offers
suggestions for self-talk to drown out its voice and practical steps
to banish it. Apart from all of the great advice in this book, the
fact that it's available shows that no one is alone with their
fears, they are not freaks but a member of a larger group all with
the same feelings, and offers the sufferers some comfort. 'No one
would bother to make the time and energy to write such a thing if
your fear was unique and isolated - you are not alone in this' can
be the message that starts the road to recovery and control.
Given that as teacher librarians we are often the first port of call
when someone wants a title that will help a child in a specific
situation, this is a must-have on the shelves and worth a whisper in
the ear of any students you know that need it. More information is
at the author's website.
Barbara Braxton
All the bright places by Jennifer Niven
Penguin, 2015. ISBN 9780141357034
(Age: 16+) Recommended. Suicide. Grief. Mental Illness.
Bullying. This is the first YA novel from an established American
author, and in this poignant and heart-wrenching novel she addresses
some very complex issues that have personally shaped her life.
Recent YA novels, like John Green's The Fault in our stars,
have addressed serious and challenging issues of life and death and
this novel by Niven is in a very similar style; pathos and humour
interwoven with the challenging issues of family grief, mental
illness and suicide. All the bright places begins with a suicide rescue as the two
central characters meet while both are staring at the ground from
the high vantage of the school bell tower. 'Is this a good day to
die?' is the opening line. From this precarious start, we are
introduced to Theodore Finch and Violet Markey, who are both dealing
with weighty issues in their life; one who is obviously troubled by
grief and the other unique in his tenuous and unusual hold on life,
sanity and the world. Their encounter begins a friendship and
eventually a romance that takes them wandering through their home
state, all the time gathering unusual memories and experiencing the
roller-coaster ride of romance, mental illness and the life-altering
grief that comes with an untimely death. This sounds incredibly
grim, and yet there is real humour and joy as we see life through
the eyes of the charming yet strange Theodore, and the
slowly blossoming Violet. The impact of grief on Violet is to rob
her of creativity, and yet Theodore seems able to draw out of her a
new vision of the world and of life. References connecting the
central characters to the words of Virginia Woolf and other literary
masters who battled (and lost to) depression, are scattered
throughout the book. Relationships with adults are secondary in this
book, but seen through the eyes of the young people, we get a
glimpse of the difficulty that depression, mental illness and grief
are for teens. The adults too, are battling their own issues, and
counselling and strategies to move forward are not clear cut.
Bullying and violence issues are also highlighted in the book and
demonstrate that young people do not deal well with mental illness.
School is not always a good place to find 'bright places'.
My concern with this book is that the issues it deals with may be
too weighty for some young people to handle well. Recommended, with
some trepidation, for 16+ readers, as identifying the vulnerable is
not always easy, and this book may be too confronting for some,
particularly for those battling their own mental health issues.
However the book's transformation to film will invariably mean that
younger readers will be wanting to read this too.
Carolyn Hull
Stories for Simon by Lisa Miranda Sarzin and Lauren Briggs
Random House Australia Children's, 2015. ISBN 9780857987440
(Age: All) Highly recommended. 'We all stand on sacred ground: Learn,
respect and celebrate' - NAIDOC theme 2015
Kevin Rudd's Apology to the Stolen Generations in February 2008 was
momentous for all Australians - both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.
And it is critically important that we teach our children the
significance of this in order to nurture the healing in a meaningful
way and to promote a positive future for all our people.
This beautifully written and illustrated book is destined to be a
key title in this educative process for younger children as the
collaborators (and long-time friends) transform the huge issues
surrounding this acknowledgement of a dark time in our nation's
history into a story that even small children can readily grasp.
Simon collects many beautiful things such as shells and feathers and
fossils. When he is sent a boomerang as a gift to start a new
collection, he immediately takes it to school to show everyone. The
old newspaper in which it is wrapped becomes the focus of many
questions as the teacher spots these words 'For the pain, suffering
and hurt, we say SORRY'. After the class discussion about this
tragic history, Simon's thoughts and dreams reflect his new
knowledge. A dream of raining 'sorry' stones becomes a reality and
the beginning of a new friendship, a new 'collection' of special
stories and a new appreciation of First Australians' past.
Sarzin and Briggs were mentored throughout the creative process by
Indigenous Elder Vic Simms, ensuring that both text and
illustrations were sensitively handled with all due respect. He says
'I believe this book will generate interest, understanding and
reconciliation for the future, starting with the minds of children
and by telling a story that is seen through their innocent eyes.'
Suzy Wilson, founder of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, states
'This book is a welcome and important addition to school libraries
and bookshelves everywhere. It will provoke important conversations
between parents and children, in classrooms and throughout the
community'.
Highly recommended for all readers, particularly younger primary
students, this is a must have for your collection to continue
developing cross-cultural understandings.
Sue Warren
Pig the fibber by Aaron Blabey
Scholastic, 2015. ISBN 9781743629062
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Humour. Lying. Relationships. The
irrepressible Pig the Pug is back with Blabey's hilarious dog
staring out from the front cover, a crayon in his mouth, the word
Pug crossed out and fibber overwritten. Pig's eyes are nervously
darting to the left, knowing he has done something wrong and waiting
for his discovery, a story already developed to explain what
happened. So much on the front cover! And the fun continues inside
as we see the poor sausage dog, Trevor, lounging cheerily on his
bed, unaware of the blame about to be apportioned to him.
I love Blabey's work. His rhyming stories are filled with interest
and layers of meaning. They appeal to the reader and listener, to
the child and the adult, the discussion ensuing from the tightly
controlled stories always a treat, while the illustrations so full
of character and mirth, are sure to engage any reader in the
insights offered into human behaviour.
As the reader turns the pages of this book, Pig's misdeeds are
shown. Each double page has Pig doing something wrong, and then
blaming the hapless Trevor. Many children will recognise the
character, friend, sibling or foe who blames them for someone else's
bad deeds, and so will turn the pages to see how this story is
resolved.
Pig wants to get at the bag of biscuits placed in a high shelf. He
lets off a huge stink, blaming Trevor, of course, which clears the
room, and while no one is about scrambles on a chair to get at the
bag, with disastrous consequences.
A lovely story of greediness, of blaming others, of lying to get
your own way, children will laugh out loud at Pig and his antics,
and love the resolution where the long suffering Trevor still has
enough compassion in his heart to help Pig in his convalescence.
Fran Knight
The soldier's wife by Pamela Hart
Hachette, 2015. ISBN 9780733633737
(Age: Upper Secondary students) Well recommended. This is a story
of a society in 1915 where women stayed at home looking after their
children. Ruby is just married and Jimmy has gone to war. She finds
a position with Mr Curry's city merchant timber yard. She comes
under scrutiny from the two junior clerks who find a woman in her
position difficult to accept. Mr Curry's son is the Lieutenant in
her husband's force and as the story continues this is the link that
helps Ruby survive, for being a woman in an important position is
not a welcome sight. When her badly injured husband returns, Jimmy
has difficulty with her having job. His injuries and their inability
to communicate sensitively, lead to an almost fatal finale. It's a
time when women had to step in to help with the war overseas but the
returning soldiers had their horrendous nightmares and physical
issues to deal with and Jimmy was wanting to return to the time of
bliss when he left Australia's shores.
It's a compassionate story, no doubt very common and least
understood, even today. Ruby is portrayed as a caring, sensitive and
brave woman, who understood the people she worked with and tried to
understand the husband who came home.
It is a well described story of the times and emotions of the
characters involved. So many stories have been written and this is
realistic, strong and believable.
The text is clear and the style belongs to the era.
Sue Nosworthy
Fish jam by Kylie Howarth
Five Mile Press, 2015. ISBN 9781499800982
(Age: 3-8 years) Toot the fish loves making noise. He swims through
the sea 'scooba-dooba-diddly-dooo'-ing and
'beep-bop-bubbly-booo'-ing, but none of the other sea creatures want
to play with him because they think he is too noisy. Toot is pretty
downhearted. He can't stop making his loud, musical noises but he
keeps being told to 'shhh' and 'shoo!' It isn't until Toot is
unexpectedly swallowed by a huge blue whale that he finds a place
where he fits right in - in the band living inside the whale's
stomach!
This fun picture book uses simple, large illustrations and texture
created through layered colours and printing. Bold writing gives
precedence to the sounds being made by Toot and the other sea
creatures, encouraging young children to make the sounds themselves.
Toot himself is a funny looking fish which highlights the musical
theme of the story. He is the colour of a brass instrument, has a
horn for a nose, clarinet buttons on his back and a guitar tail. The
illustrations focus on facial expressions and emotion as Toot
becomes sadder and sadder as he is shushed and shooed by the other
animals. We also see the anger of the great white sharks as they
shoo away Toot with their stern eyes, sharp teeth and oversized
'SHOO!' The second-to-last page folds out to show the inside of the
whale and the band of sea animals.
This book contains limited narration with only 6 sentences
throughout. Told largely through illustrations, and with the aid of
the dialogue and sounds made by the sea animals, this story is
useful for encouraging inferential comprehension and prediction.
Young children will also enjoy reading the story themselves using
the illustrations and their own imagination.
The last page explains, in a simple sentence, the concept of scat
singing, where nonsense syllables are used instead of words to sing
a song. It encourages the reader to use their own voice as an
instrument and make up their own sounds to make a song. In addition
to its usefulness in text comprehension it would be great to use
when teaching melody and in encouraging children to experiment with
making music. The style of the writing and the illustrations invite
children to become active participants, and is a perfect text for
discussion and involvement.
Nicole Nelson
What makes your body work? by Gill Arbuthnott <br>
Ill. by Marc Mones. Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781472908865
(Age: 9-11) This is a subject every youngster is curious about,
themselves and their body. This book gives the reader information
about various systems and parts of the body, as well as activities
to demonstrate the points made. It will be a useful addition to the
bookshelf for Primary students or Teachers looking for simple
information and experiments.
The brightly coloured pages have simplified textual information
accompanied by either labelled diagrams, as in a cross section of
the human skin, or engaging coloured cartoon styled children adding
information in speech bubbles. The text helps younger students
understand by making comparisons to familiar objects, such as the
blood system related to different sized roads and the surface area
of the villi in the gut equating to a tennis court.
'Try it Yourself' sections accompany almost all chapters giving easy
step by step instructions for the reader to follow, and an
explanation of what they should observe. If equipment is needed
simple diagrams accompany the description.
Thankfully, there are some chapters at the end under the heading
'You can't try it yourself' which include the urinary, reproductive,
hormone and immune systems.
The inclusion of a glossary and some websites, of British origin, to
enable the young researcher to gather more information adds depth to
the information given. An index enables a quick search when looking
for a specific word, while the contents page gives an easy reference
to each chapter.
Sue Keane
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten<br>
Walker Books, 2015. ISBN 9781406362992
(Age: Upper middle school) Highly recommended. Themes: Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Mental illness, Depression, Heroes,
Adolescence, Love, friendship, lies, loyalty, family breakdown.Adam
Walker has the same concerns as most 14 year old boys; will he find
a girlfriend? Is he going to grow? Should he try out for the school
track and field team? All complicated by his obsessive compulsive
disorder (OCD). At a support group for OCD teens Adam falls
instantly in love with new girl, Robyn and vows to pay more
attention in the group, get better and to grow so that she might
like him. In the group they are asked to choose an alter ego as part
of their therapy and almost all choose superhero identities, Robyn
chooses to be Robin and Adam becomes Batman, resolving to be her
hero and fix all her problems. Their romance blossoms and the group
help one another out with their issues as only other sufferers
could. Together they investigate whether the rituals and candle
lighting at the local Catholic Church have anything positive to
offer them. However Adam, who has become central to the wellbeing of
others, is increasingly unable to cope with his own issues which
manifest themselves in escalating compulsions. Loyalty is important
to Adam but he hates lies and it is difficult when he shares his
time between his separated parents. His mother makes him promise to
keep her hoarding and drinking a secret and when she starts to get
threatening letters, which she also wants kept secret, his disorder
ramps up. A crisis point is reached which ultimately brings with it
hope for the future.
In the same way as the funny and self-deprecating main character of
When Mr Dog Bites demystified Tourettes and a range of other
mental illnesses, this book gives us some insight on what it must be
like to live with OCD. Teresa Toten's believable characters are
heroic in the way they strive for normality whilst living with this
debilitating condition yet essentially their struggles will resonate
with all teens finding their place in the world. Highly recommended
for upper middle school boys and girls. A very useful study guide is freely
available on the author's website.
Sue Speck
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson<br>
Pan Macmillan, 2015. ISBN 9781447266150
Highly recommended. Joel wants nothing more than to be a Rithmatist.
He wants to be someone with the unique ability to bring chalk
drawings to life; better known as Chalklings. He wants the right to
defend his world from the Wild Chalklings that plague it. Joel has
spent his whole life following his deceased father's passion, and
learning and studying as much about the Rithmatists as he possibly
can. But only one in one thousand children are chosen, and Joel is
not one of them. However, Joel can draw near-perfect circles; better
than anyone that Professor Finch has seen at Armedius Academy in
years. When students start mysteriously disappearing from the
academy, it is Joel who puts these skills to use and helps Professor
Finch in his investigation. Joel, with the help of his friend
Melody, must join forces to solve the crimes at the academy. But
during their search, they discover more about themselves and their
world than they ever thought possible.
Sanderson's imaginatively written novel draws the reader into his
exceptional world of Armedius Academy. The chalk drawing
illustrations at the beginning of each chapter also helps the reader
put together an image of what the Rithmatists work looks like. His
characters are likeable, and Joel is especially endearing, whilst
Melody is charmingly awkward. The fast-paced action teamed with the
suspense of the slowly unfolding mystery will keep the reader on
their toes, needing to know what happens next.
This gripping and at times quite funny novel is suitable for
children and teens of all ages, but will especially strike a chord
with those who favour mysteries and fantasy.
Emma Gay
Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar<br>
Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN: 9781408864746
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended for a younger audience (aged 9+) for
its dramatic impact in a well-crafted exciting story. Themes:
Bullying; Friendship; Environmental issues. A book about bullying
and an environmental disaster! An unlikely combination in a book,
and yet it works brilliantly. The central character in this story is
in year 5 in an Academy school in America; she is quiet and a
'goody-goody two shoes'. The older boy she walks to school with has
become a target of the newly arrived bully to the school. A simple
decision to walk home via a different route to escape the bully's
threats leads them into 'Fuzzy Mud' and its life-altering and
potentially world-altering consequences. What started as a solution
to future energy needs, has mutated into a deadly organism capable
of world-wide destruction. The young pair's timidity is also
challenged, and they discover strength and friendship they didn't
think was possible.
Sachar, author of Holes, cleverly intertwines this
child-centred tale with its school-focussed issues with the record
of Interview in a Senate Inquiry following the incident and the
record of the mathematical explosion of a binary fission organism.
Carolyn Hull
