Random House, 2014. ISBN 9780857982995.
(Age: 12+) Sasha is a 16 yr old orphan living with her grandfather
until the night she is kidnapped and taken to a parallel universe.
Her mission, which she must accept if she wants to return home
again, is to impersonate Princess Juliana (her double or analogue).
The real princess has been secretly kidnapped by revolutionaries
just days before her marriage to a foreign prince. Sasha must
stand-in for the princess, in order to prevent ongoing animosity and
possible war between the United Commonwealth of Columbia and
adjoining, Farnham. These kingdoms roughly equate to USA and Canada
in Sasha's universe.
Her kidnapper, 18yr old Thomas who is a special agent back in
Columbia, is also an analogue of her long time unrequited love
interest on Earth, Grant. The unsuspecting groom, Prince Callum,
forms a love triangle but Sasha's heart belongs to Thomas - despite
being Sasha's abductor. Complications include a good many power
struggles between a despotic General who rules through a comatose
King, wicked Queens and revolutionary forces.
As far as parallel worlds go, plot and setting are detailed and
credible enough to keep us turning the pages but none of the
characters are particularly endearing or likeable in themselves or
in their interactions. When the adventure ends for Sasha and Grant
after a good many twists and turns, the fates of their analogues
remain uncertain and this is reason enough for lovers of Sci-Fi to
anticipate the sequel.
Deborah Robins
Clementine Rose and the Seaside Escape by Jacqueline Harvey
Random House Australia Children's, 2014. ISBN: 9781742757513.
Love her or loathe her (and I loved her) Enid Blyton was very savvy
about what children liked to read and do and turned that into a
hugely successful career.
The Clementine Rose books put me in mind of EB's foresight,
so much of which is common practice today - children like to collect
'sets', the covers and spines of a series should be instantly
identifiable and look complete on a shelf, children like to read
about, and identify with, ordinary characters and settings with a
pinch of adventure or mischief thrown in, naughtiness is not
acceptable nor rewarded and vocabulary should not be so challenging
as to put off readers.
This is the 5th in the Clementine Rose series and in this
story, CR is on a holiday at the beach with her family, while their
own hotel is being renovated. Lady Clarissa, (Clementine's adopted
mother - see previous books!), Uncle Digby, Aunt Violet and Lavender
the teacup pig are very pleased to be at Endersely-on-Sea and find
their landlady, Mrs Dent, very welcoming. Mrs Dent's grandchildren
are also staying and while Freddy is also very friendly, Della is a
nasty little girl who needs putting in her place.
Playing on the beach, exploring caves holding secrets and a tiny pig
escaping during a wild storm are all part of Clementine Rose's
holiday - and all guaranteed to hold the interest of small girls of
six and up - either reading independently or as a read-aloud.
Find out more about Clementine Rose here.
Sue Warren
Jacob's new dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman
Ill. by Chris Case. Albert Whitman, 2014. ISBN 9780807563731.
There are many costumes to choose from in the class dress-up corner
- firemen, dragons, farmers, knights in shining armour - but Jacob
insists on wearing the princess dress complete with crown. Even when
Ms Wilson suggests alternatives to deflect the derision he is
receiving, particularly from Christopher, he proudly informs her
that he is the princess. At home that afternoon, his mother
reaffirms that boys can wear dresses and even suggests he plays in
his Hallowe'en witch's outfit but when he proposes to wear it to
school the next day she is caught in a dilemma of acknowledging her
son's choices and protecting him for the cruelty of his classmates.
When Jacob creates an alternative - a toga-like outfit he makes from
towels - she is happier, especially when Jacob agrees to wear shorts
and a shirt underneath.
However, while his friend Emily admires his creation, that is not
enough for Christopher and the rest of the boys who cannot deal with
Jacob's nonconformist persona and Jacob goes home miserable and
confused, but determined. He asks his mother to make him a real
dress but she hesitates, and the longer she hesitates the harder it
is for Jacob to breathe. Will his mum support what for him is a
natural expression of who he is, or will she try to protect him from
the Christophers of the world?
Just ten years ago, there was a 'Jacob' at the school where I taught
- a young lad who preferred the princess outfits, made long hair
from plaited pantyhose, and whose choices made him not only the butt
of the playground bullies but also the subject of many
teacher-parent and teacher-teacher conferences as we tried to find a
way through the minefield that saw him become more and more anxious
and isolated as he progressed through the years. Gender identity
issues were not common - in fact, our Jacob was the first gender
nonconforming child that many of us had taught. In hindsight and
with what we know now, his dependence in other areas was just a
manifestation of his insecurity and need to be acknowledged like a
regular child, that he was more than his gender confusion and we
needed to look harder beneath the outer to seek the inner. How
welcome a book like Jacob's New Dress would have been to
give us some guidance, for like Jacob's parents in the story,
teachers too are trapped in the dilemma of acknowledgement and
protection. Ms Wilson tells her class that Jacob wears what he's
comfortable in. Just like you do. Not very long ago little girls
couldn't wear pants. Can you imagine that?" If we don't make
judgements about a girl's future sexuality because she prefers to
wear blue jeans and to play football, why do we react so strongly to
a boy making alternative choices?
This story was born of the authors' own experience with their own
child and while there are many unanswered questions about both the
cause of and the future for such children, the strong message is
that 'support and acceptance from family, peers and community make a
huge difference in the future health and mental health of these
kids'. Just like any child, really. Ms Wilson is a role model for
teachers - gender nonconformity is just another way of being
different and 'there are many ways to be boys [and girls].' Just a
couple of generations ago people who were left-handed often had the
offending hand ties behind their back to compel them to write with
their right - perhaps it won't be too long before 'pink boys' are as
accepted as lefties are today. Perhaps we could start the
conversations with questions such as:
If Jacob were in our class, are you more likely to be like Emily or
Christopher?
How would you feel if someone made fun of you wearing your favourite
clothes or wouldn't let you wear them?
Has that happened to you? Do you want to share?
Why do you think Christopher reacts the way he does?
What did you like/not like about the way Ms Wilson dealt with the
issue?
If you were Jacob's mum or dad, what decision would you make?
Apart from anything else, an astute teacher will pick up on any
sexism issues that might be bubbling below the surface.
However, there is another level to this book. While, on the surface,
this appears to be a picture book for the young (the recommended age
is 4-7) it would also be a brilliant springboard to a study about
what is masculine and what is feminine and the messages portrayed
through the media about what is valued about and for each; the
relationship between the clothes we wear and our perceived position
in society; and whether, despite the feminist movement, whether
deep-down core values and beliefs have really changed. Are
gender-based stereotypes perpetuated? In the vein of Tomie dePaola's
Oliver Button is a Sissy this is yet another example of a
picture book (usually seen as the reading realm of the very young)
actually having an audience of all ages.
Barbara Braxton
The ABC Book of Seasons by Helen Martin and Judith Simpson
Ill. by Cheryl Orsini. ABC Books/ HarperCollins, 2014. ISBN
9780733331954.
'Season come . . . seasons go . . .sun shines . . .winds blow. . .rain falls. . .plants
grow'. As winter starts to take its grip on Australia once
again, this is a great book to help our youngest readers learn about
the seasons. Each season has its own group of pages that show
a range of familiar sights, colours and activities and concludes
with a question that draws the child into sharing their own ideas
and experiences.
It is also Australian with words and illustrations that are familiar
to our children. 'Autumn' is used rather than 'fall' and there are
beaches, barbecues, picnics and parks which will help the reader
connect with the story. Even though the winter snow scenes
might be new to many, the children that I shared this with were
quite tickled that here was a picture that they could really relate
to, given where we live. While many of them could describe just what
it feels like to be on a chairlift, it also started a conversation
about what winter was like in other parts of Australia. They
were fascinated that there were places where beaches and barbecues
were everyday things all year round!
While nonfiction books about the seasons abound, there are very few
that are as charming and appealing as this one for this age
group. The authors and illustrators have got it just right for
their target audience, and it is one that can be read and reread
throughout the year as the calendar and the planet turn.
Barbara Braxton
Billy is a dragon series by Nick Falk
Ill. by Tony FLowers. Random House, 2014. First Bite. ISBN 9780857983053. ebk ISBN 9780857983060. Werewolves Beware. ISBN 9780857983077. ebk ISBN
9780857983084.
Billy's life changes the day he walks into Benny's Pet Shop because
they are having special discounts for 10th birthday presents for
boys named Billy. Billy already has Bertha, an ageing bulldog whom
he loves very much, so he thinks about a fish or a parrot. But Benny
leads him towards the lizards, and even though Billy knows both his
mum and sister are terrified of them, he is captivated by one which
Benny tells him is called the dragON lizard. Determined to know what
it feels like he sticks his finger in the cage and it bites
him. With a painfully swollen finger which keeps swelling, they head
home and eventually Billy goes to bed nursing it as it continues to
swell and thinking of his upcoming birthday party. Next morning,
while his finger no longer hurts, he's amazed to discover it has
turned green and grown an enormous black claw! And that's just the
start of it. even though Billy might find being a dragon protects
him from bullies, teachers and his sister Becky, when his parents
decide that dragons belong in a zoo he has to make a critical
decision as well as an agonising discovery. Is he a Shifter who can
change shape or a Plain who stays stuck as he is?
Written at a fast clip, interspersed with eye-catching fonts to
emphasise the mood and the meaning, this is a new series from the
creators of Saurus Street written to capture the imaginations of
those on the cusp of being independent readers and moving onto
novels. Billy's adventures will appeal to all those who can think of
better ways to spend their days than being at school, secretly
wishing the teacher would disappear in a puff of smoke - which is
almost what happens when he sets her hair on fire as he morphs into
a dragon in the classroom. And his new persona is very helpful when
dealing with bullies. Who wouldn't want to be able to do that? With
the continuing popularity of characters with super powers and
creatures from the realm of fantasy, the series is a great
introduction to a new genre that ventures beyond the more
traditional witches and wizards.
Tony Flowers' quirky illustrations are more than just decoration -
they are an integral part of the story that teach as much as they
tell. While they have a cartoon-like appearance, the detail in the
diagrams and the accompanying text not only explain the story but
also provide a model for the reader to produce their own. Not only
has Tony Flowers tapped into his imagination, but he has offered an
opportunity for the reader to get inside theirs. For example, just
what does a bully look like on the inside? How else would you
explain the characteristics of a shifter or a squiff? How empowering
it would be for a child to dissect their own fears in such a way.
Perhaps there is even an outlet for the writers and drawers in the
class to co-produce their own story about being a dragon, or
persuading the principal that such a creature would be an asset to
the school.
Series are a perfect way to support the developing reader as they
already bring their knowledge of the characters and circumstances to
the sequels, providing a familiarity that helps them cross the
bridge to independence just that bit more easily. This series is
sure to capture the attention and imagination of a clientele who can
be hard to engage.
Barbara Braxton
One Red Shoe by Karin Gruss and Tobias Krejtschi
Wilkins Farago, 2014. ISBN 9780987109965.
(Age: Yr 5+) To the international photo journalist it's just another
call about another attack on a school bus, part of day-to-day life
on the Gaza Strip as the conflict between the Israelis and
Palestinians continues . . . 'Strange, how ordinary the message
sounded.' Little does he know that it will change his perspective
forever. As he runs past children who are so used to violence,
carnage and death that they continue their game of hopscotch
uninterrupted and play basketball against a backdrop of bombed out
buildings, he doesn't realise how the impact of doing his job -
following the victims and the paramedics into the hospital trauma
ward to give 'the people at home the most accurate information
possible' - will change him this time. For this time the victims are
children, and one in particular who keeps saying his name over and
over . . . 'Maybe children in wartime learned early on to repeat
their names even if they are unconscious, so relatives can find
them' . . . and this one touches a nerve. Through his camera lens he
sees that the boy is wearing one red basketball boot, the same as he
had given his nephew safe at home. But there is only one - where was
the other? His nephew loved his pair so surely this boy would too,
and hadn't just lost it. While its whereabouts might not be known,
it's not hard to work out what's happened to it. Little boys' legs
and grenades are not a good combination.
As he continues to shoot his pictures and the medics continue to
fight to save Kenan, something strange happens . . . something that
causes the photographer to make an important phone call and a
promise. Suddenly, this conflict just got personal.
This is one of the most powerful picture books I've read for some
time. Told in a minimalist style, almost like a photo essay would
be, the imagery is so striking that the minds connects the dots
without the need for superfluous words. Monochromatic with just the
splash of the red shoe, their style and perspective, angles and
lighting not only reinforce the idea of the narrator seeing the
events through a lens but also add to the drama and emotion of what
is being experienced. From endpaper to endpaper there is nothing
extraneous, but the astute eye will pick up tiny details that offer
so much insight into who this man is, his thoughts and emotions.
This is a picture book for older students, right through to the
senior years of secondary school. It has so many places in the
Australian Curriculum and Ian McLean's teachers'
notes offer many suggestions that demonstrate how it could be
used across all levels from about Year 5 up. An exceptional book
that has so much for so many.
Barbara Braxton
The Tinklers Three: A very good idea by M. C. Badger
Hardie Grant Egmont, 2014.
(Ages: 6 to 9) Highly recommended. The Tinkler children, Marcus,
Mila and Turtle, are living every child's dream. With their parents
performing in a travelling circus (their father is a tight-rope
walker and their mother, the children are left home alone to follow
their own rules and decisions. Their rules vary from 'You must eat
cake on Saturdays' to 'You must not stir soup with a shoe', and with
ideas like 'The best food for breakfast is chocolate ice-cream' and
'A bird's nest makes a good hat', we can be sure of some
entertaining adventures. In this book (the first in a series of 3),
the Tinklers decide to travel to the other side of town without
touching the ground. Agreeing that it will be difficult, dangerous
and dirty, they set off using some creative thinking, their circus
skills, a well-stocked backpack, and a little help from some
pigeons.
This book is a charming blend of humour, fantasy and imagination.
With delightful illustrations and varying fonts (cleverly used to
encourage young readers to develop inflection), this is certain to
become a popular book among developing readers. M.C. Badger who is
perhaps best known for Go Girl and Tweenie Genie,
has created a wonderful set of characters who will continue to spark
our imaginations in the next titles An Excellent Invention
and The Coolest Pool.
Donella Reed
Big book of Aussie dinosaurs by Kel Richards
Ill. by Glen Singleton. Scholastic, 2014. ISBN 9781742830568.
(Age: 4+) Picture book. Dinosaurs. A book about dinosaurs will
always be popular and given the range of Australian dinosaurs, this
book crowds in a great deal of information about them. Arranged in
groups like biggest and smallest, slowest and fastest, oldest and
youngest, these pages are interspersed with informative pages about
what they ate, how they used their senses to survive, which ones
hunted and which stayed in herds and so on. All interesting and
factual. The last double page poses the question how we know about
these creatures and talks about fossil evidence and paleantologists
and their work. Another page gives information about the word
extinct and what possibly happened to the dinosaurs.
A double page at the end of the book has an Aussie picture gallery
of all of its dinosaurs with their correct name and its meaning,
which avid fans out there will love.
The cutesy pictures in this book do little for me, as I would prefer
pictures which actually show the dimensions and characteristics in a
more realistic way, but that said, the information inside this
colourful book is interesting and accurate and would be music to the
ears of all those avid dinosaur readers and fact collectors in
schools.
Fran Knight
Double Trouble series by various authors
Ill. by Louis Shea. Scholastic Australia, 2014. Dinosaur Danger by Sarah Fraser. ISBN 9781743623763. Midnight Mischief by Fiona Regan. ISBN 9781743623770.
This fun series of beginning chapter books are suited to readers
from 6 - 7 years. Identical seven-year old twins Tommy and Coop love
to play practical jokes on their family, friends and classmates. In
Dinosaur Danger their class is off to the museum with their
teacher Mr Crotchet, who loves button, string and knot displays. Of
course the twins have bought a Galloping Galoot noise maker from
Joking Jo's shop. Mum and Dad are both pranked before the boys are
dropped off at school. After a boring time at the museum, they slip
away from the class to explore the closed dinosaur exhibit. Test
riding the robotic dinosaurs and pranking their classmates is great
fun. Midnight Mischief written by Fiona Regan takes the twins off
on a weekend school camp. They are under strict instructions not to
play any pranks or they won't be allowed to watch their favourite
Jed Michael's skateboarding show. Cathy their friend helps with a
gross prank on the bus, Special Spew from the joke shop. After Bill
the bus driver hoses out the mess with his Barf Buster, it is a
soggy trip to camp. Whilst making all the beds as punishment the
twins plan a ghostly night visit.
Louis Shea's cartoons add to the fun of these stories.
Rhyllis Bignell
Wombat jumped over the Moon illustrated by Lachlan Creagh
Lothian Children's Books, 2014. ISBN 9780734415554.
(Age: Pre-school - Early years) This is the fourth book in Lachlan
Creagh's Wombat series.
Wombat has spent a fun filled day in the bush sharing a picnic with
his friends when, towards the end of the day, they decide to have a
completion to work which of them will get the last piece of cake to
eat. Wombat is concerned as he watches his friends successfully
perform clever tricks, as he has no idea what he can do to impress
them.
The story ends with wombat performing a trick that surprises his
friends and wins the competition. He then demonstrate his true
friendship by sharing the final piece of the cake with them all.
The simple and richly illustrated book finishes with an adaption of
a familiar nursery rhyme that will delight pre-school and early
years children.
Karen Mutton
Laika the Astronaut by Owen Davey
Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN 9781743318935.
(Age: K-3) On November 3, 1957, after the success of Sputnik 1 which
put the Russians at the head of the space race and sparked the
development of science and technology in a way not previously
experienced, Sputnik 2 was launched to coincide with the 40th
anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Aboard the craft was a
stray dog from the streets of Moscow who had been named Laika
(meaning Barker in English) whose sole purpose was to test the
viability of putting a living creature into space, test its ability
to survive weightlessness and thus pave the way for human
spaceflight. Laika the Astronaut is a gentle retelling of the start of
Laika's adventure. From being alone in the streets of Moscow,
wishing on the stars for a family to love her, to her rigorous
training and testing regime and finally blast off, it introduces the
reader to this embedded-in-history creature. But even though
everyone in the world knew Laika's name as she circled the Earth,
she felt more alone than ever.
Official records show that Laika actually died very soon into the
flight from heat exhaustion, but Owen Davey has provided a much
happier ending - one that he chooses to believe and one that will
appeal to the reader and perhaps spark some speculation about her
new life might have been like. 'This poor little pooch plucked at my
heartstrings, and I wanted to explore this idea of a soul living on
through your imagination.'
Davey has rejected the claims that the ending is sugar-coated and
that is has avoided the issue of death. He says, 'My intention was
to put a positive spin on how we remember our loved ones when
they're gone. The main theme of the book is about finding love and
finding a family, but the deeper undercurrent revolves around the
way we deal with loss.' You can read more of the background story here
and with this knowledge in mind it might also be appropriate to
begin introducing students to the notion of authors doing more than
just telling a story to entertain, that many of the stories they
enjoy have a deeper, more subtle meaning than appears on the surface
and both the writer and reader are the richer for exploring it. In
this case, the starting point could be questioning why Davey chose
to change history in this way.
With its stylised illustrations in very muted colours which reach
back to the style of the times, this is a wonderful picture book
that could be used to introduce younger children to the history of
space flight but which also has a place with older children who
might be considering the ethical treatment of animals - scientists
involved in the mission have even stated that they don't think they
learned enough from the mission to justify what they did - or even
the ramifications of the Mars 1
project which proposes to have humans inhabiting Mars by 2023 and
for which 28 Australians are still in the running. Does the means
ever justify the ends?
Barbara Braxton
The fairy who wouldn't fly by Pixie O'Harris
Retold by Bronwyn Davies. Ill. by Pixie O'Harris. NLA Publishing,
2014. ISBN 9780642278517.
(Age: 7+) Recommended. Fairies, Australian classics. The story of
the fairy-who-wouldn't-fly is retold in this attractively published
book from the National library of Australia for modern audiences.
Many grandmothers will read this to younger children, and new
parents will pick it up to marvel at the story written in 1945 by
this well known Australian author and illustrator. Classes will have
these stories revealed to them and those interested in classic
Australian literature will be thrilled to see it reprinted. The
illustrations have lost none of their immediacy. They are vivacious
and marvellous, reflecting the Australian bush and its fairies with
panache.
The fairy-who-wouldn't-fly is ejected from the woods by the fairy
queen who needs fairies that work, not one who lies around all day
in her leaf bed dreaming. She is sent to the Woodn't, where she
must learn to fly. Here she meets frog-who-wouldn't-hop and
kookaburra-who-wouldn't-laugh amongst others. When they find a lost
child, the animals all learn the skills they were born with in an
attempt to console the child and reunite him with his parents. All
works out well, and the fairy is renamed Fairy Fleet-Wing when she
is reunited with the other fairies.
National Library of Australia has republished this with a new cover
and has included many other illustrations from their collection.
This one has been rewritten to give it more of a slant towards
accepting challenges and difference, and flows along very well,
although it seems odd to rewrite these stories to reflect more
modern themes in children's books, so I will be intrigued about how
it is received.
Fran Knight
Imagine a city by Elise Hurst
Scholastic, 2014. ISBN 9781742990095.
(Age: 6+) Recommended.Picture book, City, Imagination. Using pen and
ink on paper along with a prodigious imagination Hurst gives her
readers a city like no other. A few words, arranged into several
short stanzas of poetry, say all that is needed. The illustrations
reflect the words and add an imaginative city around the woman and
the two children visiting the city from the country. Their trip on
the train flags the inventive nature of the book, as the next door
seat has a rabbit reading the newspaper. Readers will be excited
turning the page to find out what else will appear in her playful
drawings. And they will not be disappointed. Each page has a myriad
of detail to be absorbed, a bridge with a bear as its pylon, hotels
of fantastic proportions, an art gallery where the sculptures are
reading the paper while a statue of a girl looms into the sky,
people flying away pulled by their open umbrellas, fish and tigers
walking the streets, an Aladdin's cave of treasure at the museum, a
chess playing cat and so on. The pages will entreat and delight,
absorb and create thoughtfulness as each picture presented provokes
the mind.
I loved it and I'm sure younger readers will too, seeing what is one
each page and thinking about what it all means.
Fran Knight
The night run by Bali Rai
A & C Black, 2014. ISBN 9781472904362.
(Age: 11+) Recommended. Historical novel, India, Survival. Bali Rai
has distilled the events of April 1919 in Amritsar into a short
novel telling of one boy's struggles to release his innocent father
from prison. It is 1919, in Northern India where protests have been
occurring against the British Raj. Many have been taken away and
Arjan is aghast to see his father arrested at his market stall,
finding out that he would be sent by train to a place where he and
many others would be hanged as rebels.
He wakes during the night and sneaks out of his house to try and get
to the prison where his father is being held. It is a terrifying
journey. He must avoid the soldiers out to capture anyone evading
curfew; he is cornered by a pack of wild dogs; he is taken in by a
woman he does not know but who knows him; he is kidnapped by a man
who rules part of the back streets, holding children in semi-slavery
to do his bidding. Over the night we see many aspects of darker
India and all the while, feel the breath of the British Raj
breathing down Arjan's neck, while developing sympathy for those
trying to overthrow their regime.
The events which occurred a week after this novel is set, shocked
the world and heralded the demise of the British Raj.
In this shorter novel students will appreciate many of the forces
alive in India at the start of the twentieth century through this
exciting and well told story of one boy and his quest. This is one
in a new series called Flash Backs, historical novels
written specifically for younger readers, or those wanting a quick
read. Their website shows the large range
of these publications.
Fran Knight
Diary of a Super Swimmer by Shamini Flint
Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN: 9781743318843.
(Ages: 7 to 11) Highly recommended. Following on from the success of
five previous titles in the series, Shamini Flint brings Marcus
Atkinson back in Diary of a Super Swimmer. At nine years old, Marcus
hopes that his dad has finally run out of sports to make him try,
and that he'll finally be left alone to play his computer games. His
dad has other plans though, and is convinced that the only reason
Marcus hasn't been good at any of his previous sporting endeavours
is that they have been on land . . . So to Marcus' absolute horror,
it's off to the swimming pool, for a series of embarrassing but
hilarious adventures. Through his journey Marcus learns something
about himself, and about his sister Gemma, which adds a nice twist
to the ending.
As with all in the series, the easy-to read diary format and the
cleverly drawn cartoons will entice even the most reluctant reader
to pick these up again and again. The sports theme always resonates
with children, and whether they love sports or are more like Marcus
himself, they will find it easy to identify with the characters and
situations in this book. Not only will kids love reading about
Marcus' misadventures, they will also learn a lot about sport!
Donella Reed
