Ill. by Moira Court. Fremantle Press, 2013. ISBN 9781921888977.
(Age: 3+) Picture book. Parents. Families. Animals. With rhyming
stanzas on most pages, interspersed with the superhero cries of
kaboom and kapow, the storyline of just what makes a superhero is
easy to follow, wonderful to read aloud and comes to a finish with
an 'aw shucks' moment melting the hearts of all kids and readers.
The reader is introduced to a range of animals which exemplify the
attributes of a superhero. They are usually tall and very muscly,
blessed with wonderful good looks and catch crooks, as shown by the
picture of a large bear with a mask. Over the page the rhyme tells
us how they don some armour, the better to enable them to repel
missiles, and the picture is of an armadillo with a mosquito
attempting to break into its outer shell. Further on we are shown a
fallow deer with a rabbit on its back, fleeing a wolf, and the
refrain tells us that some superheroes have the skills to save
maidens in distress and smash rocks to smithereens. And on and on,
the refrain giving a neat concoction of what a superhero does with
the illustrations visually reflecting the refrain.
The bright in your face illustrations rendered in charcoal, acrylic
paint and pencil, have a collage effect as the animals seem to leap
out from the page. A glossary at the end gives more detail about the
animals represented, making this a highly visual tale of some of the
world's animals to present to young children.
Fran Knight
Time to shine by Susannah McFarlane
E.J 12 Girl Hero, Scholastic, 2013. ISBN: 9781921931383.
EJ12 remains a popular series with the 7 - 9 year old girls looking
for more in the adventure genre, so this, the 16th in the series,
will be a welcome addition to bookshelves in libraries and homes.
Emma Jacks alias EJ12 and her friends are all looking forward to
working together as agents of SHINE, the secret organisation that
has recruited them all, and even Nema suspected as being an agent of
the evil SHADOW agency is being nice. But when Elle announces that
she and her family are moving to London Emma is devastated.
With encouragement from her mother Emma reflects on the change a
maths test brought to her life. As we discover it was success in a
maths test she was dreading that resulted in her joining SHINE and
the training drills and tests that gave her a chance to shine.
As there is always some form of animal involvement in EJ12 books, it
is interesting to note that rescuing seals and other sea creatures
from an oil spill is part of this adventure, and of course the
amazing charm bracelet has just the right gismo to help.
The message is unmistakeable throughout that change can lead to
positive outcomes. By facing her fears and remaining calm and
thoughtful there is a chance to shine. Sounds a bit like a song
title to me, but I'm sure fans of the series will continue to follow
the ongoing adventures of agent EJ12 and her friends.
Sue Keane
Word hunters, the curious dictionary by Nick Earls and Terry Whidborne
Word hunters series. UQP, 2012. ISBN 978 0 7022 4945 7.
(Age: 11+)Recommended. Fantasy. Words. Dictionaries. Books.
Historical novel. Finding a dictionary tucked into the shelves of
their library, twins Lexi and Al tumble down history to locate
words that are losing their place in the language. The first word
hello, proves elusive as they wander from Eddison's laboratory in
1877, where the first word heard on the first telephone is hello,
then to a whaling ship in the Atlantic Ocean in 1835 where they hear
halloo, then to the New Forest in 1100 where they witness the murder
of King William, and hear the word harrow. All is intriguing and
mysterious and when the children suddenly return to the present day,
Al borrows the book from the library to find out what is going on.
The pair sketch what they remember of the places they have been, and
their father is shocked at the drawings, reminding him of those his
father did. But he disappeared thirty years before, so the twins,
seeing a connection between them and their unknown grandfather,
resolve to find what happened to him. They ready themselves to
travel once again, this time with better preparation.
Each place they find themselves in gives them a change of clothes
and the keys Al carries tells them the date and place they have
landed, as well as providing a key to the portal which they need to
search for. Their quick survey of the setting gives an amount of
historical detail to the reader which will involve them in what is
about to happen. I found myself reaching for history books to
corroborate the situations given, just as Al does when he gets home.
This is an engrossing time travel tale, taking modern readers to
places outside what they have learnt, but nevertheless giving a
substance to the story that will readily hold their interest. This
is the first of a series.
Fran Knight
Australians All: A History of Growing Up from the Ice Age to the Apology by Nadia Wheatley
Ill. by Ken Searle. Allen and Unwin, 2013. ISBN: 9781741146370.
Highly recommended. Nadia Wheatley has compiled an important and
beautifully presented resource which will be valued as much for the
narratives presented as the historical context that they represent.
The eighty or so stories collected in this book cover in
chronological order what it was like to be a child and live in the
Australia of the time.
From an exploration of the arrival of Aboriginal people 40 thousand
years ago through the experience of some children living in England
during the 18th century to the arrival of the convicts and the
subsequent growth of the Australian population including the
experience of refugees, the stories are a snapshot of the lives of
children and their families.
Each chapter is contextualised with a brief account of the issues of
the time and a timeline of significant events. The individual
accounts cover experiences of hardship and good times, work and
play, schooling in all situations, disadvantage, discrimination and
death for both aboriginal and non aboriginal Australians.
A comprehensive reference at the end lets us know what happened to
the children and families to give further insight to their lives. A
Glossary explains some of the terms used and an extensive Index
enables one to follow a theme, e.g. education, over many eras,
whilst the Bibliography and annotations enable specific stories or
pictures to be followed up.
I can see many uses for these stories both within the History
Curriculum as an exploration of the past, as well as an opportunity
to become familiar with some of the figures that have shaped our
country and culture whether they go on to become famous like Henry
Lawson or Eddie Mabo or the ill-fated McCallum children who died of
diphtheria near Port Lincoln.
Sue Keane
The dark unwinding by Sharon Cameron
The dark unwinding bk 1. Scholastic, 2013. ISBN 9780545327879.
(Age 13+) Recommended. Gothic. Mystery. Historical. Katharine Tulman
is sent to the estate of her eccentric uncle by her Aunt who
believes that he should be put into an asylum as he is squandering
her son's inheritance. But when Katharine arrives she finds an
eccentric genius inventor who is supporting over 900 employees that
have been rescued from the workhouses of London. Katharine knows
that she can secure a future for herself if she declares that her
uncle is mad, but she is torn when she sees the good work that her
uncle is doing by giving employment to so many destitute men and
their families. Things are further complicated by the presence of a
handsome apprentice and a beguiling student who is fascinated by her
uncle's inventions. When she starts to do strange things at night,
she begins to fear for her own sanity and gradually the tension
grows around her as she tries to unravel the mystery surrounding
her.
I love gothic mysteries and this one did not disappoint. Readers who
are new to this genre will revel in the twists and turns of the
plot; the suggestions of insanity, the threat of asylums for the
insane, the loss of inheritances and the dark romance surrounding
the young men in the story. Readers who are familiar with the genre
will revel in a good story that contains some plot lines that
resonate but also some unique ideas and sub plots. It was
particularly interesting to read the author's note at the end about
where she got some of her ideas for her background and its
historical accuracy.
Not only is the plot captivating, the characters stand out as well.
Uncle Tully the eccentric inventor, who could be autistic, makes
wonderful and strange animations and devices that challenge the
imagination. Both Katharine's and his ability with numbers is
fascinating and creates a bond between the two. The reader is kept
wondering about which of the two young men will engage Katharine's
interest but the romance doesn't dominate the story at all, it is
the mystery surrounding Katharine's strange behaviour and her
dilemma about what she will do about her uncle that is so
engrossing.
I loved the mid-19th century setting, the dilapidated mansion with
its secret passages, the lord of the manor structure and the anger
of the men who were afraid that Katharine would jeopardise their
livelihood. This was an entertaining and atmospheric thriller that
is sure to gain an audience from readers who like historical
mysteries.
Pat Pledger
No matter who we're with by Robert Vescio
Ill. by Cheri Scholten. IP Kidz; Australia: 2013. ISBN:
9781922120212.
One for the Wellbeing shelf, or the Counsellor's library. At time
when more and more children are experiencing their parents
separating and learning to cope with shared custody arrangements,
this book offers comfort whilst acknowledging some of the
difficulties of living between two houses.
Written after the author's own separation the story reflects on the
fun things the children do with each loving parent: The trips to the
pool and beach, watching movies and dress-up, games, gardening and
cooking. The warm colours used in the illustrations reflect the joy
experienced by the children whilst the occasional more sombre
expression reminds us of the missing parent.
The message is reaffirmed that regardless of the situation that
missing one parent whilst with the other is OK, and that you can
still love both parents regardless of where they live.
This book would be a useful tool to support children struggling with
split homes and a definite addition to the School Counsellor's
library.
Sue Keane
How to scare the pants off your pets by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
Ghost Buddy series. Scholastic, 2013. ISBN 9781407132303.
Recommended 8-12 years. Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver continue their
long history of collaborating to write children's books with this
the third of the Ghost Buddy Series featuring Billy Broccoli
and his ghostly housemate Hoover Porterhouse the Third aka The
Hoove.
Billy has a problem. Well more to the point The Hoove has a problem
which equates to a less than pleasant life for Billy. Once again The
Higher-ups, the higher beings that monitor ghost behaviour, have
been very disappointed in The Hoove's grades in 'Responsibility to
Others'. So much so, that now he has been confined to the house,
until he shows a marked improvement in his grade.
Living with a bored ghost who thinks he's perfect and who no one
else sees is not easy, made more so as The Hoove rages against his
confinement. A chance meeting with Amber and her pet rat gives Billy
an idea. What better way to show responsibility than to take care of
a pet.
A series of hilarious episodes follow as pet after low maintenance
pet is introduced to The Hoove with chaos reigning and no sign of
the Higher-ups relenting. The arrival of a stray cat which seems
remarkably calm in the presence of a ghost who finally manages to be
ungrounded.
As I read I could imagine the scenes played out on the small screen
reflecting the background of both writers as television producers.
Sue Keane
Dork Diaries: Holiday Heartbreak by Rachel Renee Russell
Simon and Schuster, 2023 For girls ages 9+. With the 'girls' choice' dance fast approaching, Nikki Maxwell is excited at the possibility of inviting her major crush, Brandon. When he gets in first to invite her on an 'almost' date, she is wildly excited. As is usual for Nikki, things go wrong and suddenly Brandon starts to change and begins to appear disinterested. Her initial enthusiasm to attend the dance disappears as she can't risk being turned down . . . can she? Younger sister Brianna again adds to the mayhem of the story, creating weird and wonderful hairdos for her Nikki and managing to send a photo of her to all of Nikki's contacts. Russell again includes themes of friendship, bullying and cyber bullying, elements of junior romance, siblings and family. Written in a diary format with each page looking like the lined pages of an exercise book and sketches drawn on virtually every page, this series would most likely appeal to younger girls or reluctant female readers. Personally, I feel there are some discrepancies between the abilities and interests of the main character and her assumed age of fourteen yet students seem to be able to overlook this issue. Naturally, the dork comes out on top and this book leaves the reader with the feeling that fairy tale endings can happen to anyone. Jo Schenkel
If you're cheeky and you know it by P. Crumble
Ill. by Chris Kennett. Scholastic Australia, 2013. ISBN:
9781742836478.
One for the 3-5 year olds. If you're familiar with the rhyme, clap
your hands!
A whole new generation of pre-school children are being exposed to
the old rhymes and songs through this series of colourful picture
books by P. Crumble. This version follows on from his previously
published If you're happy and you know it! Australian
Edition but features a collection of common African animals with a
frog and penguin thrown in for good measure.
While the rhyme is familiar it is Chris Kennett's illustrations
which bring the book alive with their comic, colourful appearance,
huge eyes and expressive faces. Each animal has an action with the
others joining in. My favourite page would have to be the meerkat
and other animals staring.
With the complete rhyme written on the first page, each other action
is a double page spread introducing the animal and action with
simple and clear and colourful text. Having introduced all the
actions the final pages have the complete rhyme for each animal. A
great help to parents or carers who have forgotten the pattern of
the song.
I can see many youngsters enjoying an active sing along with this
book and some adults reminiscing at the first reading before
encouraging independent reading using the pictures as cues.
Sue Keane
Briar Rose by Jana Oliver
Macmillan, 2013. ISBN 9781447241096.
(Age: 15+) Imagine the Sleeping Beauty tale revisited upon a
small Southern town in America. Sounds intriguing? If only it
delivered as much as promised.
Growing up in the small township of Bliss, Briar Rose's life at
first seems aptly blissful, until we learn that a family feud has
come between Briar and her former best friend, Joshua Quinn. To make
matters worse, Briar discovers that due to an old curse, she will
not survive her 16th birthday, which just happens to be when the
novel starts.
However, instead of dying, Briar falls into a deep slumber inhabited
by a fairy tale nightmare. Instead of a charming tale of handsome
princes and fabulous castles, Briar awakens to a world filled with
violence and dread. In this nightmare world, while the beautiful
princess sleeps, the young princes who try to awaken her are
brutally killed and a cruel regent rules in place of the Royal
family.
In the first half of the novel, the fairy tale within a fairy tale
scenario is cleverly deployed and the main characters are credibly
complex. However, gradually our engagement with the story starts to
wane. This is partly due to the writer's narrative style which is
overtaxed with Americanisms. These become particularly distracting
as the action intensifies; the constant use of phrases like 'Right
back at you, girlfriend' simply sounds cheesy and dissipates the
supposed tension at critical moments. Whilst humour can be used to
balance darkness, these attempts at lightness feel corny rather than
clever.
The characters also become more one-dimensional as the novel
progresses: Briar's first saviour, Ruric, loses his mysterious
qualities and behaves like a stock storybook prince, whilst the bad
boy at the start of the novel (Pat Daniels) is all too easily
reformed! Meanwhile the budding romance between Briar and Joshua is
described in increasingly mawkish and unrealistic terms.
Ultimately, what begins as an enticing premise is diminished by the
manner of the telling.
Deborah Marshall
Rose under fire by Elizabeth Wein
Electric Monkey, 2013. ISBN 9781405265119.
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. War. Strong female character. In this
companion novel to the award winning Code Name Verity, the
story revolves around Rose Justice who is a young American pilot,
working for the British Air Transport Auxiliary. She has been flying
with her father since she was very young and loves being a pilot who
delivers planes and transports pilots for the RAF during the summer
of 1944. She loves to write poetry and is enjoying a romance with a
young pilot. Then once day her world changes when she is flying home
from Europe. Crashing the airplane she is captured by the Germans
and discovers what it is like to survive in Ravensbruck, a notorious
women's concentration camp.
Wein cleverly takes the reader from the relatively safe but exciting
world that Rose inhabits in Britain to the horror of a concentration
camp, showing the courage that it takes to live in both worlds. Then
in story telling that is very memorable, the author takes the reader
one step further and shows the devastation that an experience like
Ravensbruck can have on the spirit, even after Rose has been
rescued.
This is a story of courage and resilience, of survival under
terrible conditions and of both the depravity that people can sink
to and the strength of the human spirit. Rose uses the poetry of
Edna St. Vincent Millay and her own poetry to help others and
herself survive Ravensbruck and poetry, journals and letters keep
the narrative engrossing.
This would be a fabulous book to use when studying World War 2. The
use of concentration camps, the heartlessness of the Nazis, what it
was like to survive the aftermath of the war and the Nuremberg
trials are all covered and given a female point of view which is
unusual. It is a well written, heart breaking novel that will remain
with me for a long time.
Pat Pledger
The Nelly gang by Stephen Axelsen
Walker Books Australia, 2013. ISBN 9781921977918.
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Graphic novel. Bushrangers. Australian
history. Gold rush. Watching Stephen Axelsen create parts of this
fascinating book a couple of years ago in Adelaide where he was the
recipient of the May Gibbs Fellowship, opened my eyes to the
complexity of the creative process using digital imaging to bring
together his pen and ink drawings and the impeccably researched
story. I had always loved his earlier graphic novel, The mostly
true story of Matthew and Trim (Cassandra Golds, author) and I
was very pleased to see this one finally published.
The result, this involved and involving graphic novel set in the
gold rushes in northern Victoria in the 1860's brings to the fore
the range of people attracted to the gold fields, the people from a
variety of other countries, the bushrangers, lazy police, the hard
working miners, having to pay for the privilege of searching for
their meagre finds, and the range of women and children who
accompanied them.
Nelly Nolan is at her lessons when she hears the rarely heard sound
of 'Eureka'. Escaping the tedious school, she rushes to her father's
mine and finds that he has struck it rich. All seems assured, they
will catch the coach to Wodonga, there to go to Sydney where Nelly's
mother lives. But on the way the coach is held up by bushrangers,
and there follows quite an adventure as Nelly flees into the bush
with her goat and friend, Jin. They meet their other friend, Miro,
whose knowledge of the bush helps them find Nelly's father, after a
few dead ends and red herrings, and all comes to a neatly resolved
conclusion.
This highly entertaining graphic novel will easily draw in readers,
fascinated by the story of the young girl and her two friends,
equally absorbed by the background detail, and captivated by the
illustrative technique. From a teaching perspective, this could form
the basis of a unit of work around the gold rushes, Australia in the
nineteenth century and bushrangers. The detail is extraordinary and
will entice all readers to look closely at every page. More
information about Stephen can be found at his website.
Fran Knight
The fabulous Finola Fox by Carmel Bird
Ill. by Kerry Argent. Penguin/Viking, 2013. ISBN 9780670029488.
(Age: 4+) Warmly recommended. Picture book. Shoes. Family. Finola
Fox is a shoe fetishist. Whenever she sees shoes, she must have
them, so spirits them away in her capacious handbag, taking them
home where she stores them in rows in her cellar. She hopes
one day to be able to open a museum to display them all, but until
then, she busies herself arranging them all. She notices that one
shoe is alone. It was a glamorous jewelled and feathered shoe that
she found in an alleyway last summer.
She sets out to find its pair. She goes to the wonderful hotel, the
art gallery, the Botanic Gardens and the Opera House, all to no
avail. Outside the Opera House, she notices a pair of green sandals
getting into a limousine. About to follow the car, she is
stopped by another fox who introduces himself as Frederick, who asks
her what she is searching for. He surprises her by telling her that
he thinks he knows just where to look. Together they find the
missing shoe and return to her house which Frederick thinks is an
ideal place for the museum.
This is a charming tale of coming together, like a pair of shoes.
The two foxes find each other in the streets of Sydney, and together
find the shoe Finola is searching for. The pair of shoes parallels
the two foxes in finding a friend, a mate, a companion.
Argent's illustrations are just wonderful. She has an amazing
collection of people and animals on each page, reflecting the text
in the foxes' search for the missing shoe. The bold, colourful pages
will entice the reader to look more closely, following the fox as
she searches under counters, along the rows of seats in the Opera
House, through the shrubbery in the gardens.
Fran Knight
Stardines swim high across the sky by Jack Prelutsky
Ill. by Carin Berger. HarperCollins, 2013. ISBN 9780062014641.
(Age: 5+) Recommended. Poetry. Humour. With verses about animals
that are made up using the roots of several words, these poems are
simply fun. Star and sardine, for example is an amalgam that
produces a fish like thing in the night sky, swimming in giant
school, lighting up the night sky. The sobcat is a very very sad
feline, while the slobbster is a very messy lobster, so messy in
fact that it is a slob.
Each of the animals has a poem about it, explaining its virtues and
possibly its disadvantages as well. The poems are short, easy to
read, but do not pander to a younger audience, using an array of
wonderful words like lachrymose, preposterously and copious. I found
myself thinking how to use it in the classroom, not merely as a
wonderful read a loud, but as a model for poetry lessons,
encouraging children to make up words from known animals, and then
using the technique to make up a poem. Most of the poems use the
basic four line stanza of alternatively rhyming lines, while some
use nursery rhymes as the basis of the rhythm, and so are easy to
emulate.
The illustrations will engage the children's interest immediately.
Berger builds dioramas, using a huge range of things to build up the
images which are then photographed for the book. Children will love
picking out the found objects, the pieces of note paper, he music
paper, wool, cloth, ribbon, cut up paper and so on. Each page is
absorbing to look at as the poem is read. It is a lovely book to
hold and read, full of possibilities, humour and fun, begging to be
shared.
Fran Knight
Lulu Bell and the Cubby Fort by Belinda Murrell
Ill. by Serena Geddes. Random House Australia Children's, 2013.
ISBN: 9781742758794.
Themes: Family Life, Farm Life, Holidays. Lulu Bell and the Moon Dragon by Belinda Murrell
Ill. by Serena Geddes. Random House Australia Children's, 2013.
ISBN: 9781742758817.
Themes: Vietnamese Moon Festival, Whale watching, School Life,
Bullying, Conflict Resolution, Friendship.
(Age: 7-9) Highly recommended. Lulu Bell is a fun-loving, friendly
eight-year-old girl with honey-blonde plaits. Her family lives next
door to her dad Dr. Bell's vet hospital. Her Mum is an artist, her
six year old sister Rosie wears angel wings and sparkly shoes and
her three year old brother Gus loves to wear his superhero Bug Boy
suit. Of course they have a large menagerie of animals, two dogs
called Asha and Jessie, two ginger cats called Pickles and Pepper,
some ducklings, and a rabbit. Lulu Bell and her family were
introduced in Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn where the
family has trouble at Rosie's sixth birthday with a runaway pony. In
Lulu Bell and the Fairy Penguin, the family is going for a swim when
a runaway dog chases a little penguin down the beach and Lulu
involved in the rescue.
The adventures continue in Lulu Bell and the Cubby Fort with
her family spending an exciting Easter holiday at her Uncle's farm
with lots of their cousins. They enjoy the freedom of the farm,
building and setting up a cubby fort in the bush, swimming in the
creek, riding horses and rescuing a calf stuck in the mud. Campfires
and sleeping in tents add to the holiday excitement. Lulu Bell and the Moon Dragon is another well written story
celebrating the Vietnamese Lunar Festival with the Lulu's friends
and family, making costumes, lanterns and moon cakes. Belinda
Murrell portrays school life vividly from a class excursion to
watching the whales migrating, to dealing with bullying and sharing
cultural diversity.
This series is a great class read-aloud and I would highly recommend
them for readers from 7-9 years. The quirky family are very
relatable and funny. Serena Geddes black and white sketches support
the narrative and add an exciting emotional quality to the novels.
Rhyllis Bignell
