Reviews

Ticklish Tom by Susannah McFarlane

Ill. by Lachlan Creagh. Scholastic, 2013. ISBN 978 1 74283 738 3.
Silly Sam by Susannah McFarlane
Ill. by Lachlan Creagh. Scholastic, 2013. ISBN 9781 74283 737 6.
(Age: 4+) Picture book. Australian animals. Alphabet books. In the series Little Mates, these two books follow the same line as the 18 preceding books: all are child friendly, being small enough to fit in a child's hand, they are bright and colourful, use Australian animals which are readily recognised and are use alliteration endlessly, stressing the letter the book is dedicated to. All in all an easy book for parents and teachers alike to have at the ready to read and enjoy with their children.
Ticklish Tom is the story of the Tasmanian Devil, Tom, who has been ticklish since a toddler. His four friends, Toby, Tilly, Tahlia and Tim put up a teepee with a totem, but things come unstuck when the totem begins to fall, making the four friends join together to put things right. All good fun and readers will have a great time with all the 't' words.
Silly Sam is a sheep, and his four friends, Sadie, Sophie, Shaun and Sebastian, all try to help to make him less silly, but his singing is something to behold. until one of his friends tells him to be quiet. But a competition holds his attention and he goes along to sing in it, with his four friends as the backing singers. People love their silly songs and so he gets himself an audience. Again, readers will enjoy the silly story about Sam, and love looking for all the words that begin with 's'. This is not a spectacular series, but one which will find a niche in a classroom.
Fran Knight

My life as an alphabet by Barry Jonsberg

Allen and Unwin, 2013. ISBN 9781743310977
(Age: 11+) Highly recommended. Disability. Family relations. Candice Phee is a little strange and her quirks come across vividly in this engaging story about a girl who has special needs (probably Asberger's) but who has a big heart and is determined to fix the people in her life. Her baby sister has died and both her parents are grieving. Her mother has retreated to her bedroom, badly depressed, and her father has retreated to his shed, tinkering with his computer. She has a new friend, Douglas Benson From Another Dimension, who after a fall, is convinced that he comes from a parallel universe. Her Rich Uncle Brian is also a source for concern as he and her father have fallen out badly over rights to a computer program. There is certainly a lot to fix in this family.
The novel is told in the first person by Candice. Her teacher has set the class a task of writing an autobiography, with a paragraph starting with each letter of the alphabet but Candice feels that is not enough to tell the story of her life and makes it into chapters. Interpersed with letters to a pen friend in New York, the reader is drawn into the life of this strange girl, who takes things very literally but also is very honest and caring.
There is a lot to like about this novel. Jonsberg's clever writing of humour makes it an engrossing and touching read. Candice is a wonderful heroine who although socially inept, has such warmth and compassion that the reader gets caught up in her funny machinations and hopes for the best results for her efforts to fix the problems in her life.
Pat Pledger

I'm a dirty dinosaur by Janeen Brian

Ill. by Ann James. Puffin, 2013. ISBN 978 0 670 07615 4.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Picture book. Dinosaurs. Verse story. In lovely inviting verse, Janeen Brian tells the story of one dirty dinosaur, rolling around in the mud, getting different parts of his body dirty, until he is so dirty that he must run to the edge of the swamp and jump into the clear water beyond.
Each page has the first two lines of a stanza, telling which part of the body is affected by the dirt, then the next page completes the stanza with words to describe what he is doing. Each stanza is followed by four lines which repeat some of the stanza before, written in bright bold print, making sure that every child who reads the book, will want to shout out those lines in particular. The simple wash illustrations by Ann James suit the verse amazingly well, as the line drawing of the dinosaur scrabbles in the brown wash at the bottom of the pages.
As a read aloud in a classroom, or at home, or an older child, by themselves, this is a standout book. I couldn't help myself reading it out loud, the words are so infectious, and the rhyme easy to follow and learn. I think it will be read out loud often and with gusto.
Notes are available on Janeen Brian's website, and include activities which could be done with the book in a classroom.
But this would be fantastic as a class activity, each student learning a line and the class reciting the book as a recitation.
Fran Knight

Gallipoli by Alan Tucker

My Australian Story. Scholastic, 2013. ISBN 978 1 74283 693 5.
(Age: 11+) Recommended. World War One. ANZAC. Historical. Diary. I began to read this book with some trepidation as I have read some 30 books for children and young adults concerning war and particularly Anzac over the past twelve months, as the centenary anniversaries of the beginning of World War One and the Anzac landing approach in 2014 and 2015 respectively. I was not disappointed as Tucker's story in the My Australian Story series deals with Anzac through the eyes of a young man of fourteen which will appeal to the middle school reader, and along the way allow them to ingest many details about the whole campaign.
Moonta boy, Victor is eager to enlist when war breaks out and with his parents' permission travels to Adelaide, passing the test due to his strength and fitness. Camped at Morphetville he describes the training and new friends in his diary, eager to go to France to fight, although disquiet is apparent with news that his family friend, Hans, has been taken to Torrens Island, the detention centre, because he is German.
Landed in Egypt his diary describes the tedium of training and not knowing what is happening, until finally they are packed off into ships and wait orders to land at Gallipoli, part of the 10th Battalion of the AIF.
Everyone knows that this day and the subsequent eight months spent on that peninsula in Turkey were miserable, resulting in over 8000 Australian deaths (and 2700 New Zealand deaths) with an ignominious withdrawal almost as meticulously planned as the initial landing.
Through Victor's imagined diary we see his growing maturity and dismay with all that is going on about him, we see death and disease, the longing for home, the news from the home front, the day to day boredom punctuated by hard fighting, brutality on both sides, the comradeship and humour generated by their close living quarters, and in the end the utter futility of war.
The voice of this young man will keep the readers reading, imagining what they would do in his place, seeing things afresh from the view of someone their own age. I was amazed at the amount of detail Tucker was able to subtly infuse in this tale. Each page I came across things I had not read before. This book will make an excellent class set to study the landing and its consequences for this conflict is seen as a turning point in the nationhood of both Australia and New Zealand. But have some maps ready, as surprisingly no map was included, although a most useful glossary and explanatory notes by Tucker are added at the end.
Fran Knight

Armoured Defence by Robert Irwin and Jack Wells

Robert Irwin Dinosaur Hunter 3. Random House Australia, 2013. ISBN: 9781742750910. 96p.
Recommended Reading Age 6-9. Themes: Palaeontology, Time-travel, Adventure, Dinosaurs. This third book in the Robert Irwin Dinosaur Hunter series takes Robert and his best mate Riley camping in the Canadian badlands in Alberta. Riley's Uncle Nate is a returned soldier who tells the boys stories about his time in Afghanistan on the car trip to the camp site. Robert doesn't listen however he is too busy daydreaming about his previous trips back in time to dinosaur territory.
While the boys are eating their vegemite sandwiches and playing around, Robert rubs his magic fossil and this takes them on another adventure. They travel back to the Late Cretaceous period, when thirty-five species of dinosaur roamed the badlands. Robert rescues a heavily armoured euoplocephalus trapped in vines. Of course it wouldn't be an adventure unless they were confronted with a fierce gorgosaurus looking for a tasty meal.
The story is embedded with factual information about the habitat and the dinosaurs' characteristics; Robert has a depth of knowledge to share. Additional information as a field guide is included at the end of the novel with a drawing of a euoplocephalus by Robert. Pronunciation keys help the reader tackle the different dinosaur names.
This is a fast-paced action adventure and is recommended for 6-9 year old readers. The Australia Zoo website has information about Robert Irwin and the other books in the series. Check Random House Australia's website for interviews with Robert Irwin, quizzes, videos and downloads as well.
Rhyllis Bignell

Blood prophecy by Alyxandra Harvey

Snap! by Janet A. Holmes

Ill. by Daniella Germain. Little Hare, 2013. ISBN 9781921714993. hbk., 32pp., RRP $A24.95
It is the first day of school and some days are so scary that you just want to hide under your bed. But sometimes you don't have a choice and have to face the monsters, so another strategy is needed. So put on your crocodile mask and snap and snarl and scare them away. It will work for a while but it can leave you feeling very lonely. That is unless you meet a little girl with a wise owl mask who ignores your unfriendliness and makes you something that works better.
In the next couple of weeks, thousands of little people will be facing the unknown and starting pre-school or big school, and this is a lovely title which sensitively explores how such fears can be faced. Because it is written in the first person it gives a voice to what a lot of our newest students are thinking and they will be able to empathise with the little boy. But as well as showing that they are not alone in their fears, it is also a vehicle for exploring how they can deal with them. There is great scope for talking about the best strategies to use for making friends, particularly as not making friends is one of the greatest causes of anxiety of school-starters.
As a read-aloud it offers lots of scope for the children to join in enthusiastically and the paper collage illustrations also offer several talking points, both features which will help the children on their literacy journey. Released in time for the start of the new school year, this is one that should be in the kindergarten teacher's school bag.
Barbara Braxton

A Ring Through Time by Felicity Pulman

HarperCollins, 2013. ISBN  9780 7322 9488 5.
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. Historical. Norfolk Island. Convicts. Accompanying her family to Norfolk Island, where her father has taken the position as doctor, sees Alle relieved to leave Sydney and the betrayal by her supposed boyfriend, Jason. But meeting new friends she finds that her surname attracts attention, so much so that one of her new friends advises her not to let on to too many people. She has been told that her forebear was a kind and diligent superintendent on the island in convict times, but she learns that the people here have a different opinion entirely. One of the boys in her class is a descendant of one of the O'Reilly boys, brutally slain by the commandant, Bennett.
So she begins to investigate for herself, making use of a friend back in Sydney who loves research and is a computer whiz, as well as using the local historical sources and people in the know.
What she finds scares her. The story her family has been told is a vastly different one that comes to light, and in babysitting the current administrator's children, she sees the ghost that people have warned her about, the daughter of her forebear, Alice Bennett.
It is her story that Alle pursues, adding to the small amount of information she can find on the island, the daughter having been almost erased from any written history. In the background is always the brutality of the place and that of John Bennett, sent to replace a more humane administrator, Maconochie, a real life person who tried to bring some justice to the treatment of the convicts when he was there between 1840 and 1844.
Pullman's story grabs the reader, insisting that they see the story from a variety of sources, impelling us to make a stand about who we believe, encouraging our point of view to shift as does that of Alle.  This is a gripping story, made more so by its relationship with Australia's early history, introducing the astute reader to a part of our history often neglected.  
Fran Knight

The ANZAC tale by Ruth Starke

Ill. by Greg Holfeld. Working Title Press, 2013. ISBN 9781921504532.
(Age: 10+) Recommended. Graphic Novel. Anzac. Australian history. War. With the one hundredth anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove approaching, many books pertaining to Australia's involvement in this catastrophe are being written and published, reappraising what happened. This timely graphic novel by Starke and Holfeld, presents the story of Anzac for a younger generation. People may think they know about Anzac. It is a story reiterated each year on Anzac Day, but Starke presents it anew from the perspective of two young men, Roy and Wally, who join up from the same farming community. We see their enlistment and the reasons they do so, their training, the weeks of waiting in Egypt, the landing at Anzac Cove, and the terrible eight months spent there for no advancement at all, and then the evacuation. All the while we see these two young men, commenting on what they see around them, involved in the many skirmishes and battles, fighting dysentery, flies, their own fear and even communicating with some of their enemy, the Turks, POW's being used as grave diggers for some of the 8000 who were killed.
Starke's spare dialogue pulls no punches. She neither embellishes nor understates. The women at home question what their men are about to do, but then get down to writing letters, knitting socks, sending parcels, all the while reading of the terrible cost of the battle for the peninsula in their papers. The men at the front comment on their situation, but do as the officers order, until finally, the order for evacuation comes and a plan put in place to get the men off safely without the Turks knowing.
The illustrations by Holfeld are unexpected. The characters take the form of iconic animals of each national group represented. So the Australians are kangaroos: the many, the cannon fodder, while the officers are less common animals, koalas, wombats and the screeching sulphur crested cockatoos. These will intrigue as readers ponder why they are depicted in such a way. The illustrations reveal the daily routines of Anzac Cove, the fetching of water, the ever present rifle over the shoulder, the arrival of the mail, the new recruits, the barrage of shells from the enemy. In the background we can spy Simpson and the donkey, tins of bully beef, places we know about: Nek and Lone Pine. Holfeld contrasts the awful pages depicting war with the quiet of the women, reading the lists of those who have died, adding to the anguish of those at home.
Every time I read this book, I find something new to think about, comparing it with others on the same theme. I found the last few pages of facts underscoring why some things have been included both in the text and illustrations, most enlightening, and the map and time line are useful for all readers. For teachers there is an array of themes and ideas to work with: bravery, enlistment, mateship, war, the home front, amongst others, and there are teacher notes to accompany this book on the publisher's website.
Fran Knight

Super Baddies series by M.C. Badger & Simon Swingler

Hardie Grant Egmont, 2013. pbk., graphic novel, RRP $A12.95.
Baddies vs Goodies. ISBN 9781921848424.
When Robots go Bad. ISBN 978192184428
Welcome to Baddie Primary where super-villains learn to be bad. Giant Boy, Sand Storm, Piranha Face, Bad Mads, Frosty, Mean Streak and Scorcher are a new gang of futuristic characters who attend Baddie Primary and are in constant battle with the students of Goodie Primary. With their tricks, gadgets and attitude they learn and do the sorts of things that many young boys dream of with their teacher Dr Thunder. Each story is told from the perspective of one of the key characters and they are good,clean fun - if bombarding your 'enemies' with stink bombs and chocolate can be called clean.
This is a new graphic novel series for those who are just becoming independent readers. They are bright, colourful and action packed while still telling an engaging story and the comic format will appeal to those who are making the transition between basal readers and junior novels. Initially, there will be four in the series although this is expected to grow, and there is a dedicated website.
While I haven't had the opportunity to share these with either of the Mr 6s in my life for a personal response, listening to them play together over the holidays I know this series will be popular with them. Apart from having a new series to tempt students, there is also scope for comparing and contrasting Baddie School with your own school and starting those critical literacy lessons early.
Barbara Braxton

Bear's best friend by Lucy Coats and Sarah Dyer

Bloomsbury, 2013. ISBN 978 1 4088 2726 0
(Age: 3+) Picture book. Topiary. Animals. Friendship. Bear has many friends, but no best friend and is concerned about this. He makes lovely animals by clipping back trees and each of the animals is impressed with what he has done, so much so that other animals come along and request a tree be clipped for them as well. His tree pictures are well known for miles around, and stand as a testament to his hard work, but he still does not have a best friend.
His tears fall onto his snipping scissors and suddenly he hears a voice ask why he is crying. Turning he spies another bear and they become best fiends, doing things together just as best friends do.
The bear continues his special skill at making tree pictures and the new word, topiary is introduced at the end of this story of friendship. While a slight story, the book would well suit a class looking at the theme of friendship and would be useful in a classroom where new words are introduced, especially those that are a little out of the ordinary, but children will have no doubt about the meaning of the word topiary at the end of this story.
Fran Knight

A very unusual pursuit by Catherine Jinks

Allen and Unwin, 2013 ISBN. 9781 74331 306 0
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Fantasy. Historical. The wonderful Birdie is a bogler's assistant in murky Dickensian London. Her master, the clever and brave bogler, Alfred Bunce, uses her as bait to draw the bogles out of their lairs: sewers, fireplaces, wells and the like, from whence they erupt to take away children to eat. Birdie's beautifully clear voice and small size attracts their interest and so lured, find they are surrounded by salt and as Birdie quickly escapes, Bunce pounces. The sometimes sticky end of the bogle will absolutely delight the readers of this delicious story, the first in a new series (City of Orphans) by this clever writer.
But Birdie is a little fearful of her position. Miss Eames, an academic interested in the bogles of London, has done some research and found that there may be other ways of capturing them, rather than let Birdie be the bait. The possibility of losing her work fills Birdie with dread, as the poorhouse and workhouses of London loom large. Jinks' research is obvious as she describes these places with malicious detail.
But it is not just Miss Eames that Birdie must be careful of, the nasty Sarah Pickles, a female version of Fagan from Oliver Twist, wants Birdie to join her warren, and this too Birdie views with fear and suspicion. And one night, after breaking into a doctor's house because of some missing children, repercussions of that night teach Birdies that not all people around her can be trusted.
A fascinating tour of Victorian London, Catherine Jink's impeccable research and interest in this period shines through. She beguiles us with the sights and sounds of the back streets where bogles and bogle hunters live, insinuating so much detail into the narrative, that no reader can have a doubt about the evil that lurks there. The second in this fine series cannot come soon enough.
Fran Knight

The Convent by Maureen McCarthy

Allen and Unwin, 2012. ISBN 9781742375045. 419 pages
(Ages: 15+) I was particularly attracted to this novel, as I believe Maureen McCarthy talks to teenagers with great purpose and understanding. Her novels highlight teenage tension and disorientation, but they also conclude with both honesty and optimism.
Having been educated at a Catholic girls' school, with the convent of nuns set amongst our school buildings, and, in the light of the recent church controversies, I was keen to see where McCarthy's story was to take me.
The subject, and indeed the title, may not initially attract many readers.  Today there are many young people who would not understand the term 'nun' or 'convent'. The picture of modern day Peach, however, on the front cover, walking towards the Abbotsford buildings works well, producing just the right amount of intrigue. Hopefully there will be many readers who will take up the invitation and read further.
Abbotsford becomes the centre stage for the lives of four women, each related by generation. Sadie, mainly through poverty is driven to give up her child to be cared for by the convent nuns. Ellen marries a farming man and nurtures seven children and her experiences at Abbotsford remain dear to her. Her only daughter, Cecilia, enters the convent and stays for ten years. Peach is her illegitimate daughter who is adopted soon after her birth. The storyline relies considerably on coincidence but McCarthy's realistic approach to the subject and the life she breathes into each of these women makes for great reading. She reveals the individual experiences of the women, highlighting the varying perspectives on religious life throughout the decades. What is important is that the modern day Peach is given the opportunity to learn about the past, acknowledging the pressures and prejudices which affected the women in her family.Choosing the religious life is by not means mocked in this book - it is put into perspective for the time. Ironically, Peach's friend, Det, in the modern day story feels similar pressures experienced by Cecilia, when she finds herself pregnant and believes that there is no one to help her.
With an interesting array of characters, a well structured set of four stories moving from a rather bewildering past to the modern day, and a great story line, The Convent is a good read.
Julie Wells

Meet Ruby by Penny Matthews

Ill. by Lucia Masciullo. Our Australian Girl series. Penguin, 2013. ISBN 978 0 14330742 6.
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Historical novel. When Ruby goes to the Adelaide Zoo with her parents, she notices the humpies along the River Torrens, and men making tea and cooking food over camp fires. This along with one of her friends disappearing from their private school, the dismissal of their housekeeper, and her parent's beaten expressions, alerts the reader to the facts of the Great Depression and its impact on families in Australia.
Eventually Ruby's father, a builder, loses his business, and now unemployed, must sell their house and the possessions they no longer need. Ruby and her mother will be moving to the country to stay with an aunt and uncle and the odd cousin May, while he searches for work both in South Australia and Victoria.
Through this story of one young girl, as with the rest of the series, readers are able to assimilate the feeling of the times with ease. The front cover tells the readers that the story is set in 1930, and images shown on the covers alert the readers to snippets of information making the times loom large.
The very successful series, with four books in each set about one young girl, has teacher notes on the website, and each novel has information at the end of the book about the times, and two pages which whets the appetite for the next story. An extensive website accompanies this fine series.
Fran Knight

The wicked and the just by J.Anderson Coats

Harcourt, 2012. ISBN 9780547688374. Hardback.
(Age: 12+) Recommended. Historical. Middle Ages. 2013 ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults. Kirkus Best Teen Book of 2012. Cecily's father has taken her to Wales in search of cheap land. Gwenhwyfar works as a servant in the house where she thought she would be lady of the manor. Instead Cecily takes over and her treatment of Gwenny is not kind. Indeed Gwenny describes her as a brat. Tensions are rising as the impoverished Welsh struggle to keep alive in their land.
Told in alternating viewpoints by Cecily and Gwenhwyfar, this is a poignant, thought provoking examination of two characters set against the violence of Welsh oppression in the Middle Ages. I learnt much about each character, their needs and thoughts as I read this book as well as the period in history. It is not a quick escapist read, there are no mythical creatures or strong romance, just the story of two young women who are struggling to survive, each in her own way. Cecily is often very selfish and thoughtless, although she does have a sense of justice. Gwenny' plight as a servant who is struggling to keep her mother alive and look after her brother is heart rending.
It is a wonderful piece of writing that will stay with me for a long time. I was left wishing that I could follow Cecily and Gwenny on the next stage of their coming of age, at the same time knowing that the times would make it extremely difficult for both of them.
Pat Pledger