Cate Whittle (text), Kim Gamble (illus.), Trouble at Home Omnibus/Scholastic Australia, 1 Feb 2016, 96pp., $9.99 (pbk) ISBN 9781742990767
Trouble at Home is a beautifully crafted early chapter book recommended for kids 7+ years old. It will capture the imagination of young newly independent readers and will work very well when read aloud. The story is narrated by young Georgia in an engaging conversational style that is sprinkled with humour.
Georgia witnesses a giant green dragon with blue wings and red scaly bits around his ears stealing their house. Her little brother, Godfrey is inside the house at the time- so is her project that has to be handed in at school. The problem is that Georgia was the only person to see the dragon. No one knows where the house went, but certainly no one believes it could have been taken by a dragon. Georgia and her other brother, Henry, go on a quest to find their house- and the giant green dragon.
Cate Whittle is a primary teacher and Trouble at Home is her first book. I will be looking forward to more stories from Cate. I really do like the way she writes.
Kim Gamble is one of my favourite illustrators. He has illustrated many picture books- the most famous being the Tashi series by Anna Fienberg. Gamble’s delightful black and white illustrations in Trouble at Home take the story to another level.
Teachers’ Notes available on the Scholastic Website.
I highly recommend Trouble at Home as a text for Year 2 and 3 classrooms.
Reviewed by Wendy Fitzgerald