P. Crumble (text) and Jonathan Bentley (illustrator), We Are All Kind, Omnibus Books, November 2020, 24 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760972363 In the follow up title to We Are All Equal, we visit the animal kingdom as they learn about kindness. Readers will run into thoughtful toucans and gracious giraffes — there’s even a cameo from the famed tortoise and hare— as they explore different ways to be kind to one another. The writing is fun and accessible for younger readers, presented in four rhyming lines per page. The cheery nature of the text helps carry vital messages of…
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Allison Rushby, When This Bell Rings, Walker Books Australia, September 2020, 229 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9761760651947 Allison Rushby’s previous books have had a slightly spooky element and a feisty heroine (the delightfully named Flossie Birdwhistle in The Turnkey, for example) who has to battle sinister enemies. Tamsin is the hero of When this Bell Rings and, once again, she is brave and resourceful. The enemies she has to battle are the Ravens, the birds who normally live in the Tower of London as safeguards have, ironically, become human-sized and threatening in this story. They rule London through a…
J.K. Rowling, The Ickabog, Hachette Children’s Books, November 2020, 288pp., RRP $45.00 (hbk), ISBN 9781510202252 I couldn’t contain my excitement when The Ickabog arrived at my doorstep. Its exquisite hardcover and the anticipation of reading the latest work for children by J.K. Rowling had me buzzing. This fairytale story begins in Cornucopia, a whimsical world where almost everyone is happy almost all of the time. King Fred is in charge and lives a good life – he doesn’t have to bother himself with any serious thinking as his advisers do all that for him. Instead, he busies himself looking handsome…
Kat Patrick (text) and Evie Barrow (illustrator), Howl, Scribble (Scribe Publications), August 2020, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk) 9781925849806 Maggie was not having the best day. Everything from the shape of the sun to the length of her spaghetti was just not right. How will Maggie and her mum deal with her overwhelming feelings? Kat Patrick and Evie Barrow bring us a surprising, magical, and beautifully drawn work that resonates with both young children and adults. What do we do when the world seems a bit too much, and we don’t know how to deal with our emotions? Given the times we are living in,…
Adam Kay (text) & Henry Paker (illustrator), Kay’s Anatomy: A complete guide to the human body, Penguin, October 2020, 416 pp., RRP $29.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780241452943 Kay’s Anatomy may be Adam Kay’s first children’s book, but it is very unlikely to be his only one. Kay is a bestselling UK adult author, currently performing shows about his first book This is Going to Hurt. In Kay’s Anatomy, Kay’s background as a doctor, matched with Henry Paker’s fantastic illustrations has resulted in a hilarious, insightful, and massively enjoyable book about human anatomy. The book covers almost everything readers can imagine about…
Jonathan Bentley, Grump!, Scholastic Australia, October 2020, 24 pp., RRP $17.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760974411 Donald the Grump is mean, bossy, and full of self-importance. A cat lives on his head until he becomes fed up with Donald’s tantrums and leaves. Will Donald be able to learn self-control? On the surface, this is a cautionary tale. We’ve seen stories about bossy selfish toys getting their comeuppance before. The simple rhyming language is great to read aloud and the masterful illustrations convey emotions well. But the point of difference with this text is its subversive tongue in cheek satire. Does Donald the Grump remind you…
Kirli Saunders (text) and Dub Leffler (illustrator), Bindi, Magabala Books, November 2020, 144pp., RRP $16.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925936667 As soon as I received this book for review, I knew I’d love it. Aesthetically, it is beautiful: hardcover, black and white sketched images with burnt gold lettering, I flipped through to discover a verse novel, a rarity in mid-upper primary Australian literature. When the last page was turned, I was not disappointed. Bindi is an eleven-year-old girl who lives with her mum, dad, brother, and sister in a house that backs onto bushland. She spends her days in the bush (bawa)…
Skye Hughes (text) and Alice Coates (illustrator), We’re All in This Together, Dean Publishing, September 2020, 34pp., RRP $21.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781925452266 Appropriately written and illustrated by two Melbourne residents, this is a book about six friends who are in COVID-19 lockdown and can’t go to school. We meet each of the friends and get a glimpse of how they and their families are affected by the lockdown. Wearing of masks, shopping and exercise excursions, Zoom schooling, missing distant relatives and boredom are some of the experiences of the children. These will be familiar to readers who have shared this…
Jevita Nilson (text) and Marina Zlatanova (illustrator), Happy Hearts, New Holland Publishers, August 2020, 28 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760791445 Little Zachary is in search of heaven. He is sad that his Nanna is no longer with him, and to find her spirit he packs his bag one night and climbs out of his bedroom window in search of his Nanna. Will Zachary find her, and be at peace with his lost heart? Jevita Nilson touches on the subject of death experienced by many but not always discussed. This can be a particularly challenging topic for young children who may struggle to…
Katie & Kevin Tsang, Dragon Mountain, Simon & Schuster, October 2020, 336 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781471193071 When 12-year-old Californian surfer, Billy Chan, arrives at language camp in China, he’s hoping to have a good time but he’s also nervous. So, he’s grateful when he quickly becomes friends with Dylan, Ling-Fei and Charlotte. They seem like the perfect team to complete the challenge set before them by the camp organiser: a scavenger hunt. But something strange happens when they take a shortcut through a bamboo forest. First, they encounter a hostile tiger. Then there is an earthquake – one…