Ted Prior, Grug and the Bushfire, Simon & Schuster Australia, November 2020, 32pp., RRP $16.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760858483 Grug and his snake friend, Cara, see an approaching bushfire and take refuge in Grug’s underground home. Soon they are joined by a range of local native animals. After the fire has passed, Grug emerges to a changed landscape. Thankfully, prolonged heavy rains soon kick off the bushland’s regeneration process. For anyone not familiar with Grug, his website states that he apparently came from the top of a Burrawang tree and resembles a small haystack. He is fascinated by the world around…
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Sigi Cohen, author of There’s Something Weird About Lena, chats to Reading Time reviewer Shelley Stephens SS: I found There’s Something Weird About Lena such a refreshing read, and a side-step from the usual picture book story. How did you come up with the plot? SC: The plot for There’s Something Weird About Lena jumped into my head some years ago; in fact, around the same time I wrote My Dead Bunny. In my mind I was running through scary (but funny) ideas for kids and I thought about the werewolf genre which I personally enjoy, but with a twist…
Sigi Cohen (text) and James Foley (illustration), There’s Something Weird About Lena, Walker Books, October 2020, 32 pp., RRP $25.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760651503 Wickedly funny and cheeky in the best way possible, Lena had me at hyena! Spooky yet endearing Lena tries hard to fit in at school by playing pranks on her classmates. Lena’s classmates, however, cannot seem to put their finger on her ‘weirdness’ and decide to investigate by embarking on a prank of their own, only to discover Lena’s spooky secret is much bigger than expected. Sigi Cohen has cleverly created a character that is both scary and lovable in…
Chihiro Takeuchi, Whose Bones?, Berbay Publishing, October 2020, 40 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780648785163 This book provides lots of fun as a guessing competition: which set of bones and skeleton belong to what animal? There is an added clue in a small image of the sort of food that each animal eats. The collection begins with a snake’s less complex skeleton and ends with that of the blue whale which has the largest bones of any living vertebrate. The illustrations are paper cut-outs presented most effectively against a solid colour in a stylised way with no embellishment at all.…
It seems universally agreed that 2020 as a whole was a sub-par experience. However, it wasn’t all bad … Reading Time is pleased to announce that there were a plethora of outstanding books reviewed and published in 2020. A quick look at the ‘Highly Recommended’ Archives on our site reveals that our reviewers designated 44 books as ‘Highly Recommended’. These titles include: How to Recycle Your Feelings, Amy Molloy (text) and Melissa Mylchreest (illustrator), Beaglier Books, February 2020, RRP $24.95 (hbk), ISBN 9780646808697 The Fire Star: A Maven & Reeve Mystery, A. L. Tait, Penguin Australia, September 2020, 320 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760897079 Bear in Space, Deborah Abela (text) and Marjorie Crosby-Fairall (illustrator), Walker…
Anna Walker, Hello Jimmy!, Puffin, September 2020, 40 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760893422 The spare text and soft, expressive illustrations hint at a sense of sadness, neglect, and tension in Dad’s quiet house. Jack worries that his dad may be lonely, but when Jimmy the noisy parrot arrives and cheers Dad up, Jack is not a fan. Jack retreats to his room where he opens his window… When morning comes, Jack begins to search, but ultimately is the one who is found. So much of this story occurs in the gaps between the text and the illustrations. From the…
Jacqueline Harvey, Full Speed (Kensy and Max # 6), Puffin, September 2020, 357 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760890025 Twins, Kensy and Max are part of a rather unusual family – their parents, grandmother, a few trusted uncles and loyal household staff are all spies – so while it may look like they are on a family skiing holiday in Switzerland, there is important work to be undertaken which will require all their well-honed skills – and secrecy. Full Speed is the sixth in the Kensy and Max series of books and the action never wanes in any of them.…
Charlie Thomson, In the Deep End, State Library Queensland, December 2020, 32pp., RRP $24.95 (hbk), ISBN 9781922467331 Like monsters under the bed, pool vacuums – with their strange, elongated shape lying blurry at the bottom of the pool – are a common childhood fear, especially in Queensland where pools abound. In the Deep End is a rhyming picture book which explores this fear. Written from the first-person point-of-view, it’s about a boy who loves to swim but fears the deep end of his backyard pool. In his imagination, the pool vacuum is a dragon-heading, snake-tailed monster. But when his dad…
Simon Howe, Shoosh!, State Library Queensland, December 2020, 32pp., RRP $24.95 (hbk), ISBN 9781922467300 With endearing and emotive little characters, Shoosh explores the world of pre-schoolers as they try to keep quiet while the baby sleeps. Beginning inside a traditional Queenslander a group of young children (from the demographic this book is aimed at) proceed out to the veranda and then the garden as they try to make sure there is enough quiet for the baby to sleep. Along the way, we see plenty of depictions of Australiana: quolls kicking a football, frogs with pool noodles, parrots, a barbeque, and a slip-n-slide. …
Kellie Byrnes (text) and Rachel Tribout (illustrator), One Remarkable Reef, State Library Queensland, December 2020, 32pp., RRP $ 24.95, ISBN 9781922467034 Set in the deep blue waters of a reef off the coast of Queensland, One Remarkable Reef is a counting book of marine creatures dwelling in the reef. Set in rhyme, the book explores ten reef inhabitants from clams to coral to sea cows and one squawking seagull above it all. The tone is uplifting and rhythmic, celebrating the vibrancy and variety of the reef. The illustrations are beautifully bright and detailed, perfect for pre-schoolers to learn the different…