Jess Black, KITTY is not a CAT: Teddy’s Bear, Lothian Children’s Books, July 2020, 60 pp., RRP $9.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780734419774 Jess Black, KITTY is not a CAT: Lights Out, Lothian Children’s Books, July 2020, 60 pp., RRP $9.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780734419750 KITTY is not a CAT is a series of amusing and warm-hearted books about the adventures of Kitty, an unusually independent young girl who is adopted by a house full of music loving cats. As well as their ability to play various musical instruments, these cats possess human attributes and reside in a home of their own. This is a parent free world where problems are always resolved, if not in rather unconventional ways. These two books are part of a four book series by Jess Black which are based on a successful Australian animation series and will…
Author: Admin
Ian Trevaskis, Of Boys and Boats, Ford Street Publishing, September 2020, 314 pp., RRP $19.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781925804515 When his dog Skip is hit by a car, early teenager Jack Spiller meets his reclusive neighbour, ‘Mad’ Mick Metcalf, who splints the dog’s leg allowing Jack to become a part of Mick’s sad life. The novel reveals some of the lingering legacies of the First World War, how Melbourne responded to the 1956 Olympic Games and the varied reactions of locals to the influx of immigrants. Jack and his mates cope with bullies at school, a sick father, crutches and learning English. Heinrich, a German Jew, one of those mates, quotes Banjo Paterson’s classic poems, and shares…
Lauren Child, The Goody, Orchard Books, September 2020, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781408347584 Chirton Krauss is a good child. The ‘goodest’ we are told. He does everything that’s expected of him, even when he doesn’t want to. His sister, Myrtle, is not a good child. Everyone tells her so. Lauren Child (of Charlie and Lola and Clarice Bean fame) has created something wonderful here. Firstly, the book just looks gorgeous. The patterned collage illustrations seem almost tactile, and the colours are en pointe. Then there’s the writing that draws readers in with its voiceover narration feel and intimate commentary and asides. Basically, it’s just a pitch-perfect picture book. But let’s dive deeper. At first glance, The Goody is a neat little tale about…
Nicole Connellan and Selina Chuo collaborated to create a meaningful text about our pandemic year of 2020. Here, Nicole tells us why she wrote it, and why it’s a picture book for adults (as well). The Story of 2020: Part One Often the best way to process events and perspectives we don’t fully comprehend, is to talk/write it out. The beauty of language is to make sense. We write to arrive at a conclusion, even if that conclusion resolves that there is no resolute answer. We get to decide whether we have closure, and to what end. I read a…
Carl Wilkinson (text) and James Weston-Lewis (illustrator), Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Laurence King Publishing, September 2020, 64 pp., RRP $35.00 (hbk), ISBN 9781786277510 At 370 by 275mm this is a large format book with a large topic – ‘Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity’ no less! To convey this complicated concept within a book, in such a way that children will understand and even enjoy, is no small challenge. I think though, the contributors of Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity go a long way towards achieving just that. Whilst it is obviously a non-fiction text it is presented in a story-like fashion – beginning with Einstein as a boy, exploring what…
Klay & Mark Lamprell (text) and Marjorie Crosby-Fairall (illustrator), Huberta’s Big Surprise, Scholastic Australia, August 2020, 24 pp., RRP $17.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781742994109 Huberta the hippopotamus enjoys surprises and likes surprising everyone. One day she is told she is to visit another zoo. The truck taking her breaks down, so Huberta decides she will make her own way there. On the Number 1 bus, the passengers are surprised to see a hippopotamus. On the number 2 tram to the beach, she does not speak to the octopus. Each further page introduces the next number, in an integrated way, and another…
Alex English (text) and Mark Chambers (illustrator), Echo Quickthorn and The Great Beyond (Sky Pirates #1), Simon & Schuster, 352 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781471190773 Echo Quickthorn lives in a castle in the Kingdom of Lockfort. Abandoned as a baby, she longs to find her mother. She also dreams of adventure, even though she’s been told there is nothing outside the Kingdom but the barren Great Beyond. Then the eccentric Professor Daggerwing crashes his airship right outside her bedroom window and Echo’s whole world changes. Armed with a jewelled hair pin in the shape of a wolf’s head — the only clue she has about her mother – Echo and her pet…
Pamela Freeman (text) & Liz Anelli (illustrator), Dry to Dry: The Seasons of Kakadu, Walker Books Australia, August 2020, 32 pp, RRP $22.95 (hbk), ISBN 9781760650285 The dynamic duo of Pamela Freeman and illustrator Liz Anelli have joined forces to create a stunning mixed media book celebrating the natural wonder and cycles of the Kakadu. This is the follow up to Desert Lake and part of the Nature Storybook series. The story begins: It is the Dry… The changing from dry to wet is told through the changing of the climate and the hints and movements of native and…
Phillip Gwynne (text), and Tony Flowers, (illustrator) Small Town, Penguin Random House Australia, August 2020, RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760893484 Milly lives in a small country town and loves the place and the people. The problem is, families keep leaving to go to the city, and her basketball team is now too small to play a game! Hearing about the plight of refugees, Milly and her family and friends make a video to highlight the benefits of living in her town – plus there are plenty of empty houses and there is work that needs doing! Eventually refugees start arriving,…
Jane Jolly (text) & Sally Heinrich (illustrator), Mama Ocean, MidnightSun Publishing, September 2020, RRP $29.99 (hbk) ISBN 9781925227659 Mama Ocean is sick, and she needs us. This visually stunning book is a call to arms; Who will help Mama Ocean, and what can we do? Deep in the ocean floor, all the sea creatures come to gather round Mama. She is sad. They bring her gifts, but alas, these do nothing. They dance and perform. Still, nothing. She is dying. This is a cautionary tale of the destruction of our oceans and all that lives within. But also, the impact…