Rachel Williams (text) and Freya Hartas (illustrator), Slow Down: Bring Calm to a Busy World with 50 Nature Stories, Magic Cat Publishing, April 2020, 128 pp., RRP $29.99 (hbk), ISBN 97819161805121 This book is beautifully presented with its textured hard cover and embossed gilded title. Its aim is to encourage readers to find time to stand, stare and discover the slow changes which happen in nature. Each double page focusses on one everyday event as the natural world transforms across seasons. The Contents page lists each of the events and the Index breaks the divisions down further. There are suggested web sites to explore for Further Reading and there is a Bibliography. Most are northern hemisphere…
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Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Scholastic Australia, May 2020, 540 pp., RRP $29.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781743836811 “Ambition will fuel him. Competition will drive him. But power has its price.” The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes rewinds sixty-four years to the tenth annual Hunger Games. Ten years previous, rebels attacked the Capitol, killing many and causing mass starvation and destruction. When the rebels were defeated, the Treaty of Treason laid out the Hunger Games as ‘a war reparation — young district lives taken for the young Capitol lives that had been lost: the price of the rebels’ treachery’. An eighteen year old Coriolanus Snow is in his final year at…
Allira Tee, Tiger & Cat, Berbay Publishing, August 2020, 40 pp., RRP $25.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780648529156 Tiger and Cat are best friends. They dance, drink tea, go on adventures together. Nothing can separate them. At least, so they though. But when Tiger founds out that he has to go to Tiger Camp to “earn his tiger stripes” their little world is shaken up like never before. Cat cannot grasp the idea. But you already have stripes, Tiger! Tiger explain that he must learn to be a real tiger, and love behind their life of tea and tennis. In a nutshell, this gorgeous young reader, preschool appropriate picture book, discusses friendship and loss. Cat…
Dave Hackett, Time for Adventure, Daddy, University of Queensland Press, August 2020, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780702262852 One very insistent little girl persuades her father to take her on an adventure. Not only is Daddy highly domesticated (no mention of Mummy) but when out in the bush, he often resembles a somewhat demanding child – being tired, hungry, and collecting too many souvenirs that he is not keen to carry. The role reversal is amusing and is perfectly captured in the illustrations. This is one of a series about Daddy and also the 22nd book by this experienced author illustrator. It is well designed with large typeface and not too much text. Ages 3-6. Reviewed by Elizabeth Douglas
Charlotte Barkla (text) and Sandy Flett (illustrator), Edie’s Experiments: How to be the Best, Puffin Books, July 2020, 240 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760891763 In the second book in this very fun series, Edie LOVES science. To her, there are no shortage of experiments a scientist can perform, like the Teacher Sock Colour Experiment and a Tuckshop Line Length Survey. When Edie’s teacher announces the Cedar Rd Primary Eco Competition to find the best environmental solutions to make their school greener, Edie and her best friend Annie B are determined to win, especially when the first prize is a TEL-5X Telescope. But when an old student returns having spent the previous year at The Science Academy, Edie’s hopes aren’t quite so high, and there is something…
Sharon Boyce (text) and Suzanne Houghton (illustrator), There’s a Shark in the Loo, Larrikin House, May 2020, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780987635488 Have you ever gone to the loo, only to find there’s a shark in there? Pretty annoying, especially when you are about to have guests arrive for your party. There’s a shark in the loo, what should I do? The birthday girl races around the house asking her family, but nothing seems to work. This preschool aged romp will be fun for the younger age, as it relies on the silliness and absurdity welcomed by this audience. Utilising rhyming will catch and hook…
Giles Andreae (text) and Guy Parker-Rees (illustrator), Elephant Me, Hachette Children’s Books, May 2020, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk) ISBN 9781408356524 Elephant Me is the empowering story of little elephant Num-Num from the bestselling creators of Giraffes Can’t Dance. With many top-selling, award winning picture books including Rumble in the Jungle, Commotion in the Ocean and I Love My Mummy, author Giles Andreae hits the nail on the head once again with this jubilant rhyming picture book. One by one, the young elephants compete in the Elephant Games to impress King Elephant Mighty and earn their elephant names. Nina is the strongest, so she becomes Elephant Strong. Norcus is the loudest, so he becomes Elephant Noisy but little Num-Num fears that he will never discover his own special…
Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson (text) and Jasmine Seymour (illustrator), Family, Magabala Books, July 2020, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925936285 A large format hardback that beautifully depicts what family means to Indigenous children. There are numerous examples, from listening to yarns and songs with elders and connecting with ancestors, to caring for Country and sharing the beauty of an endless sky. Of interest to non-Indigenous children too, the book could prompt valuable discussions about the different ways we all value family. Aunty Fay is a Boonwurrung elder and Jasmine is a member of the Darug people whose illustrations portray contemporary families within an Indigenous cultural framework. Ages 4-6. Reviewed by Elizabeth Douglas
Caroline Tuohey (Text) and Karen Sagovac (illustrator), Skadoodle & Snug’s Magnificent Plan, Larrikin House, May 2020, 32pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk) ISBN 9780987635471 Skadoodle and Snug are the unlikeliest of friends, two neighbouring pooches who come to the hilarious realisation that they are just not suited to their owners’ lifestyles. As the story unfolds, the two pals come up with the perfect plan to switch owners and start living their best doggy lives. When Skadoodle & Snug’s best laid plans go completely pear-shaped this delightful, slapstick tale really comes to life. Skadoodle and Snug both resided in town, one with Miss Willis, the other Joe Brown. And each little dog loved their owner to bits, but knew that the pairings were really…
Hana Tooke (text) and Ayesha L. Rubio (illustrator), The Unadoptables, Penguin Random House UK, July 2020, 400 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780241453612 At the Little Tulip Orphanage, not once have the Rules for Baby Abandonment been broken. That is, until the autumn of 1880, when five babies are left in outrageous circumstances: one in a toolbox, one in a picnic hamper, one in a wheat sack, and one in a coffin-shaped basket. Those babies were Lotta, Egg, Fenna, Sem and Milou. And although their cruel matron might think they’re ‘unadoptable’, they know their individuality is what makes them special – and so determined to stay together. When a most sinister gentleman appears and…