Louis Sachar (text) and Tim Heitz (illustrator), Beneath the Cloud of Doom (Wayside School #4), Bloomsbury Children’s Books, March 2020, 352 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781526623423 Todd was not having a good day at school. Things were going from bad to worse, and then, Mrs Jewls writes on the blackboard the most horrifying words imaginable: ULTIMATE TEST TOMORROW! Mrs Jewls is the kind of teacher that makes you shake with fear (doing nothing for the reputation of us poor teachers, but at least making us look good!) At the start of the year, she hands out ONE, yes one paperclip. Lose it and you’ll dare not ask for another. The Wayside School…
Author: Admin
Bren MacDibble, The Dog Runner, Allen & Unwin, February 2019, 248 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760523572 Bren MacDibble burst onto the children’s literary scene with her original dystopian novel for middle grade readers How to Bee in 2017. Writing as Cally Black she won The Ampersand Prize for In the Dark Spaces, a thrilling hostage drama for young adult readers. Now with the CBCA shortlisted The Dog Runner, writing as Bren McDibble again for middle grade readers, she has consolidated her position as one of Australia’s most thought-provoking writers for children. Bren dedicated the book to all the kids who are not brave but do brave things anyway. Ella, the central character, is…
Dee White, Beyond Belief, April 2020, Scholastic Australia, 261 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760662516 Dee White, whose own family had to escape Nazi Germany in 1939, has produced a wonderfully exciting and informative novel based around the history of Muslim efforts to protect Jews during the occupation of Paris in the 1940s. Twelve-year-old Ruben is the hero and narrator of the story, for he is the one who was left by his desperate parents on the doorstep of the famous central mosque in Paris, just beyond the gates of the Jardin des Plantes. If the time comes again to visit Paris, the courtyard and tea house of this mosque are places worth visiting for their…
Brenda Gurr, The Fabulous Cakes of Zinnia Jakes (The Crumbling Castle #1), New Frontier Publishing, March 2020, 94 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925594973 The first book in the new series; The Fabulous Cakes of Zinnia Jakes; well done to Author Brenda Gurr! Who is Zinnia Jakes? The mysterious and marvellous pastry chef, with a secret identity. Shhh… her real name is Zoe Jones. A wonderfully creative, super enthusiastic 9-year-old! Classroom demands and managing a mystery business and identity can be hard work for Zoe. It was a lot of fun sharing the undercover world of adventure with Zoe Jones, whose success as a secret pastry chef; has everyone talking about her…
Sandra Kendell answers some questions about her latest book Beauty. Thanks to Sandra, Windy Hollow Books, and Reading Time reviewer Shelley Stephens for this interview. How did you come up with the storyline for Beauty? We do have a lovely big Beauty Leaf tree in our backyard. In the morning I will often sit with a cuppa enjoying birdsong and contemplating the tree and the many creatures that live with her. I began thinking of the consequences of losing the tree and how that would affect those creatures, our family and the ecosystem of the immediate neighbourhood. Beauty then evolved as…
Sandra Kendell, Beauty, Windy Hollow Books, October 2019, 32 pp., $25.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922081810 Sandra Kendall is ticking all the boxes for me with a story celebrating nature, honouring single-parent families, and reminding us to value the importance of relationships formed in our communities. Beauty tells the story of a young girl who lives with her mother and loves the Beauty Leaf Tree on their property. Sadly, their neighbour Mrs Lee does not share her love, instead disliking the pods and leaves that make their way onto her property and vegetable garden. The young girl decides to write to Mrs Lee and tell her about the tree’s family—birds, bugs, and bees—and how they are all connected. Sandra Kendall’s text in Beauty is so strongly reflective of the child character who remains nameless throughout, allowing readers to strongly connect with…
Tania McCartney answers some questions about her latest book Ivy Bird. Thanks to Tania, Windy Hollow Books, and Reading Time reviewer Julie Murphy for this interview. How did this book come about? (I.e., the idea, the collaboration with Jess and acquiring a publisher.) Jess and I were keen to create a new picture book for Windy Hollow, and the idea for Ivy Bird came about from my adoration of birds and my love of sharing nature with kids. This idea morphed into themes of imaginative play (a timely topic!), and grew to include addendum pages with information on the birds included in…
Catherine Meatheringham (text) and Max Hamilton (illustrator), My Possum Plays the Drums, Windy Hollow Books, March 2020, 32 pp., RRP $16.95 (pbk) ISBN 9781922081841 My Possum Plays the Drums is Catherine Meatheringham’s first picture book. The inspiration for this story came when she lay awake one night listening to the thumps, bangs and hisses of a noisy possum. Being a keen music lover, Catherine thought all the different sounds were just like a possum orchestra playing through the night. ‘Night-time falls and the possum orchestra begins. Drums bang, violins scratch and I can’t sleep!’ The author uses words to describe the sounds and movements that the possum and its urban make-shift instruments make. Each ‘sound’ word comes to life and stands out from the white pages in an individually designed font, encouraging interest and child participation from the first…
Kirsty Murray (text) and Karen Blair (illustrator), When Billy was A Dog, June 2019, Allen & Unwin, 32 pp., RRP $ 24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760631826 Billy is a pre-schooler who loves dogs and would love to have one of his very own. His promises aren’t enough to convince Mum and Dad to get one, so he decides to become the pet he desperately wants. I’m sure my kids aren’t the only ones who have done something similar. They go through a pretend play phase where they are a dog or a cat, or even a horse where they demand siblings or even parents ‘ride’ them (as we currently are experiencing). Billy is…
Frances Watts (text) and A. Yi (illustrator), My Friend Fred, May 2019, Allen & Unwin, 24 pp., RRP $ 19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760290948 Acclaimed, prize-winning author Frances Watts demonstrates with this charming story that a simple idea executed with wit and imagination can bring deep joy and repeated pleasure to book lovers. In the set of scenes for this book, the narrator speaks of her friend Fred who eats dog food for breakfast (how awful), chases balls, sniffs trees, digs holes and can’t really negotiate stairs very well. In fact, we learn, Fred does a lot of funny things, though he is still the narrator’s best friend. The bright full-page water-colour illustrations are simple and expressive, often taking a…