Sandra Severgnini, Grub, EK Books, August 2022, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922539267 Sandra Severgnini has collaborated with several children’s book authors previously, including Tree Beings which was awarded the 2021 Environment Award for Children’s literature from the Wilderness Society. Grub is her first foray as author/illustrator and is a delightful lower primary non-fiction book. First of all, how engaging is the title Grub?! Boldly gracing the front cover the title is set against an earthy background with the starring character ‘Grub’ nibbling away at a letter. The simple but captivating cover is sure to appeal to the imagination…
Author: Admin
David Almond (text) and Kirsti Beautyman (illustrator), Paper Boat, Paper Bird, Hachette, August 2022, 112 pp., RRP $22.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781444963274 This short novel by bestselling author, David Almond, transports readers to Japan and engages them in traditions and contemporary life. Mina has recently arrived in Japan from England with her mother. While on a bus to a temple she is observes a woman folding paper. She is making an origami boat which she gifts to Mina. Next, the woman folds a paper crane. Mina’s imagination is strong and she feels the water beneath the boat and the wind from…
Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway, How to Survive on Mars, CSIRO Publishing, August 2022, 120 pp., RRP $29.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781486314669 Dr Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway has a PhD in astrophysics, and is a science educator. In this smartly produced book she introduces the only other solid planet in our solar system, and explores for us some of the problems humans will have to face if they are to spend time on that planet almost without an atmosphere, very little gravity, and possibly not much more than red rocks on it. With superb full coloured graphics, the reader learns how the red planet formed, how…
Diane Jackson Hill, Animal Migrations, Flying, Walking, Swimming, CSIRO Publishing, August 2022, 80 pp., RRP $29.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781486315413 Animal migrations are fascinating and there is still a lot of information scientists don’t know about them. In this informative book published by the CSIRO, retired teacher Diane Jackson Hill describes what is known and the many different species which take part. Divided into sections on flying, walking and swimming migrations, beautiful photographs of creatures such as caribou, wildebeest, whales, penguins, bats, shearwaters, crabs and salmon are shown, and their travels explained. Fact boxes include amazing records such as the…
Shirley Marr, All Four Quarters of the Moon, Penguin Australia, July 2022, 336 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760899554 When the Guo family arrives in Australia for an opportunistic new beginning, they are not expecting such drastic lifestyle changes. Australia smells different to Singapore, sells cereal in strange boxes from supermarkets, and has the most expansive horizon Peijing has ever seen. Ba ba works shorter days, Ah Ma no longer bakes mooncakes, and Ma Ma learns that hand feeding Peijing and Biju their lunch every day at school isn’t exactly Australian protocol. When the challenges of their new life…
Ryan Douglass, The Taking of Jake Livingston, Anderson Press, July 2021, 246 pp., RRP $16.75 (pbk), IBSN 9781839132506 The Taking of Jake Livingston is a dramatic, tense and emotional YA novel. Despite its short length, the novel is detailed and the characters are well developed. Ryan Douglass has also managed to incorporate and explore numerous sensitive topics in an insightful way. Jake Livingston is a queer, black teenager attending a predominately white school, St. Clair. Outwardly Jake appears to be an average, albeit shy and sensitive teenager but in reality, his life is far from average. Jake is surrounded…
Christopher Cheng (text) and Liz Anelli (illustrator), Old Fellow, Walker Books Australia, May 2022,32 pp., RRP $25.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760652395 In Old Fellow, Christopher Cheng and illustrator Liz Anelli take readers on the simple yet inviting journey of an old man and his dog on their walk to the park. It is there that the characters observe their surroundings, reflect on the familiar, and engage all of their senses. They meet neighbours, sit on their park bench and enjoy every moment of their local park – the most wonderful place. The man and his dog share a loving and loyal…
Tomlinson (text) and Tori-Jay Mordey (illustrator), A Blue Kind of Day, Penguin Random House Australia, April 2022, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781761046384 Rachel Tomlinson addresses depression in her newly released picture book, A Blue Kind of Day, illustrated by indigenous artist Tory- Jay Morley. Her main character, Coen, reveals a range of behaviours including staying for long periods in bed, pulling the blankets around himself like armour and not smiling or laughing. She writes that Coen ‘feels trapped’. His body felt prickly and he wound up like a coil. He dragged himself back to bed and scrunched…
Davina Bell (text) and Hilary Jean Tapper (illustrator), What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say, Hachette Australia, June 2022, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780734421142 I’m sorry. I love you. Everyone is different and that’s okay. I like you just how you are. A picture book touching on the moments children might struggle to find the right words, What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say is a warm and wonderful guide to finding the words even when we are not brave. The phrases will resonate with readers big and small, and show all…
Trent Roberts, Stunt Kids, Pan Macmillan, May 2022, 265 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760787783 Gretel Grey and her parents thought that a STUNT camp was a Sensible Totally Undangerous Never Thrilling camp. IT WASN’T. Gretel’s parents are super cautious, wrapping her in cotton wool (not really, as the narrator states “that would be too itchy”) so she doesn’t get hurt. She is home schooled, is not allowed outside and twelve-year-old Gretel has no friends. When Gretel’s parents head off on holiday, they enrol her in a STUNT camp, which they thought was a Sensible, Totally, Undangerous, Never Thrilling…