Michael Rosen (text) and Tony Ross (illustrator), Michael Rosen’s Sticky McStickstick, Walker Books, February 2022, 40 pp., RRP $27.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781529502404 In 2020 Michael Rosen, ‘We’re Going On a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen’, became very ill with COVID. He was in intensive care for 40 days, and on his road to recovery had to learn how to walk again. Sticky McStickstick is the story of this challenging process and how along the way a walking stick becomes one of his greatest aids. The story itself does not provide the COVID backstory, simply a very sick man who has…
Author: Admin
Sung Mi Kim, Say Hello?, Berbay Publishing, April 2022, 44 pp., RRP $25.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922610461 Say Hello? by Sung Mi Kim takes a light-hearted look at what happens when you miss a chance to be cordial. Translated from Korean this thoughtful and funny title is sure to become a firm favourite. Characters Little Fox and Mr Wolf become neighbours. Due to their own personal circumstances they choose not to greet each other, to “say hello”, during their first encounter. Next comes misunderstanding followed by awkwardness and more awkwardness. Adult readers are sure to be able to relate to the…
Judith Vun Price and Jacqui Vun, Nenek Tata and the Mangrove Menace, Crotchet Quaver, February 2022, 56 pp., RRP $33.95 (hbk), ISBN 9780995408685 The authors, who are sisters, of this richly illustrated story are from Sabah in North Borneo, but now live in Western Australia. While going about their daily chores, an elderly couple, Nenek and Jantam, appear to be threatened by a monster, but then, as Nenek confronts the creature, it is revealed as friend rather than foe. The illustrations are arresting and are apparently in the ‘Kadazan-Dusun style’. The book is aimed at younger students, but older ones…
Kate Hendrick, Fish Out of Water, Text Publishing, February 2022, 288 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922458346 Finn, aptly named, is a champion swimmer who on one occasion, falters before a race and loses. He feels compelled to reassess his priorities but eventually goes back to swimming training. He meets Loki, a laid-back boy who is also a champion swimmer. He also engages with a studious girl, Aaliyah. In doing so, he comes to the realisation that everyone has things in their lives that are not necessarily obvious to an outsider. But Finn has the biggest secret of all. His…
Jennifer Cossins, A-Z of Australian Animals, Hachette Australia, March 2022, 64 pp., RRP $18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780734421326 Originally published in hardback in 2018, A – Z of Australian Animals is now available in paperback. Featuring 26 Australian animals, one for each letter of the alphabet, the collection includes mammals, birds and one insect. The author even found an animal with a scientific name starting with X! Jennifer Cossins’ distinctive artwork on the right-hand side of each double-page spread is married with a page of informative text on the left. For each creature there is a common name, the scientific name,…
Robert Lorenzon, Spike Surfs, Wild Dog, February 2022, 32 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781742036229 This is a sweet, simple story of an unwanted dog finding a loving home and an unexpected skill along the way. Spike Surfs is written from the perspective of Spike the dog – a one year old, Kelpie cross Rhodesian Ridgeback who lives at a dog shelter. He is waiting patiently to be ‘chosen’, and then Rob comes along and decides to adopt him. Rob introduces Spike to the beach, and gradually to the water and surfing. Eventually they enter a surfing competition together. Spike’s…
William Grill, Bandoola, The Great Elephant Rescue, Walker Books, February 2022, 88 pp., RRP $39.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781838740238 Myanmar is a country in in South-east Asia, a place famous for its vast swathes of forest and majestic elephants. Myanmar was invaded and colonised by the British in 1824, a rule that lasted until independence finally came in 1948. During this time, a British man named James Howard Williams and a male Indian elephant named Bandoola, met. What followed is an extraordinary tale of war, animal respect and exploitation, environmental conservation, friendship, adversity, and survival. William Grill previously won the prestigious…
Kate Simpson (text) and Andy Hardiman (illustrator), Ouch! Tales of Gravity, Allen & Unwin, February 2022, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760526610 Gravity is not an easy force to explain to young readers, so this scientific picture book is a great way to present the concept. Starting with the famous apple falling on Isaac Newton’s head (although this one is dropped by a mischievous child up in the tree), the text progresses through illustrations of things falling downwards and not falling sideways. The gravitational pull of the earth and of the sun on the planets is shown and the…
Penelope Pratley, The Secret of Sapling Green, EK Books, February 2022, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925820980 The Secret of Sapling Green, by emerging author Penelope Pratley, is a picture book about a girl who is socially isolated, but gains satisfaction from her special talent for growing and nurturing plants. When Sapling’s classmates are sad that the ailing schoolyard tree that they love to climb, is out of bounds and must be cut down, it’s Sapling’s chance to show her special talent. Can her magical “green thumbs” save the tree? Sapling is described in the text as a passive social…
Sabina Radeva, On the Origin of Species, Penguin Random House, February 2022, 56 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780141388519 In 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species a ground-breaking explanation of evolution. In 2019, Sabina Radeva a molecular biologist and illustrator used Darwin’s work as the basis for a hard cover picture book. A curious choice but it seems to have paid off. I reviewed the paperback version of this book published in 2022. Radeva’s prowess as an illustrator and graphic designer is evident in every page. Many of the illustrations are works of art that I could…