Anton Poiter (text), Tracy Cottingham (illus), Who’s Had a Poo? and lots of other questions, Five Mile Press, Feb 2016, 32pp., $14.95 (hbk), ISBN 9781760400781 Designed for early and pre-readers, this colourful spot-the-differences picture book consists of the same 24 cutely drawn cartoon animals on each double page spread. At the top of every opening is a simple question about the animals such as “Who is taking a nap?” and the child has to find the animals that appear to be sleeping. The concept is simple but engaging and encourages proficiency in the observational and analytical skills necessary to develop…
Author: Admin
Net Brennan, Sportsmanship (Our Stories), Black Dog Publishing/Walker Books, June 2016, 32pp. $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781742032337 ‘Sportsmanship’ is defined by the Macquarie Dictionary as ‘sporting conduct … the character, practice, or skill of a sportsman.’ While this book touches on the achievements of some individuals, it is primarily a general historical survey of the development and practice in Australia of such mainstream sports as cricket, football codes, horse-racing, athletics and swimming. There is no discussion of sportsmanship itself, except a concluding note that the love of sport is a passion that uniquely defines our nation and culture, surely a debatable point.…
Birdie Black (text), Rosalind Beardshaw (illus.), Warthog, Nosy Crow/Allen & Unwin, March 2016, 24pp., $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780857635709 Warthog is a playful, vivaciously colourful counting book for infants. Flaps and die-cut apertures in the shape of leaves and flowers add to the interactive fun for little readers as they follow young anthropomorphic Warthog as he leaves the family cottage and goes a’wandering. Unfortunately it is a journey of discovery in verse that does not always read fluently or allow for page-turnings. Confusingly, while most flaps reveal a counting array of creatures, a couple just simply reveal a pair of lines…
Chris McKimmie, Me, Teddy, Allen & Unwin, March 2016, 32pp, $29.99 (hbk) ISBN 9781760291334 Some adults chat to little children from above, others squat down at their level to engage in mutually rewarding face-to-face conversation. It is easy to envisage Chris McKimmie in the latter camp for his picture books uniquely take the reader down to the child’s level; from there we happily perceive the world through their developing perception, where discrete parts eventually coalesce into a whole understanding of a place and time. It is a journey through little circumstances of great moment upon the map of the narrator’s…
The Children’s Book Council of Australia 12th National Conference READ: Myriad Possibilities May 20-21, 2016. The Menzies Hotel, Sydney After 70 years, there are myriad possibilities for the CBCA’s future and the future of reading. Our conference program is based around the quote: “… books grant us myriad possibilities: the possibility of change, the possibility of illumination”. – Alberto Manguel The conference program covers all interests and levels. Featured are some of Australia’s best loved, award winning children’s book creators including Libby Gleeson, Graeme Base, Jeannie Baker, Nadia Wheatley, Terry Denton, Steven Herrick, Sarah Ayoub, Dub Leffler, and more. Speaking on Picture Books: Ann James/Janeen…
Chair of The Children’s Book Council of Australia, Professor Margot Hillel was recently interviewed by Kaylee, Leah and Shehan on Primary Perspectives – radio created for kids, by kids. She spoke about the CBCA’s history, the 70th Anniversary Book of the Year Awards, and shared her own reading passions. Professor Hillel has been involved in children’s literature over many years and also holds the position of Chair of the Academic Board at Australian Catholic University. Her main research interests are in the area of the construction of childhood in children’s literature and the history of children’s literature. She is the…
Blythe Woolston, MARTians, Walker Books, 1 March 2016, 223pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781406341393 This strange and highly readable novel is narrated in a smart, deadpan tone of voice by Zoë Zindleman, a young teen in a world not too distantly in the future for us. In this world it is possible for a mother to simply drive away to another city, leaving her daughter to fend for herself in the family home that has been put up for sale. The home must be kept in showroom perfection at all times. In this world, Zoë can be graduated from her school…
Gili Bar-Hillel (text), Prodeepta Das (photographs), I is for Israel, Frances Lincoln/Walker Books Australia, 1 March 2016, 26pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9781847807083 This is an alphabet book, a letter per page, and a full page photograph on each page showing something of ‘the good side of life in Israel’. Some words are Arabic, such as A for Ahalan, a common greeting. Sometimes we are introduced to places in Israel, such as C for Caesaria, the ancient port city, or Negev, the desert that covers more than half the country. There is food (Falafel, Olives, shuk), and there is history, religion and culture…
Francesca Haig, The Map of Bones (The Fire Sermon #2), HarperCollins Australia, 21 March 2016, 442pp., $29.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780008163433 The Map of Bones is the second novel in Francesca Haig’s fantasy trilogy for young adults. Those who read the first novel back in 2015, The Fire Sermon, have been waiting eagerly for this follow up. If what we want from a fantasy novel is to be transported into another sometimes more dire world than our own, but one that still manages to expose the errors and limitations of our own world, taking us back to it somehow feeling wiser…
Pat Clarke (text), Graeme Compton (illus.), Return of the Fox: further adventures of a one-eyed chook, Little Steps Publishing, 1 Dec 2015, 74pp., $24.95 (hbk), ISBN 9781925117585 This third book in the series is one of both heartwarming and heart wrenching moments, courage, wit and suspense. Dealing with some advanced social and environmental issues, Return of the Fox is nevertheless an engaging and charming story. With twenty brightly illustrated chapters, the tale tells of the friendship, bravery, loyalty and adversity of a range of colourful characters. Sheila, the one-eyed chook and her mate Elvis, the wedge-tailed eagle have been living…