Samantha Turnbull (text), Sarah Davis (illus.), Cruise Control (The Anti-Princess Club #5), Allen & Unwin, Dec 2015, 192pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760291884 The Anti-Princess Club books are a successful attempt to show readers aged 7-10 that there is more to life than dressing up and wearing tiaras. For me, as an adult reader, the beginning premise of the story was somewhat far-fetched, and occasionally other incidents didn’t ring true with my adult perspective. Once I had accepted those minor flaws, the story flowed and there were many wonderful learning situations for young readers. These defects are also things which are unlikely…
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Matt Haig (text), Chris Mould (illus.), A Boy Called Christmas, Allen & Unwin, Dec 2015, 272pp., $19.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9781782117896 Did you know the story of Nicholas, the young boy who variously became known as Father Christmas or Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus? Nicholas is the son of a poor woodcutter living in wintery Finland who goes on a journey to prove that the elves and their town do exist, leaving his young son in the care of his wicked sister, Aunt Carlotta. Nicholas finally rebels against Aunt Carlotta’s harsh rules and lack of food and goes search for his father.…
Margaret Wild (text), Stephen Michael King (illus.), The Pocket Dogs and the Lost Kitten, Scholastic Australia, 1 Feb 2016, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9781742991054 King and Wild have combined their talents again to produce another story about Biff and Buff, who so enjoy riding in Mr Pocket’s pockets. At first when the kitten arrives on their doorstep, one cold wet windy night, Biff and Buff are delighted to accept her, play with her and share their toys until they realise that Mr Pocket seems to spend so much time with the kitten. They feel rejected, dreaming of supposed changes in the…
Phil Cummings (text), Laura Wood (illus.), Echidna Jim went for a Swim, Scholastic Australia, 1 Feb 2016, 24pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760152994 This is a story about cooperation, problem solving and accommodating those who are different to us. Echidna Jim is spikey – physically and in his lack of social awareness. By the expression on his charmingly characterised face the reader guesses that he doesn’t know how to act and feels out of place. When he pushes through a crowd he hurts his pals and when he jumps into the sea he accidentally bursts their buoyancy aids. The clear illustrations,…
Lucinda Gifford, Space Alien at Planet Dad, Scholastic Australia, 1 Feb 2016, 32pp., $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760153687 Lucinda Gifford has found a uniquely funny and gentle way to help small children cope with the addition of a new partner into their parenting situations. Having a single dad means Jake can play with him on a one-to-one boy’s level, which suits him just fine. That all changes when one weekend visit he meets the “Space Alien… in the viewing platform”. Background details show the reader that ‘The Alien’ quickly ‘feminises’ Dad’s flat, but my favourite aspect of this child-centred story is…
Jackie French (text), Bruce Whatley (illus.), Cyclone, Scholastic Australia, 1 Feb 2016, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781743623596 As a child in England in 1974 I remember a terrifying chill at hearing the news that Cyclone Tracy had ripped the city of Darwin to shreds early Christmas morning. This book pulls no punches in its snippy short rhyming text and fluid acrylic washes that drip down the pages, flooding the underlying detailed graphite drawings. The shocking audacity of a storm that could wreck eighty per cent of a city’s homes whilst Santa was out delivering presents is the reader’s prominent reaction.…
Bernadette Hellard and Lisa Gibbs, Pivot and Win (Netball Gems #3), Random House Australia, 2 Nov 2015, 153pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN 9 780857 987686 Bernadette Hellard and Lisa Gibbs, Defend to the End (Netball Gems #4), Random House Australia, 2 Nov 2015, 154pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN 9 780857 987709 Netball Gems are cheerful novelettes for netball fans; a series about an under 13s netball team called the Marrang Gems. Each book is about one of the members, their positions on the team and their worries and triumphs. In the telling of each story, information on how netball is played and…
Mike Curato, Little Elliot Big Family, Five Mile Press, Oct 2015, 36pp., $19.95 (hbk), ISBN: 9781760068455 Little Elliot the spotted elephant is lonely when his friend Mouse leaves for his big family reunion. On his walk through New York he sees many different types of family groups: fathers and daughters, sisters, mothers and sons, brothers playing in the street and so on. Elliot wonders what it would be like to have a relative. He meets Mouse who has come looking for him because, even though Mouse has plenty of relatives, Mouse needs Little Elliot. Together they go back to the reunion…
Jenni Connor, Writing and Education Consultant and CBCA (Tas Branch) member, suggests novels with appeal for 10-16 year olds… This collection is a bit of a mixed bag containing titles accessible by less confident readers from around Year 5, through to challenging novels for adolescents nearing the end of secondary school. It includes some ‘historical fiction’, some contemporary social commentary and some fantasy. To begin with: Tashi and the Wicked Magician, Anna & Barbara Fienberg (A & U, 2014). Children who have enjoyed the Tashi picture books will find this collection of stories a lovely bridge into junior novels. The…
Jen Storer (text), Mitch Vane (illus.), Danny Best : Full On (Danny Best #1), HarperCollins Australia, 1 Oct 2015, 320pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780733333330 Danny Best: Full On is a wonderfully funny new collaboration between Jen Storer and Mitch Vane, both of whom have a great sense of timing and slapstick. Vane’s illustrations are used in a clever and opportunistic way, adding visual intensity to Storer’s humorous text. The stories capture the idealistic childhood we all either had or long for in our children’s lives and are packed with cheeky tricks, wacky ideas and imaginative scenarios the gang cook up. I…