Nicola Davies (text), Luciano Lozano (illus), I (Don’t) Like Snakes, Walker Books, 1 July 2015, 32pp., $24.95 (hbk), ISBN 9781406342833 Some families have dogs, cats or birds as pets but this little girl’s family keeps snakes. She really, really doesn’t like them. However as the story unfolds and her Mum, Dad and brother explain more about snakes, she changes her mind. Pages of the family interaction are interspersed with facts and trivia about the characteristics and behaviour of snakes, making this quite informative and accessible for very young children. In places the font changes from italic style to represent the…
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Jackson Pearce, Maggie Steifvater, Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures, Scholastic Australia, 1 July 2015, 192pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760156954 “The Unicorns arrived right after the buses”. I was enthralled from this first sentence! A feisty, energetic main character, uppity, self-absorbed unicorns and cute combustible Fuzzles… I am smitten! Pip has a passion for magical creatures but nobody believes she can talk to them. Armed with her favourite book by Jeffrey Higgleston she is determined to meet as many magical creatures as she can, noting new and vital findings against the author’s research. Many of us will relate to Pip as…
Darrell Pitt, The Lost Sword: a Jack Mason adventure, Text Publishing, 26 August 2015, 256pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925240184 Steampunk, mystery, humour and international travel in the 1800s… definitely my cup of tea! In this latest installment of the Jack Mason series, the Emperor of Japan promises the British Government to keep peace with the allies if the ancient Kusanagi sword can be found. Assigned to the case, trainee detectives Jack Mason and Scarlet Bell, under the concerned eye of Mr Doyle, soon find out that the Nazis will stop at nothing to retrieve the sword and use its purported magical…
R J Palacio, Auggie & Me: three Wonder stories, Corgi Children’s/Random House Australia, 1 September 2015, 400pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780552574778 Between May 2014 and May 2015, R J Palacio published three stories online set in Auggie’s world. Although they don’t feature Auggie, each one deals with a person who has had interactions with the main character of Wonder. Initially, they were only available as a digital download, but now the publisher has put them together in a compilation print copy. It appears that Palacio has been bombarded with requests for a sequel to Wonder (oh the demands of a series-hungry…
Garth Nix, Newt’s Emerald, Allen & Unwin, October 2015, 256pp., $18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760112653 When the Newington family emerald is stolen, eighteen-year-old Lady Truthful appeals to her aunt Lady Badgery to help her find it, determined to protect her three cousins from suspicion. To pursue the mystery Truthful has to pretend to be a man – this is Regency London, where young women must behave themselves or lose their reputation – and is assisted in her derring-do by a Major Hartnett, who is not quite what he seems. Of course, the emerald is discovered; of course, Major Hartnett is the perfect…
Marika McCoola (text), Emily Carroll (illus), Baba Yaga’s Assistant, Candlewick Press/Walker Books Australia, 1 August 2015, 136pp., $24.94 (hbk), ISBN 9780763669614 This graphic novel contains two stories featuring the Russian folk legend character – the Baba Yaga. Masha’s mother is dead, but before she died she told Masha many stories. Her grandmother has continued to enthrall the girl with tales of Baba Yaga the frightening witch who lives in the woods. When Masha’s father decides to marry again, Masha answers an advertisement asking for an assistant to Baba Yaga, and gets the job. It takes many tests and considerable effort before…
Catherine Jinks, Theophilus Grey and the Demon Thief, Allen & Unwin, October 2015, 320pp., $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 978 1 76011 360 5 This is the first part of a two part mystery series set in Georgian London. Philo is a linkboy, one of a gang of lads who guide people through the dark and dangerous streets and alleys of the city to their homes or any destination they desire. Philo, an orphan, has been brought up by Garnet Hooke, a benevolent and ailing Fagin-like character who gathers information from his linkboys and other contacts to provide the secrets he needs…
Samone Bos (text), Alice Oehr (illus), The Little Book of Australia’s Big Things, Chirpy Bird, 1 September 2015, 48pp., $19.95 (hbk), ISBN: 9781760125547 The Little Book of Australia’s Big Things screams kitsch Australiana and reminds me of growing up in the 1980s; a time when our family holidays lead us to many a ‘big thing’. Despite the fond memories, this book has left me in a quandary. My gut reaction says it hasn’t quite decided how seriously to handle the subject matter, yet it contains so many interesting and entertaining elements. Intelligent design decisions abound here- the inside of the dust…
Dan Metcalf, The Secrets of the Stone: a Lottie Lipton adventure, Bloomsbury, 1 August 2015, 76pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781472911841 ‘Lottie Lipton: nine-year-old investigator extraordinaire!’ has a Detective Investigator from Scotland Yard as her hero and is rapidly following in his footsteps. Set in England and within the context of a famous museum, this story follows our youthful sleuth, her great uncle Bert and the museum’s caretaker, Reg, as they attempt to crack a series of codes to uncover the whereabouts of an ancient trident and, in the process, save Uncle Bert’s job. The story is well paced, easy to follow…
A new book out on October 27th, Laugh Your Head Off, is a compilation of stories by many of Australia’s funniest authors for children. We asked them to tell us what made them laugh when they were about 10 years old. Here’s what they said. Andy Griffiths How to be Topp: A guide to Sukcess for tiny pupils, including all there is to kno about SPACE by Geoffrey Willans and illustrated by Ronald Searle was my gold standard of funny. The books are narrated by Nigel Molesworth, a self-appointed (but completely unreliable) authority on everything, especially how to…