Thomas Radcliffe, Hector’s Shell, The Five Mile Press. 1 July 2015. 32pp., $19.95 (hbk) ISBN: 9871760067106 Hector Turtle has had a great day at the beach and now he needs to go home – but WHERE did he leave his shell when he was exploring underwater? Hector goes along the beach asking an odd assortment of beachgoers if they have seen the missing shell, but failing to locate it, Hector decides to make himself a new one – with some very amusing results. Painlessly conveying to readers the message “look after your belongings”, the story also emphasises the value of making…
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Deborah Kelly (text), Daron Parton (illus.) Dinosaur Disco, Random House, 1 October 2015, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk) ISBN 9780857981363 The dinosaurs are having a fabulous time at the disco “Heads bopping, tails swishing, grooving with the beats,” and showing some fantastic dance moves – salsa, conga, moonwalk. But then the music stops – and you won’t need three guesses to figure out who gate-crashes the party with a ground shaking entrance – but is it dinner he’s after, or a dance? This book is fabulous fun and educational too! Kelly masterfully matches rhyme and rhythm with those long-winded dinosaur names: “The…
Dave Hackett, Time For Bed, Daddy, University of Queensland Press, 29 July 2015, 32pp., $24.95 (hbk) ISBN 9780702253812 This is a charming look at the-oh-so-familiar bedtime routine with a humorous twist – the roles are reversed and it is the child putting the dad to bed. The text is a natural and playful dialogue between father and daughter, with narrative asides from the young girl to the reader. “Time for your pyjamas. First your right arm. Then your wrong arm.’ That always makes Daddy laugh.” The font echoes neat, childlike handwriting, with splashes of big, blue expressive words on most…
Meg McKinlay, A Single Stone, Walker Books, 1 May 2015, 271pp., $16.95 (pbk), IBSN 9781925081701. A Single Stone is a beautifully written spine tingling story about a mysterious tribe which relies on mica to warm and light their community. Tiny, slight girls are prized because they can climb into the mountain and harvest the metal. The distribution of the mica depends on the type of service each family provides. Families with no daughters harvesting the metal only receive a small distribution. Tiny, slight girls do not always occur naturally, so that the tribe has developed a number of methods to…
Ailsa Wild (text) Aviva Reed (illus.) Dr. Gregory Crocetti and Briony Barr (creators) Zobi and the Zoox (Small Friends #2), Scale Free Network, 2014, 44pp; $19.95 (pbk) ISBN 9780992587215 Zobi and the Zoox is the second book in the Scale Free Network’s Small Friends series. Like the first title (The Squid, the Vibrio & the Moon), it focuses on the microscopic world, promoting the idea that ‘cooperation is a dominant paradigm of nature’. Zobi and the Zoox is divided into two main sections. A fictional story, set on the Great Barrier Reef, is followed by detailed, factual pages highlighting aspects…
Deborah Challinor, Vietnam (My Australian Story), Scholastic Australia, July 2015, $16.99 (pbk), 254pp., ISBN 978 1 74362 800 3 Vietnam is another novel in the wonderful series of My Australian Story. I don’t care what age group they are aimed at (probably 10-14), I have borrowed every title I can lay my hands on for some years as I think they are a fantastic way to learn about history. Vietnam is set between 1968 and 1970. Main character is Davey, who is about to turn 12 at the beginning of the novel, leads and idyllic life. His passions revolve around surfing and the current…
Samantha Turnbull (text), Sarah Davis (illus.). Emily’s Tiara Trouble (The Anti-Princess Club #1). Allen & Unwin, March 2015, 144pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781743319840. This is the first book in Samantha Turnbull’s The Anti-Princess Club series, which she wrote when she couldn’t find a book for her daughter that didn’t feature a princess or a fairy. And the rest, as they say, is history. In a nutshell, The Anti-Princess Club series follows the trials and adventures of ten-year-old best friends – Bella, Grace, Chloe and Emily – whose club motto is ‘we don’t need rescuing’. The main theme in Emily’s Tiara…
Jacqueline Harvey. Alice-Miranda at the Palace (Alice-Miranda #11), Random House, 2 February 2015, 384pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780857982728. Alice-Miranda at the Palace is the 11th book in this popular series about a perpetually positive seven-and-a-quarter-year-old girl. In this adventure, Alice-Miranda and her friends have been invited to stay at Evesbury Palace to celebrate Queen Georgiana’s silver jubilee, but there is a plot unfolding to bring down the royal family. Alice-Miranda, with some help from her friends and a butler (of course), uncovers the plot and saves the day. Harvey’s writing is very entertaining and she’s not afraid to expose the…
Holly Goldberg Sloan, I’ll be There, Scholastic, 1 April 2015, 312pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 97817601252888 I’ll Be There was USA-based Holly Goldberg Sloan’s debut novel. Billed as a romance and thriller, it follows the trials and tribulations of Emily and Sam who meet when Emily sings the song I’ll Be There in church. She spots Sam at the back of the church and sings it to him, putting a chain of events in motion that are heart wrenching and suspenseful. The novel also deals with the difficult theme of childhood neglect and abuse through the character of Sam. He lives with…
Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes (Ember in the Ashes #1). Harper Collins, 27 April 2015, 450pp., $27.99 (pbk) ISBN 9780007593279 Elias and Helene are about to graduate after 15 years of training to be Masks, an elite soldier group, in this dystopian world know only as the Empire. Elias is hoping to escape from the Academy where they’ve lived through their training and find freedom outside. On the eve of graduation and of his escape attempt, he is visited by an Augur, a supernatural being who is in charge of the process for determining a new Emperor. The…