The Topp Twins (text), Jenny Cooper (illustrations), The Farmer in the Dell, Scholastic (NZ), 1 December 2014, $NZ 21.00(pbk), 32pp., ISBN 978-1-77543-195-4 Based on nineteenth century folksong (most probably originating in Germany), the story of “The farmer in the dell” (and to an extent, a children’s game that used to be played with it) has a courtship theme such that the farmer that takes the wife to the dell (or valley), the wife that takes the child, the child that takes the nurse, and the nurse that takes the cow; evokes something of the family hierarchy in those times. What the…
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Stephanie Thatcher, Little Hoiho, Scholastic (NZ), 1 February 2015, $NZ 19.00(pbk), 32pp., ISBN 978-1-77543-249-4 A rare and endangered species of penguin, the hoiho (translated from Māori as “noise shouter” as stated in the peritext of this book) has a yellow band around its head and yellow eyes. This evocative story then is about difference and the potential to be othered. Little hoiho espies the kotuku with long legs, the toroa with big wings, tui with its enchanting sounds and tries to copy them. She walks in an ungainly manner, flops when she tries to fly and chirps an ugly sound. She…
Craig Smith (text) Scott Tulloch (illustrations), Square Eyes, Scholastic (NZ), 1 November 2014, $16.99(pbk), 32pp., ISBN 978-1-77543-269-2 Do you have a friend (or a child or are you a parent) who sits all day, watching TV, and letting the day waste away? If so, this book might be a provocateur to change that behaviour. Dedicated “to all children who sometimes struggle to get their parents off the couch, their tablets and phones to play with them,” this quirky story (and song with its accompanying CD) warns yo’aalll that you might end up with square eyes! “SQUARE eyes, don’t get SQUARE…
Tomoko Ohmura, Line up, please!, Gecko Press, October 2014 (2009), $NZ 19.99(pbk), unpaged, ISBN 978-1-877579-99-8 Why would different species line up behind each other? Perhaps this is a story about Noah and the flood? A bird flies over all the animals and tweets, “line up here please,” looking down at a notice The Line Starts Here. Frog is number fifty. “What’s everyone waiting for? Let’s go and see…” Frog lines up behind gecko, mouse, mole, flying squirrel, squirrel, turtle, guinea pig, weasel, hedgehog, rabbit, armadillo, skunk, porcupine (turn the page)…All 50 of them are told to stay in line until…
Scott Tulloch, I am not a Worm, Scholastic (NZ), July 2014, $NZ 19.50 (pbk), 32pp., ISBN 978-1-77543-251-7 If you are into macabre or black humour, this is great text for you. The space of black humour is a liminal space where both joyous laughter and distress at discomfort is experienced at the same time. Hence it is that some of my students delighted in this picture book (with one class of 23 students nominating it as their NZ picture book-of-the-year) whilst another individual student “hated it” and assessed the book as the worst! That’s the conundrum of the macabre as a…
Linda Roberts (text) Bruce Potter (illustrations). The Whale Savers: returning Wēra to the ocean. New Holland, 1 February 2015, $NZ 19:99(pbk), 32pp., ISBN 978-1-86966-431-2 What is remarkable when you open this picture book is the illustrative style. It seems to be a blend of computer application perhaps using photo shop in the foreground with a soft focus use of art in the background. It certainly heightens a sense of realism which is entirely appropriate given the story focus. When Tama stands with his grandmother overlooking Shoal Bay, he notices a large black shape on the beach below: a stranded…
Ruth Paul, Go Home Flash, Scholastic (NZ), 1 October 2014, $NZ 19.50 (pbk), 32pp., ISBN 978-1-77543-245-6 A sequel to Bad Dog Flash, this picture book is a wonderful exploration of the tension between having agency and being subject to, a conflict that all young children experience. I am sure my dog Millie experiences the same dilemma as she struggles with the boundaries that I give (though, lucky for her there are no fences, compared to the joy of wandering the neighbourhood with a tennis ball in her mouth). This is Flash’s world. The opening page shows Flash with a dog-belt…
Kat Patrick (text) Lauren Marriott (illustrations). I am Doodle Cat, Beatnik Publishing NZ, 2014. $NZ $24.99(hbk), 32pp., ISBN 978-0-9922648-2-6 Teachers: here’s the big question. When you see a child in the corner of the classroom doodling way and not focussed on what is the WALT “We are learning to…” (with the learning objective then stated), do you see the child as misbehaving or do you see a quirky child with an alternative learning style? Hmmm. In the past, children’s drawings have been seen as an early developmental stage that later leads to the educationally acceptable forms of communication (letters…
Yvonne Morrison (text) Donovan Bixley (illustrations). Wacko Kakapo, Scholastic (NZ), 1 June 2014, $NZ 19.50(pbk), 24pp., ISBN 978-1-77543-256-2 Part of the Kiwi Corkers series whereby “traditional” folktales are given a kiwi twist, Wacko Kakapo is a retelling of the English folktale “Henny Penny.” In this retelling, it is Wacko Kakapo (kakapo being an endangered species) who experiences a winded seed from the giant kauri tree falling on his head and coming to a conclusion that the sky is indeed falling. He runs off in search of Tāne Mahuta (a giant kauri tree in the Northland forest known as the Lord…
Kyle Mewburn (text) Mike Howie & Flux Animation (illustrations), Rosie’s Radical Rescue Ride, Random House NZ, 7 November 2014, $NZ 19.99 (pbk), 32pp., ISBN 978-1-77553-777-9 As all kiwis need to know, a piece of number 8 wire is a symbol that signifies the idea of ordinary people overcoming real problems with innovative thinking using perhaps odd materials. When the tractor breaks down and the farmhand is upset, not knowing what to do, it’s the cow Rosie who moos, “we just use our heads, and cow-operate together.” The problem is that a rainstorm is near and if the hay is not…