MAGERL, Caroline Hasel and Rose Viking, 2014 unpaged $24.99 ISBN 9780670077342 SCIS 1672811 Achingly beautiful illustrations tell of the loneliness of Rose in her new home. At the same time from across the oceans and mountains of the world comes a displaced creature looking for acceptance. Travel through time, suspension of belief to embrace the inexplicable and the magic of belonging and friendship are woven powerfully into a moving affirmation of the power of love. The language of the text is exquisite, the visual story commanding. Highly recommended. reviewed by Chris Dayman
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HUGHES-ODGERS, Kyle On a Small Island Fremantle Press, 2014 unpaged $24.99 ISBN 9781925161168 SCIS 1672857 ‘On a small island, in a large sea, Ari lives alone.’ He collects flotsam and jetsam and gazes at the heavily laden ships passing by, and at the far horizon where he knows there is a great land. When one of the large ships stops, its captain tells stories of the far land, its buildings, people and artifacts. Ari longs to see these wonders and feels even more isolated on his small island. When an unusual object washes up he is inspired to begin building,…
GRAHAM, Bob Vanilla Ice Cream Walker, 2014 unpaged $27.95 ISBN 9781406350098 SCIS 1671870 What does a little girl with an ice cream cone have in common with a bird from the other side of the world? The story begins with a young sparrow—curious and bold, free to go where he wants—who finds a sack of rice in India and follows the food over the oceans and through storms. Eventually a new dawn reveals the sparrow has travelled to a large city. In the middle of the city in botanical gardens, the sparrow meets Edie and her grandparents. Edie is curious,…
EDWARDS, Leann J. Emus Under the Bed Allen& Unwin, 2014 unpaged $24.99 ISBN 9781743313459 SCIS 1666444 This joyous book was created with the mentorship of Bronwyn Bancroft and Ali Cobby Eckermann. It makes a stunning impression. The hard outside cover has a shiny red background with six black and white striped emu chicks dancing under the bright yellow text of the title. Inside, the fly leaves present multi-coloured squares which are repeated in the body of the story as a patchwork quilt. The narrator goes to visit her Aunt Dollo who has a collection of feathers from many bird species. …
BROWNE, Anthony Willy’s Stories Walker, 2014 unpaged $24.95 ISBN 9781406351613 SCIS 1671760 After a long illustrious career as one of the world’s premier children’s book creators, Anthony Browne pays tribute to ‘all the great writers and illustrators who have inspired me to make picture books’. Willy’s Stories is a paean to those books and characters that remain indelible in our memory, those books that constitute the literary heritage of childhood. He has reprised his famous little alter ego to take the reader on a journey of imagination, discovery and adventure into the world of those wonderful, timeless stories. Open the…
BECKER, Aaron Quest Walker, 2014 unpaged $27.95 ISBN 9780763665951 SCIS 1672105 A kidnapped king, a map and some magical crayons take two children on an amazing journey. How can they interpret the map and rescue the elderly monarch? This wordless tale set in a medieval fantasy world force the young boy and girl to use their imaginative skills to allow them to overcome the dangers they encounter and finally save the king and find themselves his appointed successor. Wicked knights, flying armoured gondolas, a giant friendly squid, a tropical island with its ziggurats are just some of the quirky elements…
BLABEY, Aaron The Brothers Quibble Viking, 2014 unpaged $24.99 ISBN 9780670076000 SCIS 1644606 An only child for years, Spalding Quibble is undisputed king of the household as he lounges on the couch wearing a paper crown. When he has to share his parents and home with a new baby brother he declares ‘War!’ He traumatises his family with so many unprovoked attacks that it seems like an unwinnable situation until baby Bunny learns to say his big brother’s name. Suddenly a miracle occurs as Spalding realises that despite his bullying his baby brother actually loves him. At first it is…
BASE, Graeme Birds Fly ISBN 9780670077649 SCIS 1648146; Pigs Have Piglets ISBN 9780670077625 Viking (Little Bug Books), 2014 unpaged $9.99 fold-out In his inimitable style Graeme Base has produced a series of fold-out books for very young children. The first includes seven creatures with their unique way of getting around hidden behind the fold, while the second includes seven animals with their babies hidden behind the fold. The illustrations are bold and colourful and each double page spread has a well-hidden beetle that older children will have fun locating. The small amount of text is set in large bold type. …
ALLEN, Emma (text) Hannah Sommerville (illus.) Grandma, the Baby and Me Scholastic, 2014 unpaged $24.99 pbk ISBN 9781862918733 SCIS 1677021 When the baby is brought home Grandma says, ‘Here’s trouble’. What can she mean? Henry doesn’t know, but he does know that Mum is not the same as he wanted her to be. She is too busy, and the baby cries too much. The washing is not up-to-date, so Henry has to wear his sister’s pyjamas, and he gets a pain in his tummy. But tomorrow, Grandma returns, and he knows she will make the trouble go away. Softly illustrated…
Walker The Pigeon Needs a Bath! Mo Willems ($16.95 pbk) Scholastic Double Trouble Dinosaur Danger & Midnight Mischief Sarah Fraser/Louis Shea & Fiona Regan/Louis Shea ($7.99 pbk Random House Clementine Rose and the Treasure Box Jacqueline Harvey ($12.99 pbk) Allen & Unwin The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta : The Quivering Quavers Ursula Dubosarsky/Terry Denton ($9.99 pbk) Five Old Tom stories in one big book The Big Book of Old Tom Leigh Hobbs (Allen & Unwin $19.99 pbk) Back again Alberta Tania Cox/Janine Dawson (Working Title Press $14.99 pbk) Boardbook companion Possum Magic – Opposites Mem Fox/Julie Vivas (Omnibus $9.99)