Van DAM, Jo (text) Myles Lawford (illus.) Doggie Ditties from A to Z Scholastic (NZ), 2014 unpaged $NZ19.50 pbk ISBN 9781775431886 SCIS 1653593 Can you think of a name of a dog breed for each letter of the alphabet? Now there’s a challenge. To quote the text itself: ‘Doggy ditties, rather witty- About a kid’s best friend- A crazy collection, a silly selection- From A through to Z at the end.’ This book is a must for all pet lovers, especially those who, like me, have a dog. What is intriguing about the ditties (limericks and all) and the illustrations,…
Author: Admin
SUWANNAKIT, Tull What Happens Next? Walker, 2014 unpaged $27.95 ISBN 9781922077561 SCIS 1661545 There is a gentle humour in this book. Granny and her granddaughter, Ellie, travel into town one morning. The journey is enlivened by Granny telling a story, prompted frequently by Ellie’s question, what happens next? The story involves a bear (who looks rather like Granny and is indeed a grandmother bear) and a little bear. The activities of these two echo those of Granny and Ellie, even wearing red gumboots like those of Granny and Ellie. Ellie knows the bears are with them on the bus and…
ROBAARD, Jedda Tom and Tilly Fly Away Black Dog, 2014 unpaged $24.95 ISBN 9781922179906 SCIS 1661098 This charming story describes the adventures of Tom and his little teddy Tilly as they zoom off aboard their paper aeroplane and get back home in time for lunch. The short, large print text describing the exciting sights is expanded by the softly coloured illustrations, which show the real version of the scenery. There are lots of visual clues and jokes – note the paper from which the plane is made – with simple instructions on how to make your own paper aeroplane at…
RICHARDS, Dawn (text) Jane Massey (illus.) My Mummy is Magic Random House, 2014 unpaged NZ$19.99 pbk ISBN 9780552569910 A sequel to My Dad’s a Hero, this picture book is very much a hyperbolic ode (without the metrical requirements) to motherhood. It is an ideal gift for Mother’s Day where the young child shares the book with mother as his/her gift. The illustrations support the notion of hyperbole (where Aladdin-like, Mum is taking the children on a magic carpet ride). And so parenthood is rightly praised. Praise poems as such are fine but I do worry that there is a degree…
PEREIRA, Janet (text) Gabriella Klepatski (illus.) Blackie the Fisher-cat Craig Potton, 2014 unpaged NZ$19.99 pbk ISBN 9781927213032 SCIS 1659565 hdbk 978197213049 This is a warm, poignant story of love, loss and recovery that captures the timeless connections between humans and their pets. Told through the voice of a grandchild, the story tells of the passing of Nana and the impact that this has on Grandpop. He is lonely, reads and sleeps a lot but when early spring comes and Grandpop takes the caravan out of the garage, and mum fills the cupboards with treats, Grandpop takes off on a journey…
PAUL, Ruth Rabbit’s Hide-and-Seek Walker, 2014 unpaged A$24.99 NZ$27.99 ISBN 9781922077349 SCIS 1647865 Here Ruth Paul has written her third story about a group of animal friends. The book is a manageable size at 22½ x 20½cm and opens to generous fly leaves setting the scene with full spread illustrations of quite a complex, soft toned, hand-stitched patchwork. The gorgeous patchwork blanket is repeated in different pictures throughout the book. The animals sit on it at their picnic or use it to take cover under while hunting for others during hide-and-seek. Rabbit is glimpsed sound asleep under it at the…
MONFREID, Dorothée The Cake Gecko Press, 2014 unpaged NZ$19.99 pbk ISBN 9781927271445 SCIS 1665364; hdbk NZ$34.99 ISBN 9781877579455 SCIS 1666611 When tiger, dog, monkey, rabbit and teddy bear get together, they all declare that they are hungry. Tiger, who assumes leadership, suggests that they make a cake. What type of cake and who decides? One suggests a bone cake, another a carrot cake, one wants a fish cake and the other a banana cake. Well, tiger wants a chocolate cake but the ingredients disgust the others. Tiger is at a loss and doesn’t know what to do. The others all…
MONAGHAN, Michelle C (text) Laura Wood (illus.) Garlic, Hankies and Hugs JoJo Pub, 2014 unpaged $16.99 pbk ISBN 9780987588067 SCIS 1662671 It is easy to be embarrassed when you are young but the narrator finds life a little difficult with a Greek grandmother who insists on warding off the ‘Evil Eye’ each time that she visits her. The sketches that accompany the text are very funny, particularly the little girl’s martyred expression in her grandmother’s arms. However, she still loves her Nanna who has many other lovable traits, such as being a wonderful cook of pasta, meatballs and rice puddings…
McCLEARY, Errol Purrs, Paws and Claws Scholastic (NZ), 2014 unpaged NZ$19.50 pbk ISBN 9781775432272 SCIS 1646671 If you like to read and speak about mighty moggies and prancing pussies, then this collection of limericks and nursery rhymes focused on purrs, paws and claws, aimed at younger readers, is a must. Did you know that: ‘On the starship, Mighty Forcer, lived a spacecat, Greedy Pawser. He goes to bed and then gets fed, from a bottle and a flying saucer’? The illustration for this limerick adds some delightful touches with emergency cat-flaps and confused rats as well as sound reasons for…
MacIVER, Juliette (text) Jenny Cooper (illus.) The Moose and the Goose Scholastic (NZ), 2014 unpaged NZ$19.50 pbk ISBN 9781775431503 SCIS 1640584 If you are something of a poet and you delight in the play of sounds and words, then here is an inspirational book. Using alliteration, assonance, rhythmic line and pun, the author invites young readers and their parents/teachers to try choral reading as a form of communication. We open the first double-page spread and see a moose jumping onto the rear of a train watched by his good friend Bruce (the bear) when later a goose too wants to…