ZAKNIC, Kate (text) Rina the Dolphin Ocean Pub, 2013 36pp $16.00 pbk ISBN 9780987496607 Rina the dolphin has travelled round the world. She is somewhat impulsive and self focused. When she arrives in Bunbury, WA, she has many new experiences and meets numerous humans and creatures of land and sea who have a positive effect on her understanding of life. It is a simply told fable illustrated with full page or double page spreads. Although described as being for young adults, the main audience would be newly independent readers so more paragraphs throughout the text would have been helpful. There…
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TULLOCH, Coral The Journey Walker, 2013 120pp A$19.95 NZ$29.99 ISBN 9781922077615 SCIS 1635791 This is an outstandingly imaginative book that children will love. The opening page lists simple items that will be required on the journey such as a pencil and paper, a die for games, and so on. The five chapter titles and intriguing chapter summaries draw the reader further into young Bernard’s adventure. Coral Tulloch writes brilliantly, knowing exactly how to entice and maintain youngsters’ attention. The line drawings are as superb as the text, full of action and humour. What is most memorable and successful, however, are…
KIMOCHIS: Toys with Feelings Inside LuluCo Intn’l P/L This can best be described as an educational toy, consisting of a set of seven Kimochis (Japanese word for feelings) characters, each of which has its own particular disposition, such as bossy, shy, moody and sensitive, and with a pouch to insert their feeling cushion, of which there are 29, an educator’s tool kit, a series of picture books and a nesting heart. It is designed specifically to support children with autism to develop the skills they need to build relationships and to participate and achieve appropriately in their social worlds. It…
WILD, Margaret (text) Julie Vivas (illus.) Davy & the Duckling Penguin, 2013 unpaged $24.99 ISBN 9780670075614 SCIS 1614365 Wild and Vivas have created an exquisite new story. The book has feathery end papers and begins the narrative on the title page, showing Davy discovering a nest of duck eggs. There is an instantaneous connection made between Davy and the duckling, upon looking into each other’s eyes. Duckling follows Davy everywhere. The text and illustrations create a gentle and moving story of love, loss, aging and caring for loved ones. It is also a life cycle story which follows the milestones…
WHITING, Sue (text) Meredith Thomas (illus.) A Swim in the Sea Walker, 2013 unpaged A$27.95 NZ$29.99 ISBN 9781921150494 SCIS 1626641 This is a beautifully illustrated book depicting Bruno and his family as they visit the beach for the first time. The deep blue sea can be scary for young children and at first Bruno does not like it, all he wants to do is hide. Eventually his family convince him to help build a sand city, complete with roads and walls. However, the sea gradually encroaches on his city dumping waves and creating a small paddling pool – just to…
WHITE, Annie Clementine’s Walk New Frontier, 2013 unpaged $24.95 ISBN 9781921928475 SCIS 1626644 Lovable Clementine takes her lead to each family member in hope of a walk. They are all occupied and ignore her. She retreats to the laundry basket, where she is joyfully discovered when the whole family step out with her for her walk. Beautifully nuanced illustrations marry perfectly with a bouncing rhyming text to tell a highly predictable but satisfying story. Recommended. CD
WALTERS, Celeste (text) Adele Jaunn (illus.) Puppy Playtime 1,2,3 Little Hare, 2013 unpaged $16.99 pbk ISBN 9781742977164 SCIS 1639627 Billy the bitzer, the hero of this delightful, well-designed counting book, is off to the park to find his toy bone. Hopefully, he left it in a safe place. Soon, he is joined by ten lively and appealing puppies, ‘whisking and frisking’, ‘romping and stomping’ and racing all over the park. He becomes ‘worried and flurried’, will one of these interlopers find his bone? Unfortunately he does not seem to entertain the notion of sharing, and resorts to some ungentlemanly assertive…
TEMPLE, Jol & Kate (text) Jon Foye (illus.) I Got This Hat ABC, 2013 unpaged $24.99 ISBN 9780733332067 SCIS 1635956 We wear hats for many different reasons. This quirky book is all about wearing hats for fun in a simple yet effective tale, fabulously designed and brought to life through playful watercolour illustrations. Each double page spread has text on one side with a corresponding illustration on the other. The text looks handwritten in large, red block letters, declaring (almost shouting) e.g. ‘I got this hat in China’. On the opposing page a child peeks out from underneath the respective…
ROSEN, Michael (text) Katharine McEwen (illus.) Send for a Superhero! Walker, 2013 unpaged $24.95 ISBN 9781406327090 SCIS 1635793 This large format children’s book has gorgeous, full colour illustrations on every page. The story sets out simply and cleverly, with Emily and Elmer’s dad reading this very book to his children at bedtime. As we too begin to take in the story of the book that Emily and Elmer are listening to, the illustrations take on a comic-book style narrative. The world is threatened by a gang of two, the Terrible Two, namely a creature called Filth (he can pour muck…
ROC, Margaret (text) Laura Hughes (illus.) Jellybean Goes to School Tamarind, 2013 unpaged $14.95 pbk ISBN 9781848530751 SCIS 1635881 This is one of a series of picture books about new experiences for children such as flying and having a babysitter for the first time. As sometimes happens, the anticipation and longing to go to kindergarten or school is replaced by nerves, if not dread, on the first day. Jellybean is no exception but she teams up with Alex and together they enjoy all the activities that their teacher introduces them to. Needless to say, she cannot wait to return on…