Jacqueline Harvey, High Voltage (Kensy and Max #8), Penguin Random House, September 2021, 384 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760898557 High Voltage is the latest book in this highly successful series of junior fiction by Jacqueline Harvey. Kensy and Max are twin siblings within a close-knit, caring family. However, with grandmother Dame Cornelia Spencer as head of the international espionage agency Pharos, it is no surprise that this is an unusual family of experienced agents and agents-in-training. The past few months had been especially demanding on the family. Numerous complex projects and Dame Spencer’s recent brush with death had put…
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Emily Rodda (text) and Kate Rowe and Marc McBride (illustrators), Deltora Quest (21st anniversary edition), Scholastic Australia, September 2021, 774 pp., RRP $39.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760977405 Twenty-one years after Leif, Barda and Jasmine set off on their journeys to find the eight gems missing from the Belt of Deltora, through the eight books of the first series, we can read of their adventures again. This is an anniversary edition and Scholastic promises to gather the next series for another anniversary edition. To read this one with the hindsight of 2000 in the reader’s mind is to experience again the thrill…
Toon Tellegen (text) and Marc Boutavant (illustrator), No One Is Angry Today, Gecko Press, September 2021, 72 pp., RRP $32.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781776573455 Translated by David Colmer Toon Tellegen’s books are considered classics of Dutch children’s literature. And Marc Boutavant’s illustrations fill the pages of many French children’s books and comics. Together they have created a peculiar collection of absurd, thought-provoking tales in this publication by Gecko Press. Despite the title, anger is not the only emotion delved into in this collection of tales. Themes of empathy, sorrow, suffering, selfishness, and the frivolity of social norms are addressed, often in…
Mike Dumbleton (text) and Peter Bath (illustrator), Mary Had a Monstersaur, Larrikin House, August 2021, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922503329 Mary has a special pet, and it’s not a dog or a cat! It’s a Monstersaur called Rex. Rex is the dinosaur of the hour, as he gains popularity at Mary’s school and online. He even gets a million likes! But is there more to Rex than meets the eye? In Mary Had a Monstersaur, readers join in a zany escapade through the neighbourhood. The story beautifully depicts the devoted friendship between Mary and Rex. They are inseparable and while…
Joseph Coelho (text) and Freya Hartas (illustrator), Frankenstiltskin (Fairy Tales Gone Bad #2), Walker Books, September 2021, 240 pp. RRP $18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781406389678 For her fingers are long,her fingers are quick.They’re magical fingers,that stitch, stitch, stitch! Bryony, a young taxidermist, has skills that are almost miraculous. Almost. Her father however, promotes her as entirely so. When the king hears of Bryony’s skills, he sends guards to capture her. Trapped in the castle, Bryony must bring the King’s beloved wolf back to life. The King is not kind, and Bryony fears what will happen when she is revealed as the…
Cori Brooke (text) and Giuseppe Poli (illustrator), Fearless with Dad, New Frontier Publishing, August 2021, 32 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925059625 Boys and their dads have special relationships that can defy explanation. But Cori Brooke and Giuseppe Poli do a wonderful job of capturing the spontaneity and fun that can exist between fathers and sons. This newly released edition Fearless with Dad takes us on the fun-filled adventures of a little boy with infinite affection for his father. Together they play, build, cook and even become superheroes. There is something untouchable about stories like this, because they represent something so unique and special about father…
Christopher Cheng (text) and Lucia Masciullo (illustrator), The Imagineer, National Library of Australia, June 2021, 34 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780642279682 I knew I would fall in love with The Imagineer as soon as I removed the book from its wrapper. On the front cover is Penny, surrounded by all sorts of objects; a pondering expression on her face because Penny’s imagination is always on alert for ideas, and her hands at the ready to build her inventions from whatever bits and pieces she can find. But Penny’s apartment is small—miniscule, in fact—so when she visits Grandpa in his…
Andy Griffiths (text) and Terry Denton (illustrator), The 143-Storey Treehouse, Pan Macmillan, October 2021, 304 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760786236 I sincerely regret not reading The Treehouse series by Andy Griffiths and illustrated by Terry Denton. I’ve seen it around often enough and skimmed reviews but didn’t understand just how fantastic and fun this series is until I read The 143-Storey Treehouse, the most recent entry in the series. I was pleasantly surprised to find I could jump right into the series, and not miss much from the previous books (unless you count the humour and illustrations!). There’s a…
Jane Williams and Tessa Grigg, Grandparenting Grandchildren, Exisle Publishing, August 2021, 240 pp., RRP $32.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925820799 I’m loving grandparenting my grandkids, a little 4-month-old and a toddler. So Grandparenting grandchildren written by Dr Jane Williams and Dr Tessa Grigg and with lovely black and white drawings of kids and grandparents, by Tom Kerr, is a very relevant title for me to review. Unusually for Reading Time, it is a book for adults – basically a child rearing guide, but addressed specifically to grandparents who are actively engaged in raising pre-schoolers. It covers all the hot topics that I…
Rory H. Mather (text), Patrick Corrigan (illustrator), Roary the Lion, Larrikin House, October 2021, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922503381 Lions are known for their strength, courage, and their big bad roar. But not poor Roary the lion. With the help of his jungle friends, Roary discovers he can squeak, laugh, and hiss, but just can’t seem to find his powerful roar. A friendly parrot helps him find his voice, but will it be enough to make him King of the jungle? Roary the Lion has heart, rhyme, and big bold colours. From the cover to the back, readers are immersed in…