Gordon Winch (text) and Stephen Pym (illustrator), My First Book of Aussie Animals, New Frontier Publishing, May 2021, 12 pp., RRP $12.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922326232 A striking lift-the-flap book that will engage many a young reader! Beautiful illustrations and well-thought out text makes this book a perfect addition to the classroom or home library. Each page portrays a native Australian setting with the text, ‘Look at me. What do you see?’ Immediately the reader is invited in to take note of the finer detail, all of which provide clues as to what is hidden behind the ever-exciting flap. There are…
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Susanne Gervay, Heroes of the Secret Underground, HarperCollins Publishers, April 2021, 240 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781460758335 Susanne Gervay is a passionate writer, particularly regarding her Hungarian heritage, and never more so than in this story. Gervay interweaves a myriad of historical incidents, persons, and cultural symbols, along with her characters from the past and the present, into a journey that spirits the children from Sydney 2000, back to Nazi occupied Budapest in 1944. Twelve-year-old Louie, Bert and Teddy, who is only four, live with their loving grandparents, Hungarian Holocaust survivors, who run a pleasingly old fashioned hotel in…
Danielle Binks, The Monster of Her Age, Hachette Australia, July 2021, 272 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780734419736 Seventeen-year-old Ellie Marsden has travelled home to Hobart after years of running from her past because her grandmother, famous actress Lottie Lovinger, is dying. The family are gathering to say their final farewells. Lottie lived a big and complicated life, so there are multiple ex-husbands and step-siblings, as well as unresolved dramas and complex family history. But the most traumatic, unspoken issue relates to the falling out between Ellie and Lottie that spilled over into various family relationships. What actually happened is…
Alessandra Yap (text) and Valery Vell (illustrator), The Easter Rush, Little Steps Publishing, March 2021, 32 pp., RRP $14.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781922358257 Easy E, The Easter Bunny, was feeling anything but easy. There was only a week to go before Easter and he had so many things to finish off before he could deliver Easter eggs to children all around the world on Easter Day. With friends dropping in and things going wrong will he be able to get everything done in time? Valery Vell’s warm, gentle illustrations beautifully support and extend the narrative in this well paced story that…
Phoebe McArthur, Charlie Chaplin: The Usual Suspect, Christmas Press, July 2021, 180 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780648815440 The city had always been Charlie’s home and she was happy there. But just before she started high school, home changed. After Charlie’s parents had a sudden divorce, her life was turned upside down and she had to leave everything she knew for the little country town of Gulgong. Charlie thought she was in for a life of boredom and loneliness but was quickly proved wrong. On the night of their arrival there was a burglary and assault at the local jeweler.…
Rachel Bright (text) and Jim Field (illustrator), The Whale Who Wanted More, Hachette Australia, April 2021, 32 pp., RRP $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781408349229 Humphrey is a huge whale with a huge appetite for stuff. Shells, treasure, whatever he can get his fins on. But somehow, the stuff he collects isn’t satisfying his need for more. As he explores the ocean, he finds a crowded coral reef and a crab named Crystal, who teach him that perhaps he doesn’t need to find more. Perhaps he needs to find something to give instead. Bright’s language here is rhythmic and fun to read…
Kes Gray (text) and Jim Field (illustrator), Oi Aardvark!, Hachette Australia, July 2021, 32 pp., RRP $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781444955927 Oi Aardvark! is a jocose alphabet book from cover to cover! Presented to you by Frog, Dog and Cat as the latest instalment to the Oi Frog! collection, this picture book continues the hilarious seating arrangement for an exotic array of animals. From Aardvarks sitting on cardsharks, to zebras on candeLebras, or perhaps even a new species of Zillyzinkzikkers on frilly pink knickers! Readers will be transported by Frog’s passion for his all new Alphabetty Botty Book. This illustrated book…
Anita Croy, Stephen Hawking: Scientists Who Changed the World, EK Books, August 2021, 64 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925820720 This is the fourth book in a series. It is handsomely produced, with detailed photographs and diagrams on every page, and a clear text laid out in detailed paragraphs that describe Stephen Hawking’s life, his character, his famous illness, then the scientific ideas, debates and achievements leading up to his contributions to knowledge about the origins of the universe, its size, and its possible fate. At no point does this account of science become too technical or dry for the…
Maryam Master, author of Exit Through the Gift Shop, spoke to Reading Time reviewer, Barbara Swartz about her newly released book, published by Pan Macmillan Australia. Having written stage adaptations of the works of David Walliams, Leigh Hobbs and Oliver Jeffers, in writing Exit Through the Gift Shop, were you influenced by the works of these great authors of contemporary children’s literature? Obviously I’m a huge fan of all three of those authors and perhaps on a subconscious level, I have been influenced by all their works, however I feel that Exit is very different in its style and subject…
Maryam Master (text) and Astred Hicks (illustrator), Exit Through the Gift Shop, Pan Macmillan Australia, July 2021, 216 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760983512 Exit Through the Gift Shop is the first novel of Maryam Master who is an experienced playwright, whose work includes adaptations of books by David Walliams and Oliver Jeffers. This book is about 12-year-old Anahita (or Ana for short), told in the first person in Ana’s cheerful, playful but also thoughtful voice. She describes her life challenges which are significant indeed. Not only is she adapting to two new blended families since her parents’ marriage break-up…