Kaye Baillie (text) and Max Hamilton (illustrator), When the Waterhole Dries Up, Windy Hollow Books, March 2021, 32 pp., RRP $25.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922081971 A dusty little boy in the outback is waiting for his bath. And so are his cheeky animal outback friends. A crocodile, roo, quoll, emu, dingo, and crocodile all join in the bath time fun. But how will any of them get clean? When the Waterhole Dries Up is a carefree look at life in the outback where a love of animals and the great outdoors is essential! Kaye Baillie takes us on a joyous journey of one little boy who manages to find…
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Coral Vass (text), and Karen Sagovac (illustrator), The Perfectly Proper Grand Pet Parade, Larrikin House, March 2021, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780648894551 There are a number of picture books about pet days at school, and no wonder. With that many children and animals, the possibilities for chaos and entertainment are unlimited! This picture book does not disappoint in either of those categories. It’s the Grand Pet Parade today at school, and everyone is excited. All kinds of animals are brought out by their child owners, when suddenly they are victims of a prank – six racing mice are…
Rhiannon Wilde, author of Henry Hamlet’s Heart, spoke to Reading Time reviewer, Gaby Meares about her newly released book, published by University of Queensland Press. Picture by Jess Kearney How difficult was it to write from a male perspective? Henry’s voice is one of the first aspects of the book that came to me; he showed up pretty much fully formed (and quite insistent!). A lot of my friends both in high school and my adult life have always been male, which I definitely think helped me to be able to get into the mindset of a teenaged boy. That being said, one of the themes I sought to tackle in the book is…
Amelia McInerney (text) and Shane McG (illustrator), My Bird, Bertie, Scholastic Australia, February 2021, 24pp., RRP $17.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781743835111 Watch Bear’s face change as he drives along, first just with his bird Bertie, then with giggling Gertie, followed by silly billy Tilly and jiggy Jack, all squeezed into a small blue car. Repetition and rhyme make this is a fun read-aloud book that introduces word patterns and sounds for 3 – 6-year-olds. The storyline gently explores sharing spaces, and how it can make one feel. Some ‘animals’ cope better than others! Shane McGowan’s illustrations are in a modern animation…
Robyn Bavati, A Weekend with Oscar, Walker Books, July 2021, 208 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760653002 Jamie is sixteen years old and is starting a new term in the middle of the school year with a heavy burden. His father died nine months ago, and grief is still an ongoing companion for him and his mother, although neither of them express it. Jamie’s mother is struggling along in her job as a life coach, and both of them are caring for Oscar, Jamie’s younger brother, who has Down syndrome. Oscar will be thirteen soon and likes routines and birthdays.…
Paterson, Allison, Customs and Traditions of the Australian Defence Force (Australia Remembers #2), Big Sky Publishing, March 2021, 70 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922265227 In this latest installment of the Australia Remembers series, Allison Paterson introduces some of the customs and traditions of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to young readers. Broken down into many chapters with headings like Rank and Names, Uniforms and Mascots, this is an informative and accessible information book. Each page is bright and colourful, with interesting photographs breaking up the short sections of writing. The text is in a larger font, and different break-out…
Roger Hargreaves, Mr. Tickle, 50th Anniversary Edition, Penguin Random House, March 2021, 40 pp., RRP $16.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781761042157 Fifty years ago, a little boy asked his father what a tickle looked like. The subsequent drawing kick-started Hargreaves’ famous Mr. Men and Little Miss series, making him Britain’s third best-selling author of all time, having sold more than 100 million books. This golden hardback edition of the irrepressibly giggly character, Mr. Tickle will delight a new era of pre-schoolers. Today’s reader benefits from a bonus backstory written and illustrated by Hargreaves’ son, Adam. True to the picture book style of…
Ruth Waters, Not So Busy Bee, Windy Hollow Books, April 2021, 32 pp., RRP $25.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922081872 Not So Busy Bee lives in the moment, spending his days appreciating all life has to offer. While the busy bees are working tirelessly to collect pollen for the Queen Bee’s birthday honey, Not So Busy Bee stops to help others, eventually returning with nothing to except the pollen on his wings. But this meagre offering changes the lives of the bees forever. Not So Busy Bee features cute cameos by Not So Scary Bear and Not So Quiet Mouse, the titular…
Rhiannon Wilde, Henry Hamlet’s Heart, University of Queensland Press, July 2021, 328 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780702263149 ‘I feel things. Things that could ruin everything.’ Henry Hamlet’s Heart is Rhiannon Wilde’s first novel and won the State Library of Queensland Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer in 2019. It’s 2008 in Brisbane and Henry Hamlet is in his last semester of year twelve. He’s the school captain and has a tight group of close friends, although Len has been his best friend ‘since forever’. There’s pressure from all sides for Henry and his friends to decide what direction…
Angela Robertson-Buchanan, Nestling Cockatoos: the story of Squeak and Squawk, Wild Dog Books, July 2021, RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781742036076 It’s ironic that this book arrived for review just as an extra rowdy mob of cockatoos flew into my neck of the woods in rural Victoria. Perhaps it’s what made this latest offering from Wild Dog, so appealing. Whatever the case, the glorious colour photos in this book combined with the heart-warming story of Squeak and Squawk’s rescue, is sure to resonate with children. The author is a trained wildlife rescuer specialising in the care and rehabilitation of birds and…