Dhana Fox (text) and Anna Demchenko (illustrator), Ham, Larrikin House, February 2021, 32 pp., RRP $24.99, ISBN 9780648872221 Ham is a picture book that makes an impact. It’s brash and bold, the characters are larger than life (and also louder), and it features an outside dunny, complete with flies, with a certain aura about it. Most importantly, it is a funny story that littlies will love. Ham is a pig, living an idyllic rural life with his friends Satay, Chops and Stew. I’ll let you work out their identities. One day they see a truck labelled “Paddock to Plate” and…
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Aleesah Darlison (text) and Nancy Bevington (illustrator), Space Kids, Sabotage, Big Sky Publishing, October 2020, 180 pp., RRP $12.50 (pbk), ISBN 9781922387172 It is the year 2088. Eleven-year-old Nash Steele is getting ready to have a holiday on Misty Space Station and while he is pleased for the opportunity to see his dad who works there, he is very unsure about being a Space kid; he’s quite happy on Earth, after all. Besides, Nash hasn’t spent much time with his dad over the past four years so he’s rather nervous that a whole two weeks with him will seem like…
Australian Geographic, Ultimate Predator, Australian Geographic, April 2021, 32 pp., RRP $19.95 (hbk), ISBN 9781922388117 Australian Geographic offers a unique take on the traditional non-fiction book, presenting a kind of animal Olympics to determine which Australian animal is the ‘Ultimate Predator’. This approach makes for a highly entertaining as well as educational book. Animals are divided into family groups: reptiles, fish, land mammals, sea mammals, birds and mini beasts. A page spread is dedicated to a ‘Tournament Round’ held within each animal family, with a selected group of predators individually profiled and assigned a ‘Predator Power’ score based upon their…
Krystal Sutherland, House of Hollow, Penguin Random House Australia, March 2021, 304 pp., RRP $ 19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780143796992 House of Hollow is a novel so creative and so peculiar readers will not want to put it down. Filled with unexpected twists and turns Sutherland keeps us guessing (and our imaginations growing) to the very end. Best described as a dark modern-day fairytale. House of Hollow is both a deeply disturbing and thrilling read. You are immediately sucked into the lives of three particularly unusual sisters: Grey, Vivi and Iris who are trying to piece together the strange circumstances surrounding…
Ulf Stark (text) and Anna Högland (illustrator), Can you whistle, Johanna?, Gecko Press, February 2021, 92 pp., RRP $18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781776573264 This is a delightful new edition of a 1992 Swedish classic novel for younger readers, from Gecko Press. Berra wonders why he doesn’t have a grandfather, so Ulf suggests they visit the old people’s home where they’re sure to find someone suitable. They decide on Ned, who though surprised at finding himself with a grandson, willingly agrees to most of Berra’s expectations of what a grandfather does: gives him money and cake each visit, flies a kite, and…
Emily Gale and Nova Weetman, Elsewhere Girls, Text Publishing, May 2021, 288 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922330451 Cat has a sports scholarship for swimming, but with all the morning training and strict dieting, her passion for the sport is gone. Fan is highly devoted to swimming, but she is limited by social norms and her endless family chores. Two girls, same Sydney suburb, but different eras – Cat in 2020 and Fan in 1908. How will they cope when freaky Friday hits them and they switch places? Will they each rediscover a purpose for their swimming abilities? Gale and…
Belinda Murrell, The Golden Tower, Penguin Australia, March 2021, 288 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760897093 The Golden Tower is a story of adventure and fantasy. The hero is Sophie, a thirteen-year-old filled with self-doubt, vulnerability, and bearing a latent strength that is about to be tested. Sophie is an Australian girl staying with her grandmother in a wonderfully described, quintessential thatched cottage and English country garden, surrounded by green fields of grazing cows. Sophie decides to explore nearby ancient Roman ruins, when she is enticed to follow a ginger cat to an ancient room within the hill, and out…
Chris Haughton, Maybe…, Walker Books Australia, March 2021, 40 pp., RRP $27.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781406385526 Maybe we could just look at the mangoes. That’d be okay, right? The three curious monkeys are really craving a sweet, juicy mango down from the tree below. However, that’s tiger territory, and the monkeys were specifically instructed not to go down to the mango tree. With no tigers in sight, the cheeky monkeys do exactly what they were ordered not to do. Because who can resist the temptation of a succulent mango, right? One thing leads to another and the monkeys find themselves in…
Nette Hilton (text) and A. Yi (illustrator), Introducing D’Lila La Rue, Walker Books Australia, March 2021, 128 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760652562 D’Lila LaRue is an adventurous and independent young girl. She’s not the kind of girl who gets up to mischief on purpose, but, due to her curious, helpful and determined nature, she often finds herself in amusing situations. Nanny Anny is the kind of Nanny who naps in theatres, squishes chocolates to avoid the soft-centred ones and pops raspberry lollipops in D’Lila’s mouth throughout the day. D’Lila’s parents are “VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE” who are often busy or…
Penny Harrison (text) and Evie Barrow (illustrator), Bronte: Me and My Boots, Hardie Grant Egmont, February 2020, 24pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760502331 Me and My Boots is a charming lyrical ode to girl-power and the joy to be found in a fine pair of boots. Everyone who knows Bronte, uses her boots to describe her different activities and attitudes. Her teacher calls them buckle down to business boots, her Mum calls them brave-girl boots and her Pa calls them fall down and get back up boots. In each spread, Bronte experiences a range of childhood experiences including tree climbing,…