Felice Jacka (text) and Rob Craw (illustrator), There’s a Zoo in My Poo, Pan Macmillan Australia, July 2020, 64pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760783044 The relatively new and exciting field of medical research into gut flora and its impact on our health is explained in a wonderfully child-centred way in this very entertaining and funny book. Toilet humour has always appealed to younger readers so the many references to poo and farts should tickle their funny bones while providing accurate information. Likening the population of gut flora in our bodies to a zoo and looking after it to being a…
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Maggie Hutchings (text) and Felicita Sala (illustrator), Your Birthday Was the Best!, Affirm Press, March 2020, 32 pp., RRP $ 24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925972535 Your Birthday Was the Best! is the story of an unlikely (and one-sided) friendship. The narrator of this story is a joyful cockroach who is having THE BEST TIME EVER at a young boy’s party. There are games, there’s food, there’s birthday cake – it seems the perfect day. The birthday boy however does not share the roach’s pleasure at having an insect as a special guest. And when the cockroach takes a quick nap on…
Alex Dyson, When It Drops, Hardie Grant Egmont, May 2020, 336 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760505042 Caleb Clifford is a socially awkward sixteen-year-old, with few friends, but a secret life creating his own songs on his computer. Carelessly, he leaves his computer on and accessible for his annoying younger brother Nat who naturally uploads Caleb’s favourite song to the world, to unexpected resounding success. And to Caleb’s mortification and anger. Why? The song is about the girl Caleb has had an unexpressed crush on for years, and he uses her real name. The immediate success puts Caleb, and all…
Scot Gardner, Off the Map, Allen & Unwin, March 2021, 192 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760877101 15 short stories for mature readers who will not be offended by the occasional frankness. These are all about life, so there is swearing, bad behaviour as well as compassion and beauty. There is something deeper than the words here – it is as he says, ‘until you die, you’re free to muck around with all the knobs and buttons on the mixing deck of life.’ From finding a dead body, exploring an underground pipe, learning who your father really is, or facing…
Kathleen McLaren, Chickens Storm Free, Forty South Publishing, September 2020, 32 pp., RRP $24.95 (hbk), ISBN 9780648854012 Shirley and Reg, a crested cockatoo and a crow respectively, embark on solving the mystery of a local ‘pong’ to discover hundreds of chickens cooped in crowded conditions at a chicken farm. After setting them free, they venture off into the bush. The story ends there and moves into an appendix with fascinating facts about chickens including how they problem solve and use the sun as a compass. The text would benefit from these facts woven into the story. The bright, bold colour…
Paul Russell (text) and Cara King (illustrator), Courageous Lucy: The girl who liked to worry, EK Books, February 2021, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925820775 Lucy likes to worry. In fact, she worries about things most people wouldn’t even think about, like meeting the Queen of England on the way to school and forgetting her name. And bumping into Bigfoot when he’s in a bad mood. She wants to be part of the school’s musical but worries about what could go wrong. Thanks to an understanding teacher, Lucy soon summons courage she didn’t even know she had and embraces…
Sally Morgan, Welcome, Child!, Magabala Books, March 2021, 8 pp., RRP $12.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925926025 Welcome, child! is the beautiful new board book from award-winning author Sally Morgan, marking the arrival of her own grandchild. It is a brightly illustrated tribute to the heartfelt joy all families experience upon welcoming their newest arrival. Once you were a wish but now you are with us.Stars light up the night to say hello to you.The sun glows with happiness to see you…All our hearts shine with love for you. The elegant text captures the unconditional affection that family members feel when a…
Vikki Conley (text) and Penelope Pratley (illustrator), Tomorrow Girl: A tale of mindfulness, EK Books, February 2021, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925820362 Tomorrow is always in a hurry; indeed, in so much of a rush that she doesn’t give herself time to appreciate what is around her. When Tomorrow meets Yesterday, she tries to entice her toward adventurous play but Yesterday is worrying about what has happened in the past so Tomorrow skips on toward other things. Then Tomorrow meets Today. At first, she isn’t very interested in the things that Today has discovered – she is too…
Martine Murray (text) and Anna Read (illustrator), The Wanting Monster, Parachute Press, March 2021, 48 pp., RRP $29.95 (hbk), ISBN 9780645039504 The Wanting Monster is insidious, whispering in people’s ears to suggest to them things they don’t have that others have – or even things no-one has but a person might want. The monster is a metaphor for greed and envy and, although small, is unpleasant and powerful. Its whispering in the ears of many people in the town lead them to dissatisfaction and jealousy and even to go to absurd lengths to achieve the things after which they hanker.…
Aurore Petit, A Mother Is a House, Gecko Press, March 2021, 48 pp., RRP $27.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781776573233 New Zealand company Gecko Press chooses high-quality children’s books from around the world and publishes them in English. Their motto is “curiously good books”, and this is most appropriate for this particular title. A mother is a house was originally published in France as Une maman c’est comme une maison, which literally translates as “a mother is like a house” so there is a slight difference in the English version. Each page contains a simple sentence in fluoro pink on a band…