Author: Admin

Matt Cosgrove, Alpacas with Maracas, Koala Books, July 2018, 24pp., $17.99 (hbk),  ISBN: 9781743816349 Two alpacas (the sensible Macca and the shaggy Al) are determined to enter a talent show but struggle to find an act. After several dismal trials, they decide that their best chance at winning is to shimmy and shake with maracas. The illustrations are the highpoint of Alpacas with Maracas and will entrance even very young audiences. Although the setting is not stated, Alpacas with Maracas has a strong South American vibe featuring bright colours and South American native animals, including anteaters, guinea pigs, and sloths, who form…

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Sally Rippin, The Mystery of the Magic Stones (Polly and Buster #2), Hardie Grant Egmont, 1 June 2018, 304pp.,  $19.99 (hbk),  ISBN: 9781760129026 The Mystery of the Magic Stones is the second book in Sally Rippin’s Polly and Buster series and the opening scene is set just a few moments after the ending of The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster (2017). Although this book includes a short “What came before now” chapter, readers who have not read the first book may struggle to follow the storyline as there are frequent references to past events. The Mystery of the Magic Stones…

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Zach King, The Magical Mix-Up, Puffin, 30 April 2018, 173pp.,  $14.99 (pbk), ISBN:9780241321881  “No more borrowed magic. You need to find your own magic, Zach… No buts,” she insisted. “You lucked out this time, but messing around with other people’s magic objects is just asking for trouble. You need to knock it off…” The Magical Mix-Up is the second book in Zach King’s zany magical trilogy for middle-grade children. It follows the sequel to My Magical Life, which introduces eleven-year-old Zach King and his magical family. Unlike the rest of his family, Zach is unable to make his signature magical power…

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Catherine Jinks (text),  Stephen Michael King (illus.), Barney, Scholastic Australia, July 2018, 32pp., $17.99 (hbk),  ISBN: 9781742996226 I had high expectations of this picture book after seeing its cover with a prominent Stephen Michael King illustration of a messy, smiling, tail-wagging dog and sporting King’s renowned name alongside that of another award-winning children’s book creator, Catherine Jinks. I wasn’t disappointed. The contents of the book itself I found quite delightful. Barney is a messy, lovable family dog who loves to eat pretty much anything, with often messy and chaotic results. Barney is depicted enthusiastically consuming a range of substances – from…

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Liz Pichon, Biscuits, Bands and Very Big Plans (Tom Gates #14), Scholastic Australia, June 2018, 272pp., $16.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781742998183 I was thrilled to review another book in the popular Tom Gates series. This 14th Tom Gates book is again a humorous account of everyday happenings in Tom’s school and family life.  There is the Dogzombies band practice during which Tom and his friends do more biscuit eating and general mucking around, than actual band practice. At school, Tom gets unwillingly co-opted into singing in an inter-school “recycled” orchestra competition.  Despite (or perhaps because of) several mishaps and blunders at the…

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Mitchell Starc (text), Philip Bunting (illus.), Clash of the Keepers! (Mighty Mitch #3), Scholastic Australia, June 2018, 144 pp.,  RRP $12.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781742769158 Clash of the Keepers! is the 3rd book in the Mighty Mitch series about international cricketer, Mitchell Starc, as an Under 10s cricketer. The events of this third book centre around Mitch’s interpersonal conflict with a keen U10 wicketkeeper from New Zealand, named Marshall Spark.  Mitch and his fellow Wombats team members first meet Marshall at a cricket coaching clinic where he annoys them with his opinionated and unwanted advice and criticism. To make matters worse, he beats…

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Anh Do (text), Dan McGuiness (illus.) Game Time! (Hotdog #4), Scholastic Australia, 1 June 2018, 128pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760279035 Hotdog, Kev and Lizzy are friends. They have fun together and are there for each other when things are tough; that’s why they want to help Kev. Kev is sad because he misses his mum, a doctor who works on Rainbow Island a long, long way away. When the friends come across a poster in the local park for a Game Day competition they figure this might just be the answer as the big prize is none other than a…

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James O’Loghlin (text), Matthew Martin (illus.), The New Kid: Unpopular Me, Pan Macmillan Australia, 29 May 2018, 224pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760554255 When eleven year old Sam moves with his parents from Adelaide to Canberra he finds he is the ‘underdog’ at his new school in more ways than one. Being the new kid in class is never easy, especially when your only friend seems to be someone who no one else wants to know. And then there’s the fact Sam sucks at reading and has to attend a ‘special class’. Not a great start. But Sam is resilient, he…

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Nicola Davies (text), Emily Sutton (illus.), A First Book of The Sea, Walker Books Australia, 1 July 2018, 104pp.,  $29.99 (hbk),  ISBN: 9781406368956 Every possible shade of blue washes against poems of ochre and yellow, tropical green and soft pink in this latest collaboration between Nicola Davis and Emily Sutton. A clear lover of all things to do with the sea, Davis, a graduate in zoology with experience in the Natural History Unit at the BBC brings a passion and wealth of knowledge to her poems to inspire a wonder in the very young and perhaps not so young. Bringing…

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Jaylon Tucker, Cheryl Kickett-Tucker, Jessica Lister, and Tjalaminu Mia, Bush and Beyond: Stories from Country, May 2018, 136pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925591132 This collection of stories, featuring grandparents and replete with indigenous mythology, is an enjoyable read for middle primary students. The stories have kids taking adventures, tramping through the bush, and include black and white line drawings. Indigenous words with English translations – such as koolbardi (magpie) and doornart (parrot) – add to the cultural learning. My personal favourite was the scary tale of the woordatj; a hairy creature that lives in a cave. ‘One of his jobs is to make…

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