Sibeal Pounder (text), Jason Cockcroft (illus.), Bad Mermaids, Bloomsbury Australia, 1 August 2017, 262pp., $11.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781408877128 Beattie, Mimi and Zelda are mermaids – with a difference. They have legs, but only for one year. It is a regular occurrence in this mermaid world, introduced to help young mermaids gain an understanding of life outside the sea. However, right in the midst of their fabulous summer holiday – and well before they are due to return to the watery depths of home – the mermaids are summoned back to Hidden Lagoon. Something has gone terribly wrong, and the mermaid-girls…
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Jedda Robaard, Silly Lily and the Flower Girl Adventure, Five Mile Press, July 2017, 16pp., $16.99 (board book), ISBN 9781760405618 Silly Lily and the Flower Girl Adventure is the story of a rather dear little girl’s experience of being at a wedding for the very first time; and having a special role to play on the day. Lily, in the company of her dog, Westley, does all the things one would expect a small child to do on such an occasion … she gets bored, she explores and then, overwhelmed by tiredness, she falls sound asleep. Thankfully, and just in…
Nicola Morgan, The Teenage Guide to Friends, Walker Books Australia, 1 July 2017, 224pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781406369779 I wish I’d had this guide for teenagers when I was growing up! The Teenage Guide to Friends contains a wealth of information and advice on a wide range of friendship-related issues, including choice of friends, making and keeping friends, and strategies to deal with a wide range of friendship issues. It also covers a variety of situations, such as being the new kid at school, not fitting in, shyness, bullying and online behaviour. The publisher, Walker UK, describes author Nicola Morgan…
Kate Ritchie (text), Hannah Sommerville (illus.), I Just Couldn’t Wait to Meet You, Random House Australia, 31 July 2017, 32pp., $14.99 (board book), ISBN: 9780143785071 Pregnancy and subsequent life with a newborn baby is a magical time in which parents can’t help but wonder who the new little person in their lives will become. Who you’d be would fill my thoughts: a little girl or boy? Would you grow up big and strong? What would be your favourite toy? New and expecting parents will especially fall in love with this book, which is essentially a love poem dedicated to the very…
Kate Kelly (text), Albert Evans (illus.), Albert Has Two Homes Now, Forty South Publishing, 13 April 2017, 32pp., $20.00 (hbk), ISBN: 9780995408289 When Albert’s parents decide to separate, the four-year-old boy initially feels confused and scared. However, with ongoing love, support and encouragement from his parents and extended family, he gradually learns to adjust to the changes with a positive, confident outlook. Albert discovers that it’s fun to share two houses – one under the mountain with his mother, and the other high above the bush with his father. He also realises that even though his circumstances have changed, the important…
Johanna Bell (author) and Dion Beasley (illustrator) won the Book of the Year, Early Childhood Award 2017 for Go Home, Cheeky Animals!. The Award was presented at Government House, Hobart on Friday 18 August. This is the acceptance speech Johanna gave on the day…. Thank you! What a thrill! Go Home Cheeky Animals! took three years to make and almost didn’t happen so it’s a surprise and a delight to be standing here. I had hoped to be up here with Dion Beasley, the remarkable young artist who illustrated our book, but Tennant Creek is an awfully long way from Hobart and Dion…
Katherine Rundell, The Explorer, Bloomsbury Australia, 1 Sept 2017, 416pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781408885284 When four children crash in the Amazon, they have no one to rely on but themselves. Using their wits, friendship and bits of knowledge collected from books, the survivors procure life’s essentials — food, shelter, warmth — and set off to save themselves. Inadvertently, they discover a wondrous place that holds the key to their rescue, if only they can keep it a secret. At once a classic adventure story and a modern day tale of the wonders of nature, Katherine Rundell’s much anticipated middle grade…
Jennifer Brown, How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me From Robots, Traitors and Missy the Cruel, Bloomsbury Australia, 1 August 2017, 256pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781681194417 Luke’s school always loses. It’s sort of their thing. The school has a trophy case, and the only thing in it is a coffee mug that says “World’s Greatest Secretary” … Although at some point, someone crossed out “Greatest” and wrote “Pretty Good” instead. There’s a vague hope that the new robotics club might stand a chance of winning a robotics championship that’s coming up, and now Mr Terry is putting the pressure on Luke to join.…
Jacob Sager Weinstein, The City of Secret Rivers, Walker Books Australia, 1 August 2017, 352pp., $19.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9781406368857 Every time I picked up this book it brought a grin to my face. This story hit the same funny bone that loves Horrible Histories, Monty Python, and Blackadder (although without the adult references!). Hyacinth is a snarky heroine who has just moved with her mother from a farm in Illinois to a flat in London. Her aunts and grandmother have prepared her with all sorts of useful skills, like plumbing, but she doesn’t realise just what they’ve prepared her for until…
Gareth Ward, The Traitor and the Thief, Walker Books Australia, August 2017, 352pp, $17.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925381504 The most obvious point about The Traitor and the Thief is that it is a steampunk adventure, and anyone looking for fascinating steampunk features, from the mekanikal fish that direct you where you need to go, to the darkly gothic laboratories that Sin finds himself in, is going to find plenty to enthrall them. Much as I loved the rich steampunk background of this story, though, it was the gripping adventure and the twists of the characters that kept me coming back for more.…