Author: Admin

Alison Binks, Caspar and the Night Sea, Windy Hollow Books,  1 June 2016, 32pp.,  $25.99 (hbk),  ISBN: 9871922081629 Beautiful streaky blue/grey seascapes flow from the endpapers and throughout the book, capturing the sea in a variety of moods and greatly enriching this gentle story of Casper as he ventures out one night and confidently sets sail in his little boat over the moonlit sea, accompanied only by Dog. They encounter many creatures on their journey out into the Channel but when they get there, they see an amazing sight! This engaging story encourages children with enquiring minds to investigate nature at…

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Roger Priddy,  Wiggle and The Whale: a tale of funny friends,  Priddy Books/Pan Macmillan Australia,  28 June 2016,  32pp.,  $12.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781783413522 Wiggle and The Whale: a tale of funny friends is a simple Alphaprint story with a strong message. It is a colourful and engaging celebration of diversity and friendship for children aged two to five. The friendships are sweet if not fantastical. A lion and a zebra? Regardless, the message was clear with my Miss Five commenting afterwards on how size, shape and colour don’t tell us what makes a good friend. Basic rhyming is perfect for keeping…

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Evelyn Skye, The Crown’s Game (Crown’s Game #1),  HarperCollins Australia, 30 June 2016,  416pp.,  $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780062560605 A Young Adult historical fantasy praised by Sabaar Tahir and Sara Raasch? Sounds good to me! The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye appealed to me as a YA fan and as a history buff. It did not disappoint. It is an enthralling match of magical wit in a competition where only one can survive. Vika and Nikolai have spent their lives training to serve Tsar Alexander I as an Imperial Enchanter and now must compete for the coveted title by demonstrating feats of the…

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Laurence Anholt, Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 1 August 2016,  32pp.,  $28.00  (hbk),  ISBN: 9781847806666  In her relatively short life (she died at 47) Frida Kahlo lived a tumultuous existence of love, loss, creativity, and chronic pain. After an accident at 18 years of age she was left physically debilitated. Kahlo famously transcended her condition to become one of Mexico’s most acclaimed artists. In this wonderful hardcover picture book Laurence Anholt cleverly introduces the young reader to the character of Frida Kahlo, capturing something of her personality, her work and her world…

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Joshua Button and Robyn Wells, Steve Goes to Carnival, Magabala Books, July 2016, 56pp., $24.95 (hbk), ISBN: 9781925360219 All eyes have been on Rio for the Olympics and this book offers a glorious glimpse at the colour and joy of the Brazilian seaside city. Steve is a gorilla who lives at the zoo in Rio de Janeiro. He loves jazz music and his friend Antonio, the zookeeper. One night, when Steve is missing Antonio, he leaves the zoo to look for his friend. Wearing a hat as a disguise, Steve heads to the city and discovers carnival in full swing,…

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Taro Gomi,  Growing Together : 4 stories to share,  Phaidon/Penguin Random House Australia,  15 March 2016,  $29.95 (hbk),  ISBN: 9780714871264 Growing Together is a set of four small picture books written by well known and award winning Japanese children’s picture book author, Taro Gomi, and translated into English.  Gomi is best known by English readers for his book Everyone Poos. The text consists of one short sentence per page with repetition of phrases creating a rhythmical and light hearted effect.  Each page of text is adorned and complemented by a bold, colourful illustration, which has a hint of playfulness and…

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Freedom Swimmer has just been released, and we are lucky enough to have some thoughts from Wai Chim, the author of this novel. Her discussion of ‘bad things’ resonates with us – books are a way to talk about all sorts of topics with young people. Thank you Wai Chim for writing this piece and the book. When I first told my father I was writing a book about his experiences growing up in China, he had some loving and protective fatherly words for me: ‘Should you be writing about something that’s bad?’ The idea that what I was writing…

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Pamela Rushby, Lizzie and Margaret Rose, Omnibus Books/Scholastic Australia, Oct 2016, 272pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781742991528 Here’s one of those books that hooks you from the word go. It opens in London, in 1940, where we meet 10-year-old Margaret Rose who has just survived a deadly air raid that destroys her family home.  Across the world, in Townsville, Queensland, her aunt decides to take her in, so she is forced to venture across the sea to navigate life in a strange country with her aunt and uncle and three cousins she has never met, including 11-year-old Lizzie. Told alternately through…

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Gregory Mackay,  Anders and the Volcano,  Allen & Unwin,  July 2016,  176pp.,  $12.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781760290030   If you’re looking to explore and have fun with friends what better place to camp than at the base of an extinct volcano! Anders is so excited to be going on holidays with his friends Bernie and Eden. It is even better when they meet Veronica who has a grasshopper of her own to fly. Anders and the Volcano is an enjoyable graphic novel that follows four friends on an entertaining adventure. With a mix of interesting volcano facts, funny miscommunications (What’s ‘whump’ you…

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Ashley Hope Perez,  What Can(t) Wait,  Carolrhoda/Walker Books Australia, 1 June 2016, 234pp., $16.99 (pbk),  ISBN 9780761384991 Set in the American town of Houston, this story of Marissa, a talented teenaged mathematician born into a Mexican immigrant family, charts the relentless struggle against poverty and disadvantage that is necessary if she is to follow her dream. Family responsibilities work against Marissa as she tries to study for university entrance exams. She must earn vital money to help her parents as well as babysit her beloved niece. The mistakes of Marissa’s elder siblings are explored in the plot, demonstrating the possible futures in…

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