Dav Pilkey, Brawl of the Wild (Dog Man #6), Graphix, January 2019, 224 pp., RRP $16.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781338236576 Keen fans will know that Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild is the 6th instalment in the Dog Man series. For those who aren’t yet keen fans, The Dog Man series is a spin-off from Dav Pilkey’s incredibly successful Captain Underpants books. The main characters in those books, George and Harold, are the ‘creators’ of a comic book series about a cop and a police dog who are surgically joined and then continue to fight crime as Dog Man. George and Harold have been inspired to write this particular instalment after reading Jack…
Author: Admin
Sam Copeland (text), and Sarah Horne (illustrator), Charlie Changes into a Chicken, Penguin Random House UK, February 2019, 32 pp., RRP $7.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780241346211 Important note: no chickens were harmed in the making of this book. In many ways Charlie is a typical nine year old, with a group of good friends, a school bully he avoids and a role in the school play that he’s not very excited about. But his 12 year old brother Henry, who he calls SmoothMove, is in hospital waiting on an important scan to find out if he needs another operation and the whole family are anxious about what…
Cal Wilson (text) and Sarah Davis (illustrator), George and the Great Bum Stampede, Scholastic Australia, February 2019, 192 pp., RRP $12.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781742762753 In Cal Wilson’s first foray into children’s books, we are introduced to George Pepperton and his outrageously eccentric and creative family who use their talents to excel at science, music, sports and coolness and rule-breaking (in the case of his brother, Poco). We then follow them through what George has modestly labelled The Worst Week Ever. The set up for this book is fun. Many kids dream of being in a large, wild, loud family where everyone has their ‘thing’ as well as having each other’s…
Tohby Riddle, Yahoo Creek: An Australian Mystery, Allen & Unwin, March 2019, 32 pp., $29.99, (hbk), ISBN 9781760631451 Yahoo Creek: An Australian Mystery is one of my very favourite types of books – a mystery, lots of eye witness accounts by real people and beautiful pictures. It is also an unusual book because there is no plot. Against a background of grey, shades of blue, charcoal and white countryside with clearly recognisable birds and plants, texts from newspapers ranging from 1847 to 1935 are placed. These texts describe accounts of people meeting the Yahoo (or the hairy man, the yeti…
Jory John (text), Lane Smith (illustrator), Giraffe Problems, Walker Books Australia, October 2018, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781406383164 Following the absolutely genius, Penguin Problems by Jory John and Lane Smith, in saunters Giraffe Problems; a tall account of complaints from two very different creatures learning to love the bodies they were gifted. Funnily enough, Edward the Giraffe thinks his neck is, well, too necky. He is self-conscious and tries to cover it up as best as possible. He constantly compares himself to others and has doubts about his place in the world. Sounds like some common issues many…
Sally Murphy (text), and Celeste Hume (illustrator), Sage Cookson’s Snow Day (Sage Cookson #8), New Frontier, December 2018, 56 pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925594423 Snow Day is Sally Murphy’s eighth book in the Sage Cookson’s series and follows ten-year-old Sage, the daughter of the celebrity Cookson television chefs, to Snowy Village in the Australian alps. Sage is excited to be spending time in the snow and this time she is determined NOT to have any misadventures. Instead it is the son of their family friend who ends up in trouble. However smart, kind and caring Sage comes to his assistance…
Stephan Pastis, It’s the End When I Say It’s the End (Timmy Failure #7), Walker Books Australia, 330 pp., RRP $17.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781406382785 He’s back at it with his intolerable antics and insufferable dry humour that readers in the middle-grade age group find themselves inexorably drawn to. Timmy Failure is finally at the end of his quest for World Domination and becoming the Greatest private eye detective…or is he? International, best-selling author and illustrator, Stephan Patsis, takes us through the seventh, hilarious memoir of a nine-year-old boy trying to convince the world of his greatness whilst also tackling real-life…
Kelly Canby (text and illustrator), Rodney, Fremantle Press, March 2019, 32 pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925815320 Rodney is a tortoise who dreams of being able to live high up amongst the treetops. All his animal friends call out to him to join them but he can’t climb up, and he feels so small! The feeling of being too small and not being able to do something are sure to be themes a young audience can relate to. Canby’s signature artwork is playful, free-flowing, colourful and appealing. She cleverly depicts Rodney’s feeling of being small with overhead perspectives. It is only…
Tracey Unthank, Lost, Little Steps Publishing, 1 Oct 2018, 24pp., $16.95 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925545937 This cautionary tale is about Fluffy, a young emperor penguin who ignores his parents’ instructions to come inside when an Antarctic storm approaches. After the storm separates Fluffy from his family, a white-bellied sea eagle carries him all the way to Uluru. As Fluffy begins the long journey home, he finds his courage… and an obliging pelican to carry the wayward penguin back home. This unusually proportioned paperback picture book has charming illustrations. I especially loved the red desert scenes of Uluru. Although I had minor issues with some…
Ava Keyes (text), and Aleksandra Szmidt (illustrator), Scapegoat, Little Steps Publishing, September 2018, 32 pp., RRP $14.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780648267461 Scapegoat lived with his family, in a house of silver grey; There was plenty of food and water and lots of time to play. Things could go well, and happy times were the best, But one single kid in the flock got all the mock and jest. In this, her debut picture book, Scapegoat, Ava Keyes aims to provide a valuable resource for children experiencing a specific kind of family bullying- family scapegoating. Written in verse, this touching story unfolds…