CARTHEW, Mark (text) Matt Stanton (illus) The Moose is Loose! ABC, 2013 unpaged $24.99 ISBN 9780733331015 SCIS 1621371 Animals for the Kalaboo Zoo are being transported by train when signalman Bruce raises the alarm that the moose has escaped. The problem is compounded when it is realized that many of the other animals have also escaped. Bruce and Mac, the train driver, have to find a way to lure the escapees back onto the train. Written in rhyme this is a wonderful text for young readers who will be fascinated by the array of animals and the havoc they create. …
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BUDBURRA BOOKS (text) Cherbourg Community (illus.) Budburra’s Garden: Eating Colours Budburra, 2013 unpaged $22.00 pbk ISBN 9780987134813 Budburra is an Aboriginal word for echidna. Budburra Books is a not-for-profit organisation which involves Cherbourg children and community members in the production of books, art and films. In this case the children have contributed to the vivid art work with Cherbourg Yidding artists Geoff Bonney and Peter Widmer. A number of project officers and health workers have also been instrumental in the publication of this polished looking, fun publication. Sammy is tired and hungry. Red, green, orange, white, and purple foods he…
BRISLAND, Toni (text) Emma Stuart (illus.) What Now Baby Bears? Little Steps, 2013 unpaged $14.95 pbk ISBN 9781921928697 SCIS 1640399 Mother Bear and her cubs love to frolic through the hills playing with butterflies, rolling in the grass and tumbling through the snow. However, when the leaves start falling from the trees and winter comes it is time for the bears to find a cave to hibernate in. When they emerge from hibernation, the world around them has changed and something terrible happens. But parents don’t need to be alarmed as the story ends happily. Beautifully written and illustrated this…
WILSON, Jacqueline Diamond Doubleday, 2013 295pp NZ$34.99 pbk ISBN 9780857531087 SCIS 1633284 It’s one thing to run away to the circus, but quite another to be sold to a wicked master for five guineas by your penniless father. Young Ellen-Jane Potts, petite and nimble, suffers tragedy along with her family when her mother dies giving birth to the long-hoped for final son who was to complete the set of angelic sons (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). The family is scattered, and Ellen finds herself transformed into the aerobatic Diamond of Tanglefield’s Travelling Circus, abandoned by her father, but adored by…
WILSON, Doug Tom Hassler and The Rats of Droolmoan Cave Erkel-Erkel Publishing Ltd, 2013 160pp NZ$19.99 pbk ISBN 9780473230135 SCIS 1638020 Book one of a series based on the adventures of one Thomas Hassler and marketed as an Eco-Kids book that tell stories about the environment, this is a fantasy where a willing suspension of disbelief is necessary. Tom believes himself to be an ordinary boy living a boring life (with only his mother as family as his father was dead) until there is a calling. To his delight (and occasionally horror), he discovers that he has special skills and…
WILLIAMS, Sean Twinmaker: Jump Allen & Unwin, 2013 396pp $18.99 pbk ISBN 9781743315866 SCIS 1627425 In this very complex, futuristic novel, people are able to almost instantly ‘d-mat’ (dematerialise/jump) to any place in the world they want to go using a global teleportation system. Clair is often reluctantly drawn in by her best friend, shallow, celebrity-mad, fashion-crazy Libby, into attending trend-setting functions, but becomes disturbed and worried when vain Libby embarks on a mystery program to ‘improve’ herself. Clair believes that Libby is gradually being taken over by someone else’s mind, but finds that it is dangerous to voice her…
TANNER, Lian Ice Breaker Allen & Unwin (The Hidden), 2013 312pp $18.99 pbk ISBN 9781743314340 scic 1627423 This first volume in the series is set in the waters off Antarctica where an ancient icebreaker, the Oyster, has roamed for 300 years. The crew is divided into tribal groups (engineers, cooks, etc.) – all except for Petrel, the Nothing Girl. An orphan (her parents were killed as traitors) she slips between the gaps both literally and figuratively, trying not to draw attention. Her only allies are two intelligent large grey rats, who speak to and advise her, and who can control…
SKOVRON, Jon Man Made Boy Allen & Unwin, 2013 362pp $19.99 pbk ISBN 9781743315132 SCIS 1627424 Times Square in New York is a lively place at any time with its bright lights, theatres, eating places, stores and traffic. But deep beneath the Square in tunnels and caverns is a theatre with shows whose performers are a variety of protected mythical and legendary monsters (ogres, satyrs and trouwes or trolls, the last of their kind, and even Madame Medusa herself) in the care of their manager, the vampire Ruthven, where humans make their way down to it for the unique thrills. …
MILES, Cindy Forever More Chicken House, 2013 220pp $17.99 pbk ISBN 9781908435927 SCIS 1619884 Ivy’s mum has remarried, and the family are locating from the USA to her new Scottish Laird husband’s castle. It’s a dark and gloomy place. Strange events happen to Ivy the moment she arrives. Ghostly whispers try to scare her away from the place, an evil presence pushes her into a freezer, and the cold grandmother is ripe with nasty intentions. One apparition becomes more than friendly after she stands up to it – an eighteen year old ghost called Logan. Ivy enlists the help of…
MARSHALL EDITIONS Animal ABC ISBN 9781743317693 SCIS 1640257; Animal 123 ISBN 9781743317686 SCIS 1640170 Allen & Unwin, 2013 unpaged $14.99 These nicely produced (although strangely anonymous) books, with their rather retro decorative features, cover familiar ground but the ABC, in particular, could be a welcome addition to collections. Each letter is presented in upper and lower cases, and a variety of creatures depicted. There is a pleasing variation through the book, with from one to three letters per double page. In most cases different creatures are shown (one each for X and Y, five for L). Although the images are…