Mark Carthew (text), Simon Prescott (illus.), A Christmas Surprise (Marvin and Marigold #2), New Frontier, Nov 2017, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk) ISBN 9781925059991 It is so special to pull out treasured handmade Christmas decorations each year. My kids delight in remembering when they made particular baubles and, as they grow, our tree becomes more and more adorned! Award-winning Victorian author Mark Carthew has perfectly captured this Christmas tradition, using rhyming couplets that roll off the tongue. Marigold receives a special parcel in the mail from her mum. It’s a Christmas tree and a box of treasured family ornaments for Marigold to…
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Reviewer Verushka shares her picks for 2017… Let’s Do Diwali (Chook Doolan #7) – James Roy My young nephews are 2.5 years old, and it’s become clearer that diversity in books for their age group still has a long way to go. Books like Let’s Do Diwali show me that there is progress being made as it celebrates a Hindu festival that is so important to our family. When Dimple met Rishi – Sandhya Menon I don’t think I’ve ever quite related to a character as much as I did with Dimple – from her desire to…
Reviewer Renee Mihulka shares her picks for 2017… How to Bee – Bren MacDibble This middle-grade book is quirky and beautifully written. It explores deep themes such as class difference, phobia and family with hope and loads of heart. Book Scavenger – Jennifer Chambliss Bertman This is the first in a middle-grade series about a girl who loves books and solving puzzles. My 10-year-old daughter devoured it and begged for the next one which was published this year. The story is fun, filled with puzzles and a mystery, but best of all you too can become a Book Scavenger once…
John Dickson (text), Bern Emmerichs (illus.) M is for Mutiny!: history by alphabet, Berbay Publishing, Nov 2017, 54pp., $29.95 (hbk), ISBN 9780994384119 This book is receiving quite a bit of positive publicity in the run-up to Christmas, having been listed in the independent booksellers’ summer reading guide. It is a picture book for a wide age range explaining many aspects of Australia’s colonial history. Entries for each letter of the alphabet may be a person, an animal, a place, an event or a concept such as ‘O is for opportunity’ and ‘A is for Acknowledgement of country’. Bern Emmerichs, a celebrated artist,…
Craig Glenday (editor-in-chief), Guinness World Records 2018, Pan Macmillan Australia, 7 Sept 2017, 256pp., $44.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9781910561713 The Guinness World Records annual is always visually enticing, with a spectacular cover, full colour pictures throughout and busy pages packed with images and facts. This year that appeal is even greater because the theme for the annual is ‘superheroes’ – a theme that will hold great interest for school children of all ages given the current raft of Marvel and DC movies. The superheroes featured here are both fictional and non-fictional. Various sections spotlight ‘real world’ superheroes for record-breaking feats of…
Jennifer Oxley (text), Billy Aronson (illus.), The Big Dog Problem (Peg + Cat), Candlewick Entertainment/Walker Books Australia, 1 Sept 2017, 48pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780763697907 Peg + Cat is an animated American children’s show produced by PBS and available to watch in Australia on ABC Kids TV. It features Peg, a clever little girl, who encounters a range of problems and solves them using creative solutions, with help from her cat, Cat. The show has a mathematical focus, which is evident in the opening number, so much of the problem solving requires the use of addition, subtraction and basic arithmetic. Several…
Bill Condon (text), Dave Atze (illus.), Curly Tales: short stories with a twist, Big Sky Publishing, 1 Sept 2017, 100pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925520590 Curly Tales includes fourteen very short stories for children eight years plus, ranging in length from a few pages to around twelve pages. Each story features an animal as its central protagonist, and concludes with a twist on a well-known proverb. For example, a story about a famous tv personality who happens to be a pig, and who fatefully changes his life based on the advice of the artist Van Geek, concludes with ‘Beware of Geeks…
Reviewer Sharon Smith shares her picks for 2017… The Alien Zoo…and You! – Adrian Beck and Heath McKenzie Loved this book. Editing, format, illustrations, plot, setting, characterisation, pace and action, lessons to learn – all excellent. Especially enjoyed the interactive components, and the feeling of wanting more is a good indication of both the author’s and illustrator’s skill. Recommended 7 years+ Nevermoor: the trials of Morrigan Crow – Jessica Townsend This debut novel was almost ‘unputdownable’. The first in the series The Trials of Morrigan Crow. The cover is devine; setting, plot, characterisation and editing near flawless. Definitely an author…
Philippa Cleall, Pepperpot & Spice, Coastal Herd Tales, 16 Sept 2017, 32pp., $15.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780994564726 Pepperpot & Spice is Philippa Cleall’s third picture book; a rhyming story about an overweight cat on a mission for fitness. The author aims to raise awareness of healthy living and friendship, and also includes a character with a disability with the focus being on its strength rather than weakness. Readers will find humour in the painted illustrations with a Fitbit-wearing, penny-farthing-riding and roller skating Pepperpot. At the same time, they will notice the capabilities of Spice, her walking-wheels feline friend. It is when…
MAC Park (text), James Hart (illus.), Stack Attack (D-Bot Squad #5), Allen & Unwin, Oct 2017, 75pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760296018 MAC Park (text), James Hart (illus.), Deep Dive (D-Bot Squad #6), Allen & Unwin, Oct 2017, 75pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760296025 The combination of authors, Louise Park and Susannah McFarlane make up the ‘Mac Park’ team; creators of other popular children’s series including Go Girl!, Zac Power, EJ12 Girl Hero and Boy vs Beast. Part of the action-packed, eight-part series aimed at early, emerging readers are the exciting and cleverly constructed Stack Attack and Deep Dive. Alongside the engaging,…