Simon Chapman (text), Rudolf Farkas and Mike Love (illus.), Ania Mochlinska (paper engineering) Discovering Dinosaurs, Bloomsbury/Allen & Unwin, Nov 2016, 32pp., $29.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781408194614 Visually this is a most attractive book. The front cover features a Tyrannosaurus Rex lunging at the reader, teeth blazing. Inside, most double-page spreads feature more full-colour graphic illustrations of various species of dinosaur. There are fold-outs and pop-ups, envelopes and booklets to open. It all looks very appealing to the young dinosaur enthusiast. However, there are problems in the logical arrangement of the subject matter and in factual accuracy. This begins on the title page where…
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Chris Priestley (text), David Roberts (illus.), Tales of Terror from the Black Ship, Allen & Unwin, 272pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781408871119 This quietly spooky collection of short stories for middle grade readers is framed around a weary sailor, Thackeray, arriving at an inn where Cathy and Ethan are waiting for the father to return with the doctor. Thackeray convinces them to let him in out of a terrible storm and proceeds to regale them with stories of horror, murder and magic tattoos on the high seas. What this book gets right is atmosphere: from the artwork by David Roberts, with characters…
Anna Fienberg (text), Stephen Michael King (illus.), The Complete Adventures of Figaro and Rumba, Allen & Unwin, Jan 2017, 184pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760292997 Figaro is a rather disreputable-looking dog, and Rumba a more elegant cat. In these stories they are led astray by a tricky crocodile, rescue a group of cats, take off in Marta’s car – and see it crash, and set up a cafe where Marta (a smartly dressed dog) and Dora (a sweet kitten) sing and dance. Other characters include Nate, a possum with a knack for mechanics, and Rolando, a sloth who cleans the cafe,…
Chronologica: The Incredible Years that Defined History, Bloomsbury/Allen & Unwin, Dec 2016, 304pp., $34.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781472932945 (Compiled by the Whitaker’s Almanack team) About that sub-title…well… years that defined European history, maybe? Australian history goes way back, much further than 753BC, the year this book opens at with the myth of Romulus and Remus. I don’t like that overused word ‘incredible’, because it is all absolutely credible. Wearing the kilt was banned in 1746. Babe Ruth was born in 1895. Jane Austen did die in 1817. That’s entirely credible. These examples may reveal to you the eclectic collection to be found…
We asked A F Harrold, author of the highly praised, recently released novel, The Song from Somewhere Else to tell us about himself. He sent us this piece, called My Reading Journey, previously published in the UK in the journal, Teach Reading and Writing. He adapted it slightly for us. Jorge Luis Borges said, “I think of myself as being essentially a reader. As you are aware, I have ventured into writing; but I think that what I have read is far more important than what I have written. For one reads what one likes – yet one writes not…
Reviewer Liz A shares her favourite books of 2016… Timeline : A Visual History of our World – Peter Goes Monochrome genius. So much illustration packed so cleverly into the flow of history. Literally hundreds of small black on white or reversed out drawings with colour tints fill large format pages. This book shows that information giving can lead with pictures. The words are there to compliment them, not the other way around. Its also wonderful to see a history book so up to date that the last six spreads all happened since I was born. Comet In Moominland – Tove…
Maxine Beneba Clarke (text), Van T Rudd (illus.), The Patchwork Bike, Hachette, 25 Oct 2016, 32pp., $26.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780734416681 Fantasy meets ingenuity in this charming, no punches pulled, picture book about a gang of streetwise brothers building and riding their bike by slam poet Maxine Beneba Clarke. It doesn’t matter if you live in a mud house on the edge of ‘no-go desert’ when you have the imagination and energy to make your own fun. Sparse snappy word play is cleverly matched by Rudd’s black naïve outlines, hard dark shadows, and raw paint slapped over cardboard, producing an all…
Suzanne Barton, Robin’s Winter Song, Bloomsbury/Allen & Unwin, 1 Nov 2016, 32pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781408859155 The pleasing combination of colour wash and collage detail work so very well in picture books and this illustration style readily inspires classroom media experimentation. Strong on pattern and texture this nature book is prefect for showing the Australian child the changing seasons of our world. Importantly the story also opens up the differences between animals and by inference our own perceptions on life’s events. Winter is something to be avoided by some but to be relished by others. We learn with robin…
Sally Morgan (text), Tania Erzinger (illus.), Dingo in the Dark, Omnibus Books/Scholastic Australia, 1 Oct 2016, 32pp., $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 97811742990972 Omnibus follow up from Magpie Learns a Lesson and Feast for Wombat with another tale by well known indigenous author, Sally Morgan and illustrator Tania Erzinger. Together they answer common childhood worries using an animal’s experience and clear and timeless explanation, reminding me of the classic Aesop’s fables. A young dingo’s fear of the dark is stopping him from sleeping at night. Consequently he is too tired to interact with his friends and becomes a loner. Many children of the target…
Clement Clarke Moore (text) Helene Magisson (illus.) The Night Before Christmas, New Frontier, 1 Nov 2016, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925059700 There have been many, many editions of the famous poem, “A visit from St Nicholas”, also called “‘Twas the night before Christmas”. This one is illustrated by French-Australian artist Helene Magisson. The familiar verses are arranged in four lines on each double-page spread accompanied by paintings, also one per page. While red predominates, it is in muted tones rather than the bright scarlet red usually associated with Christmas. Blues also feature in the nightscapes, especially on the endpapers. St Nick…