Jared Thomas, Songs That Sound Like Blood, Magabala Books, August 2016, 275pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781922142658 Growing up in a remote country town, teenage musician Roxy May Redding knows the best chance she has to follow her dream is to head to university in the city, three hours away. She successfully auditions for a place in a cultural music course and moves to Adelaide to study. To support herself, she plays gigs in local hotels and settles reasonably well into student life. When she meets a young music journalist at one of her performances, her life takes on a new…
Author: Admin
Penny Harrison (text), Gwynneth Jones (illus.), Dance With Me, EK Books/Exisle Publishing, 1 Oct 2016, 32pp., $19.95 (hbk), ISBN: 9781925335231 Dance With Me is the story of a jewellery box ballerina who is loved by a small girl, abandoned as the girl grows up, and eventually loved again by the original girl’s daughter. I think many little girls will be excited by the idea of the ballerina in the music box coming to life. When she is abandoned by her owner, she dances out of her box and goes looking for someone to dance with. This story could be used…
Adam Wallace (text), Andrew Plant (illus.), Spark, Ford Street Publishing, Oct 2016, 32pp., $24.95 (hbk), ISBN 9781925272413 A thought-provoking tale that personifies bush fire and allows readers an unusual perspective on the environmental and social issue of setting fires. The opening illustrative explanation, that blame lies in a discarded cigarette not in the flames themselves, is not clear enough for some young readers, but with adult input this story will initiate passionate and cathartic discussions about what is many Australian’s greatest fear. The roar of the gathering flames visually builds alongside raw black text, and I truly felt I had…
Sally Sutton (text), Cat Chapman (illus.), When We Go Camping, Walker Books Australia, 1 Oct 2016, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781921977787 This New Zealand duo have created a summer holiday classic packed with both the good and the memorable aspects of camping trips. Traditional ink line and watercolour wash describe these timeless pleasures with plenty of visual subplots to entertain the quicker – or slower readers. Catchy lines ask to be sung to the tune of ‘Here we go round the Mulberry Bush’ as they jolly readers through happy days in the great outdoors. Each rhyme ends with a bit of…
Aaron Blabey, Pig the Elf, Scholastic Australia, 26 Oct 2016, 24pp., $16.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760154271 The ever-popular award wining pug is back on our bookshelves with a Christmas romp that will make readers laugh out loud. In his masterful manner Blabey pulls off short pacey rhyming text alongside matching spaced pictorial compositions. A limited palette of midnight blues, rich yet muted reds and seasonal greens allows the offset details to sparkle with a real Christmas Eve tingle, allowing readers to enter into the festive atmosphere with glee. In perfect counterpoint to the over excited Pig, stuffed into his Christmas ‘onesy’ is his…
Stephanie Blake, Super Rabbit, Gecko Press New Zealand, 1 Oct 2016, 32pp., $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781877579578 Eye-catching in bright primary colours, Blake’s simple and energetic tale reminds me of Dick Bruna’s early years board books. The tone is set by cheeky yellow and black endpaper drawings of our hero and continues with centred large black type opposite bold illustrations. Simon and his family are already popular in France in books and cartoons about simple day-to-day experiences, and this addition to the series is a bedtime read that allows discussion about anxieties and accidents. The ‘fearless’ rabbit gets carried away in…
Dan Metcalf, The Catacombs of Chaos: a Lottie Lipton adventure, Allen & Unwin, Sept 2016, 80pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781472927552 The latest in a series of early chapter books, The Catacombs of Chaos is an appealing mystery about a young girl who lives with her great uncle in the British Museum in the 1920s. Lottie is apparently a magnet for peculiar happenings, and has a talent for solving mysteries. On this occasion she overhears the Head Curator (a man not usually sympathetic to Lottie or Uncle Bert) and quickly ascertains that they need a large donation today to ensure all…
Tania Lacy (text), Danielle McDonald (illus.) Tracy Lacy is Completely Coo-Coo Bananas!!!, Scholastic Australia, 1 Sept 2016, 288pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760156251 This is a madcap adventure centred around the lead up to starting high school. Tracy Lacy is an impulsive and quirky twelve year old, who remembers vividly all the most embarrassing events of her primary school years, and is planning not to repeat her mistakes, fearing the social death which might befall her in high school. Fortunately she has two good friends whose advice just might save her, if she can finally avoid her habitual impulsiveness. Tracy’s…
Norman Jorgensen, The Smuggler’s Curse, Fremantle Press, 3 Oct 2016, 320pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925164190 Looking for a swashbuckling tale, the likes of Treasure Island, but set along the west coast of Australia? Look no further than Norman Jorgensen’s The Smuggler’s Curse. When Red Read thinks his Ma has sold him to the infamous pirate Black Bowan, not only is he not impressed, he’s terrified! A life on the sea is not what he imagined for himself and besides, isn’t pirating kinda dangerous? As it turns out, yes it is. Red faces murderous pirates and brutal Dutch officials as well as…
Owen Davey, Smart About Sharks, Flying Eye Books/Walker Books Australia, 1 Sept 2016, 48pp., $27.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781909263574 Smart About Sharks is the next title in Owen Davey’s series about animals, after Mad About Monkeys. It gives an excellent introduction to these fascinating creatures which can strike so much fear into human hearts. The logical arrangement of topics begins with “What are sharks?”. The text explains how they are classified, their anatomy, their hunting techniques and types of prey and some of the weird and wonderful varieties, such as the hammerhead. One interesting double-page spread gives examples of sharks in mythology…