Kate Forsyth, Battle of the Heroes (The Impossible Quest #5). Scholastic Australia, 1 Sept 2015, 192pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781743624104 This is the fifth and final book in The Impossible Quest series. Quinn, Sebastian, Elanor and Tom have found all four magical beasts, and have collected the last item they need to fulfil the prophesy and free Wolfhaven Castle from Lord Mortlake and his evil wife. But the castle is overrun with bog men and enemy soldiers – how will they find the sleepers and wake them before night falls on the dark of the moon? Like the previous books in…
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Nicki Greenberg, The Naughtiest Reindeer at the Zoo, Allen & Unwin, 1 Oct 2015, 32pp., $15.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760112141 Ruby the reindeer is back for another misadventure, this time housed at the zoo while the family enjoy a quiet Christmas with relatives. Greenberg’s story opens the readers’ eyes to how the season might not be so festive for everyone and what it is feels like to be left out. She also neatly picks up on the dilemma of thinking you are doing the right thing, just to have it end in disaster. Punchy black crayon line jauntily sets off flat…
Louis Shea, Where’s Santa? in Australia, Scholastic Australia, 1 Oct 2015, 24pp., $16.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781743626351 If you are looking to keep primary aged children entertained for long periods of time with some hide and seek fun this might for you. Possibly one to slip into the back seat for long holiday car journeys, this activity picture book is peppered with over 700 specifically ‘Australian things’ to look for and find. A follow up to Where’s Santa? Shea sets the scene with an opening comic-book style narrative and previous characters are re-introduced. Santa is squeezing in a visit Down-Under to…
Longy Han (text), Elinor Hagg (illus.), Gusto & Gecko Travel to Kenya, Self-Published, Oct 2015, 36pp., $22.95 (hbk), ISBN 8780994341303 Han’s crowd-funded self-published picture book follows a simple story of adventure that will keep young readers occupied throughout, and maybe a little scared. Gusto and Gecko are two young dinosaurs who spend their Sunday afternoon finding out where their time machine can take them. Today it is to the wildlife of Africa and they immediately land (literally) in trouble, right onto the back of a grumpy lion. Great descriptive writing that readers will want to dance along to, my favourite is…
Sally Morgan and Ezekiel Kwaymullina (text), Dub Leffler (illus.) Frog Finds a Place, Omnibus Books/Scholastic, Nov 2015, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 978 1 74299 023 1 Since Frog was a tadpole he has loved Moon and wanted to live in the skies with Moon and the stars. When he becomes a frog he asks several animals how he might get to the moon. All offer possible solutions, which Frog tries without success. It is owl that has the answer. Although the concept of this picture book is not a new one, a character trying to reach the moon, the delivery,…
Keris Stainton, Counting Stars, Hot Key Books, 1 Sept 2015, 324pp., $16.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781471404634 Leaving home is a major milestone in any young person’s life and Anna cannot wait to move to a share house in Liverpool. The eighteen-year-old has been promised a job in the theatre she worked in as an intern, but on arrival discovers there are no vacancies. Deciding to stay, she finds part time work while she settles in to the house, getting to know her house mates and their friends. Anna is a keen vlogger under a fake name, Anna Sparks, and posts of her…
Emerald Fennell, Monsters, Hot Key Books, 1 Sept 2015, 288pp., $16.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781471404627 Set in the Cornish coastal town of Fowey, Monsters is told in the first person from a twelve-year-old girl’s perspective. Every summer she stays with her aunt and uncle at their hotel. She knows the town well, often visiting her favourite places, such as Mr Queen’s sweet shop and the aquarium. The seemingly sleepy town is shocked when a body of a young woman is found in the water. The unnamed narrator takes it upon herself to solve the crime. When thirteen year old Miles Giffard…
Jason Segel, Kirsten Miller, The Sleepwalker Tonic (Nightmares #2), Corgi/Random House Australia, 1 Oct 2015, 368pp., $17.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780552571029 I’m hooked! In this second installment of the Nightmares! series things are once again getting freaky in Cypress Creek and a group of kids must face their fears to save their town. As soon as our hero, Charlie Laird, finds out that his stepmother’s customers have been getting a herbal remedy to prevent nightmares from another town called Orville Falls, Charlie’s fears for the Netherworld grow. Filled with monsters like zombies (or are they sleepwalkers?), gorgons, harpies, goblins, crazy clowns, scary…
Katherine Rundell (text), Gelrev Ongbico (illus.), The Wolf Wilder, Allen & Unwin, Oct 2015, 256pp., $15.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781408872352 This engrossing book is a love song to wolves and Russian winters. It is an idealised and romanticised depiction of human and animal interaction. Rundell writes so convincingly that you have to keep telling yourself that this is fantasy –people can’t really ride wolves – but in this wonderful heart-warming story you believe anything is possible. Set in pre-revolutionary times in the bleak landscape near St Petersburg its main character is 12 year old Feo, a dark and stormy girl, whose mother…
Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Sue deGennaro (illus), Reindeer’s Christmas Surprise, Allen & Unwin, Nov 2015, 24pp., $19.99 (hbk) ISBN 9781760113025 I love reading Christmas books with my kids as December 25 approaches – it’s a lovely way to get into the festive spirit. It’s also a prompt for me to explain to my Little Man all about Santa and reindeers and why he should aim to be on the “nice” list. We’ve been enjoying Reindeer’s Christmas Surprise, which is set in Australia, yet brings in the traditional reindeer and a hint of the jolly man in red. It tells the tale of…