Well-known children’s author Deborah Abela has written a brilliant debut verse novel. The Kindness Project shares the stories of four very different children all dealing with complex family situations and deep feelings. Throughout the novel, the reader is drawn into the emotions and experiences of the children by the rich language used and the clever positional text techniques employed to emphasise key moments.
The story is told in first person by Nicolette, the quiet and lonely child who has an unbreakable bond with her beloved Nanna now in a care home with early signs of dementia. Then there is new boy Leaf, a talented graphic artist and Nicolette’s first friend, who is staying with his aunty, Layla the pretty, perfect, popular girl who appears to have it all, and finally DJ, the class bully who terrorises the other students for no apparent reason. All four are seemingly chosen at random to work together on a classroom task called The Kindness Project.
At first the group struggle to find a common purpose, with DJ’s negativity and relentless barbs, and Layla’s indifference causing great angst for Nicolette as she and Leaf come up with idea after idea. But all that changes when good girl Nicolette breaks her Nanna out of the nursing home in order to spend a day at the beach with her. Her bravery leaves DJ and Layla in awe of what she has done and the group of four gradually learn to accept each other’s differences and come up with a fabulous idea for their version of The Kindness Project.
The Kindness Project would be a wonderful class novel for Year 5 or 6 students as there are many relatable themes presented in the story. The four strong protagonists show great depth of character, flaws and all, and the way they learn relate to each other and work together is inspiring.
Two important messages resonate throughout this book. Firstly, that we often never know what is going on in other people’s lives to cause them to act the way they do and secondly, that with shared kindness and problem solving the pain of challenging situations can be diminished or resolved.
In this third book in The Daredevil Princess series, bold and brave Princess Tilly and her loyal friends, dachshunds Mitzi and Fritzi, Honey Blossom the unicorn and Lukas from Apple Tree Creek Farm, must solve the mystery of the sudden lack of water that is affecting the whole kingdom. There is no water to wash or cook with, or water the vegetables and most importantly there is no water for the animals to drink.
Unable to see her mother Queen Cordelia, Princess Tilly with the support of her friends decide to follow the water source to see what the problem is. They discover a huge boulder blocking the flow of the water and swimming in the water is a huge grumpy and fiery dragon. The dragon threatens the townspeople and with Prince Oskar in the village square watching a puppet show, Princes Tilly knows she has to act fast to solve the problem and cleverly outwits the dragon in a competition of three riddles.
The Daredevil Princess and the Fire Dragon will engage and support those children who are moving onto chapter books. With simple yet enchanting illustrations by Rebecca Crane this third book is sure to find a place in the heart of young readers. A fourth book in the series, The Daredevil Princess and the Grumpy Giant, will be out in July 2024.
Themes Princesses, Unicorns, Family, Dragons, Problem Solving, Riddles.
Kathryn Beilby
How to measure the ocean by Inda Ahmad Zahri
Allen & Unwin, 2024. ISBN: 9781761180361. (Age:5-10) Highly recommended.
Surgical doctor and scuba diver Inda Ahmad Zahri, author of Salih a CBCA Notable Book for Picture Book of the Year 2022, has created a challenging and thought-provoking picture book. How to Measure the Ocean combines nature, Science, the Mathematics strand of Measurement, and a child’s curiosity, in a beautifully illustrated and intriguing publication.
The book begins with the following words and then shows a world map with oceans, half-oceans, once-oceans and oceans in-between.
The ocean can be difficult to measure. You can’t lift it onto scales to see how heavy it is. You can’t tie a string around it to see how wide it grows. You might be able to scoop it out, cup by cup… …but you’d need a very big bucket to calculate its volume. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. You can work most things out… once you know what you’re measuring.
Throughout the book, mathematical terminology is used including number lines, straight lines, corners and curves, shapes and forms, time, temperature, dimensions, add, divide and multiply, equations, formula, theorem. An important fact, the ocean is never wasted, is clearly shown in a labelled diagram using scientific language which may lead to further discussion and research.
On the final page is a letter to the reader with two messages. One message encourages them to think about things like the ocean which are difficult to measure. The second message is to use words such as courage, kindness, and friendship, in place of the word ocean and see where the deeper thinking can lead.
In this slow-burning mystery there are multiple layers to explore. Firstly there are the words of a drowning girl ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry . . .’ This is followed by a brief account of a girl escaping from a party to a join a companion in a car and her words ‘H-he’s dead’. The novel proper begins with Sade Hussein’s arrival at an exclusive boarding school, the Alfred Nobel Academy. She is an orphan, but wealthy, the new girl intent on making her way in the school. Her room mate Elizabeth seems like she will be a friend, the gay boy Baz is welcoming, and even the Unholy Trinity, the incredibly beautiful Juliette, April, and Persephone, don’t seem as unapproachable as their reputation suggests.
Strangely Elizabeth disappears on Sade’s first night in the school, and after the initial investigation the school seems ready to move on. But for Sade and Baz, there are too many questions about what could have happened to her. This becomes their focus in any spare moment, piecing together any clues they can find. For the reader, there is another underlying mystery: who exactly is Sade herself? We work out that she is black, Muslim, and lonely, and we know that previously she had been home-schooled, but we don’t know why. We know she has disturbing dreams and she sleepwalks, and there are many references to people dying in her past. In one of the earliest chapters there is the line ‘Sade Hussein was used to being lied to’. Sade is also not open about her past; if not lying, she is at least hiding something. In addition to all that we read mysterious diary entries always with the same intriguing anagram ‘I sleep, I drown & disappear’.
Abike-Iyimide has created a real teaser of a mystery. Although the first two parts of the novel are very long, with a number of red herrings, most readers will be drawn into following the various strands, as the tension builds up until the final chapters where all is revealed.
There is the suggestion of a LGBQTI+ romance but it is very understated. Instead it shows the value of platonic relationships. The central issues are those of toxic masculinity, misogynistic attitudes, harassment, privilege and entitlement. The book comes with a warning that it deals with real issues including sexual assault, rape, suicide and suicidal ideation, grief, and death of family members, and at the end there are referrals to support services in the UK. It is a book that reflects diverse cultures and experiences, and would be suitable for mature YA readers with a love of complex mystery stories.
Themes Mystery, Missing person, School story, Toxic masculinity, MeToo, Friendships.
Tweet, by highly talented author Morris Gleitzman, is a heartfelt tale of connection and conservation.
Eleven year old, Jay, finds himself facing the biggest challenge of his young life. His parents are world renowned bird scientists but are currently unreachable in Africa, and he has been left him in the care of his ailing Poppa. They have been searching for answers about his parent’s whereabouts but have got nowhere in this quest; and time is of the essence.
Jay’s life is thrown into further turmoil and he struggles to comprehend what to make of everything that is going on. Losing his Poppa, Jay has always found comfort in his cherished companion, Clyde; a budgie with a remarkable intellect. Clyde is not your average household budgie. He has worked hard to learn to communicate with humans…. and he can even place jigsaw pieces correctly!
So, when Clyde and Jay are torn apart, they are both devastated and lost. Clyde meets Dora, a galah that is half wild and half pet, and he is terrified of her. But she is actually hoping he can help her on her mission. The wild birds around the world are extremely upset, and their behaviour is causing a great deal of unrest and hostility amongst the humans. Dora is desperate to try to rectify this situation and is hoping Clyde may be the missing link to support her.
Alone and lonely, Jay needs to work out what is going on with all the wild birds too, while also trying to find his parents and hopefully locate Clyde along the way. Can their connections draw them back together, and help all the wildlife of the world, or will the task be way out of their control?
Gleitzman masterfully weaves together themes of friendship, loss, unique bonds between humans and animals and consequential actions. Each chapter alternates between the perspective of Jay and Clyde, allowing readers to understand their viewpoint and share insight into both sides of the story. A wild and thought provoking tale that resonates long after the final page is turned.
One little puffin is left behind as the others fly off. He is soon enveloped by fog, fog that becomes thicker and more overwhelming. The bird becomes lost, and stumbles, unsure of what lies ahead. Sometimes he comes up against obstacles, sometimes he is confused. The fog is thick and frightening.
But as he looks more closely at what is around him, he takes notice of what may appear in the fog and he eventually sees something ahead of him, out of the fog. The more he looks, the clearer it becomes. And then he sees his mob, and he joins them again.
This lovely story is suffused with the most illustrative of drawings across each page. The fog becomes thicker and the illustrations become more overwhelming as the fog becomes denser and all encompassing. The little puffin is most endearing, and readers will love seeing what happens to the little bird as he strives to find his way.
The images are disarming, the fog encouraging different responses from the readers as they realise that the story of the bird is a story of sadness, of depression of mental illness. The fog that surrounds and sometimes envelopes people, can be dispiriting, it separates people from their friends, it becomes thicker and so harder to be released from it.
The story takes the reader into a sad mind, but one that can be helped when the person looks falsely at what is happening and understands that there is a way ahead. Younger readers will be able to see this as the aim of the story, and be able to talk about keeping themselves well and mentally fit.
I loved the line at the start of the book 'On a clear day, it’s easy to see your way'. And the last line, 'so much is waiting for you when the fog lifts.' Both lines distill the theme of the book into a few words which could be writ large in every classroom.
We all have times when we feel lost or confused, and a book like this will support children in these times, reading of the little puffin finding his way out of his fog.
Subtitled, A bush ballad for bedtime, this story of an owl flying over the Australian bush will have readers wanting to read it again as they take in the rhythm of the text.
As the sun sets it is time for the tawny frogmouth to start her journey. With the light of the moon to guide her, she begins her night watch, along with her partner.
All is well as they fly over a host of animals, some nestling down to sleep, others watchful in the night. The tawny frogmouth greets her mate and together they fly over their domain. They see the quail burrowing into the soft earth beneath the grasslands, the cockatoo and her fledging in their hollow in the tree, koala and her baby nestled in the fork of a tree, echidnas nestling into their fallen tree trunk till morning, a wallaby with a joey in her pouch, and an emu lying on his stomach, stretched out, camouflaged against the earth, a numbat and her brood asleep on the burrow, a pygmy possum in his crevice nest. Each of the animals seen is going to sleep for the night, an event heralded for the young child listening to the story. With the moon overhead, time for sleep is nigh, and the soft rhythmic tones of the text add to the feeling of the end for day.
Each animal is seen in its habitat, and something is learned about that animal in the short description.
The illustrations, set against the night sky and the luminous moon, add to the feeling that sleep is on the horizon. Several images standout: the owl across the front cover with her waiting eyes, is repeated on every page, watching over the mob. The shadows of the eucalyptus is haunting and the arrival of the sun greets the new day is magnificently portrayed at the end of the book, contrasting vividly with the faded, grey atmosphere of the night.
Violet Everly lives with her uncles, Gabriel, who is rarely around, and Ambrose who cares for her and the isolated old house they live in. Her mother, Marianne has been “travelling" since Violet was 10 and she has never known her father. Violet’s quiet life is rich in fairytales and books overlooked by portraits of the Everly ancestors but all that changes when a strange lady, smelling of vanilla, visits them with her assistant Aleksander. It transpires that the Everlys owe a debt and Marianne is the tithe owed to the witch Penelope and unless she is offered up within ten years, Violet must take her place. While the adults are talking Aleksander, who is not much older than Violet, shows her a magic marble which he manipulates to create a whole galaxy of stars, changing Violet’s life forever in a shower of stardust. As the deadline comes nearer, to break the curse, Violet sets out to find her mother, “long dissolved from her life, like so much salt in the sea….nowhere to be found, yet she is everywhere” p.14. Some of the prose is beautiful but the pace can be slow. It picks up half-way through when there is more action and readers are drawn into the fantasy world through the detailed and engaging descriptions of keys to open magic portals, places with stardust artisans and scholars of arcane knowledge. Worlds where the gods, like the Norse gods, are cruel, vindictive and demand sacrifice. Violet turns out to be brave and loyal in the face of betrayal, and the search for her mother is no sort of happy reunion. This is a novel of complex relationships, with powerful women and weak men, though I did like the uncles who had the raising of a child thrust upon them. A new, young adult writer to watch out for.
Themes Fantasy, Quest, Power, Relationships.
Sue Speck
I hear a buho by Raquel Mackay. Illus. by Armando Fonseca
Using Spanish words in amongst the story adds to the language experience a child gets reading this book. Some books offering a different language experience have two side by side texts, one in English, the other in the language being pursued, but this one is differently presented, giving an extra push for the brain to enjoy. Lines such as, ‘Ojos shut, rocking steady’ accompanies the page in which a child’s face with closed eyes is shown, prompting the child to see that ojos means eyes.
‘Woof, woof, I hear a perro' prompts the child to see that something woofing must be a dog, so the meaning of the word, perro is discovered.
The story goes on with the discovery of a gate, rana, patio and lobo, each time the child telling her mama that it is she donning a disguise. But at the end, they spy a buho, hooting as it flies, and that is definitely not the child. Readers will love working out all the ‘animales’ they can hear and see under the moon.
The child is getting ready for bed, and the game of seeking out the animals is played before bedtime, until she goes to sleep, noting the sounds that they make.
Children will love working out the names of the animals and getting around the Spanish words, using the dictionary at the back of the book along with the pronunciation guide to check what they mean and their use of the word. The handful of words offered in this story will stimulate children to seek out more.
The wonderful, vibrant illustrations drag the eye across each page, taking in the unusual style, the repeated motifs, the colours used, and the surprising amount of detail. I love the page depicting the face, as it blends into the night sky, the colourful earrings like the phase of the moons. Lovely tale before bedtime, the Spanish words will roll about in their dreams.
The blurb says, "Ash, Pikachu and friends head out on an adventure to discover an unusual Pokémon in the cold mountains of the Crown Tundra. Meanwhile Lillie searches for her lost father. Will they all succeed in their quests?
Find out in this exciting chapter book, with a puzzling twist. At the end of each chapter, readers will have to complete an activity to tell them where to find the next part of the story."
I am the first to admit that I know nothing about Pokémon and Pikachu and company so reviewing this book is w-ay- out of my depth, but I do know that there is a whole world both in and out of the story that has captured the imagination of kids and adults alike, if the experiences of my granddaughters and D-I-L are a guide. And so, like The Goblin's Revenge, this and any others that are proposed in the series have a place in the library's collection for those who prefer gaming to reading and who think that there is nothing relevant to their interests in the print-focused library.
In the meantime, I ventured into this unknown world to discover just what it was about, and perhaps get inside the head of those I love to understand what on earth (or beyond) they are on about and so this explanation from Wikipedia was very helpful, and I can now see why Miss 12, particularly, and her mum seem to have no trouble swapping between the real world and the fantasy, even sometimes blurring the lines completely. They would not be alone...
Barbara Braxton
Grandmas are the greatest by Ben Faulks and Nia Tudor
A companion story to Grandads are the greatest, this rhyming text will bring out lots of stories about the readers’ grandmas, as they read of the things grandmas do with their grandchildren.
The innocent question from a child, asking if her grandma had a grandma just as good, opens the gate to many grandmas being recalled. Everyone has a grandma, and these grandmas had grandmas, so the way is open for a plethora of different things each grandma does.
All grandmas are special with secrets and tricks up their sleeves showing how different each is. One grandma is an actor, and her grandchild loves helping her with her costume and make up. Another is a gardener and her grandchild loves to help her in her allotment. Another is an ambulance driver, one an acrobat, while others include a racing car driver, a mountaineer, a secret spy. But while she may not be extraordinary, she will have a twinkle in her eye, just for her grandchild. They will share secrets and jokes together, be quiet and snuggle together, play games, no matter what the weather, but more importantly spend a lot of time together, radiating love.
With pages full of colour and movement, the first few pages show amazing things that grandmas do, but the last few pages show that no matter who they are or what they do, it is the time spent together, full of love that matters most.
And coming up to Mother’s Day, grandmas are celebrated as they are mothers too.
Kupala village lies near the spirit wood, Driada. Liska Radost knows about the spirits who haunt it through family and village stories in nearby Stodola where she lives. Liska has always been able to see spirits but she also has magic which mostly she has used to heal animals but it has more recently led to tragic consequences. Liska’s mother is Stodola’s folk healer and she recognizes in her daughter a wild magic which is difficult to control. Liska is urged to live quietly to avoid being denounced by the villagers as a witch. Fear of spirits and demons is very strong where people live close to the Driada which is ruled by the demon Leszy. On the night of the solstice it is said the fern flower will bloom, legend says that if you pick the flower it will grant a wish. Liska plucks up her courage and enters the Driada, hoping to find the flower and wish away her magic power forever so she can live in peace like a normal person. Inside the Driada Liska is beset by spirits and loses her lantern, stumbling about in the dark until a glowing white stag appears. Rather than killing her it leads her into the wood as she follows its glowing footprints only to fall prey to a rusalka, a demon disguised as a beautiful woman, only her magic preserves her, coming unbidden to fight off the demon. She finally finds the fern flower but it is another trap, this time set by the Leszy, the warden of the wood, the white stag. She eventually agrees to serve him for a year after which he will grant her wish.
Gothic fairytales are always popular, allowing us to escape into magical realms and fantasy worlds especially in our complicated modern times. This one is beautifully told, uncovering folklore from the author’s Polish background. The exotic names, like the kikimora, rusalka, stryzgon, skratzky, each with its characteristic origin and power give an authentic feel to the tale and the protagonist’s resilience and courage, along with a wry sense of humour, finally help her find her place in the world.
A funny, captivating roam around the neighbourhood of mums and the moggies that attach themselves, is offered in this wonderful picture book, full of colour and fun, family and just a bit of nonsense. Four cats of different hues stroll across the title page, their eyes firmly watching the reader, readying them for the fun to be had when the page is turned.
Just as there are many names for the mother in the family, so too are multi names for cats. From then on are a series of full page images of mums and their cats, snuggling together, to building or cooking together. Each page shows a companionable relationship between the cats and the mums, paralleling the closeness of the family and the things stye do together.
Mixing mum with milky dog shows mum in the kitchen baking. There are several helpers, a couple of kids licking fingers and making a mess, while the cat licks up the overflow from the bench. Handy mag with a helpful go shows the mum changing the car’s tyre with the dog operating the jack. Meeting mum with a messy dog shows mum at the computer trying to do some work while the messy go spreads her papers all over the floor Seesaw mum with a sliding go shows mu and a child playing on the seasaw, the dog sliding up and down between them.
Every page presents a wonderful image of mum and what they do with their children, accompanied by a cat. The mogs are wonderful with their streamlined bodies and nonchalant looks, while the mums range from extreme wakefulness to resting and camping, playing hide and seek to reading, sledding down the hill with the children and the cat to playing the trumpet and playing with their kids on the playground equipment.
This is a wonderful celebration of mums and the roles they play in a child’s life. Full of colour and fun, wisdom and humour, the pages are a treat, inviting readers to make up their own alliterative phase about their mum and their mog.
I loved the various images of mogs and mums, and the extra details on each page to ponder over, while the cover has the faces on the front, peering out at the reader, and the backs of heads on the back cover.
Lots of fun will be had producing the alliterative word on each page, and then making up their own once the book has been read.
Albert Street, 2024. ISBN: 9781761068607. (Age:6-10)
Deep under the ocean in the Shallow Side of Chumville Finley the reef shark lives with his dentist parents Su and Shi, and his siblings, Dash, Smash, Crash, Flash , Splash and Bash. During the day Finley goes to school with his mates Hunter the tiger shark, Gnash the pointer shark and Gilleon the lemon shark, but at night, they are secretly the super-famous rock band JAWSOME!
In this, the second in the series, the band is off to play at Euro-fishin, and international music competition, where there will be bands like Swim Shady and Mertallica. But at the airport as departure time draws closer, Gnash (aka Gnarly Gnelson) hasn't turned up, and a phone call to his parents reveals that he is missing. Immediately suspicious, and the police not taking the matter seriously, the band members find themselves deep in mystery and intrigue which includes stopping evil A.B.B.A. (Alliance of Brutally Bad Anglerfish) agents from destroying the ocean. Then, in the second story, unmasking a strange new band called the Killer Wails, that everyone seems to follow, and having to use all their rockstar skills to save Chumville from becoming mindless zombies.
This is a fun series for those emerging readers who like a light-hearted read, peppered with pun humour and plenty of illustrations. Verging on a graphic novel because so much of the action happens in the illustrations as it does in the text, it will also appeal to those students who like to be seen with thick books - it has over 300 pages because of the large font and copious graphics. With most of the puns printed in bold, it is also a good opportunity to investigate that literary technique and how its use adds humour to many situations, as well as identifying the common elements and themes of such stories so readers start to understand the concept of genre, in this case the tropes of spy stories.
Released at a time when so many of our students are swept up in the Swifties craze as Taylor Swift tours the nation, this is an engaging and enjoyable read on many levels that will have wide appeal.
Themes Sharks, Secrecy, Musicians, Crime.
Barbara Braxton
Engineers making a difference by Dr Shini Somara
What on earth books, 2023. ISBN: 9781804660270. (Age:12+) Highly recommended.
In this detailed lengthy hardcover book, Engineers Making a Difference, 46 engineers are showcased and celebrated. The book begins with a contents page divided into the following 12 chapters with a number of engineers included under each heading:
1. Human Needs 2. Climate and Environment 3. Powering our future 4. Infrastructure and construction 5. Healthcare 6. Advanced materials 7. Communication 8. Smart Manufacturing 9. Transportation 10. Entertainment 11. Robotics and Artificial Intelligence 12. Exploring beyond our planet
The introduction talks about the diversity of the engineers who are on inspiring journeys. In this book, ten of the most common types of engineers are considered: aeronautical, biomedical, chemical, civil, environmental, computer, geotechnical, electrical, materials and mechanical.
Each engineer is discussed over two or three pages beginning with their name, occupation, project title plus photo. There is also a fact file and career highlights section. Biomedical engineer, Jennifer Olsen is passionate about making prosthetics better. She was named as one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering in the UK in 2021. Professor Mischa Dohler is an electronics engineer who works on bringing creativity to engineering and innovation to art. He co-found Worldsensing. Dr Lynsey Melville is a Professor of Environmental Engineering who is involved in making waste useful. She has a PhD and her own laboratory to work with students.
While this book is about engineers in the UK, it does give a valuable insight to possible career choices for those students considering engineering. It would be suitable for a secondary, tertiary or public library.
