The Ten minutes to bed series is very popular, and the latest in the series, Ten minutes to bed little fairy is sure to captivate little children and send them off to bed in ten minutes. Poppy is a little fairy who has very small wings that make it hard for her to fly high. She flies low to the ground, then onto a flower and finally when it is only a few minutes to bed her confidence grows and she can fly into the night sky. Then she spies a little gnome who is lost and can light his way home, just before the ten minutes to bed is over.
This series is very appealing. The rhymes make it an enjoyable read aloud and the idea of ten minutes before it is time to get into bed is one that parents could enjoy. It is good to see that Poppy grows in confidence and begins to challenge herself as she flies and the fact that she can help the gnome find his way home is joyful.
The illustrations are bright and cheerful and have lots of minute details that children can find. There are tiny fairies on mushrooms, frogs in a pond and a ladybird and bees to find on many pages. Spiders lurk amongst the leaves and Poppy’s happy expressions as she flies higher are lovely to follow.
Bluey and Bingo's fancy restaurant cookbook by Bluey
Penguin, 2022. ISBN: 9781761045769. (Age:4+ with adult support) Recommended.
Parents, grandparents and children will be familiar with the well-known and much-loved Bluey series on ABC KIDS. All over the world, the Bluey phenomena is further heightened by the huge marketing range of books, toys, clothes, games and more. Now there is a newly released cookbook titled Bluey and Bingo’s Fancy Restaurant Cookbook. This bright, colourful and humorous book is presented in a spiral bound format with easy-to-wipe-clean pages. The book begins with tips to be read with an adult about safety, hygiene, allergens and mess. This is followed by a page of all the things needed including a whiteboard marker to tick off the ingredients. Recipes included are omelettes, Shadowland cupcakes, poffertjes, Nana’s ice blocks, Bingo’s fairy bread, sausages and salad, fish and chips, prawn kebabs, pizzas, spring rolls, curry, ice cream, pavlova and a challenging duck cake. All recipes have a difficulty rating, a list of required ingredients, plus clearly set out numbered steps to follow the recipe. Throughout the recipe pages are engaging illustrations and comments from Bluey, Bingo and friends. There is a page for creating your own menu as well as your own recipe.
An entertaining cookbook best shared between an adult and young child.
Themes Bluey, Recipes, Children, Cooking.
Kathryn Beilby
Zoopertown X-Ray Rabbit: it's time to save the day! by Jem Packer and Emily Fox
Bloomsbury, 2022. ISBN: 9781408898338. (Age:3+)
The Zooperheroes are on the mystery of the missing food. After their breakfast disappears and Go Go Gorilla’s giant banana birthday cake cannot be found X-Ray Rabbit is on the case. She spies a banana skin and that sets her off on the trail of the thief who is stealing all the food. Will her amazing x-ray zooperpower be enough to solve the case?
Children who love superheroes will discover some very unusual ones in this book. Not only is there X-Ray Rabbit but Crash-Bang Koala, Zip-Zap Giraffe, Snap-Crack Croc, Zoom-Zoom Zebra feature too as well as the Zoopercopters that come to the rescue! The adventure is fun, and the narrative flows along building up the tension of the adventure. X-Ray must meet the Forest of Fright, dodges super-creepy critters, jumps over hissing, slithering snakes and comes to the Atrocious Tower of Terror, and finally all the Zooperheroes solve the mystery.
Readers will have fun guessing who the villain might be, the story reads along smoothly and is very enjoyable. The cartoon like characters are delightful and the illustrations contain humour and wit.
Children who enjoy this book may like to look at the BumbleBunnies series by Graeme Base.
References are at the heart of Rimmer’s powerful and challenging historical novel, and these take us into the different worlds of Lizzie and Sofie, the two protagonists in this story, placing us initially in the United States in 1950, in Lizzie’s story, and in Europe with Sophie. Each chapter is focussed on one of the two characters, Rimmer varying the placement and focus throughout the novel. We are drawn deeply into their lives, particularly in the vastly different worlds, the challenging times and events that both women face. The story of Lizzie, in the USA, is included as indicative of the suffering of the poorer people at that time, particularly if they had no working male partner, or little in the way of family support. This is part of the whole narrative, and revelatory of that time.
We are drawn deeply into the world where ‘invaders’ in Germany attacked the homes and stole many of the belongings of the Jewish families, ironically often fighting over what they stole. We read about those who attacked many homes with planned terror attacks in Berlin, poisoning the local water, and claiming the need for ‘racial purity’. Clearly, as they became more vicious in their attacks, the SS smashed the homes, chasing the mothers and children often, and either leaving the people homeless or placing them in prisons. We learn that hundreds of Jews were attacked, many murdered, and many suicided. Gradually the Nazi Party brought in new legislation, which enabled them to ‘enshrine in law without Parliament’s approval”, that they could take Jewish people from their homes and workplaces and murder many of them. When tens of thousands were arrested, imprisoned or simply killed, this was the key that changed the world for Jews in Europe. When Germany invaded Poland, claiming that it was in self-defence, many Jews were killed or imprisoned, and many murdered as time went on.
Sofie travels to meet her husband, Jurgen, whom she had not seen for 5 years. Thinking that she would be safe, Sofie is astounded at the racial/religious discrimination that she faces in the US, noting even the discriminatory practices in the southern states, particularly focussing on the bans on coloured people banned from access to many of the shops. The difficulties faced in the US, post-war, are outlined throughout this narrative, particularly the poverty, discrimination, and the difficulty of women in finding work that pays sufficiently well to survive. Choosing to move, Lizzie’s life changes completely, and, having little, Lizzie must find work, somewhere to live, and to start her life again.
This book is suitable for adolescent and adult reading.
Themes Nazism, Scientists, World War 11, Germans in the United States.
Subtitled “the extraordinary story of the building that symbolises Australia – the people, the secrets, the scandals and the sheer genius” we get a hint of the tone of this book. Meticulously researched with over 50 pages of endnotes and a preamble of 28 pages the reader is also made aware of 14 previous books on the subject before any Opera House content appears. The early part of the book is marred by the detailed raking over of Eugene Goossen’s unfortunate predilection for unconventional sex, followed by the equally detailed account of the kidnapping and death of the child of a winner of the Opera House lottery which was invented to fund the project. However, this is a great story about vision, the realities of public spending decisions, tenacity, collaboration and excellence. The significance of Bennelong Point is interesting, as is the connection to the creation of Australia’s symphony orchestras. The building itself, with its pyramid base and processional flights of stairs, just gets more extraordinary as it develops from the imagination and creative genius of architect Utzon, to the point where he has integrated a fifth façade, viewed from above, in relation to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. p. 72. The original, 1940 concept of sail roofs proves difficult to achieve in practice until the 1960 solution whereby each roof is a section of a sphere, enabling production of identically curved modules to be clad in specially commissioned white tiles; an elegant and practical solution. But the sudden death of NSW Premier Joe Cahill, champion of the project, leads to a change of government which marks the beginning of the end for Australia’s venture into architectural excellence. Budget constraints and assumption of control of the project by others lead eventually to Utzon’s resignation and the completion of the interior by others. This is a story most Australians will be familiar with but here we have 560 pages of detail covering every aspect of the subject. The unkind tone sometimes left a lot to be desired, flippant subheadings like “13 June 1962, London, in the distance, the fat lady warbles” p. 224, referring to Joan Sutherland, are inappropriate while on page 326 “the pursed purser” is too clever for its own good. When the last of the 1,056,006 tiles p. 437 completes the roof of the Opera House in March 1967 the full impact of this beautiful building becomes apparent. “When you see this building, you see Utzon” p. 437.
This book confirms that without the conjunction of a unique set of circumstances and the vision of one architect, Australia would not have the iconic Opera House. I have not read anything else by this author or on this subject and I am in awe of the research that has gone into this book but less keen on the style.
With 18 very cute little animals featured, this board book is sure to appeal to every young toddler who loves animals. Adults too, will have fun with children as they go through the book, finding the animal or animals that are hiding on a double page spread, and working out the ones that are crying, or backwards, are happy or angry or showing other emotions.
Animals include a combination of zoo animals, pets, and farm animals such as dog, tiger, hen, cat, elephant, lion, kangaroo and so on. The illustrations are labelled on the first double page spread and to add to the fun, the last double page spread is black with just the eyes shown, and the reader is questioned 'Who’s who?' It is fairly easy to find which animal or animals are hiding on the page, but when the reader is asked to identify the emotions, much more attention must be given to facial expressions and details. This could lead to discussion about emotions, how being angry, sad, happy feels. The concept of backwards could also be examined.
The illustrations are delightful, all coloured in vivid tones and the facial expressions are appealing.
The sturdiness of the book will ensure that it survives some constant handling as the interactivity of the puzzles is sure to intrigue its readers.
Who’s hiding is likely to become a family favourite, providing much enjoyment and fun.
Themes Animals, Puzzles.
Pat Pledger
Aristotle and Dante dive into the waters of the world by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Simon & Schuster, 2021. ISBN: 9781398505278. (Age:Young Adult)
In the previous book it seems 17 year olds, Aristotle Mendoza and Dante Quintana discovered one another and have fallen in love. Here both are in their final year at different schools in El Paso Texas and must keep their relationship secret; it is enough to endure the entrenched racism towards Mexicans but they would be mercilessly bullied as homosexuals. This is particularly so as AIDS sweeps the country, polarising public opinion. Both are from loving families, Dante has no siblings but his mother is pregnant. Ari has twin older sisters, an older brother in prison for murder, and a dog. Since acknowledging he is gay, Ari is discovering more about himself and his family. He is able to grow closer to his Vietnam veteran father and talk about his imprisoned brother. But at the centre of his life is his love for Dante and the uncertainties that lie before them. Negotiating life they need to draw their own map of the world they want to live in. Told as a first person narrative though Ari’s eyes and his journal writings, this coming of age love story gives a voice to all the beautiful, thoughtful, philosophical things we might all wish we could articulate to describe our feelings. But it felt inauthentic and manipulative as if the author had an agenda of things he wanted to say and pushed the narrative around to fit. The plot seemed to lose traction as the proponents flailed their way through the last year of school and characters seemed to appear and disappear when their part of the agenda was over. The book is purportedly set in the 80s when Aids was rampant but there was no other sense of this. Some troublesome gender issues have been pointed out at length online but it will be welcomed by those who fell in love with the previous book, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, which was very well received.
Content warnings: Gender issues, violence, death, drug death, homophobia.
Utterly brilliant, this highly original mystery novel will have you puzzling until the end. It begins with a letter from aspiring author Leo, writing from the Boston Public Library, to bestselling Australian author Hannah, asking about how her latest novel is going. And then we have Hannah’s writing, a work in progress, about four people who actually meet in that library, drawn together when they hear a woman scream. Thus Gentill creates a story within a story. It’s a little confusing at first, but readers are encouraged to persevere, for it becomes the most fascinating brain twister, that explores all the possibilities of mystery writing. It is that extra layer that raises so many interesting questions about authorship and writing.
My preview edition of the novel came with 4 playing cards, each card a possible suspect: Winifred, Cain, Marigold and Whit. Each has their own secrets. Like a game of Cluedo, I was challenged to read the novel until page 235, then stop, and make my guess: who killed the woman in the library? Even if your edition of the book does not have the cards, it is fun to make a guess at that point. How would you solve the mystery?
There are constant reminders that we are reading a mystery story that unfolds as it is being written, and there are many possibilities that could be developed. At the same time, Hannah’s relationship with Leo seems to become darker and darker. How genuine are his offers of help, and where is it leading?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to mystery lovers, and especially to readers who are also interested in the art of storytelling. It provides fascinating insight into the world of authors and writing, and is fun as well, and very very clever.
Themes Mystery, Murder, Writing, Writers.
Helen Eddy
She gets the girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
Simon & Schuster, 2022. ISBN: 9781398502635. (Age:13-17) Highly recommended.
'Alex is headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a lot of flirt.'
'Molly is completely in love with the impossibly cool Cora. She just....hasn't actually talked to her yet.'
An absolutely heart-filled, warm, cosy hug of a book, with always necessary and completley beautiful LGBTQIA+ rep.
Alex and Molly, polar opposites - Alex with her chaotic ways, Molly with her organised structures. Alex, always struggling to open up to the girl she loves, though trying to prove that she's not a selfish flirt, like her ex suggests (though I firmly maintain she never could've been!) Molly, head over heels for Cora, but not being sure about how to even approach her. Enter Alex, who hatches a plan to help Molly win Cora's heart, in the hopes that she'll prove to her ex that she's ready for commitment.
All that it'll take for both of them to get their girls is a five step plan.....
Oh. My. Word. This book drew me in like a big, warm embrace and I honestly did not want to let go! I loved the dual narrative between Alex and Molly, how beautiful both their alternating chapters were, Alex's especially really tugs at readers' heartstrings as we learn about (quite early on) her Mum's struggles with alcoholism. That college is meant to be a fresh start for both Alex and Molly, for Molly to make friends (she's only ever really opened up to her Mum before) and for Alex to work towards her goals of working in medicine, never having to worry about money again after having, well, not the most comfortable childhood. By the same token, it was really interesting reading about Molly's Mother's dislike of being Korean and how Molly felt bad about being Korean, at times, too, it just shows, all the more, how the characters are written as so unflinchingly real, you just want to reach into the pages and reassure both of them that everything will be okay! Without treading on the spoilery waters too much, I will say that I instantly found myself wanting Alex and Molly to get together, their spark is so electric right off the cuff!
Subtitled ‘Notes from Australia’s immigration detention system’, Ahmed’s graphic novel is a dramatic and confronting expose of life in the Villawood Immigration detention centre. It began as a Walkley-winning online web-comic and has now been adapted as a print publication, shortlisted for the Eve Pownall Award in the Children’s Book Council Awards 2022, and very worthy winner of the Book of the Year and Multicultural NSW Award in the recent NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2022.
Ahmad’s book is a mix of autobiography and journalism, beginning with the author’s visit to Villawood in 2011, and his decision to start an art project with the detainees. Gradually he comes to know Haider (a pseudonym) and his escape from the Taliban in Afghanistan and his journey to Indonesia then to Australia by boat. Other refugees also tell their stories. The words are brief but the images are powerful and devastating. Ahmed’s artwork vividly captures the horror of their experiences and shows how the prison environment further compounds fear and trauma.
The book is dedicated to Ahmad Ali Jafari, the gentle 26 year old Hazara man who became the 14th person to die in Australia’s immigration detention system. His pleas for help while suffering a heart problem were mocked by the guards, and medical attention arrived too late to save him.
Interwoven with the personal stories of refugees is documentation of the ongoing political commentary about ‘boat people’ and mandatory detention. There was the story of ‘throwing children overboard’ a ‘deliberate deception motivated by political expediency’ on the part of the government. 'Temporary protection visas' are designed to block chances of gaining permanent protection. Children born to refugees in detention are ‘transitory persons’ and ‘unauthorised maritime arrivals’. The ‘Pacific solution’ is modelled after US prison base Guantanamo Bay. ‘Australia’s offshore camps are a legal black site for ensuring that asylum seekers have no access to judicial review under Australian law’.
Ahmed’s black and white artwork is outstanding; one circular image recalls 19th century artist Ford Maddox Brown’s painting ‘The Last of England’ of migrants seeking better opportunities. Another drawing of an exhausted man on the deck of a boat recalls Max Dupain’s image of the Sunbaker. Many drawings evoke German expressionist woodcuts. And then again there are the images evoking the horror genre, the heavy metal scene and teenage comics. It is an incredible volume, combining art and text, drawing attention to the cruelty perpetuated against refugees, and raising ongoing issues of justice and humanity. It’s a book suitable for mature teenagers and adults alike.
Well-known author David Walliams has written a powerful story about celebrating and accepting difference. Marmalade The Orange Panda is a picture book about a panda who is born white and orange rather than black and white. Called Marmalade by his mother, he is not accepted by the embarrassment of pandas. Yes, the humorous collective noun for pandas is an embarrassment. So, this baby orange panda is an embarrassment to the embarrassment! Sadly, Marmalade decides to leave his mum to search for where he might belong. Along his challenging and exciting journey he meets numerous animals in shades of orange, but he is just not quite the same as them. He eventually makes his way back to his mother after falling into some mud and changing colour to be more like the others. However, Marmalade and his mother come up with a fun and ingenious plan to surprise the rest of the pandas.
The large, glossy illustrations in this book are bright, colourful and engaging, and the clever use of different-sized text draws the reader’s attention to the action taking place on the page.
This is a wonderful book that will be enjoyed by all ages and is a must-have for all libraries.
Blob Fish lives on the bottom of the ocean and he is lonely. He tells himself jokes but they are not funny to him on his own. He sees the other sea creatures with a friend, and he decides to go on an adventure in search of friendship. Above Blob Fish on the land the humans are splashing, walking, chasing, whistling, swimming, playing talking, and eating. Unfortunately, they are also being careless and throwing plastic bags into the ocean. Blob Fish discovers a floating bag and immediately thinks he has found a friend. He grabs hold and begins to dance with the plastic bag which works out well to begin with but leads Blob Fish into terrible danger. He is spotted by a hermit crab who is unable to help initially but a human who is picking up rubbish removes the plastic bag, and the hermit crab saves Blob Fish. They become friends and “live blobbily ever after”.
This humorous and appealing story with bold and striking illustrations has a strong message for its readers about the danger to sea creatures of plastic in the ocean. A great book to share for World Oceans Day.
Dreams bigger than heartbreak by Charlie Jane Anders
Titan Books, 2022. ISBN: 9781789095449. (Age:16+) Recommended only for Sci-fi devotees.
This is one for Sci-Fi lovers! With the future of the galaxy in peril, a group of young people (and some young aliens) are compelled to set aside all that they desire in order to help rescue the galaxy itself. Rachael has lost the delight of her artistic skill since being overcome by an alien force and is living with the distress and the voices in her head that add further distress. Her relationships with others have been impacted and she feels like a shadow of her former self. Tina is a student at the Royal Space Academy learning amazing things to help save the universe from destruction, while also being an amazing friend to others. Elza has the opportunity to be schooled and selected as a Princess, but will it mean that she loses her connection to her friends and can she understand the appearance of someone that fills her with dread. The interesting mix of humanoid and alien creatures, technology and space logic creates a drama with Sci-fi glory.
I confess that I am not one who loves leaving earth to discover story and drama and that Sci-fi is not on my list of ‘must-reads’ especially when it is set in space, so this book did not really warm my heart and I found it difficult to finish. But despite that, I could see that those who enjoy space-themed Sci-fi will find this appealing. The embedded emotional drama of non-conventional relationships and overcoming opposition kept me going, in amongst the alien vagaries and political intrigues, and technological quirks of space life and travel. The author has included the complexities of gendered identity, with technology revealing preferred pronoun identification that may also include variable identity and even ‘fire’ as a gender, as well as more traditional he/him, she/her and they/their. This is Book 2 of a Trilogy so the characters’ back stories would have been easier to understand having read the first book, but still was introduced adequately. The story ends with an obvious link and hint of the direction of the final instalment. So those who are keen on a sci-fi adventure should start the Trilogy with Book 1: Victories Greater than Death. There is considerable complexity in the storyline of this book and the drama of the destruction, or saving, of the Universe has many avenues of concern.
A curious tale about friendship and personal space, about being together and being alone, about things you can’t avoid and things you do not understand, Klassen’s latest book will have readers of all ages thinking about the imperfections of life while laughing out loud at the absurdity of the three friends seemingly playing out a scene reminiscent of Waiting for Godot.
The trio: Turtle, Armadillo and Snake all have a space they like to occupy. Their spot is the best and they offer their spot to their friends to come and join them. Each sings the praises of their own spot. But Armadillo is uneasy about Turtles' spot and is happy to remain where he is. Turtle after a while, joins him. Just in time as a huge rock falls onto his spot.
Chapter two, The Fall sees them looking at the rock, this interloper. Turtle defends the rock that has fallen, giving a reason for it being there, offering its shade to the others.
Chapter three, The Future, sees them imagining what the future may be like. They conjure up plants and trees around the space and are happy with what the future my hold. But into this space coms a creature that they do not understand. As it goes they decide not to try to see into the future.
Chapter four, Sunset has two watching a sunset as the sun disappears beyond the horizon. Turtle is intrigued and calls out to see what they are doing, but he cannot hear the answer and so must come closer to see what is happening. By the time he reaches them the sun has gone.
The fifth chapter, No More Room, is where Turtle is cross that the other two are sleeping comfortably by the rock. He cannot hear them and keeps moving closer until another rock falls on the place where he has been. Laughter will light up any class that reads this book, soaking up the absurdity of the situation, the incidents which occur and the responses that each displays. Readers will laugh at the discussion of who has the best spot, their discussion stopped by a falling rock, and laugh again at the conversations between them: illogical, nonsensical and going nowhere. Parallels will be recalled and shared, situations discussed and life lessons drawn out amidst the laughter.
And did I mention the illustrations! Wow.
To see Jon Klassen reading his story go here. And another about his book in which he talks about the influence of Alfred Hitchcock on his work can be found here.
Themes Humour, Future, Friendship, Imagination, Hitchcock, Theatre of the Absurd.
The cute little wombat of Swim, Little Wombat, swim! and Little Wombat's Easter surprise returns in another adventure that is sure to delight his fans. Little Wombat and his friends Rabbit and Koala are playing explorers when he suggests that they go hunting for a bunyip by the creek. His friends laugh and tell him that there is no such thing as a bunyip. When he cannot find one he decides to make his own to fool his friends. He piles up mud and adds pinecones for tusks and reeds for whiskers, but when his friends scare him with a great roar, he goes headfirst into his mud monster. Then to their shock a giant crocodile appears, but Wombat saves the day.
Young children will enjoy the humour of Watch out, Little Wombat and will love finding out about the mythic bunyip and producing a description or drawings for themselves. The text flows along smoothly and the colourful illustrations are delightful. The friends are all very distinctive with cute, happy faces until they are scared by the crocodile and then their fear is really expressed on their faces and body language. I loved Little Wombat’s version of a bunyip and the happy conclusion of the three friends rushing back to Mrs Wombat will leave young children with a sense of security. Minute details of things like a butterfly, a ring tail possum and little lizards appear in the drawings and will be fun to follow.
The book introduces the Australian legend of the existence of bunyips who live in rivers and swamps and will be an enjoyable read aloud for young children.
