You can't call an elephant in an emergency by Patricia Cleveland-Peck
Illus. by David Tazzyman. Bloomsbury, 2020. ISBN: 9781408880630.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Filled with an array of situations
where an emergency worker is called for, this book, the third in the
series, after You
Can't Take an Elephant on the Bus and You
Can't Let an Elephant Drive a Digger, will have readers,
children and adults alike laughing out loud. The most unlikely of
rescue attempts are presented as an elephant takes on the role of a
firefighter, a sloth becomes a traffic cop, a chimp is a paramedic
and a panda takes the controls of a fire fighting plane. Children
will readily see the incongruity of these animals in situations
totally inappropriate for them. The contrast between the very
important emergency service workers' abilities and those of the
animals provides a wonderful way of teaching children the work these
people do. And how appropriate that this book has been published
now, when younger children are exposed regularly to images on
television of people in masks and scrubs. A most opportune book to
discuss with classes and at home, the illustrations will be pored
over by readers.
Of course you do not have lemmings in a helicopter rescue team:
those who drop the person being rescued are outdone by the others
that leap from the helicopter overhead. And the hen that
thinks she'd make a good police officer is so timid that the robber
has a smile on his face as he runs away.
Each double page has a four line rhyming stanza outlining the
inabilities of that particular animal for the job at hand, supported
by wonderfully vivid illustrations which will entice readers to look
more closely at the events being pictured.
Patricia Cleveland-Peck has published fourteen children's books as
well as adult books and plays. She returned to the world of
children's books with the bestselling You Can't Take an Elephant
on the Bus and You Can't Let an Elephant Drive a Digger
which, together, have sold over 200,000 copies. David Tazzyman is
the bestselling illustrator of the Mr Gum books, which have
won a multitude of awards, including the Roald Dahl Funny Prize.
David studied illustration at Manchester Metropolitan University.
The elephant books are just two of his books published by
Bloomsbury.
Fran Knight
The pony question by Jackie Merchant
Walker Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781760651640. 255pp.
(Ages: 9 -13) Recommended. Twelve-year-old Essie lives a modest life
with her mother Francesca in an Australian country town. They
resettled there from the city after her father 'Shiny Steve'
remarried. Essie is still recovering from glandular fever and
feeling rather unloved by her father. Francesca restores old
furniture for a living and this takes them to a clearance sale on a
farm. They accidentally purchase a pony on its last legs. In her
past life Essie was a successful winner of dressage events. However
her father drugged her horse because it had injuries when he wanted
Essie to go in the dressage finals. He was caught and this caused
Essie to be banned from competitions. Essie's reputation was ruined
and social media helped spread the message. As the new pony, Moxie,
recovers with Essie's care it also develops some difficult
behaviours but they also learn it had a successful past. Essie
believes Moxie needs to be retrained but this is expensive. Her
father has moved to Germany and offers little help, although he was
once her mainstay. Fortunately Essie's friend and neighbours make up
for it. Francesca has much sage advice, which helps Essie but as her
self-confidence grows, she makes her own decisions.
This is a well-paced hopeful story. It is not just about a girl
obsessed with horses, although the author's knowledge clearly adds
to the believability. It is more nuanced than that, which makes it
quite satisfying. The setting is well imagined and the characters
all have their own interesting personalities. You feel it would be
terrific to be part of this caring community. Essie is a very
likeable girl with understandable self-doubts, a sharp assessor of
other people's characters, yet considerate and with good values.
Like Moxie, Essie is also getting a second chance at success as she
becomes a teenager. The author weaves in values of appreciating what
you have and calling out artificiality. In particular sustainable
practices of reusing and remaking things is juxtaposed with our
plastic throw-away society.
Jo Marshall
Roald Dahl: Shapes by Roald Dahl
Illus. by Quentin Blake. Penguin, 2020. ISBN: 9780241439999.
(Age: 0-4) Highly recommended. What a fabulous way to help young
children learn about different shapes. Quentin Blake's amusing
illustrations will bring smiles to the faces of the children who
have the joy of hearing this book read aloud to them. They will be
engrossed in finding shapes right from the first page, where they
encounter a circle and the words, Good morning, Enormous Crocodile! The sun is in the sky!
With a combination of cut-outs, lift-the-flaps and touch-and-feel
this is a superior board book for little hands and curious minds to
explore. The shapes of a circle, diamond and triangle are shown
first, each with its double page spread, giving children the
opportunity to trace over the shape and then find the shape in the
drawings. Then follows a double page spread that has many shapes,
all which can be found by a touch and feel, and this is followed by
a wonderful lift the flap square. Finally, a goodnight is given to
the enormous crocodile, who is pictured against a black sky full of
twinkling stars.
As always, the quirky, bright illustrations of Quentin Blake set
against gorgeous colours, are superb, and children will want to
return to this fun book again and again. What a memorable and fun
way to learn shapes. This board book is a keeper!
Pat Pledger
Peppa's summer holiday
Penguin Random House, 2020. ISBN: 9780241412251.
(Ages: 3-6) Little Peppa Pig fans will love reading about Peppa's
holiday in the sun, especially when she is surprised by all of her
friends. The story shows Peppa and her family as they prepare for
the holiday: packing, driving to the airport and then checking in
for their flight. Their holiday involves swimming in the hotel pool,
watching turtle hatchlings on the beach and a jungle walk to find
sloths. Everywhere they go Peppa and George discover lots of their
friends are holidaying here too! It isn't long before they are all
having fun and dancing in the pool together. Even when their flight
home is delayed and they are all stuck on the plane they manage to
have a fun time to end their holiday.
This cheerful, bright celebration of family holidays and friends is
a joyous read, sure to be loved by Peppa Pig lovers. Themes: Peppa
Pig, Holidays.
Nicole Nelson
The odd 1s out the first sequel by James Rallison
Scholastic, 2020. ISBN: 9781760973377.
Highly recommended. The Odd 1s out: The first sequel is the
second funny book in the Odd 1s out series by James
Rallison. It is a story that has many funny anecdotes about his life
in Arizona and is (in his own words) "full of pointless advice".
Before giving it Master 10 to read, I sat down for a look and really
enjoyed it. James Rallison is a great writer within the humour/comic
genre and as I got through the book, I found myself smiling,
chuckling, and wanting to keep reading! I loved that although it is
a humorous retelling of parts of his life, James adds in interesting
(albeit pointless) information about toads and types of cacti, plus
attempts to make light of things such as fears and dislikes all in
the name of individuality. One of the main takeaways I got was that
he was showing all the wired and wonderful parts of his life, and
how the most important thing is to just be you, to change your mind
if you want to and to be unique. Who would have thought that a
YouTuber would be able to write such a funny book full of life
lessons!
Lauren Fountain
This book was very funny. I loved every part of it and thought it
was funny that he put in a section about Australia and it was upside
down in the book! I agree with him that Vegemite is the key
ingredient in Asphalt-YUK!
I really liked the cartoons, especially how he draws his dog Georgie
and cat Poppy. I like drawing too so used his drawing to practise my
cartoon animals.
I loved this book so much that I now really want to go and read the
first book, watch his YouTube channel and look on his website. It is that good. 5
out of 5 from me.
Aston (10 years old)
Brasswitch and Bot by Gareth Ward
Walker Books, 2020, ISBN: 9781760652210.
(Age: 11+) Recommended. 'Until today, being called a Brasswitch
would have got you killed. Now, it may save your life.' (Back
cover). In this book, the first in a new Steampunk series, set in
the Victorian era, Wrench is forced to choose between outing herself
as a Brasswitch and saving countless lives, or allowing the runaway
tram to crash, killing her and all the passengers. Wrench chooses to
stop the tram using her Brasswitch powers which enable her to
control machines, but is arrested as an aberration. Saved from her
interrogation by the mechanoid, Bot, Wrench becomes the Brasswitch
of the elite 'Cabal Thirteen'. Working with a team of regulators
with Bot her new boss, Wrench must come to understand and control
her powers, while hunting down rouge aberrations. Sadly orphaned by
the cabletram accident that killed her parents, Wrench has spent
years hiding her Brasswitch powers, fearing the regulators. With a
good balance of self doubt and sassiness, Wrench befriends her new
team consisting of other aberrations, combining humour and
compassion.
The first book of a new Steampunk series, The Rise of the
Remarkables, Brasswitch and Bot follows Wrench, the
female protagonist, finding herself, working with a dynamic team and
facing prejudice from all fronts. This action packed story is well
paced, humorous, detailed in a Victorian era setting and ideal for
middle grade readers. I found it just plain clever and I think
you'll 'bally-well' enjoy it!
Themes: Steampunk, prejudice, relationships, good and evil.
Melanie Phillips
Grumbelina by Esther Krogdahl
Illus. by Aleksandra Szmidt. Hachette, 2020. ISBN: 9781869714291.
Recommended. I feel like the book Grumbelina, by Esther
Krogdahl was written about my daughter! The similarities are far too
easy to spot . . .
Hazel Spratt grew to be a happy, well mannered child who was a true
joy to her parents. Then one day when she turned three-and-a-half
things took a turn for the worst and she turned into Grumblelina!
The girl who was suddenly grumpy, irritable, whingey, and whiney!
She did not want to play, and everything was just not right. Her
parents exhaust all the strategies they knew to make her happy but,
in the end, they just seem to give up. Suddenly Grumblelina
disappears and back comes their lovely Hazel! She hugs them and
smiles and gets tucked into bed . . . but Grumblelina is not gone
for good yet!
So many parents can identify with their three-year olds' mood swings
and the fact that they just cannot get anything right. Esther
Krogdahl does a great job of sharing this well-known story through
rhyme and with the edition of Aleksandra Szmidt's illustrations it
turns in to a wonderful picture book. The illustrations are my
favourite as they really show the facial expressions of Hazel which
I know so well from my own feisty daughter. I feel a page worth
sharing which sums up the twists and turns of a 3-year-old is this
'She grumbled about that and grumbled about this. She screamed "Go
away!" then demanded a kiss'. The author really captured so much in
these two sentences, and I love every bit of it!!
This is a funny picture book that will entice both young listeners
and parents alike. 4 out of 5.
Lauren Fountain
When I was Ten by Fiona Cummins
Pan Macmillan, 2020. ISBN: 9781509876945.
(Age: Adult - late adolescent) Stunning in its impact, this is one
of the most disturbing books that I have read. It takes us into a
world of familial abuse that is shattering for the family members
and devastating in terms of their capacity to face life. Attempting
to live 'normal' lives, when a young person has experienced daily
bullying, beating, punishment and violence, mostly by the father, is
a tremendously difficult task. Even more difficult is to experience
such a life when the abuser and bully is a parent. We are positioned
to grasp the horror for the children as their father's actions and
words cut like a knife, crumbling any sense of loving family that
they may have managed to hold on to. The creation of a hell-on-earth
for children cannot possibly enable them to mature normally, nor
does it allow them to be 'normal' adults, and this is indeed the
scenario for a particular family in this novel.
When the father goes too far in his criticism, supported by the
mother, in a particularly dreadful episode of his violence, the
daughters are banished to the cold, dark shed for the night. Along
with his disgusting and shocking accusations, one sister finds that
she can no longer bear any more of his violence, and she kills both
the mother and father, stabbing them with a pair of scissors. In a
magnificent gesture that will haunt her life, the other sister
confesses to the murder and at that point the lives of both sisters
collapse. Years later, a television producer seeks to revive this
story and, having traced the sisters, the team move in on the story,
compelling a reaction. When we read about what their father did and
how the girls were treated, the only word for our response could be
absolute horror.
Well-written and gripping, this story emotionally draws us in to the
psyche of the sisters and the woman who befriends the innocent
sister, in an interesting reflection of the anger and violence that
is indeed part of the modern world, not only in the terrible actions
of the father, but also in the notion of a 'story' that is
discovered and used to make a 'winner' for the news media out of the
dreadful experience of others. This novel is disturbing, as Fiona
Cummins has constructed the narrative so that it reveals the reality
that some people experience. It is a gripping tale, mixing the years
across the connecting narratives, gradually including some of the
more horrendous experiences and actions, threaded throughout the
narrative. This brilliantly written novel would not be appropriate
for a younger child or early adolescent; indeed, I would recommend
it only for an adult or late adolescent reader.
Elizabeth Bondar
Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen
Simon & Schuster UK, 2020. ISBN: 9781471192852.
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended for older readers, this coming of age
contemporary romance is a delight to read. With strained family
relationships, potential first love and new friendships, Loveboat,
Taipei is a great read. Everett, Ever, Wong is living with a
hidden dream. She dreams of dancing, not going into medicine as her
parents plan for her future. It's her final year of school and she's
got one last dance performance at the end of term, but her parents
shock her with the news that they've enrolled her in an educational
camp in their home country of Taiwan. Lacking the courage to fight
her strict parents on their decision, Ever is off to Taiwan for
Chinese Summer School, fearing the worst. She is pleasantly
surprised to find it more of a party than a prison - called
'Loveboat' by the students. She learns to embrace her new found
freedom, but will she find herself and her voice?
The story of an American born child of immigrant parents is not
necessarily new, however this book deals with the complexities of
relationships that children in this situation find themselves living
with - parents who sacrifice everything for their children to have a
better life, friends from different cultural backgrounds who can't
understand the mentality that family expectations are everything,
and the people who always have your back, no matter what. As Ever
grows more daring through the book, finding her courage, I found
myself expecting her to have the most amazing summer with her new
friends, and found myself caring for her - despite her occasional
bad choices . . . Fans of romance and coming of age stories will
enjoy this book, as will readers who enjoy stories with cultural
settings.
Themes: Coming of age, Parent/child relationships, Culture, Romantic
relationships
Melanie Phillips
Blood moon by Lucy Cuthew
Walker Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781406393446.
(Age: Yr 9 +) Recommended. This is not for the faint hearted, but is
well worth the read. Frankie and her friends are going about their
days, planning their futures, talking about their crushes, flirting
with boys and enjoying life. Until besties Frankie and Harriet have
a falling out over Harriet's poor decision making skills, leading to
issues at school, in the wider school community and their circle of
friends. Then Frankie has a very intimate moment with Benjamin, her
first of any intimate moments, and she gets her period. Awkward. But
both Frankie and Benjamin agree it's all good. Only blood. Whatever.
Until the entire school finds out. And a horrid meme featuring
Frankie goes viral. Frankie finds herself lost, alone and enduring
online shaming to a volatile level. Who can she trust? What can she
do? Is she disgusting, like everyone is saying?
My reaction to this book? Wow. Lives up to the hype. I really felt
for Frankie, the ups and downs of her experiences, her changing
friendships, her confusion over her romantic interest and the abyss
of online bullying. I flew through the book in under a day, partly
due to the unusual structure (the book is presented in an almost
'text message' format), though I flew through it mostly due to the
gripping story. It is full of current pop culture references as well
as issues in society - particularly around girls. A focus on
astronomy throughout the book as a passion for Frankie and Harriet
is well laid out and fits in to the story perfectly. Hashtags are
incorporated throughout the story to emphasize thoughts and
feelings, while the chapters are extremely short. I've not read a
book like it. It is a powerful story, which should be read by all
genders, more suited to older readers. I give it four out of five
stars. Book
Club notes are available. Themes: Relationships, Periods,
Bullying/Trolls, Shame, Feminism, Bravery.
Melanie Phillips
Big city atlas by Maggie Li
Pavilion, 2020. ISBN: 9781843654599. 64pp., pbk.
During this pandemic the world seems to have shrunk as nightly news
bulletins bring the tales of heartache from the world's major cities
into our lounge rooms. Even though we can no longer visit the cities
that are becoming household names even to our younger readers, we
can join Penguin on this adventure as he journeys around the world
getting involved in the activities they have to offer.
Cities visited include San Francisco, Mexico City, Chicago, Toronto,
New York, Washington DC, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Dublin,
London, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Rome, Madrid, Cairo,
Istanbul, Cape Town, Dubai, Mumbai, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Hong
Kong, Singapore, Sydney and Auckland and the reader is invited to
spot Penguin on the pages. With the information provided in speech
bubble chunks, this is an engaging book that will interest and
intrigue all budding young jetsetters - who may actually be able to
travel by the time they grow up!
Barbara Braxton
The sloth and the dinglewot by Nicole Prust
Illus. by Amanda Enright. New Frontier Publishing, 2020. ISBN:
9781925594966.
(Ages: 3-7) Recommended. Rich, vibrant illustrations by Amanda
Enright complement this slow, rhythmic story about a brave sloth who
dares to go adventuring. The sloths are reminiscent of the sloth in
Margaret Wild's The
sloth who came to staybut the setting in this book is
vastly different to the sparse suburbia portrayed there. The jungle
scenes in the book are layered and textural, filled with plants,
flowers and animals. The night scenes are especially beautiful, as
elements seem to glow and the bright colours really pop off the
page. The illustrations are similar in style to Leonard
doesn't dance(illustrated by Judy Watson) and the
story carries similar themes to Once
upon a small rhinoceros by Meg McKinlay. The slow pace
of the longish text sits well with the context of this slow sloth
story, also allowing time to take in the magical illustrations on
each page.
It's sunrise in the jungle and the sloths are still snuggling
happily in their beds ('Some grumbled and groaned in their little
brown hut, Some peeked at the sun and then closed their eyes shut').
But Samuel the sloth has had enough rest; he's ready for something
more. 'He yearned for adventure, he yearned to explore, The sloths
found him strange because he wanted more'. Venturing to the top of
the tree, Samuel meets a strange bird: 'I'm the Dinglewot Jinglewot
Dingledum Dee, If you want an adventure then please come with me!'
Samuel is a little worried at first but with a little encouragement
from the Dinglewot and some bravery he decides to give it a shot.
And so begins his adventure, flying through the air, dancing with
baboons, listening to the bat brass band and eating pineapple
fritters in dinglewot world.
This is a sweet and fun story about venturing outside of your
comfort zone and the rewards that can come from being brave enough
to try something new: more adventures, great friendships and
happiness. Teacher's
notes are available. Themes: Adventure, Bravery, Rhyming
story.
Nicole Nelson
A dance with Fate by Juliet Marillier
Warrior Bards book 2. Macmillan Australia, 2020. ISBN:
9781760784225.
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Following the Aurealis Award
shortlisted novel, The
harp of kings, once again the reader will be drawn into
an ancient Celtic world, where Liobhan and Dau are determined to win
a place on Swan Island's elite force. In their final bout, Dau
accidentally knocks his head and loses his sight. Not knowing the
awful treatment that Dau had received at the hands of his family,
the leaders of Swan Island contact Oakhill. His family blame Liobhan
for the accident and she agrees to go back with him and spend a year
as a bond servant, but things are difficult there. Both Dau
and Liobhan are treated badly and dark secrets abound. Meanwhile
Brocc is trying to fit in the Otherworld with Eirne, fighting the
Crow Folk and struggling to understand why they behave as they do.
The story is told in the voices of Liobhan, Dau and Brocc, each
chapter giving their points of view of what is happening. Oakhill is
a dangerous place for both Dau and Liobhan. Seanan, Dau's older
brother, has virtually taken over running the estate, as their
father is ill, and the servants must tread very warily, obeying his
often-cruel commands. Memories of the awful treatment that Dau and
his dog received at the hands of his brothers plague him and he
struggles with despair, but Liobhan is resolute and caring,
determined to help him behave like the Swan Island fighter that he
has been trained to be even though he is blind. The steps that bring
them to an understanding of what is happening at Oakhill and the
resolution that brings Liobhan, Dau and Brocc back together is
exciting and satisfying, and will leave the reader wishing that the
next instalment in the series was available to read immediately.
Themes of abuse, both human and animal, torture, redemption,
misunderstanding between husband and wife and the growing
relationship between Liobhan and Dau are key elements of A dance
with fate. Readers will enjoy reading how Dau and Liobhan both
grow in strength and maturity, and how Brocc's compassionate and
inquiring nature may lead to identifying why the Crow folk act as
they do.
This series is beautifully written and sure to please any fan of
fantasy.
Pat Pledger
Peppa Pig: I Love You, Daddy Pig
Peppa Pig. Ladybird, 2019. ISBN: 9780241371572. 32pp.
(Ages: 2 - 6) Recommended for lovers of Peppa Pig. Fans of
the TV series are in for a treat as Peppa and George have lots of
fun with Daddy Pig. Daddy Pig makes everything into an exciting
adventure for the young pigs. When they go to the supermarket, he
rolls the tins down his arm and into the trolley and fills it right
up to the top. Lunch with Granny and Grandpa Pig turns into a Pirate
lunch and Miss Rabbit takes them off in her helicopter to Daddy's
work. There they sit in a big truck pouring concrete all over the
playground and then they go off to the fair and fill in holes. What
a fun day for everyone.
This is a lovely book to read aloud. Not many daddies could fly
their children to work in a helicopter! Children will enjoy
discussing what jobs their fathers do and contrasting them with the
day out that Peppa and George had with their daddy.
As always with the Peppa Pig books, the bright colours and
beautiful expressions on the faces of the pigs will keep readers
involved, and toddlers will love the blue sparkly cover. Emerging
readers will be happy to try and read about the familiar characters
in the book, and the text, supported by the drawings, will aid their
endeavours.
Full of enjoyment and illustrations of love, this will be a perfect
book to read aloud on Father's Day.
Pat Pledger
Baby touch. Hello, Daddy!: a touch-and-feel playbook illus. by Lemon Ribbon Studio
Ladybird Books, 2020. ISBN: 9780241422328.
(Age: 0-3) New fathers will love reading this Baby Touch
book to their little child. And any baby will love the
touch-and-feel aspects of the books, feeling the soft nose of the
horse, the black stripes on the tiger, the soft white fur of the dog
and textured pink material of daddy elephant. The bright colours are
very attractive and will hold the baby's attention, their simple
shapes and design engaging.
A lot of fun can be had when reading the book, with the adult making
the appropriate noise that goes with each baby animal and its daddy.
There will be lots of neighing with daddy horse, roaring with daddy
tiger, woofing with daddy dog, and tooting with daddy elephant. But
the page that the baby will most love is the last page with its
wonderful mirror with the words, Baby, look. Here you are!
Others in the series are Baby
touch: Opposites and my little grandson's
favourite, Baby
touch: Night-night.
Pat Pledger
