Ill. by Alison Brown. Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408873335
(Age: 1-5) Recommended. Bedtime. Love. This warm and engaging
bedtime story is sure to become a favourite with young children and
the people who read it to them. When listening children will learn
just how much they are loved and that it can last through days, week
and beyond. In fact, in conclusion it states:
I'll love you forever, not one second less.
For that is what mummies and daddies do best.
The rhyming narration is perfect to be read aloud and it flows
along beautifully. Older children would be able to remember the
words and read along as well. In fact, it is a story that I can
imagine will be read time and again to reassure both the child and
carer that love exists and is very important.
The illustrations are very cute, with the parent mouse and little
mouse surrounded by lovely soft colours, blue skies and flowers.
A perfect bedtime story, this book would also be a lovely gift for
new parents.
Pat Pledger
A hope more powerful than the sea. The journey of Doaa Al Zamel, written by Melissa Fleming
Hachette, 2017. ISBN 9781408708446
(Age: Secondary) Highly recommended. This is a true story that, in this world today, should be
read. If we are to understand the wave of refugees fleeing
their own beloved countries, leaving behind families who cannot
escape, then we need to know what is going on. We need to know
what causes such an upheaval in the lives of these people that they
leave home in any way they can, hoping to find a place that will
accept them, even though they face the unknown.
This is a story of ordinary people, who are not simply greedy, nor
just discontented, who love their own country and
culture. Yet, deeply disturbed by changes in their world
that affect their daily lives, by deprivation, alienation or severe
discrimination, they find that they have little choice but to flee.
We become aware of the changing world of the family, the Al Zamels,
in this story, from the daughter, Doaa, who relates how their daily
lives were lived, how the loving family was so central to their
lives, describing how they begin to be aware of the social changes
that signal upheaval.
Heartrendingly told, this story, of unscrupulous offers promising
escape if enough money is paid, reveals that sometimes the refugees
are abandoned, left on the shore of an unknown place, or on
broken-down old boats that break up in a storm, when they are left
to die. Having taken much of their savings, or their
borrowings from family, the people who set up the escape so often
put the refugees in vastly over-crowded old boats, some of them even
lacking crew. Even worse, we read that some of the
'arrangers' kill the desperate families after taking their money, or
put them on boats where they are thrown overboard. This is a
disturbing story yet one filled with courage and hope, and this
hope, we discover, is indeed 'more powerful than the sea'.
Towards the end of her story, Doaa writes of finding a new life,
after the warmth of the welcome they received from ordinary
families, both in Greece and later in Sweden, that signals the
beginning of the healing that will occur. It is an uplifting
story, told with passion and inbued with a strong sense of justice.
Liz Bondar
The sisters Saint-Claire by Carlie Gibson and Tamsin Ainslie
Allen and Unwin, 2016. ISBN 9781760291563
(Age: 6+) Highly recommended. Cooking. Siblings. Markets. Rhyming
tale. A wonderful rhyming story about five mouse sisters, Harriet,
Violet, Minette, Beatrice and Cecile, living with their parents,
Odette and Pierre in France. The youngest mouse, Cecile is a
wonderful cook, and the siblings love going to the market on Sunday,
knowing that when they return Cecile will have cooked them a tasty
array of treats. But one Sunday she asks to go with them. The girls
all offer reasons for her to stay at home and cook, but her parents
tell them that it is time for Cecile to see the world. She cooks
before they go, setting up a stall at the market for the day. But no
one buys her pies. By the end of the day when other stalls are empty
and the bunting is being taken down, the Queen arrives with great
fanfare. She loves Cecile's pies and tells her that she will return
every week just for her pies. From that day on, Cecile takes her
place at the market every week, with her family helping with the
sales.
This wonderful story will be read aloud by one and all, as the
readers relish getting their tongues around the names of the the
pies Cecile makes. The inventive rhymes and word puns will make many
readers giggle as they take in the array of words offered. I loved
the inclusion of French words recognising that some French words are
now very much part of our speech.
Readers will delight in this family of mice, the food words, the
market and the French background, offering a view of a different way
of life.
The soft pastel illustrations are a delight, reflecting the French
town in which they live: the small streets, cafes, the Sunday market
and the clothing. The mice prance their way across the pages,
entrancing all who read of Cecile's growing independence.
Fran Knight
Bee and me by Alison Jay
Old Barn Books 2016. ISBN 9781910646052
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Bees. Wordless picture book.
Environment. A wordless picture book which shows the significance of
bees in our cities through a young girl reviving a bee she finds in
her apartment.
When the bee flies into her apartment high above the city streets
she revives it with sugary water then reads all she can about bees,
to ensure that it survives. This happened to the author, Alison Jay,
and she uses this event to begin her picture book, but from there
she has her heroine and the bee begin a fantastic journey. Together
the two fly out over the city and its surrounding parks and gardens,
eventually alighting in a meadow where the bee cavorts in the
flowers. The girl sees what the bee really likes and makes a
windowsill garden in her apartment. The boy in the flat above looks
down at what she is doing and the two share the garden, attracting
lot of bees.
This is a beautifully understated book encouraging children to use
their eyes and see the insect world about them, encouraging them to
see the relationship between these and the environment. The
magnificent pictures are full of life, colour and detail, and
encourage children to look closely at what is going on. The
deceptive simplicity encourages deeper thought by the reader, while
the unusual nostalgic feel of the illustrations creates a magical
undertone.
Fran Knight
Whisper to me by Nick Lake
Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408853863
A complex, absorbing and gripping read for senior secondary students. ALA
Best fiction for young adults 2017. Themes: Mental illness,
schizophrenia, hearing voices, family trauma, friendship, love.
Cassie is a bright senior student who reads widely and particularly
likes the Greek myths, partly because of her namesake, Cassandra who
was condemned by the gods to foresee true prophesies about the
future that no one believed, and partly because she spends a lot of
time in the library, a sanctuary from social isolation and bullying
at school. Her Dad an ex-Navy SEAL who now runs a pizza restaurant,
suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, not only from his war
experiences but also from the violent death of Cassie's mother. When
Cassie discovers a severed foot on the beach, a possible victim of a
local serial killer, she starts to hear a voice which will not leave
her alone. On one level she recognizes a link to the buildup of
traumatic events in her life, but she is unable to ignore it,
blaming and punishing her. The voice becomes all-consuming further
isolating her from her dad and others, filling her summer holiday
days with punishing tasks and abusive comments. Then two boys arrive
to rent a room over their garage while working summer jobs at the
New Jersey beach. Cass is attracted to one but at this critical
moment the voice forces her to self-harm and she ends up in hospital
diagnosed with psychotic dissociation and possible schizophrenia.
Medication makes the voice go away but it strips her of vitality.
When she meets vivacious, charismatic, bipolar Paris in the hospital
it is as if she is thrown a lifeline. Their friendship develops and
Cassie learns about her voice in a support group. It is not an easy
trip and there are no answers but she works hard to understand her
situation and regain some control. At the same time she is falling
in love for the first time but she can't bring herself to be honest
about her condition and ends up breaking his heart. The narrative is
a letter to the unnamed 'you', finally telling him the truth and in
doing so, examining the cracks in their lives and moving forward in
spite of them. There is much that we never know in this novel but we
gain tremendous insight into how we cope when the unthinkable
happens. The author's note asserts that in spite of mental illness
life can get better and with help it will. He goes on to list
organisations in the USA and UK. The equivalent in Australia are: https://www.mindaustralia.org.au/
and http://hvna.net.au/
Sue Speck
Shockwave by Peter Jay Black
Urban Outlaws bk 5. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408851517
Peter Jay Black's Urban Outlaws series finishes in a taut
and deadly race; the pace is even more frenetic, with the five
friends pushed to their limits as their health deteriorates from the
effects of by the deadly Medusa virus. Shockwave begins
directly after the volatile ending of Counterstrike;
Hector's men have infiltrated their underground hideout and quickly
set about destroying their home, possessions and equipment. Jack and
Charlie narrowly escape while young Obi is captured.
With each member suffering from the cold-like symptoms of the deadly
virus, they must return to The Facility and search for the antidote.
Hector is one-step ahead of them as they slowly make their way
across London dressed in clothing bank outfits and The Facility is
destroyed by fire. Noble their adult friend's warehouse is torched
as well. As they discuss their circumstances standing near the
London Eye, henchmen from a rival gang capture them and take them to
their headquarters based in an old warehouse. Wheelchair-bound Tayla
is the tough leader of a large gang of children and teenagers
trained to pickpockets and steal goods. Tayla hates the outlaws and
instructs her cronies to kill them. Of course, with some quick
thinking, they talk their way out of the situation, setting up a
heist plan with the promise of a rich reward.
The mission is deadly; the evil Del Sarto family are holding the
whole of London to ransom as they prepare to infiltrate the
waterways of London with the virus. Jack, Charlie, Wren and Slink
jump off bridges, set technological traps, traverse London, survive
being shot, engage in battles, using their resourcefulness and
ingenuity to complete their final mission.
Peter Jay Black keeps up the rapid pace until the very end, life and
death dramas, moral decisions and the interconnection and the
reliance on each other in the face of adversity, make this a grand
series finale.
Rhyllis Bignell
Magpie murders by Anthony Horowitz
Orion Publishing, 2016. ISBN 9781409158370
(Age: 15+) Recommended. Mystery. Horowitz is a best-selling author
and creator of many TV shows and in Magpie Murders he
showcases his talent with a homage to vintage crime novels in this
novel within a novel. Editor Susan Ryeland is given Alan Conway's
latest manuscript featuring Atticus Pund, a detective very similar
to Hercule Poirot, but the last chapters are missing. Then the
author dies in suspicious circumstances and Susan finds herself in
the middle of a real life murder while trying to find the missing
chapters.
Horowitz very cleverly gathers together two stories, that of Atticus
Pund's latest investigation in the manuscript and that of the
circumstances surrounding Alan Conway's death. There are many nods
to vintage Agatha Christie and village murders which mystery fans
will recognise and really enjoy. At the same time the reader's
attention is constantly grabbed by the two interweaving stories, as
well as the characters in the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery within a mystery, and what was
particularly good was the surprising denouement at its conclusion. I
look forward to more crime stories from this very talented author.
Pat Pledger
Guinness World Records 2017: Blockbusters! by Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, 2017. ISBN 9781910561492
(Age: 8+) Recommended. The Contents page tells it all: Watch
the most popular movies and TV shows, Browse the most
popular online happenings, Read the most popular books, Play
the record breaking games, Go to conventions and parks, and
Consume food and entertainment brands. There is also a very
extensive index.
Like other Guinness record books, this begs to be browsed through. I
was very taken with the large and fascinating section Read,
which had lists of popular books, and interview with Wimpy Kid
author, Jeff Kinney, information on David Walliams and many other
books. It also looks at Dr Seuss, movies with dystopian themes based
on books like the Hunger Games and Divergent, and an interview with
James Dashner. This section is sure to encourage kids to pick up
books that have been made into movies or have become hugely popular.
Other sections like Play, look at the records for the most
popular games around like the largest Lego brick Mammoth and Moa,
the people who build Lego for a living and fabulous cool
constructions.
All the sections are illustrated with brightly coloured photographs,
with enough text to tantalise the reader but not frustrate those who
don't want to spend hours reading. There is even a section of
Blockbuster challenges that kids can try for themselves.
Like other Guinness World record books this is sure to be extremely
popular with everyone.
Pat Pledger
There's broccoli in my ice cream by Emily MacKenzie
Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408873304
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Vegetables, Food, Gardening. Granville
loves sweet sugary foods, things that are gooey and creamy and full
of syrup, cakes and ice cream and donuts and jellies. The more the
merrier. But he comes from a long line of gardeners, people who win
awards for their produce. They have won cups for their cauliflower
and cabbage, their carrots and pumpkins, so Granville is an
embarrassment. The family decides to work out a plan to change his
mind about their produce.
Grandpa Reggie has a retail outlet called Reggie's Veggies for
people to buy his crops. He has won many awards, and is especially
proud of one of his awards, The Magnificent Magic Watering Can. With
this he hopes to get Granville to change his mind about fruit and
vegetables and asks him to help in his garden. Granville is excited
to help Reggie and after they have planted and watered his new
seeds, Granville then plants some of his beloved sweet things,
watering them with the special watering can. Sure enough up comes an
array of sweet things. The family is very disappointed but Grandpa
makes a bargain with Granville, that he will try the sweet crop if
Granville tries the vegetables.
Everything comes to a good ending, of course, and parents and
teachers alike will be able to use this book to encourage healthy
eating with a smile. The funny illustrations will endear the tale to
the readers as they take in the message underlying the story.
Fran Knight
Ruby Oliver novels by E. Lockhart
Allen and Unwin, 2016. The boy book : a study of boy habits and behaviours from me, Ruby
Oliver. ISBN 9781760293765 The Treasure Map of Boys: Noel, Jackson, Finn, Hutch, Gideon -
and me, Ruby Oliver. ISBN 9781760293772
(Age: 14+) Recommended. Dating. Friendship. Humour. E. Lockhart, the
author of the outstanding We were
liars, had previously written a series of books for young
adults, starring the indomitable Ruby Oliver. These have been
reprinted and will be a welcome addition to any young adult
collection. Although they are a series, each book can be read as a
stand-alone and the character of Ruby will delight anyone who
pursues the books.
The books are narrated in the first person, present tense giving
them an immediate relevance. Ruby suffers from anxiety attacks and
is very interested in boys and she describes all her thoughts and
actions in a most entertaining and interesting way. Readers will
find themselves laughing out loud at many of the antics that Ruby
gets up but will appreciate the moments of wisdom as well: Life isn't like the movies, and it can never be real and
uncomplicated at the same time. (Treasure map of boys pg.
241).
Ruby struggles with all the issues that teens face: the dilemma of
knowing who your real friends are, and deciding who is the ideal
boyfriend, as well as facing the very real mental problem of anxiety
attacks while navigating the treacherous waters of high school.
These are all handled with a deft and humorous touch by Lockhart and
will resonate with readers.
These are fun entertaining reads, ones to make the reader laugh and
think.
Pat Pledger
Poison by Bridget Zinn
Hyperion, 2013. ISBN 9781423153306
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. Fantasy. Humour. Poison.
Sixteen-year-old Kyra is a highly skilled potion master and is on
the run. After seeing in a vision that the kingdom will be destroyed
by events surrounding her best friend Princess Ariana, she has
failed in an attempt to assassinate her. Facing being hung for
treason if the King's guards catch up with her Kyra flees into the
forest, where she meets a very cute pig and a very cute wanderer
named Fred.
What makes this story stand out is its humour and witty dialogue.
Readers will have lots of fun following the adventures of Kyra, her
pig and Fred as she continues on her quest to find Princess Ariana
and save the kingdom. Kyra is a feisty heroine who grabs the
reader's attention right from the first chapter. Smart, quick witted
and daring, Kyra has to come to grips with her powers while evading
the guards. The low key romance between Kyra and Fred is very sweet
but is not the central theme of Poison - Kyra's quest dominates the
plot.
A most enjoyable stand-alone adventure, filled with lots of danger,
laughs, twists and turns and some unexpected events at its
conclusion, the late Bridget Zinn has created an easy to read book
full of feel good moments, laughter and suspense.
Pat Pledger
Every heart a doorway by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children bk 1. St Martin's Press, 2016. ISBN
9780765385505
(Age: 15+) Recommended. Fantasy. Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for
Fantasy (2016), Alex Award (2017). Eleanor West's Home for Wayward
Children caters for children who have disappeared, tumbling through
doorways and into old wells and going into strange lands. When they
reluctantly reappear, the school looks after them when their parents
despair of them fitting back into normal society. Nancy's entry into
the home is not a smooth one with murder making a nasty appearance.
She and her group of misfits must find out what is happening, while
they search for the doorways back into their beloved fantasy lands.
This is not an easy book to categorise or to explain. It is short,
engrossing and strange, but very compelling. As well as the nasty
murders that must be solved there are many themes the reader will
have to explore and think about, not least why the children want to
return to the fantasy worlds and not to the life that is considered
normal by society.
There is an assortment of characters, including a weird scientist,
an asexual main character and nods toward gender diversity, none too
explicit but also thought provoking.
This is an extraordinary and perplexing story, one that stays with
the reader. I am sure to follow more in this series. (Seanan McGuire
also writes as Mira Grant).
Pat Pledger
The secret horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd
Ill. by Levi Pinfold. Walker Books, 2016. ISBN 9781406367584
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Fantasy. World War Two. Britain.
Horses. When other children in London are evacuated to the country,
Emmaline is taken to Briar Hill, Shropshire, a place for children
with breathing difficulties, their 'stillwaters'. Her friend Anna,
is sixteen and confined to bed, while some children are allowed to
walk around the halls of the once beautiful building, and sometimes
Emmaline is allowed outside. Here she finds a garden, and in that
garden, a winged horse. She has already seen these animals in the
mirrors in the house, but now one is in the garden with a damaged
wing. Emmaline finds a letter left for her from the Horse Lord,
asking for her help with the wounded animal, Foxfire, but to be wary
of the Black Horse, whose shadow Emmaline has sometimes seen nearby.
A beautiful and touching story, the group of children cared for in
this building are all in various stages of illness, and their lung
problems come to the fore as the story unfolds. Emmaline is a
wonderful character, wanting to be an explorer, knowing her
tuberculosis means this is a pipe dream but heartened when Anna
tells her that she already is an explorer, seeking out the garden
and its secret, keeping the horse safe. The gardener Thomas has also
seen the horse and helps Emmaline with her quest, particularly when
the Horse Lord tells her that Foxfire is in danger with the coming
of the new moon. She is told to collect colours of the rainbow to
protect Foxfire, but finding colour in this grey wintry environment
needs all of her skills.
A moving fantasy story of a lonely child, traumatised by what has
happened to her family in Nottingham, the resolution of the story
will bring tears to the readers' eyes as she learns to accept what
has happened and comes to see there is more to life than her bleak
surroundings.
War and privation is ever present, with the house cut off from the
village and therefore the pharmacy and doctor by the weather, the
children aware of the bombing raids on the cities, their talk filled
with stories of what has happened and sometimes hearing of death.
The illustrations add a mesmerising dimension to the story and offer
the reader a visual accompaniment as they read. Several stand out
for me: the children sitting in the cellar with their gas masks on,
listening to an unsettling story told by the bully, Benny, (pages
39-40) along with Emmaline sleeping with the sheep (pages 146-7) and
Emmaline sitting on Anna's bed (pages 182-3). I kept coming back to
these as I read. But all the illustrations are deeply moving with
their greys reflecting the children's lives. With links to The
secret garden and the Narnia stories, this wonderful
story will be eagerly sought after by middle to upper primary
readers.
Fran Knight
Spy toys by Mark Powers
Ill. by Tim Wesson. Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408870860
(Age: 7-9) Spy toys is an action-adventure story in which a
cast of misfit creatures, a doll, a teddy bear and robot rabbit, join
forces to protect the prime minister's son. Along the way, there is
pandemonium, with daring rescues, giant snowballs, slapstick antics,
an evil elephant and a Mayonnaise Bomb to defuse.
Snaztacular Ultrafun is the world's largest toy company with an
amazing range of high quality toys, each fitted with 'a tiny
computerised brain and a unique personality.' Poor Dan a Snugaliffic
Cuddlestar bear is rejected because of a faulty chip that makes him
so strong he can crush a car (not a child). He teams up with
cast-off Arabella, a Loadsasmiles Sunshine Doll that fails because
of her short temper and her inability to interact with children. The
mysterious Auntie Roz recruits Dan, Arabella and Flax a custom-made
police robot rabbit to become THE SPY TOYS ready to fight crime.
Mark Powers' junior novel is fast-paced, humorous, with eccentric
villains and strange situations. Tim Wesson's over-the-top comical
illustrations compliment the action and bring the strange
characters to life. The McBiff triplets are suitably scary and so is
Rusty Flumptrunk the humanoid elephant.
Rhyllis Bignell
Ned's Circus of Marvels by Justin Fisher
Ned's Circus of Marvels bk 1. HarperCollins, 2016. ISBN
9780008124526
(Age:12+) Film and television animator and designer Justin Fisher's
debut novel Ned's Circus of Marvels conjures up a
frenetically paced fantasy adventure, with a huge cast of bizarre
characters set in an alternate world beyond the Veil. Here,
mysteries unfurl, dark magic abounds and good and evil forces fight
for control. Fisher weaves an intricate multi-layered story, where
he combines elements of steam punk engineering with a coming of age
tale and a quest to bring two pivotal characters together to save
the world.
Ned Waddlesworth is an ordinary boy who lives with his engineer
father in the quiet London suburb of Grittlesby. Unbeknownst to Ned,
he holds the key to saving the world and his life will dramatically
change forever on his thirteenth birthday. With evil clowns chasing
them, his father races him across town to the safety of Benissimo's
Circus of Marvels. George the talking, book reading, banana loving
giant ape becomes his protector, Ringmaster Benissimo is there to
guide Ned's journey and blind Kitty the farseer and witch supplies
him with sage advice and wisdom. The circus performers are really a
trained army of creatures, shape shifters and darklings, ready to
wage war to save the world. Ned constantly questions the people and
creatures around him, as well as trying to come to terms with a
travelling circus that flies to different locations.
The overarching plot is lost in the middle of the narrative, with so
many subplots, character additions and deviations. Ned's search for
Lucy the other key holder who can stop the veil disintegrating
needed to be central to the storyline. There are however, moments of
love, sacrifice, humour and friendliness, a family reunion all set
against the preparation for war and the ultimate marathon battle led
by warring brothers. Ned's Circus of Marvels is suited to the confident reader who
enjoys reading fast-paced fantasy adventures.
Rhyllis Bignell
