High five to the boys: A celebration of ace Australian men by various authors

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Penguin Random House, 2018. ISBN 9780143791782
Highly recommended. High five to the boys is one of the best children's books I have read in a very long time! This book comes after the equally wonderful Shout out to the girls and does not disappoint. With 50 amazing stories, this book is filled to the brim with awesomeness.
The pretext is that this is a celebration of ace Australian men, all of whom have done something great. Some have bucked the system, others achieved sporting glory and then there are those whose names I had never heard of before and will now never forget (like Taj Pabari and Paul De Gelder).
I read this book quite quickly myself however spread the stories over a few weeks for my 8 year old. For him it was too much information to read more than 2 or 3 stories as each interesting person meant lots of conversations, question and more often than not some google searching. The stories are quite short, and give an overview of the man's life, their awesome achievement and then leaves you with an intention, like this one for Victor Chang 'Victor, you were a pioneer in your field and your skill and dedication will never be forgotten! We remember your legacy'.
On top of the fantastic stories, every person is also blessed with art work (portraits) by a huge variety of Australian male artists. They are colourful, different in style and engage the reader very easily. As you may have realised, we really like this book! The stories are engaging, show a huge variety of careers and lifestyles and will be well read by both my children and the students who borrow from my library.
It has a multitude of uses as both a book to read and also as a reference for essays or assignments. It will help all boys feel uplifted, confident and able to be themselves no matter what.
Do yourself a favour and buy this book (and Shout out to the girls), your kids and family will love it. 5 out of 5!!!
Lauren Fountain

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