Reviews

We're going on an elf chase by Martha Mumford

Ill. by Laura Hughes. Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781408872413
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Christmas, Elves, Hunt, Lift the flap book, Verse. Fingers will just love lifting the flaps in this book as the reader is asked to work with the bunnies on their wintry quest to find the elves. Four very warmly wrapped bunnies walk through the snow to find the elves hidden in various places on each page. Sometimes lifting the flap reveals an elf, sometimes something associated with Christmas: presents, a candy cane, a stocking.
Through the woods, passing penguins and polar bears, the bunnies have their work cut out for them as they travel north. Through snow and wintry weather, past gingerbread houses, and stables with reindeer housed in them, they finally reach the place in the North Pole where many elves are working, wrapping presents for Christmas Eve. Then they must rush back home and be tucked up in bed for when their turn comes for someone very familiar to land upon their roof.
A very cute introduction to the ideas around Christmas which we all hold dear: stockings, elves, reindeer, gingerbread, fir trees, snow and so on, this will have broad appeal at this time of the year, and the rhyming lines encourage prediction of the next word, and underline the ideas of poetry, as well as being good fun for kids looking under the flaps.
Fran Knight

Santa Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

Princess Snowbelle and the Snow Games by Libby Frost

Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781408896853
(Age: 3+) Recommended for its themes of cooperation, sharing, teamwork and being a good sport. Following Princess Snowbelle and the snowstorm this very cute picture book features Princess Snowbelle competing at the snow games with her family against the neighbouring kingdom of Snowland. Princess Snowbelle hopes to win the Ice Trophy while her brother Noel is convinced that he will win the sledging race and Nicholas has been training for the running race. Meanwhile Snowbelle's mother and father remind them:
'Remember, it's not about winning, it's about trying your best.' And when the games begin the children from both families show their competitive spirit and how to be a good sport when they don't win. Sparkleshine helps Snowbelle when she gets into trouble in the horse race, even though it means that she could have won the race and instead of competing for the final event, making a snow sculpture, the children all cooperate together in a wonderful display of teamwork to make a magical snow sculpture.
Although rather didactic, small children will love the cute, diverse main characters with their smiling faces, capes and sparkles and the snowy landscape will attract much attention as the children compete in the snow games. The themes of being a good sport, of helping others and about doing your best in competitions would fit in well in classrooms when these issues are being discussed and would also be a talking point when reading the tale as a bedtime story.
The book would also be good for emerging readers to engage with, especially those who are interested in little princesses who are magical and helpful.
Pat Pledger

Feminists don't wear pink and other lies by Scarlett Curtis

Penguin, 2018. ISBN 9780241364451
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. Scarlett Curtis assembles a magnificent 'guide book' for the Girl-Up movement, with this anthology of short essays, blogs, narratives, lists, poems, diaries, interviews, anecdotes - including an Alphabet. The Girl-Up brand, spanning over 2,000 clubs worldwide, is transparent but both the foreword and further reading sections encourage any and every level of feminism. Listing websites, books and everyday actions, Curtis is expansive, including books like The Hate U Give and The Bone Sparrow to reassure girls that equality for women runs parallel to equality for all people. Important quotes and truisms loom large covering entire pages. 'Women's history is bigger than one person, so the way we talk about the past needs to be as well.'
Kiera Knightly addresses her young daughter fiercely regarding the lie of the weaker sex. Nothing is sacred as her co-contributors gleefully discuss periods, bras, genital mutilation, masturbation, man-hating, ableism, #MeToo, intersectionality and more.
This historical quest for equal rights across gender, age, race, class, disability is pervading, although the history of the women's movement is extolled in the very last 'Education' section. It's a shrewd device because we have spent 300 pages being highly engaged by comedians and actors with amusing perceptions and fascinating experiences - from transgender girls to traditional Muslim girls. The reader does not want for feminist definitions, but Scarlett Curtis, while pinpointing the gender stereotyping of the patriarchy, opens her feminist arms wide, 'The goal of the feminist movement aims to give each person on the planet the freedom to live their life the way they want to live it, unhindered by sexism or oppression or aggression.'
One of the contributors warns against using the internet abounding with confusing fallacies, encouraging girls to go right to the source - the wealth of books written by historical and current feminists. Perhaps drawing on those higher tier needs and habits of humanist thinkers, Curtis encourages girls not to leave any girl behind, rather support them with understanding and encouragement for their own difficult struggles against aggression. Beanie Feldstein's drama teacher encapsulates the books sentiment, 'Stuff your pockets'.
Although females and males of all ages will devour this funny, uplifting and sometimes shocking collection, school libraries are likely to run into problems with the many colloquial referents for female genitalia - thus an 'M' for mature sticker is mandatory. There's not one picture in this verbal 'mash-up' but there's a brilliant reason for the cover's particular shade of pink - finding out is definitely worth it. Want more? Investigate the podcasts on itunes found on the book's site.
Deborah Robins

Bad Mermaids: On the rocks by Sibeal Pounder

Ill. by Jason Cockcroft. Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781408877142
(Age: 8-11) Recommended. Another hilarious, laugh out loud book about mermaids, evil mothers, talking seahorses, fish, crocodiles and more. Featuring magical mysteries and fabulous fashions, this adventure brings a whole new twist to the underwater world of mermaids.
We leave where we left the girls the previous time in Bad Mermaids, stuck in a ship being flung to parts unknown. Steve is getting shipsick/seasick? The girls are trying not to panic too much. And on the other side of the story we see Paris. A girl we already met in a fleeting way in the first book, is the one who handles the ice cream cart. But she is also much more than that. She also loves inventing and has put a tracker on the mermaids.
My favourite part of the book was the mermaids, seeing their friendships, and seeing them discover new places, and try to, once again, save the day.
I love that we found out more about the mermaid world. This time we see about a kingdom with crocodiles. Mermaids with crocodiles' tails, crocodiles for transport. And then the fact that there are even more kingdoms/countries to explore, and I hope that we will be going there as I want to see what mermaids live there and what their life is like.
It was fun that we discover magic is real, and that there are witches.
The book is delightfully illustrated.
Donna Isgar

Up the mountain by Marianne Dubuc

Book Island, 2018. ISBN 9781911496090
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Friendship. Generosity. Outdoors. Life skills. Mrs Badger lives at the bottom of a mountain and each Sunday she takes a walk up the path to the top. She knows all the creatures who live along the way, stopping to talk to them or help them on their way. One day a cat called Leo stops her and she convinces him to walk with her. He is easily tired and they need to stop and rest, but she shows him all the other animals and plants on their route, showing him which mushrooms are best to eat, and how to avoid dangers. Leo tires quickly because of his short legs, but Mrs Badger urges him on. Together they reach the top and the view of the world is magnificent, worth the effort made. Together they climb the mountain each Sunday, Mrs Badger teaching him the names of the plants and animals, watching over him as he learns the way. But one day Mrs Badger cannot climb the mountain as easily as she once could, and it is up to Leo to help her. The situation is reversed until there comes a time when Mrs Badger can no longer climb the mountain at all. Leo brings back some of his findings for her and eventually someone else climbs the mountain with him, Leo showing the way.
Translated from French, this is a gentle story of the passing on of knowledge, of leading younger people to being independent, as Mrs Badger leads Leo up the mountain of life, and when she can no longer help, he in turn helps another.
The trek through the path leading to the mountain displays a lot of the outdoors to children, a turtle on its back needing help, a group of baby hedgehogs crossing their path, keeping to the right path, making a stick to help with walking and so on. Lots of discussion points to pursue with a group of children, eager to be outdoors themselves.
The charming illustrations invite closer inspection of the animals that a child would find in the European outdoors, badger, hedgehog, fox, a bunting bird and so on. I love the repetition of the illustrations as Leo becomes the leader, changing roles with Mrs Badger. The drawing of Leo helping Mrs Badger at the top of the mountain is inspiring and children will easily understand the message being shown.
Fran Knight

The Lost Magician by Piers Torday

Quercus, 2018. ISBN 9781786540515
(Age: 9-12) Themes: Good and Evil, Fantasy. The year is 1945 and Simon, Patricia, Evelyn and Larry have survived the London Blitz and experienced the destructive effects of the bombings on their schools and housing. They are sent off to the countryside while their parents search for a new residence. Secretly, they have been chosen to participate in the classified 'Magician Project' to discover if magic is real and can be used as a powerful force by the Government.
On arrival, young Larry disappears in the old country house and discovers a secret carved wooden door leading into The Library. Here there are three sections of books, Read, Unread and Never Read. Of course, he's selects a book and is swept into a magical kingdom led by a fairy knight flying on a tiger-winged butterfly. His siblings do not believe his wild tales about the magical kingdom, preferring to swim and explore the countryside around Barfield Hall. When Evelyn discovers the secret portal, she chooses a different section and is drawn into the Never Reads world - Folio, ruled by evil secretary Jana and her silver robots. Evie makes a pact to return with the rest of her siblings to assist in the evil plans to destroy the fantasy characters and fantasy world.
Torday includes so many recognisable elements, blood drops revealing hidden texts, giant talking trees, assistance by fairy tale creatures, here the Three Bears help in their rescue. His central theme differs from that of C. S. Lewis, the battle is fought between knowledge and imagination: Jana believes in a factual world filled with numbers. She delights in turning, giants, fairies and other magical creatures into strings of data. There is the difficult and dangerous quest to find the Magician. The author imbues the characters with a deeper sense of self, Evelyn - Evie struggles with her allegiances and her trouble memories of her school being bombed.
In The Lost Magician, Guardian children's fiction prize winner Piers Torday's decision to pay homage to C. S. Lewis and his Narnia Chronicles, delivers a very familiar format. He has added Tolkien touches, included recognisable fantasy characters and common fantasy tropes. This is an interesting junior novel, one for fans of the genre.
Rhyllis Bignell

Competing for the Cup by Bobbi JG Weiss

Ride series, Book 2. Candlewick Entertainment, 2018. ISBN 9780763698553
(Age: Teenagers+) Recommended. Competing for the Cup is the second book in the Ride series, and is based on a TV show aired on Nickelodeon. Competing for the Cup follows Kit Bridges after her arrival to Covington, an elite equestrian boarding school in England. Thankfully her father is there with her, and together they are helping each other deal with the death of Kit's mother. In this second instalment, Kit has to prepare for the House Cup competition, and she is raring to prove just how far herself and her horse TK have come. But life isn't always that simple: Friends and frenemies acting stranger than usual, someone leaving encouraging sticky notes with tips for bonding with TK for her, and lastly catching her Dad on a dinner date. Kit may have more problems than she can handle. This story explores life issues and the struggles one can have when moving to a new home, as well as other teenage issues surrounding friendships and first loves. Kit is strong minded but her emotions seem to get in the way of her decision making at times. Still recovering from the events from the first installment she tries her hardest to be normal at this new school she now calls home. Kit's father Rudy is portrayed as a strong father figure to not only Kit but some of the other students as well. But he seems to be ready to move on in his romance life sooner than Kit expected. Lastly, since there are a number of other characters in the TV show that the story follows, the author does well to balance the chapters between them all. Overall, I believe this to be a good series for teenagers and would recommend the series to teenagers and above.
Kayla Raphael

Seeker of the Crown by Ruth Lauren

Prisoner of Ice and Snow Book 2. Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781681191331
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Valor risks everything to protect her friends in this second book in a thrilling fantasy series that's Percy Jackson meets Frozen.
'One month has passed since Valor broke her twin sister Sasha out of jail. But the girl who imprisoned her to begin with - Princess Anastasia - has gone missing. The queen, desperate to find her daughter, asks Valor and Sasha to track Anastasia down and bring her home.
But just as the girls and their friends embark on the search, the queen also vanishes, throwing the realm into utter chaos. If Valor can't restore order, she risks getting sent back to prison . . . and tearing her newly reunited family apart once again. She must rely on people she can't quite trust, as well as her own instincts, to protect the people she holds dear.' (Publisher)
I could not put down Prisoner of ice and snow, the first book in the series and this was no exception. I found myself going to bed early to read as much of it as I could before I fell asleep. It is fast paced, and I loved the descriptive language that Lauren so cleverly intertwines into the story. Despite this book being a sequel, it could in fact be read as a stand-alone.
It is a great read for fantasy readers starting from age 10 and up. Valor is an incredibly strong lead character and I love the fact she is female. The plot is complex and continually twists and turns. There is certainly no sexism in this book with both male and female characters taking on the roles of archery, guards, royalty and hunters. This is a welcome companion to the first book and a must read.
Kathryn Schumacher

Athena the story of a Goddess by Imogen and Isobel Greenberg

Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781408892497
(Age: 8+) Greek myths, Athena, Gods and goddesses, Women. Athena the story of a Goddess, is a collaboration between the Greenberg sisters, with Imogen retelling the story and Isabel providing the arresting images. The tale of the goddess Athena is retold in comic style, part Graphic Novel, part text, while the pages are filled with illustrations full of the fire of her life reflecting the images presented on Greek antiquities. Some pages are presented in full comic mode, with illustrations bound by frames, and conversation given in bubbles in the air, while others are presented in larger amounts of text with some illustrations, but all is easily read, the text and drawings conveying to all readers the tenor of her life.
From the story of her birth when she appeared out of Zeus's skull!, Athena soon made her headstrong self known. She was a strong, wise woman who showed distinct favour to humans, frowned upon by the other gods watching from Mount Olympus.
In this publication, we see her outwit Poseidon to have a city named after her (Athens), destroy the life of one more talented than her (Arachne) changing her into a spider, challenge her sisters to charm a shepherd by the name of Paris, and watch over Odysseus on his return home from the Trojan Wars. The lives of gods and goddesses intersect with humans in these stories, the gods and goddesses having power of life and death over humans, and sometimes playing with them like toys.
Athena's strength in dealing with others who cross her path is captivating, and the retelling is accessible to all young readers, who will enjoy the black outlined illustrations.
A double page at the start gives quick biographies of the main protagonists in the tale of Athena, and the endpapers show the illustrations seen on Greek vases, used as a reference for Isabel's illustrations.
Fran Knight

White Rabbit, Red Wolf by Tom Pollock

Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406378177
(Age: 14+) Recommended. This book is brilliant, gripping and horrifying - all at once! Right from the start we are gripped by the anxiety of the narrator, and this does not let up at all. We are positioned to wonder whom we can trust? Told episodically, this narrative has chapters named for the thoughts and action that occur. Plunging us into the lives of some members of one family, who are clearly very clever people, albeit distracted and secretive, Pollock takes us on a journey of fear, confusion, and a sense that terrible and catastrophic events may happen at any time and they do.
Shocking, puzzling, and heartachingly sad, this story of a family who are brilliant people, a family that does not seem like one, however. This family of very, very intelligent people who can explore, explain and expose what is happening to them and the world around them, but fear the consequences, appear to be in trouble.
Two adolescents, a boy and a girl, we realize very quickly, possess outstanding abilities to rationalize, explore, explain and comprehend the situation in which they find themselves, a situation that portends absolute disaster, that challenges them to trust no-one, not their mother nor their sibling. His extraordinary intellect enables seventeen-year old Peter Blankman to grasp the threat that he faces, and the threat is his life. As the novel focuses mostly on the way in which his use of mathematical logic and computer-like reasoning enables him to slowly piece together the events that have occurred both in the past and in the present, which is the narrative structure of interwoven chapters, except for the opening chapter, named ENCRYPT, with these letters encrypted to read YICMXKQ. Already we are alerted to the model of thought that imbues this novel with cleverness, fear, betrayal, murder and a seeming lack of love and loyalty within one family.
Ultimately, this is a story of the failure of a family to be what families should be, that is, to protect, nurture and guide the children to live good lives, not selfish lives, but lives that enable them to be honourable, to help others, to be part of a social web that protects and nurtures children. The children in this story are sacrificed for the state, or at least that appears to be so.
The narrative delivers a hard and fear-filled world for one fearful child, albeit a brilliant one, whose actions reflect his isolation when things go amiss and his family are not there. He and his twin sister appear to have been abandoned, the adults in their lives missing, and they themselves endangered. After a series of murders, this family is catapaulted into terror. Using their brilliant minds to decode the events and the messages they perceive, the twins work to decode the events so that they can survive.
This powerful new novel will disturb, intrigue, fascinate and unsettle the reader. Tom Pollock's work on the perils of espionage, and the threat of death for anyone who reveals what is happening, is situated in the centre of a modern world where fear of exposure and death looms for those who work in government, and correspondingly threatens the lives of their children.
Elizabeth Bondar

Good Rosie by Kate DiCamillo

Ill. by Harry Bliss. Walker Books, 2018. ISBN 9781406383577
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Dogs. Responsibility. Family. Companionship. Divided into nine chapters, this comic styled story tells of Rosie the dog who lives with George. Each morning, George cooks himself two eggs and gives Rosie her food in her silver bowl. But once finished Rosie can see another dog at the bottom of the bowl, and realises that she is lonely. In chapter two George and Rosie go for their usual walk in the woods, watching the shapes made by the clouds. When George points out a dog-like shape, Rosie becomes excited and George has an idea. The next chapter sees George take Rosie to a dog park. Here Rosie is somewhat overwhelmed with the number of dogs and one in particular who comes up to her is much larger and has a toy in its mouth which it shakes with gusto. In chapter four a smaller dog drops by, but this dog is a livewire and jumps rapidly from one spot to another, so putting Rosie off. The next chapter sees the larger dog shaking the smaller one in its mouth and in chapter six, Rosie tackles the larger dog, warning it to drop the little dog, which it does in chapter seven, and the last two chapters see the problem resolved and the three meet regularly at the dog park for companionship and play. Even George gets to make new friends.
A seemingly simple tale of friendship, the story has the trio not liking each other at first, but when an incident occurs from a misunderstanding, Rosie stands up for the little dog, resolving the issue and so making friends. It resonates with the problems of young children making friends, of being understanding, of resolving issues with other children and coming to a mutual understanding. The positive flow of the story will appeal to younger readers who will see it as a dog story but with overtones of their own attempts to make friends.
The illustrations are simply adorable and highly appealing to any reader who picks up the book, while the expressions on the dogs' faces are wonderful.
Fran Knight

War is over by David Almond

Ill. by David Litchfield. Hodder, 2018. ISBN 9781444946574
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. Themes: War, Peace, Conscientious objectors. As one would expect from an author of the calibre of David Almond, War is over is a lyrical and confronting story set in 1918. On the back cover it states 'This beautifully illustrated, moving story commemorates the hundred-year anniversary of the end of the First World War.' Although the reader might expect a story glorifying war, Almond has instead melded together many complex issues about the nature of war, with the dream of peace being the over-riding theme.
'I am just a child,' says John. 'How can I be at war?' John's mother works in a munitions factory putting shrapnel into shells; his father is fighting in the trenches in France and his teacher, a most unpleasant character, insists that the children too are fighting a war. But there is a man, Dorothy's Uncle Gordon, who has been forced to live in the woods and who doesn't believe in the war and insists that the children in Germany are just like the children where John lives. John has a strange moment when he glimpses a German boy, Jan, from Dusseldorf and begins to realise that the German children are not his enemy.
Beautifully illustrated in black and white and tones of grey, the munitions factory rears out against a stark background, shells stand in dangerous rows and then are exploded sending soldiers skywards with the blast. The white feather from Uncle Gordon stands out, white against a black page, and in the final pages the reader is given a sense of hope with a light grey background as seeds of peace are scattered by John across the German earth.
Although at first glance this short (117 pages) illustrated book may appear to be for a young audience, the complexity of the themes and message make it a book that a teacher or caregiver may need to read with children. It will certainly engender much conversation about the nature of war, nationalism and hate.
Pat Pledger

The distance between me and the cherry tree by Paola Peretti

Hot Key Books, 2018. ISBN 9781471407550
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Themes: Macular Degeneration, Blindness, Family, Friendship. This poignant tale has Mafalda charting her loss of sight as her eyes deteriorate. She begins with her beloved cherry tree, counting the steps as she comes to school, noting how close she needs to be before she can really see it. She loves this tree and often climbs into its comforting branches. One day her glasses fall and she cannot see her way down, but the new caretaker, Estelle, retrieves her glasses and helps her come back down. After that Estelle waits for her every day.
Juvenile Macular Degeneration leads to blindness as the macular develops spots which impairs vision. Initially told she may have some time before the black spots cover most of her sight, she is told that it is imminent. She resolves to go and live in the tree where she feels close to her late Grandmother and Cosimo, a character from one of her father's favourite novels, to whom she speaks, using him as a sounding board for her ideas.
But she is beset by problems. Her parents want to move closer to the school, into an apartment with no stairs, but in doing she will lose the one thing that Mafalda loves, the view from her window to her Grandmother's old house across the way.
And Fillipi, a boy in her school wants to be friends, but she cannot work him out. Mafalda pens a list of things she deems important, and along the way learns to cross out the ones she finds less so, making sure that her list is up to date. When she has had enough she retreats to her tree, determined to live there with her cat, safe in the arms of her gran and Cosimo, but Estelle's voice helps her realise what is important, helping her out of the tree and to her new life.
A most unusual book about losing your sight Mafalda is an engaging character, full of grit and determination, learning that family and friends are the best things to have around
you.
Fran Knight

The Raven's Children by Yulia Yakovleva

Puffin, 2018. ISBN 9780241330777
(Age: 11-15+) Recommended. Stalin's Russia is a dark and foreboding place, where the walls literally have ears and eyes. The imagery is all about the secret police and the threat of the 'Ravens' taking the 'enemy' away is always present. People are watching, no one can be trusted.
Shura lives blissfully unaware in this world with his parents, older sister Tanya and baby brother Bobka until both his father, mother and brother are taken away.
Shura decides to find his missing family with his sister and confront the 'Raven'.
This book combines both historical events and fantasy to tell Shura's story. It is a harsh and uncaring world seven-year-old Shura tries to survive and the adults are only there to punish and incarcerate him.
This is a dark story based on the family experiences of the author. At times there seems to be no kindness or love in the world and the reader despairs for Shura and his family. The use of fantasy softens the story and birds are a constant imagery, often talking to Shura.
At times I found this a difficult book to read and needed breaks from Shura's world. I feel children will understand that Shura is on a quest and that he experiences a dark and unfriendly world but they will not have a historical perspective of this time. The real world is mixed with fantasy giving the story a dreamlike quality. The ending offers hope for the future but does not answer all the questions the book poses.
I recommend this book to 11 to 15+ year olds, especially to students who have read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
Jane Moore