Simon and Schuster, 2015. ISBN 9781471117787
Highly recommended for children who are fans of the Octonauts TV
show. Octonaut Creature Report is a collection of fact
sheets and Octonaut styled images about different ocean creatures.
Read about the bottle-nosed dolphin or the snot sea cucumber. Find
the matching stickers for each page.
Young children will enjoy looking at the bright cartoon style
pictures but will require support, from independent readers, with
the text.
It is a great way to introduce non-fiction texts to young children.
Kylie Kempster
Meet . . . Sidney Nolan by Yvonne Mes
Ill. by Sandra Eterovic. Meet . . series. Random House
Australia, 2015. ISBN 9780857985897
I recently evaluated the 759 section of an established primary
school library collection, the section that could be best described
as 'painters and their paintings'. While there was a solid
representation of those European artists that could be expected,
there was nothing relating to our Australian painters, particularly
those of the 20th century. So I was delighted to see that the latest
in the Meet. series, that collection of biographies about iconic
Australians for primary students, addressed the life and times of
Sir Sidney Nolan. Its focus is the story behind the distinctive Ned
Kelly paintings (available via Scootle MO12591).
As a young boy growing up in Victoria, Nolan loved to listen to the
stories about Ned Kelly told to him by his grandfather who was a
police officer at the time. It inspired his imagination in many ways
and so when circumstances of World War II had him on the run rather
like the Kelly gang, an idea was sparked and a signature series of
images was created. And from that grew a new and different way to
show this country's amazing landscape making his style and works
instantly recognisable, both in Australia and beyond. There is now a
permanent display of his works at the Canberra Museum and Gallery http://www.cmag.com.au/collections/nolan-collection
and together with the tools available on that site, this new
addition to this series is perfect for enabling younger students to
begin to learn about the legacy of this great Australian.
Barbara Braxton
Sun kissed by Jenny McLachlan
Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781408856116
(Age: Upper primary - lower secondary) Themes: love, friendship,
fitness, Sweden, challenges, resilience, humour. 15 year old Kat,
after an unfortunate incident involving her older sister's
ex-boyfriend, is sent to spend the summer holidays with her aunt in
Sweden. Devastated at leaving her best friends behind, Kat promises
to keep in constant communication with them and travels, alone for
the first time, to Stockholm, where there is the anticipation of
some serious shopping opportunities. However, on arrival eccentric
Aunt Frida whisks her off to a remote island to a cabin without
power and no phone signal. Once on the island Kat is free to roam,
meeting Nanna and her twin who are training for the island's
marathon challenge 'Tuff Troll' involving a 5km run, a 1km swim and
a 1km kayak. Things look up when Kat meets Leo and spends a
wonderful day alone with him, capped off with a thrilling cliff jump
into deep water. When Leo's girlfriend turns up Kat is hurt and
confused but vows not to let them spoil her stay. She tells them she
and her friend are entering the competition and the story unfolds
from there. This is the third in the Ladybirds series,
following the group of friends negotiating the early teen years with
humour as they find out who they are and what is important in their
lives. Romance is there but friendship, discovering inner strengths
and resilience are more central and in this volume Kat explores some
of her Swedish heritage and discovers the power of physical
competition in developing self-awareness and inner strength.
This playful look at girls on the brink of independence experiencing
lots of 'firsts' in life will appeal to 'Chic Lit' lovers from upper
primary to lower secondary.
The author's website is here.
Sue Speck
Explosive Adventures: Two exciting stories in one! by Alexander McCall Smith
Ill. by Kate Hindley. Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN 9781408865866
(Age: 10-12)Recommended. Themes: Adventure; Thinking; Comedy;
Environmental issues - logging; Piracy. The author who brought to
life the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency has written two wonderfully
witty stories for young readers in this book of Explosive
Adventures. In the first story, The Popcorn Pirates, young
children become the heroes in overcoming pirates who steal their
cherished Caribbean Island popcorn produce. The children, (whose
parents seem remarkably unperturbed by their adventurous suggestion
to act as shipboard lookouts on the trading vessel that transports
the 'explosive' produce) use their wits to overcome the marauding,
but muddle-headed pirates.
The second explosive tale, The Bubblegum Tree, involves a
Bubblegum factory problem, with a secret ingredient that is
experiencing a supply risk. Two children join the factory owner on a
trip to India, with their parent's permission and lack of concern,
to 'rescue' the supply and to prevent the environmental disaster due
to logging of the Bubblegum Trees. The bizarre local people, the
Bubblegummies, live in a treetop city with an exciting Bungee jump
escape route for emergency exits! The loggers become victims of the
clever plot to rescue the Bubblegum trees, a plan hatched by the
young protagonists with help from the locals and the factory owner.
Both these stories show the children overcoming fear and using their
natural intelligence to create solutions to problems and outwitting
adults, and in a Dahl-esque way have parents that give them freedom
that would shock most adults! Consequently, these stories will be
greatly enjoyed by young readers aged 7-10. Delightful, naive
illustrations by Kate Hindley are scattered through the book.
Carolyn Hull
Auggie and me by R. J. Palacio
Corgi Books, 2015. ISBN 9780552574778
(Age: Upper primary - lower secondary) Highly recommended. I looked
forward to reading Auggie and Me after the powerful
emotional journey of Palacio's previous best seller Wonder.
Wonder, recounts the story of August (Auggie) Pullman who was
born with a severe facial deformity that affected both his health
and relationships with others. Wonder is told from different viewpoints, one of them being
Auggie's own reaction to going to school for the first time in his
life, as a middle school aged student.
This novel is not a sequel to Wonder. In fact Palacio
stresses that Auggie's story has been told.
'To be clear: Auggie and Me is not a sequel. It doesn't pick
up where Wonder left off . . . In fact Auggie is only a
minor character in these stories.'
The reader is able to see inside the minds of 3 other children.
The first is Julian, the bully from Wonder, who cannot deal
with Auggie's appearance. His story gives an insight into his family
and his own issues. Julian's grandmother is pivotal in allowing him
to face his actions and come to terms with his behavior.
The second story is about Christopher, who is torn between his
loyalty to Auggie and the challenge of being Auggie's oldest friend.
The last story is Charlotte's. She has to deal with changing
friendship groups and make decisions about trustworthiness, kindness
and compassion.
Every one of the three stories examines bullying and stereotyping
and shows how each student deals with their problems. Middle school
students will be able to relate to the issues that face Julian,
Christopher and Charlotte.
Another impressive novel from Palacio and I highly recommend this
book for upper primary to lower secondary students.
Jane Moore
Stars of Fortune by Nora Roberts
The Guardians Trilogy bk 1. Piatkus, 2015. ISBN
9780349407807
(Age: Adult) Romance. Fantasy. Corfu. Goddesses. Three goddesses
made three stars, one of fire, one of ice and one of water. But evil
pushed them from the sky, putting the world into danger. Three women
and three men must join forces to put the pieces back together.
Sasha Riggs is an artist haunted by dreams, which she follows to
Corfu, where she recognises five others - a magician, Bran who will
become more to her, Riley, an archaeologist, Sawyer, a roamer,
Anniker, who loves water and Doyle who is a fighter. All are on a
quest and all have secrets that are gradually revealed as the story
progresses.
Roberts is a master at creating interesting romances, and although
the themes in Stars of fortune will feel familiar to her fans, she
still grabs the reader's attention with her interesting characters,
beautiful setting and battle scenes. The romance is strong between
Sasha and Bran and each bring out the best in each other's
characters. The group must bring their diverse talents and
personalities to form a team, and Roberts deftly shows the group
dynamics, the gradual growth of trust amongst such different people
and their joining together in a big battle to save each other.
The island of Corfu, with its bays and cliffs and beautiful
landscape, makes an entrancing background to the story. Descriptions
of the villages and the villa where the group were staying added to
the enjoyment of the story and it will be interesting to see where
Roberts sets the next book in the series.
This is an easy enjoyable read, with no real surprises and fans of
Nora Roberts will welcome the escapism that she always offers her
readers.
Pat Pledger
The Power of Henry's Imagination by Skye Byrne
Ill. by Nic George. Simon and Schuster, 2015. ISBN 9781471145193
Themes: Imagination; Overcoming problems; Loss and grief. Henry has
lost a treasured toy rabbit, Raspberry. The search is thorough, but
fruitless and his grief remains. Eventually, at his grandfather's
suggestion, he uses his imagination to explore the return of
Raspberry. This provides consolation, as he discovers that he can
imagine his toy friend into existence within his own mind. And
perhaps in reality too! This is a book that comes from the
philosophy of 'The Secret' -
and as such it promotes a point of view that your imagination has
power to change your circumstances. Although this is similar to many
books where a child's imagination gives them power over their own
emotions, helping them deal with their struggles because they have
considered alternative ways of viewing their problems, this book
takes an additional step, in line with the 'The Secret' philosophy,
and suggests that imagination has power to change the circumstances.
[I suspect that imagining the end to war and poverty is not within
the frame-work of 'The Secret'! I am perhaps revealing my lack of
sympathy for this stream of thinking where the universe is in the
control of mere mortals with desires (usually from wealthy
countries!).]
The illustrations are Mixed media with simple pen and ink drawings,
overlaid over a predominantly ochre coloured paper background, with
some touches of realistic photographic images near the edges of the
page. It is subtle - imagination mixed with reality. This book does
deal with an issue that children face, but it is openly part of a
philosophical publicity program to influence thinking. (The Secret's
logo is on the front cover.) If this was a MacDonald's promotion, would you buy it?
Carolyn Hull
Heartsong by Kevin Crossley-Holland
Ill. by Jane Ray. Orchard Books, 2015. ISBN 9781408336069
(Age: 8-12) Highly recommended. Themes: Music; Abandonment; Orphans;
Resilience. This novella was inspired by a visit to Venice and the
Vivaldi Museum. There the Illustrator, Jane Ray, found an entry in a
Venetian orphanage ledger of one girl, Laura, among many girls; one
name among many foundling children who were gifted to the orphanage
to be protected and to receive sanctuary during the time that
Vivaldi worked there as music master (c1724). From the illustrations
and imaginings of Ray, came the idea of a story that
Crossley-Holland completed with words that are unadorned yet
atmospheric. This artistic collaboration wafts like a performance of
Vivaldi's Four Seasons through this simple story of the life
of Laura, the mute orphan who discovers music, and her own musical
talent. Her 'heartsong' plays through her struggles as the abandoned
child with no history and her lack of her own words finds voice
through her music.
This is a beautiful story, a treasure like the masterful playing of
a haunting piece of music. It lifts and carries the reader as we
discover the filaments of joy and sadness in the life of this child.
Woven through the threads of narrative, we get an insight into the
life of the composer Vivaldi as he works with the orphan children to
create an orchestra. We also get a glimpse of the human responses to
abandonment from the perspective of the foundling children, those
who came to be there 'the ordinary way - through the hatch in the
wall of the orphanage'.
Highly recommended for young readers 8-12, it will also be loved by
adults who read it aloud with a younger audience.
Carolyn Hull
Sir Scaly Pants the Dragon Knight by John Kelly
Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2015. ISBN 9781408856031
(Age 3+) Recommended. Humour. Knights. Dragons. Bullying. When Sir
Kindly Heart tripped over a dragon's egg and it cracked open he
decided to take it home to Lady Kindly and together they taught the
little dragon, named Scaly Pants, not to use his dragon fire and to
behave well. He is sent off to Knight School where he has a
difficult time from three bullies because he is different, but when
a ghastly giant threatens the kingdom it is Sir Scaly Pants and his
trusty steed, Guinevere, who ride off to the rescue and save the
bullies on the way.
This is a rollicking tale that has enough rhyming words to make it a
great read aloud for the younger children and a fun read for
children who are just starting to become independent readers. Sir
Scaly Pants is a great hero who always tries to do the right thing,
even helping out the three knights who had given him such a hard
time at school.
However it is the humour of the narrative and the illustrations that
make this such an engaging read. The illustrations of a dragon
dressed up in a suit of armour, tiny wings protruding from his back
are very amusing, and there are quite a few sly allusions that
adults will enjoy as well. I loved the determined look on the face
of Guinevere, the fat little pony, and her heroics and help with
getting rid of the giant were great. And the giant, with his boulder
like teeth and habit of picking his nose, comes to a very sticky end
with his trousers on fire, much to the delight of any reader.
This is sure to become a favourite to read aloud for bedtime and
enjoy at any other times as well!
Pat Pledger
Anything that isn't this by Chris Priestley
Hot Key Books, 2015. ISBN 9781471404641
(Age: 15+) 17 year old Frank Palp lives in a town
surrounded by grey. The people are grey, their clothes are grey,
everyone and thing is grey. Frank lives in a post war/dystopian town
which is under curfew and everything is controlled by the Ministry.
There is no joy, no laughter. Frank is obsessed with a classmate
Olivia to the point that he thinks if the two of them were to get
together his life will change for the better. There may even be some
colour in his life. He constantly rides his bike past her house
hoping just to catch a glimpse of her. When he find a bottle
containing a note which reads Anything that isn't this he
finally realises he needs to grow up and take on some
responsibility.
Chris
Priestley's style of writing was very bleak and disjointed. If he
wanted to create a world of bleakness he has succeeded. Hence I found the book depressing and the characters unlikable. I didn't
like the character Frank, he seemed pitiful and hollow and who lacks
empathy to his fellow classmates and his own parents. The only ones
who he seems to care about are his elder sister and his dead
grandfather. The one thing that redeemed this book was that Frank's
character did develop, so that the ending did at least represent a
change from the beginning. Though the illustrations are a pleasant
break in reading, they also paint a bleak and dreary picture.
Jody Holmes
Dinosaur Disco by Deborah Kelly
Ill. by Daron Parton. Random House, 2015. ISBN 9780857981363
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Music is pumping at the dinosaur disco
and everyone is having fun. Styracosaurus salsas,
Corythosaurus crumps
Maiasaura moonwalks
Across the shiny floor.
A tri of Pterandons shriek.
Encore! Encore! Encore!
Then the music stops and the ground begins to shake, Tyrannosaurus
Rex has made an appearance - but what does he want - to eat or to
dance?
Dinosaur books are a perennial favourite and this one is sure to be
popular with children. The pronounciation of the dinosaur names that
is given at the back of the book will help the adult reading aloud
as well! Deborah Kelly has a winning combination of dinosaurs, a fun
rhyming story and some factual information as well.
The vividly coloured illustrations are very amusing, but each
dinosaur is recognisable and those young children who are familiar
with them will enjoy the fun. Imaginations could work overtime
coming up with ideas of what dances a dinosaur might like to do.
A fantastic book to read aloud and a really good addition to any
library.
Pat Pledger
The White Rose by Amy Ewing
A Lone City series, bk 2. Walker Books, 2015. ISBN
9781406347586
Recommended for 15+ years. In this world some girls are taken from
their homes to be surrogates for the elite. Each year they are sent
to an auction where they are bid on by the rich women from The
Jewel. Violet is a surrogate who has just been caught in bed with
her boyfriend Ash, by The Duchess of the lake. With the help of
Garnet, the Duchess's son, they manage to rescue Ash and her
pregnant friend Raven and escape into the Lone City. It's here that
she learns about a rebellion and how her own powers can help. The
only problem is: what are they and could Violet ever reach her full
potential?
I found The White Rose initially difficult to follow as I
hadn't read the previous book, The Jewel, however the more
the book progressed the easier it was to become absorbed into the
storyline. The first half I found a bit repetitive as it explained
what had happened in the first book, though it soon picked up and
became fast paced with a few shocks and spins into the story line.
The characters interaction with each other was well developed and I
found that I really enjoyed getting to know each of them. The ending
ends with a cliff hanger to which made for an interesting lead up
yet I suspected how it would end, which was a little disappointing.
With all that said and done I am now looking forward to reading the
first book and I'm sure I will enjoy the third book as well.
I am going to recommend this book to the readers who really loved
the Divergent series and also readers who enjoyed Margaret
Atwood's The Handmaid's tale.
Jody Holmes
Unofficial Minecrafter's adventure series by Winter Morgan
The skeletons strike back, book five. ISBN 9781408869680 Clash of the creepers, book six. ISBN 9781408869697
(Ages: 7-12) These are installments 5 and 6 in the An Unofficial
Gamer's Adventure series of easy novels, based on the popular
computer/device game Minecraft.
Set in the Minecraft world as found in the game, Steve and friends
continue their adventures, fighting off skeletons and creepers and
hunting for treasure. My children, aged 9 and 11 polished off these
two books in under an hour and found them engrossing. It's a fun,
effective way to build on kids' love of the computer game to get
them into reading. Knowledge of the game and the different creatures
involved is a must, as I found it confusing trying to work out what
a 'griefer' is, for example. My children also found there were too
many characters, as the protagonist Steve is joined by a seemingly
unending host of friends and other hangers-on throughout the
stories. That said they are fast paced and well written with sound
adventure plots.
In Clash of the creepers, Steve's friends convince him to
leave the farm even though the treasure map they've been given could
just be a fake. I think it's the mystery and adventure that gets
young readers hooked after just a few pages. Just as players
navigate the dangers of the Minecraft world, so do the characters in
the book. Ultimately the friends decide to use the diamond treasure
to help the village and the baddies even see the error of their
ways. These themes of teamwork and helping others will appeal most
to readers 12 and under.
Jessica Smith
Recipes for Love and Murder: A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew
Tannie Maria Mystery bk 1. Text, 2015. ISBN 9781925240092
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. Mystery. Recipes. Humour. South
Africa. Tannie Maria loves to cook and writes a recipe column for
her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette. When instructed to turn
her column into one that answers problems, she does with a flair,
using common sense advice and terrific recipes as well. One of the
letters is disturbing and when its author is found murdered, Tannie
Maria and her offsider Jessie, a young reporter at the Gazette,
begin to look for clues and run into challenges and danger.
I loved both the setting and the characters in Recipes for love
and murder. Descriptions of the Klein Karoo in South Africa,
its landscape, flora and fauna were skilfully woven into the story
and will have readers looking up the area to find out more about it.
The main character, Tannie Maria immediately gains the reader's
sympathy. The author gives great insight into her personality, using
descriptions of the food and its preparation, and how it impacts on
her and on other people. She has suffered from domestic violence,
and this is a thread all through the book, but she is gradually
regaining her confidence in herself and in men, particularly Henk
Kennemeyer, the policeman who is in charge of the murder
investigation. Armed with some mouth-watering food, Tannie Maria
manages to inveigle her way into the investigation, and her
knowledge of domestic things adds some clues to the mix. Jessie, the
young reporter is also an interesting character, young and eager,
she wants to prove herself and puts herself into great danger as she
does that.
There is much humour in the book that off-sets the darkness of the
domestic violence and murder and this gives the reading experience
an extra zest and really adds to the enjoyment of the book.
Highly addictive, this story is a fabulous combination of murder
mystery, friendship, overcoming grief and regaining confidence as
well as some delicious recipes. I will certainly be trying out the
recipe for Tender Mutton Curry to be found at the back of the books,
with other equally mouth-watering recipes. I can't wait for the next
in the series.
Pat Pledger
Alice-Miranda in the Alps by Jacqueline Harvey
Alice-Miranda series. Random House, 2015. ISBN 9780857982742
(Age: 10+) Recommended. Skiing, Adventure, Mystery. Alice-Miranda
always gets into the thick of a mystery where she must use her wits
to untangle the threads and save the day, and this the twelfth
offering of this exciting series, is just that, an easy to read,
enthralling and funny romp through the Swiss Alps. Alice-Miranda and
her friends are at St Moritz, readying themselves for the White Turf
racing event. But an old friend of Alice-Miranda's family, the Baron
turns up after being missing for several months, surprising
Alice-Miranda and her friends. They determine to go to his hotel,
the Grand Hotel Von Zwicky to see what they can do to help as he
seems to be in some difficulties. Dodging criminals in this rather
lovely Swiss village sees Alice-Miranda and friends saving the day.
Another winner in this popular series, the publisher has included a
list of characters to help readers immerse themselves in this
enthralling read of 357 pages! At the end is added the first few
chapters of the very first book, Alice-Miranda at school and
inside the front cover readers will find the covers of each of the
twelve books.
Fran Knight
