I received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Dragon is sick of being the villain all the time and just wanI received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Dragon is sick of being the villain all the time and just wants to be the hero in the story - any story! After he exhausts all his options, an errant sneeze causes the residents of the fairytale kingdom to beg the dragon to join in the story and save the day!
What a fun romp, and with such a sympathetically drawn protagonist, too! Poor old dragon is always the villain and he's now fed up with having to fight (and lose) to the knight every single time. He wants to be a hero, but none of the fairytale folk can find room for a dragon in their stories. While assisting Jack (of beanstalk fame) on his mission, dragon accidentally sets in motion a chain of events that cause the sun to go out....but who could the fairytale folk possibly find who could reignite the sun? Enter the dragon of course!
There's plenty of humour in this one, in both the text and cheeky illustrative details. The mini-fleshlings enjoyed spotting all the different fairytale characters and the surprise post-climax ending (ie: the last page!) even had us trip-trapping off to remind ourselves what happened in a certain fairytale story, so the book launched us on our own adventure.
Young readers, and especially those who are younger siblings or always shunted out of the "hero" role in imaginative games, will no doubt relate to poor old dragon, who really only wants a brief shining moment in the sun and a chance to break out of his stereotypically assigned role.
The combination of text and illustrative format means that the story rolls along quickly and we found this to be an all around winner as a pre-bedtime, relaxing read. ...more
I received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
Ten Second Synopsis: JC has been adopted by an American family from his native Haiti. I received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
Ten Second Synopsis: JC has been adopted by an American family from his native Haiti. When his adoptive mother leaves, JC and his dog Boy find themselves at the mercy of Melanie's abusive husband.
I've got two separate warring opinions on this book which is making it a little difficult to come to a cohesive overall feeling about it. Goodnight, Boy is narrated by JC, a teen boy who has been adopted from Haiti by an American couple. The story is revealed as JC talks to his dog, Boy, with whom JC is imprisoned in a kennel in the backyard of his suburban home. As the story unfolds, the reader finds out that JC's adoptive mother, Melanie is missing, gone away or otherwise absent, for reasons that are also unclear, and that JC's angry adoptive father is responsible for JC and Boy's captivity.
If you are hoping, as you read, that the reasons behind JC's imprisonment will be revealed in a timely fashion, you will be sorely disappointed. The reasons are not revealed until the very end of the story and by that time I was a bit baffled as to why Melanie thought leaving JC alone with her obviously abusive partner, who had expressed no liking for JC, was a good idea in the first place.
But I digress.
The main things I enjoyed about this book were the easily readable narrative voice and JC's descriptions about his childhood in Haiti. The book has a conversational tone and it is easy to fall into the flow of the words and get caught up in the story, despite the constant interruptions in which JC takes issue with Boy's doggish behaviour. Similarly, although often sad, JC's recounting of his childhood I found to be absorbing and fascinating and revealed much about the factors that have moulded his personality.
The thing that I found difficult about the book was that it didn't have the shock factor of a book like Room by Emma Donoghue, which dealt with a similar situation, and I felt that without this, something was lacking. From the beginning of the story it was obvious that something seriously bad was going to happen - or possibly was already happening - but this didn't pan out in the way I expected and I felt that the ending was a bit of an anti-climax. Not that I'm unhappy that there was a satisfactory ending for JC and Boy - far from it - but I was hoping for a bit more suspense and emotional turmoil than was delivered.
I think I would have preferred it had the book had a second story thread, narrated by Melanie or her husband, to flesh out some of the issues and heighten the suspense.
Overall I found this to be an interesting read with some original qualities, but it didn't quite stand out as a stellar story for the reasons I've mentioned....more
I received a copy of this title from Fremantle Press for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: While retrieving a lost soccer ball during a game, Spencer Gray liI received a copy of this title from Fremantle Press for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: While retrieving a lost soccer ball during a game, Spencer Gray literally stumbles upon an extremely suspicious set-up filled with an assortment of native animals. After bringing one home, on account of it looking a bit worse for wear, Spencer uncovers a terrible secret and he and his friends must work to make it right before they're sucked in to a dangerous situation.
It's refreshing to come across a book which is fun but touches on serious subjects, is laconic but allows the reader to learn something (surreptitiously!) and is action-packed, but also feels creepily authentic. It's safe to say then, that I felt refreshed after having read of Spencer's escapades.
Before we get started, let me point out that this is the second adventure of the titular Spencer Gray, the first of such adventures having been chronicled in The Amazing Spencer Gray which was published in 2013. Also allow me to point out that I was not aware that this wasn't Spencer's first dangerous outing and it made not one jot of difference to my enjoyment of the book. This tale can certainly be read as an exciting standalone novel with no need for prior knowledge of Spencer's situation.
The book opens on Spencer's unwitting discovery of a bizarre, homemade setup in the bush just outside his school oval containing a collection of native Australian animals. Spencer makes the split second decision to bring one of the animals - that he later learns is a Potoroo (google it) - back to his home, because it looks on the brink of death. When Spencer and his mates Charlie and Leon decide they should return the Potoroo to the bush, things start to go pear-shaped because it immediately becomes clear that someone...or multiple someones...are not happy that Spencer has discovered their criminal activities.
The pacing of the story is truly Australian, in that it takes its time to warm up and the boys are remarkably laid back about (a) finding a bunch of native animals in a slapdash shelter in an unlikely place and (b) keeping an endangered animal in box under a bed. The second half of the book however, in which Spencer's marsupial-saving activities come home to roost in the worst outcome possible, is all go, go, go and I whipped through these chapters like a Potoroo with its pants on fire. Although the events of the second half of the book are, when viewed objectively from an adult's point of view, pretty far-fetched, the suspense in the writing somehow made them feel decidedly authentic and I really felt for Spencer's parents as they waited with mounting terror for news of their son's whereabouts.
Overall, Fitzpatrick has done a great job with balancing the adventurous and more down-to-earth elements of the story, as well as providing information to the reader in a readily digestible form about one of Australia's most endangered animals. And in case you're wondering, no, I had no idea what a Potoroo looked like before reading this book. Or that it was endangered. In fact, after reading the book, I visited Google to run a comparison on Potoroos and Quokkas and while typing in Potoroo vs... the option for Quokka immediately came up, so clearly I'm not the only one still learning here.
I would recommend The Spectacular Spencer Gray to young readers looking for a quick yet involving read featuring an unlikely hero and the adventure that awaits in the great outdoors....more
I received a copy of this title from Hachette Australia for review.
A Top Book of 2017 pick
Ten Second Synopsis: Tash and Sam have no choice but to run wI received a copy of this title from Hachette Australia for review.
A Top Book of 2017 pick
Ten Second Synopsis: Tash and Sam have no choice but to run when the secret police come knocking and arrest Tash's parents. With just two yaks as company and a secret message to deliver, Tash and Sam set out over the Himalayas to India with danger at every turn.
I was somewhat hesitant going in to this book, simply because stories about child refugees having to flee their homes are by their nature, sad and distressing, and given what's going on in the world at the moment, I can get a bit hand-shy of books that are too real in that regard. Thankfully, Butterworth manages the story of Tash and Sam with great control so that while the dangers and sadness are apparent at every step, they aren't so prominent as to overwhelm the reader. In fact, Running on the Roof of the World is a remarkably accessible book for young readers who are interested in real life events and what's going on outside their own bubble, written in a tone that is both moving and dignified.
Tashi's parents are part of the secret resistance against the Chinese occupation of their village in Tibet. After seeing a man set himself on fire in protest of the occupation, Tashi is shocked and awakened to the danger that is coming toward her own family. After a surprise visit from the Chinese police, Tashi and her best friend Sam find themselves in a desperate dash away from the village, carrying a coded message from Tashi's father and the resistance...a message they don't know how to read or to whom it should be delivered.
The beauty of the book is in the simplicity and authenticity of the children's journey. After leaving their home in abrupt and unprepared circumstances, Tashi and Sam have one goal - cross the mountain pass into India and reach the Dalai Lama. The simple acts of avoiding patrolling soldiers, moving from one spot to another and deciding who they can trust, all against the background fear of what might have befallen Tashi's parents, feel very immediate throughout the book and heighten the suspense of the story. The chapters are quite short, which made it easy to take the "just one more" approach and dig deeper into the story. I also loved the mandala-style illustrations that adorn each chapter heading.
While the story eventually has a happy ending, it's not without loss and trial and Butterworth does well to capture the uncertainty of the life of those seeking refuge in a way that young readers can appreciate. I feel like this is a story that will stay with me for quite a while and not least because it deals with an occupied territory that is somewhat forgotten or just accepted in the West.
I would highly recommend this book as a classroom read aloud or simply as an engaging and moving story of two children alone in a hostile environment....more
I received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: While on an enforced trial in the children's ward to see if I received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: While on an enforced trial in the children's ward to see if she can manage her diabetes on her own, Sylvie becomes involved in a dog-napping. With the help of her friends and some very sneaky detective work, Sylvie must unravel the puzzle quickly - before something else of import in the hospital goes missing.
This is a fun and funny mystery featuring dogs, doctors, a mysterious entity known as The Whiter and five good mates untangling the mystery of a stolen therapy dog. Honestly, who'd steal a therapy dog? Well, that's what Sylvie and her friends have to work out! I hadn't read the first four books in this series but I had no trouble at all getting into this one. The relationships between the characters are explained neatly as they arise and the author doesn't waste time lumping backstory into the action to slow things down. The hospital setting makes this mystery stand out from the pack because it's different and has its own set of tricks and traps to foil well-meaning child detectives as they go about their detective business. The main characters all have their own strengths and character flaws that affect the investigation in various ways and the book even has some data sheets at the end showing each of the five kids' stats for those who may not be familiar with them.
The only thing that annoyed me slightly about this was Sylvie's initial attitude toward having to stay in the hospital for two nights for monitoring...but that's just the grown up in me being sensible and boring. Her reactions are perfectly age-appropriate and understandable if you're a kid.
While not the most riveting mystery there has ever been, Dogs and Doctors is a fun light read with two mysteries left out for the kids to solve. The ending is action packed enough to be a good payoff for the preceding detective work and Sylvie, as the main character, learns a thing or two along the way about being responsible and allowing others to come to the fore when needed. There was nothing in particular in the story that indicated to me that this was a "final" book of the series, which may leave long time readers of the series unfulfilled, but as a standalone read this ticked all the boxes for kids meddling in dangerous situations and coming out on top....more
I received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A group of animal friends discuss the trials and tribuI received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A group of animal friends discuss the trials and tribulations of everyday life in this collection of comic strips.
I hadn't come across this series before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I certainly didn't expect the sophisticated level of humour in the comic strips, given that the blurb says that this is aimed at middle grade readers. Perhaps they mean upper-middle grade....right at the upper end...because a lot of the content seemed a bit too grown up to appeal to middle graders. I don't mean that it was inappropriate for kids, but that some of the topics - like getting the address for an aunt's funeral, the creator of the comic having a mid-life crisis and a goldfish worried about its own mortality - just seemed aimed at an older audience. I found myself having a hearty chuckle at some of the strips because they were absolutely relatable to the struggle of adulting. The struggle is real! Some of the vocabulary seemed too advanced to be credibly aimed at a young audience also. This certainly didn't mean that I didn't enjoy the book. In fact, I found most of the comics to be hilarious or at least chuckleworthy - I'm just mildly baffled as to why it has been labelled as "middle-grade".
I thoroughly enjoyed this little collection as an adult reader, so don't be put off by the middle grade tag. There's plenty here for those who like their jokes one comic strip at a time...in fact, it's exactly the kind of thing we old-timers who read newspapers would happily flick straight to the back page to read over morning coffee....more
I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Sophie HATES insects - which makes everyday life difficult for her aI received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Sophie HATES insects - which makes everyday life difficult for her at the outdoor adventure camp she is staying at for the school holidays. When a boy at the camp hands Sophie a compass, she is whisked off on a desert survival trek with Bear Grylls and learns that in the scheme of things, insects may not be the most important thing to worry about.
The Desert Challenge is the second book in a projected series of twelve centred around well known survivalist Bear Grylls. The books follow the same format and are set around a group of children at a wilderness adventure school holiday camp. Each book introduces the protagonist child (in this case Sophie) and a few of their friends - in this book one we meet Chloe and Fatima, Sophie's tentmates, as well as being reintroduced to Olly, Jack and Omar from the first book - and highlights the protagonist's particular personal growth issue that needs working on, before whooshing the child off, by means of a magical compass, to a survival-based adventure accompanied by none other than the Ursa Major himself. The child is then magically transported back to the moment they left their normal life and puts the lessons learnt in their survival trek to good use before passing the magical compass on to the next unwitting victim.
These books are cleverly produced and will certainly hit the mark with their target audience. They focus on problems that children working in groups are likely to have - Sophie is scared of insects to such an extent that she screams mindlessly whenever she sees one, which causes upset amongst her friends. At the end of this book Sophie passes the compass on to Omar, who we met in the first book, and who seems to be struggling with a need to be the best at everything. The fact that by the end of the series, readers will have been introduced to all of the kids at the camp is a brilliant idea because it means the books are linked and will have familiar characters in them, but don't necessarily need to be read in order. The use of the magic compass injects a fun dose of fantasy into the tales and keeps them from being too dry and also provides the protagonists the opportunity to learn from a real-life survival skills master in a way that doesn't rely on basing things in reality.
The books are illustrated throughout in black and white and the font is big enough, and chapters short enough, not to be daunting to reluctant readers or those who struggle. The books would also be a great option for read-alouds to younger children who don't have the ability to read chapter books themselves yet, but are interested in longer and more varied stories. It's also encouraging to see that the characters in the books are of diverse cultural backgrounds and that this is reflected in the illustrations.
These books are sure to be a hit with young readers who love "real-life" stories but aren't necessarily drawn to nonfiction....more
I received a copy of this title for review from Scribble Publishing Australia.
Ten Second Synopsis: Doodle Cat returns as mischievous as ever, despite bI received a copy of this title for review from Scribble Publishing Australia.
Ten Second Synopsis: Doodle Cat returns as mischievous as ever, despite being bored. When Doodle Cat discovers a thing, his boredom is soon banished as he discovers many ways to employ the thing in the pursuit of entertainment.
From that eye-ball burstingly bright cover, through the hypnotic endpapers to an all in pangolin party, Doodle Cat is Bored is a book that will imprint itself on your memory. If you have read I Am Doodle Cat, you will be aware that our feline protagonist is confident, outgoing and not afraid to think outside the box. So it is with Doodle Cat is Bored, after Doodle Cat finds a thing - which turns out to be a crayon - and boredom evaporates in the wake of scribbles that evoke everything from interstellar, gas-propelled travel to the discovery of long lost, pasta-based relatives.
The bold font of the text and the bright, minimalist colour palette ensures that each page cries out to be looked at and this really drew the mini-fleshlings into this particular story. There are a few pages here that take advantage of a wider range of colours - all from one single crayon! Fantastic! - and this added to the feeling that author had developed the concept of Doodle Cat as a character and was working well with the illustrator to highlight the importance of imagination without ramming the message down kid's throats.
Doodle Cat is also not afraid to be a little bit indecorous and the mini-fleshlings were in fits of laughter after Doodle Cat decides to draw his own bum. Bums, of course, being the height of comedy for three to six year olds in the dwelling. They also quite liked Wizard Susan's unusually stinky mode of travel, but it took a few moments for them to fully appreciate the gag.
This is a great addition to the Doodle Cat series and I'm pretty sure the mini-fleshlings enjoyed this one more than the first, possibly because the theme of imagination and entertaining oneself was easier to grasp on to. This series is not your typical picture book experience, as the author and illustrator aren't afraid to bend the conventions of picture book creation to create a totally unique character and story flow.
We highly recommend Doodle Cat is Bored for mini-fleshlings of your acquaintance who are prepared to take a risk on something a little crazy....more
I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: An accessible retelling of Scott's ill-fated attempt to be the firstI received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: An accessible retelling of Scott's ill-fated attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole.
Before reading this book I only knew the absolute basics of Scott's mission. Actually, to be honest, I only knew about the very ending bit, with Oates' famous, "I'm going out for a walk" quote and Scott's subsequent death from hunger and exposure, so finding out about the events leading up to the bit I knew about was both fascinating and completely baffling.
There was a certain sense of frustration that characterised this story right from the very beginning, although this had nothing to do with the writing of the story and everything to do with the facts. The very first page tips you off, in case you know nothing about the mission, that Scott's story doesn't have a happy ending, but to discover the bizarre, avoidable and beginner-level mistakes that were made on the journey made reading this feel like wading through snowbanks while wearing a wet-suit and flippers and dragging a massive box of rocks behind you.
I will admit that I did end the book wondering why Scott's epic failure has been so lovingly recorded while Amundsen's story - the leader of the Norwegian expedition that started closer, covered less dangerous terrain, and ultimately resulted in the first flag-planting at the South Pole - has been ignored. o focus on the actual writing for a moment, as opposed to the historical event itself, while I found the information quite interesting, the narrative style felt a tad detached for my liking. This may have been deliberate, in that it certainly contributes to the atmosphere of a long, fruitless slog toward ultimate failure and death, and also allows the reader to avoid becoming too attached to characters that will eventually die, but all in all reading this felt like more of a history lesson and less like something I would read for enjoyment at times. The book contains chapter heading illustrations throughout and also features actual photographs from the expedition in the centre. These were a great touch and added the needed link with the reality of the conditions under which the expedition was labouring to bring the story to life a little more. At the end of the book a collection of appendices includes short descriptions of Scott's prior attempts on the South Pole alongside Earnest Shackleton, as well as as Shackleton's later, unsuccessful Antarctic mission. A short section on Amundsen's expedition is included here too, which I found most interesting.
If you know any young history buffs in the upper middle grade and YA age bracket you might recommend Into the White. I can't say I really loved reading it because although the story itself contains plenty of action and setbacks that should have kept me interested, I got caught up in the epic folly of so many of the decisions that were made along the way that resulted in the men's deaths. And I just can't get over their whoppingly unscientific choice of pack pony....more
Ten Second Synopsis: Friends Vern and Lettuce head to the big city to audition for a televised talent show, only to uncover a dastardly plot to bring dTen Second Synopsis: Friends Vern and Lettuce head to the big city to audition for a televised talent show, only to uncover a dastardly plot to bring down the city.
While I had seen Vern & Lettuce before on some blog or other's list of recommended graphic novel for the younger age bracket, I couldn't remember what it was about when I came across it at the library. Lettuce and Vern live in a town called Pickle Rye where Vern eats grass in the park while fending off moles and Lettuce is often put in charge of her brood of younger siblings. The first few stories in the book, which are presented one to a page, are unrelated and serve to introduce the characters and their relationship, but a little way in the comics merge into a longer tale that relates to Lettuce coercing Vern into travelling to the city to audition for a televised talent show.
I enjoyed both sections of the book. The earlier, unconnected comics were adorable and quite funny with Vern always ending up in some baby-bunny-related predicament and the latter section of the collection presented an interesting story with some cheeky twists and turns. I also loved the few literary and pop culture references hiding throughout (in one instance the moles makes an utterance with uncanny resemblance to Little Britain's juvenile delinquent Vicky Pollard, while later on there's a reference to pigeons being unwelcome on buses...a tip of the hat to Mo Willem's perhaps?).
Overall, this is a cute and funny collection that is a great addition to the comic literature for the younger end of the middle grade spectrum. The stories are simple enough for younger kids to access but there are enough twists and turns for older middle grade readers to appreciate too....more
I received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Lady Miranda decides she must have a horse and so begins Pug'I received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Lady Miranda decides she must have a horse and so begins Pug's adventures as a horse-riding, police-evading, bandit-catching, show-jumping dog!
This is a beautifully illustrated quick read that bounces from one unexpected disaster to the next. Pug manages to come out on top at every turn however, by accident or design, and by the end of the story we've seen police chasing bandits, trophies being awarded and one horse that slowly decides that being friends with Pug and Lady Miranda means one is in for a wild ride. This story starts a little abruptly if you aren't familiar with the escapades of the first book, with no particular information given to explain the backstory of Lady Miranda, Pug and the Running Footmen. By the second chapter though, this shouldn't be a problem as young readers will be engrossed in Lady Miranda's search for a horsey friend.
The book is perfect for newly confident readers looking to move from picture books and basic readers to a longer, yet still accessible, chapter book format. For that reason, the action moves along apace, without any filler in which to get bogged down.
This is a charming follow-up to the first Adventures of Pug story and I think I enjoyed it better than the first. I seem to remember that Lady Miranda annoyed me a bit in the first book, whereas she was perfectly delightful in this installment, even making a new friend (of the non-horsey variety). The illustrations on every page and the large font make the book totally accessible to younger readers (and those like me who hate tiny print). Whether you've read the first book in the series or not, this would be a canny choice for young readers who love animal stories, lots of colour and imagery, and slapstick laughs aplenty....more
I received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Miss Petitfour (the quintessential crazy cat lady) lives alonI received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Miss Petitfour (the quintessential crazy cat lady) lives alone with an astonishing number of astonishing cats. Travelling by flying tablecloth, Miss Petitfour and the cats get up to five short adventures in this whimsical collection.
Hold on to your table linen, for this book is filled with whimsical antics, alluring pastel-hued illustrations and a veritable clowder of cats. Miss Petitfour lives with a total of sixteen felines, all with their own personalities, in what feels for all the world like a mashup between Mary Poppins and Neko Atsume. The book features a short introduction at the start so the reader can familiarise themselves with both Miss Petitfour and the aforementioned cats, and is then broken up into five short stories, all which feature food, flying and feline fancifulness.
While the book is beautifully presented, I found the stories somewhat lacking in intrigue and they didn't particularly hold my interest for long. The author is quite fond of digressions and while a few of these are always helpful and fun, it does not bode well when the digressions generate more interest than the actual story.
The gorgeous illustrations throughout the book, the coloured fonts and the fact that the stories feature sixteen cats that travel by tablecloth parachute at the mercy of the winds will surely be enough to draw some readers under Miss Petitfour's spell of whimsy. It wasn't quite enough for me, but I'm still impressed by the production quality of the book nonetheless. This is one you'll want to buy in print, for sure, rather than e-format. If you have younger readers of your acquaintance who are fans of Kate Knapp's Ruby Red Shoes, they will probably find Miss Petitfour and her cats equally delightful....more
I received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A frog will do anything to prove he's not grumpy but hI received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A frog will do anything to prove he's not grumpy but has trouble tempering his temper when things don't go his way. When he meets a friend, he must decide whether his preferences are more important than having fun.
Muster up the motivation because...
This is a chaotic, colourful jaunt into the world of likes, dislikes and how to behave when things aren't as you would like them to be. Ed Vere's illustrative style can be loud and somewhat abrasive if you aren't primed and ready for it but for those who enjoy expressive fonts, thick line drawings and characters with unmistakable facial expressions, there is a lot to enjoy in this book. Frog is generally a happy guy, though he can sometimes lose it when things aren't how he likes them. Thankfully though, other people share this fault and with a bit of calm negotiation everyone can agree on an activity that will make everyone happy. The arc of this story was a little disjointed for my liking. I felt that the story switched from a fun "look! the frog says he's happy but keeps getting angry!' sort of light comedy, to a friendship/compromise tale which didn't quite have the same giggle factor. I think, overall, mini-fleshlings will enjoy this tale if only for the manic mood swings of frog from one page to the next....more
I received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
Ten Second Synopsis: While foraging in the prehistoric forest one day, a mother MaiasaI received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
Ten Second Synopsis: While foraging in the prehistoric forest one day, a mother Maiasaura discovers an egg, which she takes back to her nest and protects alongside her own. When the egg hatches and a tyrannosaurus rex emerges, the Maiasaura mama overlooks the danger and teaches the little T-Rex to be like a Maiasaura.
If you haven't read any of Miyanishi's picture books from the Tyrannosaurus series, you are missing out. I've reviewed two of them on the blog previously and they are the most bizarre and beguiling picture books you could ever hope to come across. I Will Love you Forever is no exception, presenting a heart-wrenching and tear-jerking story of adoptive maternal love, the nature vs nurture debate and the ways in which family influences identity. The story begins with the heart-warming birth of two very different dinosaurs and their childhood raised as brothers. When a passing ankylosaurus tips off one of the brothers that one of them might not be as harmless as everyone thinks, it sets off a chain of events that have the little adopted maiasuara-tyrannosaurus questioning his intrinsic nature. Things come to a head late in the story and the tyrannosaurus is faced with a choice about his future and who he wants to become. The illustrations are colourful and quirky (and Mad Martha still wants to make a plushie out of the tyrannosaurus!) and the text is set in blocks, allowing for good spacing between the pictures and words. I highly recommend this series and I think this story is probably most accessible of the three I've read for those who aren't looking for a totally out-there picture book reading experience....more
I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: In a post-bee world, plants are pollinated by children on farms and I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: In a post-bee world, plants are pollinated by children on farms and Peony wants nothing more than to be a "bee" and one day, the farm Foreman. When her mother returns from her job in the city and insists on taking Peony back to work with her, Peony must fit in in order to find a way out.
Although this book is set in a post-bee world, the setting is far enough after the bee-pocalypse (or the time when the bees went extinct) that the world, or at least Peony’s part of it, has found a workable solution to the problem. Children with poles now climb fruit trees to pollinate them and life in the cities depends entirely on the good work of the farms where fresh food is grown. Peony dreams of being a bee and completing the important, prestigious work but her dream is ripped away when her mother returns from her city job and demands that Peony return with her to earn cash. Peony is bewildered by this, because on the farm, they have everything they need – money is anathema when there’s no shops to buy things from. In the city however, money is everything and the gap between haves and have-nots is illustrated by the hordes of raggy people who beg in the streets, with no jobs, homes or hope.
Along with an original slang, this story has unmistakable undertones of a Dickensian novel, with an urban environment characterised by the dichotomy of the rich and poor, in direct contrast to the happily barefoot children of the countryside. Sure, life is hard on Peony’s farm, but at least the people there are a strong community and understand the importance of their work to the necessities of life. The story moves through phases, with the early chapters introducing the reader to the farm and its processes, as well as Peony’s home life. The central chapters of the story, set in a big house in the city, show a different side to this alternative future, and demonstrate the hostility of the “real” world, in which violence, struggle and want colour the lives of the majority of “urbs” – city residents.
These central chapters give rise to an unexpected friendship between Peony and Esmeralda, the young girl for whose family Peony works. Although this section provided variety and interest, as well as a chance for both levels of the social strata to see each others’ good points, it seemed a bit out of place with the beginnings of the story. This is a moot point however, because the tale twists again toward the end and although Peony will encounter despair, hardship and grief before the end of the novel, an unexpected jolt of hope is injected from two directions in the final chapter.
Overall, this is a family drama, an environmental warning and a portrait of the kind of society that we are sliding towards held together by an engaging and determined narrator. I’d recommend this for middle-grade aged readers who enjoy books set in alternate worlds, as well as to older readers looking for a middle grade read that sits outside the expected....more
I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A collection of folk tales and legends from around the world retold I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A collection of folk tales and legends from around the world retold in vibrant graphic novel form.
If you are like me and find fairy tales and their retellings a mite tedious without some innovative new twist or format, then you will heartily appreciate Craig Phillips eye-poppingly viewable new collection, Giants, Trolls, Witches, Beasts: Ten Tales from the Deep Dark Wood. This beautifully presented, large format book contains ten fairy and folk tales from around the world in graphic novel format. Rather than ripping through the whole thing as I normally would with a graphic novel, I read one story a night until I had finished the book. This worked really well, because it gave me time to consider and absorb each story before moving on to the next.
I love graphic novels and I am lukewarm-to-openly-hostile toward fairy tales, so one might expect that I would find my enjoyment of this book to be fair to middling, but the strong illustrative element has swung this one for me. It seems, on reflection, to be an absolute no-brainer to liven up oft-told stories like fairy tales with vibrant illustrations but the use of full page illustrations in different frame layouts along with the traditional fairy tale style text and dialogue works incredibly well to flesh out the details and atmosphere of each story. Some of the stories here, such as the tale of Baba Yaga, the story of Snow White and Rose Red and the myth of Finn McCool will be familiar to many readers, but mixed in with these are less typical (if you are from a European background, anyway) stories, such as Momotaro, the peach-boy and the tale of the Polar Bear King who is forced to wear a fleece of feathers.
The graphic novel format is just genius because it instantly broadens the audience of the book. Teenagers, or older reluctant readers for instance, who might roll their eyes at the thought of reading fairy tales could easily pick up this tome without embarrassment and become absorbed in the visual appeal of the stories. The text is in that traditional, sometimes a bit convoluted, fairy tale style and so might be a bit tricky for the lower end of the intended audience, but taken with the illustrations, this book has high appeal to a whole range of reading ages.
I would absolutely love to see a follow up tome to this one from Phillips, with folk tales from an even wider range of cultures because the format is so readable and can so easily transfer between read-alone for confident readers, to read-aloud in a group setting, to read-together between parents and children snuggled up before bed. What an innovative new way to present some old classics that we feel like we've all seen before....more
I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A boy who finds it impossible to speak in front of others is on his I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A boy who finds it impossible to speak in front of others is on his way to win himself and his mother out of poverty when he comes across a crashed car and an unusual dog. Along the way to finding help, the boy makes some discoveries about himself and makes peace with his past.
When you've read almost everything a particular author has written over many years and suddenly they do something with a story you don't expect, it can be hard to measure it against your previous experiences of their work. So it was for me with this story. A Different Dog has a much more subdued and sombre tone that much of Jennings' previous work and the magical realism that often colours his stories and provides the impetus for his famous twists in the tail of the tale is absent here. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing - just different from what I would have expected.
The story revolves around a boy who has been a selective mute (or possibly an anxiety-induced mute) since a traumatic incident involving a beloved pet. He lives with his mother in livable poverty and is disconnected from peers due to his lack of speech. While on a mission to win a cash prize in a community fun run, the boy witnesses a vehicle accident and attempts to help - but instead ends up trying to find his way out of the hillside terrain accompanied by a highly unusual dog, who was a passenger in the crashed vehicle. Along the way home, the boy makes a number of life-changing discoveries...but his greatest challenge comes later when his friendship with the dog is tested by fate. I quite enjoyed the subtleties of this story as a change from the wackier antics that embody Jennings' usual fare. Even though it is a reasonably short read, this felt more like a story for older readers who could appreciate the themes of grief, guilt and shame that ring-fence the boy's image of himself. There is a pointedness in the story relating to the cruelty of others, whether between humans or from humans directed at animals, and this left me with a bit of a sense of the sinister when I think back to the story.
On the whole, I think I prefer Jennings' lighter works but A Different Dog is a thought-provoking read that uses a remarkably small word count to effectively raise questions about ethics, choices and making recompense for past mistakes. This would be a great choice for reluctant young adult readers or those who require high-interest, low reading level tales for struggling older readers. ...more
I received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.
3.5 stars
Ten Second Synopsis: Delphine and Nate return in this action-and-bee-stinI received a copy of this title from Bloomsbury Australia for review.
3.5 stars
Ten Second Synopsis: Delphine and Nate return in this action-and-bee-sting-packed adventure, with the Red Death Tea Society AND the League of Ostracised Fellows hot on their trails. When Nate invents an Infernal Engine as part of his "do 3 stupid things on Friday the 13th" tradition, it lands him and Delphine squarely in the sights of two groups who will stop at nothing - even bee-driven apocalypse - to get their hands on it.
This is a story replete with silliness, wild inventions and bee stings in sensitive places. I do enjoy the quirky tone and dry yet silly humour that Tobin has created in these books. There is a certain imagery conjured up by his writing that is truly giggleworthy. Nate and Delphine are also a fun pair and the introduction of Melville - a friendly robot bee adopted by Delphine - adds to the action in this installment. Bosper, Nate's genetically modified talking dog stole the show for me in this book however - something about his manner of speaking just cracked me up every time. The plot of this one seemed a lot more straightforward than in the first book despite the inclusion of the socially awkward League of Ostracised Fellows and everybody, including the jealous Betsy the car, had a role to play in saving Polt from bee-mageddon: The Sting-en-ing.
The one quarrel I have with these stories is that the quirky humour, when added to the action sequences, slows down the pace of the story interminably. My edition clocked in at 340ish pages and by about halfway I was ready for the resolution to start coming into play. While the humour is a massively important part of these books, the constant banter does really slow things down when it feels like things should be speeding up.
I can't remember why I didn't finish the first book in this series, but I think it was something to do with the pacing and a lag in the middle. This book does suffer from the same ailment in my opinion, but I got a lot further along in this story before I really felt the lag, compared to the first book. Nate and Delphine are so likable and the style of humour so enjoyable that I would still pick up a third in the series, but I would be hoping that the story overall would move a bit quicker....more
Ten Second Synopsis: A grandmother can never find a quiet spot to knit in her house that teems with grandchildren, so she sets off on an epic quest forTen Second Synopsis: A grandmother can never find a quiet spot to knit in her house that teems with grandchildren, so she sets off on an epic quest for some alone time.
I've had my eye on this one since it was first released and I found it featured an old lady protagonist, knitting and telling people to bugger off - incidentally, three of my favourite things.
Given that Brosgol is the author/illustrator of multi-award winning graphic novel Anya's Ghost, I suspected that the illustrations here were going to be great. They were. Brosgol's style features clean lines, blocks of colour and some fantastic facial expressions. Most of all, I just loved this book because it was so funny. The old woman is the matriarch of a home with an excessive amount of small children and so it's unsurprising that she doesn't get much alone time in which to knit. After tramping out of the village with naught but a shouted "Leave me alone!", the old lady traipses off through a variety of unlikely environments until she can get some peace and quiet in which to work on her knitting.
My favourite part of the story is when the woman passes through a wormhole to avoid her latest pursuers. Honestly, the line "She swept the void until it was a nice matte black" has got to be one of the best in children's literature.
This one is going to become a keeper for us. I am left with no option but to buy my own copy I liked this story so much. ...more
I received a copy of this title from PanMacmillan Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Augie is stuck for the summer working on his parents fadingI received a copy of this title from PanMacmillan Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Augie is stuck for the summer working on his parents fading, fairy tale theme park, while also trying to think up a good idea for his Creative Arts project re-do. When unexpected wolfish behaviour starts to take over Augie's life, he'll need every friend he can find to come out the other side of the summer unscathed.
Return to Augie Hobble was a package of unpredictability from start to finish. Augie lives in a reasonably crappy amusement park based on a fairy tale theme and spends his summer sweeping up after guests and being picked on by bored teenage pranksters. In his downtime, he and his best friend Britt escape to their fort in the woods and attempt to create a Creative Arts project that will get Augie a passing grade. When Britt leaves on holiday and Augie has a strange encounter with someone in a wolf suit (or is it?), Augie's life takes a turn for the weird...er.
This book is a bit of a cross between a graphic novel and an ordinary novel, as it is heavily illustrated throughout. Along with the actual story the reader is privy to Augie's multiple attempts to create a passable project for his summer school Creative Arts class and these range from cartoons to illustrated stories to photographs. We also get to see some particularly .... unexpected ...scribblings that appear in the notebook. I use the word "appear" because Augie can't explain how they got there...although he has a rather shrewd idea.
I won't try to describe the plot of this story to you because it is twistier than a spring caught in an automated twisting machine - just when you think you can guess where the story's going - phwip! - something completely unexpected pops up to change things around. By the end of the book you'll have vicariously experienced lycanthropism, theft, ghost activity, a genuine cowboy horse chase, gypsy prophesying, time-lapse photography, poltergeisting for the win, agents working on a government conspiracy and festive decorating. By about two thirds of the way through the book I did feel that I had lost the thread a little because the plot was changing so quickly, but the writing is full of humour (some of it quite dark) and Augie is so relatable that I was willing to forgive a bit of disjointedness in the plot itself.
Presentation wise, this book will definitely appeal to young readers. The cover design is engaging and the sheer volume of illustrations throughout break up the text beautifully, giving readers of all abilities a chance to evade the monotony of black-on-white text. I'm not sure that the story will appeal to everyone - it has a unique mix of silliness and seriousness that I don't think I've come across before - but if you are a fan of quirky humour and unbelievable situations then you will definitely appreciate Smith's style....more