Review: Let's Go, Little Roo

Little Roo doesn't want to go out and meet other animals.

She would much rather stay inside her mother's pouch.

So Mummy Roo tries to tempt Little Roo.

The delicious grass and fun playing with the other joeys isn't enough to entice Little Roo, though.

Little Roo has a secret though. She wants a friend, but not quite enough to leave Mummy's pouch.

So Mummy Roo makes a plan to help her joey overcome her fears.

And when Little Roo bravely emerges, it's her turn to help Little Wallaby overcome his fears and make a new friend.

The illustrations in Let's Go, Little Roo by author/illustrator, Renee Treml are gorgeous. There's a different single colour wash for each double page spread, in which the black and white images of the kangaroos roam, seen from both afar and up close.

Let's Go, Little Roo is a sweet and simple story about overcoming your fears and making friends, which can be enjoyed by readers young and old.

Title: Let's Go, Little Roo
Author/Illustrator: Renee Treml
Publisher: Puffin, $ 19.99
Publication Date: January 2021
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781760896751
For ages: 3+
Type: Picture Book

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Review: E-Boy: Robofight

Action packed, fast-paced and sci-fi filled. That’s the E-Boy series by Anh Do.

I haven’t read book one in this junior fiction series, but book two got me up to speed in a couple of pages, so it was easy to jump in and enjoy E-Boy Robofight without going back. 

We start at a robot fight. Ethan and Doctor Penny are spying on the corrupt President, and trying to find Gemini — the robot healer Penny created, which has now been turned into an assassin. 

Not an easy task, except Ethan isn’t a normal kid anymore, and he has some amazing and helpful abilities. 

Ethan is E-boy now, and he has strong telepathic abilities that allow him to connect with anything tech. This means listening to phone conversations, changing traffic lights, opening electronic locks — all with his mind!

When Ethan and Penny uncover a plot by the president to cause havoc across the world, they must work together to stop him. But where is Gemini? And what orders is he following now?

This is a great junior fiction novel for fans of action, robots, cool gadgets and evil schemes that must be thwarted. There are action packed robot fights, car chases, lots of sneaking into places, kidnappings and evil villains. 

Packed with illustrations from Chris Wahl (at least one on every spread), it’s very graphic novel like. The illustrations are detailed and exciting, with lots of ‘thwacks’, ‘zooms’ and ‘screeches’. Together the story and illustrations create an immersive action-adventure all action/sci-fi fans will adore.

Title: E-Boy: Robofight
Author: Anh Do
Illustrator: Chris Wahl
Publisher: Allen and Unwin, $15.99  
Publication Date: January 2021
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760877859
For ages: 7 - 10
Type: Junior Fiction

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Review: Challenger Deep

Review: The Sad Ghost Club

 Have you ever felt like you were invisible; sad and didn’t fit in? You are not alone. The main character in this interesting and insightful first graphic novel in the series, The Sad Ghost Club, has a sheet over their head. Their gender is undisclosed, and they are a faceless person who is depressed, negative and friendless.

They get a message inviting them to a party. Everyone will be there. The defeatist voice in their head breaks them down. A hundred excuses flow as to why they shouldn’t or couldn’t go.

The one positive thought wins and they turn up. Loud music, dancing, conversation, but the ghost is alone. No one comes to talk to them.

They decide to leave and their head is filled with justifiable reasons why they should, as they did make the effort to come.

They see someone who looks exactly as they feel. Sad, alone and uncomfortable in a room full of people. They walk up to the other ghost and say hello. Although it is clear that ghost is alone, pretexts of friends bailing out pour from their mouth.

But ghost one knows how ghost two feels. Words get stuck in the back of their throat. Sounds exit their mouth that make no sense, for they have forgotten how to speak to others because others don’t speak to them. They have been silent too long.

They start to share words; exchange names. Socks and SG walk together. They find they have things in common even though they are very different. Their sadness and loneliness seem to be a common bond. Talking about it helps. One advises the other. Could there be others that feel the same as Socks and SG do?

There is one way of finding out. Ask!

Lize Meddings lives in Bristol and is the founder of thesadghostclub.com. Mental health surfaces in many different forms. Today it is a subject that is frequently mentioned as it is recognized as a common health problem, especially, but not only, in young people.

I applaud Lize’s move to make mental health more visible in her own, individual way. There is a list of Resources at the end which are accessible On-line. If you or anyone you know is experiencing mental health problems, you are not alone. Help is available!

Title: The Sad Ghost Club
Author/Illustrator: Lize Meddings
Publisher: Hachette, $22.99
Publication Date: 27 January 2021
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781444957358
For ages: 10+
Type: Graphic Novel

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Review: Can We Talk About Consent? A Book About Freedom, Choices and Agreement

Meet The Illustrator: Zeno Sworder

Name: Zeno Sworder

Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.
Warm, expressive, vibrant and really, really fun (I hope!)

What items are an essential part of your creative space?
A high stack of scrap paper, preferably already used on one side, is the most important part of my space. When I am drawing there are many dead ends, mistakes and restarts so scrap paper is ideal for working through ideas. The other essential parts of my space are my small army of pencils and, of course, quiet and solitude.

Do you have a favourite artistic medium?
Yes, I love using graphite pencils and kneaded erasers. I love the calm and steady process of filling in a page with pencil safe in the knowledge that mistakes can be pulled back with an eraser. When I paint with watercolour it always feels like a tightrope walk by comparison. Where any mistake could completely ruin things. 

Name three artists whose work inspires you.
Windsor McKay was an early 20th century cartoonist who created Little Nemo. I think his technical mastery in comics has still not been matched.
Shinsuke Yoshitake is a Japanese childrens’ book maker. His books are full of offbeat charm and humour.
Aron Wiesenfeld is a contemporary painter whose work is beautifully atmospheric and mysterious.

Which artistic period would you most like to visit and why?
The Edo period of Japanese art in the early 18th century would have been fascinating. I would have taken the pilgrimage with Hokusai as he painted the different views of Mount Fuji.

Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator?
During my younger years we didn’t have a TV at home so I would spend a lot of time at the library with books and comic books. The power that books have to take you out of the real world and into someone else’s imagination never lost its grip on me. It has always been magical. Its a real pleasure to now be making books that others can step into.

Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? Talk us through it.
Sure, my workspace is normally a bit messier than this – I like to be surrounded by towers of books. My work desk is on the left covered with drawing pencils and paper. On the right is a drawer unit for completed work with my A3 printer sitting proudly on top. There is a poster of Astro Boy in the centre, which I drew. Over the years this has become water damaged, which I think gives it a bit of extra charm.

What is your favourite part of the illustration process?

I work late at night when everyone else is asleep and if I am lucky I get at least an hour each night where I am completely absorbed in the drawing and time and the world slip away.

What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?
Don’t let bad drawings discourage you. Making mistakes and starting over are a big part of the process. So make big mistakes and make new mistakes because that will mean you are challenging yourself and making new and interesting work. I wish you the best. 

Zeno Sworder has worked as a window washer, a journalist, a consular officer, a telephone crises supporter, a tribunal advocate for migrants and refugees, and a jewellery designer. But he has always felt most himself sitting at a desk drawing pictures and making up stories.

For more information, please visit Zeno's website or follow him on instagram.

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Review: Be Your Own Man

Be Your Own Man is a book celebrating all the different boys in the world, and what makes them each special in their own way.

It's a reminder that everyone is unique, and that it's ok to be different. It's ok to be smart, sporty, artistic, or anything else.

Be Your Own Man points out that boys can be good listeners, but that you don't have to be good at everything.

The advice in the book is to celebrate your strengths, be kind and respectful, to others and yourself. 

Not everyone looks the same, and not everyone feels the same, and that's ok, too.

In Be Your Own Man there are tips for expressing your feelings, not keeping them bottled up inside, and what you can do if you're feeling angry, sad or worried -- including asking for help. 

Be Your Own Man is filled with pictures of boys of all kinds, in many different situations. It was written to normalise so-called 'softer' behaviours like sensitivity and creativity, and support a broad spectrum of ideas about what masculinity is.

Aimed at primary school aged children, this is a book that would be best read by children with a trusted adult, so they can ask questions and freely discuss the subjects raised.

Title: Be Your Own Man
Author: Jessica Sanders
Illustrator: Robbie Cathro
Publisher: Five Mile, $ 24.99
Publication Date: September 2020
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781922385062
For ages: 6+
Type: Junior Non-Fiction

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10 Quirky Questions with author/illustrator Briony Stewart

1. What's your hidden talent?
Crafting. I’m a mean crafter. I can make just about anything out of a bit of paper, yarn and glue. Throw in some wire, a glue gun and the contents of that draw you hide all your junk in and I’ll build you your Pinterest dream castle!

2. Who is your favorite literary villain and why?
Scarface Claw. That page where he hisses at Hairy Maclary is terrifying. But I also have a soft spot for mean, angry looking cats.

3. You're hosting a literary dinner party, which five authors would you invite? (alive or dead)
Ew, well not the dead ones! Haha! Perhaps, Julia Donaldson, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Ness, AJ Betts and Anita Heiss – I think that’d be a good, fun mixture of entertaining and illuminating. (And okay, as long as the dead ones aren’t 'undead': Roald Dahl, Beatrix Potter, Jane Austen, May Gibbs and Maurice Sendak).

4. Which literary invention do you wish was real?
The ‘Scourgify’ spell from Harry Potter – and other cleaning spells. And of course wands. And wand magic. Just, something that makes my house clean with zero effort, okay?

5. What are five words that describe your writing process?
Quiet, giddy, immersive, tinkering, obsessive.

6. Which are the five words you would like to be remembered by as a writer?
“Author of classics such as…”

7. Picture your favorite writing space. What are five objects you would find there?
A nice big desk, a hot cup of tea, a laptop, a sketch book and a mechanical pencil.

8. Grab the nearest book, open it to page 22 and look for the second word in the first sentence. Now, write a line that starts with that word. (Please include the name of the book!)
Get back into bed if you want to, if it’s safeness you are after; for every step beyond here has no way back. (Bridge of Clay, by Markus Zusak)

9. If you could ask one author one question, what would the question be and who would you ask?
I’d Ask JK Rowling what she did with the painting I gave her in Cheltenham. Is it hanging in a loo somewhere? Or is it in warehouse F of junk she gets given by fans? Or did she like, regift it to Stephen Fry or something?

10. Which would you rather do: 'Never write another story or never read another book'?
Strangely, since having children, this feels like it has been the actual question of my life. Turns out I CAN live without reading books, but I absolutely must, must be able to write or I wither and die and turn into dust and blow away into a chasm of cold and unforgiving darkness.

Born in Perth, Briony Stewart is the internationally published author and illustrator of several award-winning books for children. At 17, Briony received a scholarship from the Art Gallery of Western Australia towards studying a double degree in Fine Art and Creative Writing at Curtin University. After graduating, she won a Queenslan-based writing prize. The story soon became her first published book, Kumiko and the Dragon, and went on to win an Aurealis award for children’s short fiction in 2008. In 2012, Briony completed a nine-month creative development fellowship in the UK after being selected by the British Council as one of five young Australian artists excelling in their creative field. Since then, Briony has published numerous successful titles. Most notably, her book Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers won the 2012 Queensland Literary Prize for Children's Fiction. Passionate about fostering creativity in Australian children, Briony now lectures on children's literature at university and conducts talks and workshops with children across Australia. She currently lives and works in Fremantle, writing, illustrating, and creating amidst the chaos of two cheeky toddlers and a silly dog. See www.brionystewart.com for more information.

 

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Review: The Hospital Dog

Julia Donaldson’s emotive text in The Hospital Dog has lively rhyming verse that keeps time with Sara Ogilvie’s stunning illustrations. 

They move across the page full of activity, in brilliant colour, and with the main character, Dot the Dalmatian. 

Ogilvie pays attention to detail, especially the expressions on the character’s faces and their body language. The small but significant additions here and there in the illustrations add a personal touch, allowing them to visually contribute something that expands the story.

Spectacular covers and matching jacket covered in images of children having fun, guarantee the reader’s interest.

Dot is a hospital dog. Her daily routine is standard. After breakfast and a swim with her owner Rose, there is a bus ride to the hospital and a walk straight to the Wallaby Ward.

There, Dot’s job is to cheer up and entertain the sad, bored, scared, noisy and sick children and babies that Dot and Rose love to visit. A pat, hug, lick, play, or an offered paw from the caring canine, makes all the difference to every one of them.

But when the brave Dot’s heroic actions put her in the same position as the children on Wallaby Ward, how will she visit them, if she can’t walk and play?

This delightful story reflects the important role of hospital dogs, what they offer to sick people – especially children, and the ties of love that bind together humans and animals.

Another wonderful title by the gifted Donaldson to be added to her list of award-winning titles that include The Detective Dog, The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child and What the Ladybird Heard.

Title: The Hospital Dog
Author: Julia Donaldson
Illustrator: Sara Ogilvie
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, $26.99
Publication Date: 24 November 2020
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781509868315
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture Book

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Review: Glassheart

Review: Mountain Arrow

After their trip to the abandoned city to fine medicine to save their village, Pandora and her friends have returned to the river. But one of them didn’t make it back and is still out there somewhere, and another is carrying the deadly virus that turns people into feral creatures.

Going back to the way things were before seems impossible, but Pandora tries, all the while battling her feelings for the mountain boy, Bayat, who protected them on their trip to Melney, and trying to accept her fate to be paired with Matthew.

But when the Mountain People appear looking for shelter, other refugees start to flood the river village and Pandora’s visions of the past and future come back, she knows trying to restart a normal life was naïve. 

Pandora and a few others head back into the wilderness to find the truth about what really happened to their world all those years ago, where the deadly creatures came from and how they might be cured.

River Stone, book one in The Burning Days series, was intertwined with letters from Pandora’s mother as she explained to her daughter the choices she had made that led her to the river and the things she had down that played a part in the destruction of the world. In Mountain Arrow, the chapters are dispersed with recordings from the friend who was left behind in the wild, explaining another world she has stumbled across and the secrets it is hiding.

These features are a brilliant form of storytelling, allowing readers to follow two storylines throughout the book that link up secrets and mysteries. The result is you, the reader, silently screaming at the characters to turn around because you know things they haven’t yet discovered.

Mountain Arrow is a brilliant read and a fantastic follow up to River Stone. Addictive and thrilling, I found it hard to put it down. Hennessy is a master of thrills, keeping your heart pumping in every chapter and making you question things all the way through, even though the flow is slower in this instalment than it was in book one, with a longer focus on life in the village.

Like River Stone, Mountain Arrow explores the ethics of actions serving the greater good and why an enemy is an enemy (and why they might not be). With the creatures featuring more in book two, this line of questioning is ramped up, and the story forces you to think about things from lots of different perspectives. Everyone always thinks they’re on the side of good. But are they?

Pandora is a strong and wild heroine, brave and determined, but flawed like all of us. She wants to do what she’s been told is the right thing, but she also wants to follow her heart, and she questions her options and choices throughout the book, giving readers insight into who she is deep inside. She is sometimes brave, she is sometimes selfish and sometimes she gets it wrong — but don't we all?

Mountain Arrow sets up the series for something huge to come in book three, and I’m eagerly looking forward to cracking all the secrets of this wild book world. If you like dystopian YA, definitely check out River Stone and Mountain Arrow.


Title: Mountain Arrow
Author: Rachel Hennessy
Publisher: MidnightSun Publishing, $19.99
Publication Date: November 2020
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781925227741
For ages: 13+
Type: Young Adult

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Review: Feathers

Feathers is about a young boy whose mother has died.

He collects feathers because his Mum told him they keep bad dreams away, and he believes he will dream of her if he can catch them.

The boy chases the feathers as they float from above.

Sometimes they are just out of reach. Other times, a feather will land close by. 

One day when a brown feather is caught, the boy calls it his wish feather and places it under his pillow. He waits for dreams of his Mum, and feels her with him, always.

The feathers in the story are symbolic, and used as a reminder for the boy of the mother whose no longer with him.

Death, loss and grief can be a difficult subject to explain to children. Some instinctively understand, while others may need something more.

Feathers may be a helpful story for children who have a loved one who has died, and reminding them they are not alone, that memories are always with them.

There are teachers' notes and colouring pages available to download.

Title: Feathers
Author: Karen Hendriks
Illustrator: Kim Fleming
Publisher: Empowering Resources, $ 17.00
Publication Date: September 2020
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781925592214
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture Book

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Review: The Diary of William Shakespeare, Gentleman

Review: Fly On The Wall

Review: Pandemic

12 Curly Questions with author Amelia Mellor

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
These days my computer is my most valuable tool, but the first time I used a computer, I was so scared that I cried. My teacher had told us that a monster in the ceiling would chomp our legs off if we were naughty, and I was terrified that it would chomp me for pressing the wrong button.

2. What is your nickname?
Mim, because my sister couldn’t say ‘Amelia’ when she was little.

3. What is your greatest fear?
Being forced to play sport on TV, or a weird picture of me becoming a meme.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
Colourful worlds, quirky people, emotional rollercoasters, might give you nightmares.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Imaginative, intense, persistent, industrious, open.

6. What book character would you be, and why?
I would like to be a gutsy fantasy heroine or a wise mentor, but I am most like the optimistic, dorky, ambitious, slightly oblivious word-nerd Bindi Mackenzie, from Jaclyn Moriarty’s The Betrayal of Bindi Mackenzie. We have similar strengths, flaws, habits and challenges – but I have nicer parents.

7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I think I could have a lot of fun exploring in 100,000 BCE. Draw a helicopter on a cave wall to mess with archaeologists. Be the first person ever to swim in my favourite waterfall. See all the weird prehistoric animals. Pick up handfuls of gold nuggets before anyone else found them. Best safari ever.

8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now? }
My 10-year-old self would probably ask if we could read each other’s books! I started writing when I was nine.

9. Who is your greatest influence?
Mother Nature and Father Time – I get my best inspiration from real times, places, events and creatures. As for authors, I couldn’t pick just one!

10. What/who made you start writing?
I decided to be a writer when I was a toddler because I loved being read to so much, but I attempted my first book in Grade 3 to give myself something to do on the school holidays. Since I started working as a teacher, I still do most of my writing on the school holidays.

11. What is your favourite word and why?
Shemomedjamo, which means ‘I accidentally ate it all’ in Georgian. It’s fun to say, and it makes me think of feasts and celebrations with my family.

12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Not only is it full of interesting words, expressions, history and summaries of famous stories, but it’s also very thick, so if I ever got bored with it, I’d have lots of pages to cut up and reassemble into something new.

Amelia Mellor began her writing career as her secondary school’s resident playwright in Year 11. In 2018, she won the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust’s Ian Wilson Memorial Fellowship for The Grandest Bookshop in the World. She is an English teacher in regional Victoria. For more information, see www.ameliamellorsfantasticnarratograph.wordpress.com.

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Review: Let's Go!: On a Digger

Lots of kids love diggers! They are fascinated by their size, ability, and that their movement is close to robotic.

In the brilliant Let’s Go! series of board books for toddlers, the latest one is On a Digger. With vivid colours and rhyming verse, little ones learn the names of each part of this huge piece of machinery and how the parts function.  

Operated by a girl driver, the giant yellow digger scoops up mud. She sits in a high seat that allows her a clear and safe view of everything around her.

Two boys take charge of the wheelbarrow and cones. All wear visy vests and hard hats. They examine the details on the papers. One is in charge of the plan and the depth the digger must dig.

The joysticks are moved around to operate the boom and the scoop. The drive rods control the caterpillar treads. How exciting! There is work to be done, so they get on with it!

Each page has a wealth of information; visual and textual. Conversations can be created through questions about the images. Sturdy pages defy damage.

This is another excellent learning opportunity for ages up to three years and perhaps older. New words pop up throughout the book to be used as tools to improve speech, confidence and knowledge by picking up the names of the parts and the roles of their favourite wheeled machines. 

I loved the book’ s subtle messages through the main character,. They reinforce the fact that girls are now accepted and excel, in jobs which have mainly been allocated to boys. Gender is no longer an obstacle in a workplace choice, and this beautifully presented book reflects that freedom.

Title: Let's Go!: On a Digger
Author: Rosalyn Albert
Illustrator: Natalia Moore
Publisher: New Frontier, $ 12.99
Publication Date: 1 October 2020
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781921928710
For ages: 0 – 3
Type: Board Book

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Winner: Picture Book Magic Pack: There Is No Magic In This Book and How To Make A Bird

Our lucky winner is...

Jane Harris on behalf of Miss 7, VIC

Congratulations! 

You have won a copy of, There Is No Magic In This Book by Michelle Macwhirter and Sophie Beer and How To Make A Bird by Meg Mckinlay and Matt Ottley. 

We hope you enjoy these two exquisite titles and that they help you rediscover a little magic in your life.

Thank you to ALL who entered. This was a close one and we wish we could combine all of the suggested magical abilities into one giant one because then we'd be unstoppable! 

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Review: Little Gem

Review: Come Home Ella

Having a new baby in the family is an exciting event, a cause for celebration.

But what happens when the new baby arrives early? What if you can't visit the baby?

Come Home Ella is the story of just that situation, when an older sibling discovers their baby sister couldn't wait to see the world, but isn't quite big and strong enough to come home yet.

We share the experience with the older sibling, who is never named.

There are lots of things they want to share with their new baby sister. Things like hugs (which is why there's a hug chart to record all the hugs that Ella will get when she comes home).

It's a confusing time though, because Mum and Dad are often busy at the hospital with Ella.

When the time finally comes to visit Ella, there are other babies there, too, but the best thing is the special kangaroo cuddle they can give Ella. 

Then the countdown is on for Ella to come home, and it will be soon.

For children experiencing the premature birth of a baby in the family, Come Home Ella will provide reassurance. Its simple explanations of what's happening, and exploring how you might feel are relatable, and the illustrations are realistic and meaningful, without being non-confronting.

A special, informative story for families.

Teachers' notes and colouring pages are available to download.

Title: Come Home Ella
Author: Chelsea Davies
Illustrator: Lisa Coutts
Publisher: Empowering Resources, $ 17.00
Publication Date: September 2020
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781925592351
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture book

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Review: Monstrous Devices

Meet The Illustrator: Shirley Shelby

Name: Shirley Shelby

Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.
Heartwarming, humorous, textured, bright, sweet, a little quirky and joyful.

What items are an essential part of your creative space?
My sketchbook, set of pencils, iPad, laptop, Wacom tablet and watercolor paints. I usually work digitally these days using Procreate and then sometimes take my work into Photoshop, but I also like to hand draw my illustrations from time to time as well.

Do you have a favourite artistic medium?
I think that would be Procreate on my iPad and Photoshop on my laptop since I work most of the time digitally, but I also love sketching too.

Name artists whose work inspires you.
When I was young, I was inspired by Shirley Hughes and Beatrix Potter.
Their illustrations are so amazing and detailed.

Which artistic period would you most like to visit and why?
Possibly to visit the Surrealism era, as I had been quite interested in that, especially Salvador Dali’s work, since studying art at school.

Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator?
I just always loved to draw, especially nature and animals, and was always encouraged to be creative. My passion for illustration and visual storytelling began when I was five years old, when I would spend hours illustrating my own stories. I loved coming up with new ideas. I have aspired to be a children’s book illustrator ever since then.

Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? Talk us through it.
I have a table where I paint, but as I work digitally most of the time, it makes it much easier to work using my iPad.

What is your favourite part of the illustration process?
Coming up with new ideas, sketching them out and choosing the best one to develop. I also really like trying out different textures, adding patterns sometimes to my work too and seeing everything comes together.

What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?
Learn as much as you can. Look also at certain aspects which you think you need to work on more. For example, backgrounds, poses etc, and practice that until you get better at it. If you love it, keep at it and have fun. 

Shirley is a children’s book illustrator and designer. She loves illustrating nature, animals, creating inspiring lettering pieces and has also taken various courses in illustration and design.

For more information, please follow Shirley on her instagram.

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Review: Love from Giraffes Can't Dance

Reflecting the same joy that was contained in the picture book, Giraffes Can’t Dance, these two popular and talented creators have collaborated again in Love from Giraffes Can’t Dance.

Gerald the giraffe and his friends surface again in a board book full of love spread through poetry. The stunning images by Guy Parker-Rees reinforce the text, making it twinkle like spitting sparklers.

The rhyming verse reminds us that music can be found everywhere if your heart is open to love. In the trees, in the breeze, in the sounds of life moving about, the chirp of birds and crickets; of grasshoppers and the noises of the night. Music is in the stars. That music can make you want to dance.

Most of all, the best sound of music can be heard in the words, I love you!

Although this is a board book which is directed at children, it will probably be given to many others that are not children. Declarations of love do not belong to an age group. Love is the music of the soul, so it is there for all.

This beautiful book with animal characters, large and small, reflects the diversity within relationships. It holds the glory of life in bold statements of what makes it worthwhile. Love.

In these turbulent times that the world is experiencing, joy can be given and found in many forms. Even in a board book.

Title: Love from Giraffes Can't Dance
Author: Giles Andreae
Illustrator: Guy Parker-Rees
Publisher: Hachette, $14.99
Publication Date: 12 January 2021
Format: Board Book
ISBN: 9781408364833
For ages: 0 – 3+
Type: Board Book

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Review: Colin Cockroach Goes To Caloundra

10 Quirky Questions with author Sue Lawson

1. What's your hidden talent?
That’s a tricky one. I’m pretty open about everything, so not sure I have any secrets, or hidden talents. Actually, I LOVE cleaning out and organising cupboards, drawers, etc. Drives my family nuts as they can’t find anything, but I love it. And I love following organisers on Instagram.

2. Who is your favourite literary villain and why?
For sheer terror, IT from Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time. Our Grade 4 teacher Mrs Phillip read it to us. While I couldn’t remember the name of the book, I have always remembered IT. Then as an adult I stumbled across A Wrinkle In Time and met IT again. That thing still disturbs me. As an adult, my favourite villain is Lady Macbeth. I love how she changes from a ruthless manipulating wife into a tortured soul.

3. You're hosting a literary dinner party, which five authors would you invite? (alive or dead)
Hmmmm. That’s a toughie. There are so many authors I admire. These are the first to spring to mind for all kinds of reasons: Tim Winton, Helen Garner, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, John Irving. How is that for a mix? They’ve all written books I’ve loved and have stayed with me well after I turned the last page.

4. Which literary invention do you wish was real?
Hermoine Granger’s Time Changer. There’s so many places and eras I’d love to visit.

5. What are five words that describe your writing process?
Messy – I throw ideas all over the place and wrangle them into a story.
Absorbing – the rest of the world disappears when I’m in the flow.
Distracted – When I start a new project I’m easily distracted, especially when researching.
Magical – there’s something magical and fantastical about writing.
Supported – I have the most incredible support crew - family, friends and my publisher.

6. Which are the five words you would like to be remembered by as a writer?
That’s a really tough one, as none of us can know how we will be remembered. I guess I hope my words will have an impact in some small way.

7. Picture your favourite writing space. What are five objects you would find there?
At the moment, loads of technology as I have updated my computer system. I’d have my NUC computer and backup system (no more manual back-ups. Phew!), my Sonos (a speaker that plays my music via wifi.), a router, a scented candle – my current favourite is vanilla. And pens and notebooks. I know that’s more than five, so let’s say stationery. Oh, and if we’re having perfect writing spaces, an uninterrupted view of the ocean.

8. Grab the nearest book, open it to page 22 and look for the second word in the first sentence. Now, write a line that starts with that word. (Please include the name of the book!)
Were you hoping for a more interesting word than were?
(I had Davina Bell’s The End of the World Is Bigger than Love on my desk as I am editing my interview with her for Portable Magic. The book is completely fantastic.)

9. If you could ask one author one question, what would the question be and who would you ask?
I would ask George R R Martin if he will ever finish the final books in the Songs of Fire and Ice (Game of Thrones) series. I am desperate!

10. Which would you rather do: 'Never write another story or never read another book'?
The first. I’d rather give up writing than give up reading. Reading is my escape, delight, release and inspiration. 

Sue Lawson writes fiction and non fiction books for children and young adults. Her books have won and been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Family Therapists Award, the Prime Minister’s Literary Award and the Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards. Her latest young adult novel Freedom Ride was shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Awards, the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards and longlisted for the Davitt Awards. For more information, see www.suelawson.com.au.

 

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Review: Be An Artist Every Day

It's early in a new year, and if you're looking for something to do, something to encourage yourself or your children to explore creativity and imagination, then look no further.

Be An Artist Every Day has a whole year's worth of activities to keep you occupied, and help develop the artist within.

It's appealing right from the front cover and endpapers. 

An introduction reminds you that being an artist is about having fun, and that there is no right or wrong in creating art.

There are 365 activities in this compact paperback activity book. They're created by Susan Schwake who is an artist and art educator and Charlotte Farmer who is an illustrator.

Drawing and collage. Patterns and doodles. Word art. Faces. Nature. Food. Abstract art. It's all here, and lots more.

Some of the activities are expected. Others, not so much. There's one that asks you to imagine 'What if cats went to school?' and then draw them!

You'll design your own car on one page, and on another design a book cover. Imagine and illustrate a new planet.

Try drawing different textures, or connecting dots to create a picture. 

Other activities might ask you to write something and then decorate it, or make a tiny model of a human.

Not all the activities stay just within the bounds of the book (one will ask you to go outside and find a leaf to draw), but all will be recorded in it.

By the time you finish all 365 of the art activities, you will have a colourful and creative journal.

Although the activities are all numbered, and you can start from one and work your way through in order, you could also dip in and out of them freely as you feel like it.

Be An Artist Every Day will inspire and encourage artists of varied ages and experiences. It's a journey you can take without leaving home, and one the whole family could enjoy together.

Title: Be An Artist Every Day
Author: Susan Schwake
Illustrator: Charlotte Farmer
Publisher: Ivy Kids, $ 19.99
Publication Date: 2020
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781782408321
For ages: 8+
Type: Activity Book

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Review: A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth

A scintillating debut novel by Francesca Gibbons, A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth, is the first in a middle grade trilogy, that launches an amazing fantasy adventure.

A stunning cast of characters and settings have been created. Incredible reveals add tension and mystery to a fast-paced, multi-layered storyline.

Chris Riddell’s amazing illustrations fuel the imagination, leaving us longing to know what happens next.  Sisters Imogen and Marie have wild imaginations. They don’t like each other, or their mother’s boyfriends. 

When the girls escape from a boring afternoon with Grandma into the teahouse gardens, they find a door in a giant tree trunk and enter the magical Kingdom of Yaroslav.

Confronted by houses with skulls and bones of skret built into their framework, the girls, filled with fear, are unable to find their way back.

They are taken in by the lonely future king, twelve year old Prince Miro, whose uncle King Drakomor rules in his place. 

But Drakomor is as mysterious as the Kingdom.

The girls don't know what will happen from one moment to the next. Nor does the reader. They meet Andel, the one-eyed clockmaker, creator of the powerful clock of stars, which is tuned to the rhythm of the stars, allowing its motions to foretell the happenings in Yaroslav. The clock plays a pivotal role in the story.

The children become pawns in a continuing game of greed, treachery, lies, murder and deceit within this once harmonious place. Although Miro’s loyalty to his uncle keeps him ignorant of what he really is, the truth remains ugly.

Secret treasures and stones are part of Drakomor’s hoard hidden throughout his castle chambers. The most valuable of these is the Sertze Hora, the heart of the Klenot Mountain which he’d stolen long ago, and whose absence has caused the slow death of the forests and the skret that escaped and now live there. It is this theft that caused the schism which darkens the Kingdom.

Personal growth occurs in the girls as they discover a strength and resilience which otherwise they would never have known on the other side of the door. They are also transformed by the quest they undertake up the fierce mountain to the Maudree Kral, leader of the skret, and the only one who can guide them to the door of return.

But there is an extraordinary bargaining price for this information. Can it be paid?

Title: A Clock of Stars
Author: Francesca Gibbons
Illustrator: Chris Riddell
Publisher: Harper Collins, $ 29.99
Publication Date: 7 October 2020
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780008355036
For ages: 8+
Type: Middle Grade Fiction

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Review: Be More Vegan: The Young Person's Guide to A Plant-based Lifestyle

Giveaway: Picture Book Magic Pack: There Is No Magic In This Book and How To Make A Bird

Do you love magic? Have you ever wanted to fly? Perhaps a special magical ability is all that's required. The magic of Christmas and the joy of creativity live on in these two marvellous new picture books. There Is No Magic In This Book, by Michelle Macwhirter and Sophie Beer is a vibrant interactive story, readers are told by the insistent Bookkeeper that there’s no magic to be found in its pages, but eagle-eyed readers can discover enchanted surprises on every spread. Perfect for fans of interactive classics like Do Not Open this Book, The Book with No Pictures and Press Here, this story encourages young readers to look for magic in even the most ordinary places.

From award-winning author Meg McKinlay and celebrated artist Matt Ottley comes a moving and visually stunning picture book that celebrates the transformative power of the creative process from inception through recognition to celebration and releasing into the world. How to Make a Bird shows how small things, combined with a little imagination and a steady heart, can transform into works of magic.

Thanks to the magical people of Walker Books Australia, we have a copy of each of these glorious books to giveaway.

For the chance to win this doublebook prize, in 25 words or less, tell us what would you most like the magical ability to create? 

Email your answer along with your name and postal address to dimity. The response we like best will win a copy of this amazing new release. Competition is open to anyone, worldwide, so long as they have an Australian postal address for delivery of the books. Please note, we cannot deliver to PO Boxes. Entries without a name and street address will be ineligible. Winners will be announced right here on our website on  18 January 2021.

Competition runs from 5.00 am 9 January 2021 to 5 pm 16 January 2021. Adults can enter for those aged 17 and under. This is a game of skill, not chance. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

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Review: Counting Creatures

From the creators of Animalphabet, comes a similar, beautifully designed counting book. Beginning from the exquisite cover, Counting Creatures is interactive, educational and a feast for the eye.

Award-winning illustrator Sharon King-Chai has magnificently translated Julia Donaldson’s text. Together they have created a book of extraordinary beauty that facilitates learning.

Cut-out pages, flaps and fold outs are used to hide and introduce a variety of animal families.

 

 

Creatures of the day and night, loud and quiet ones, all wait to be discovered and counted.

Clusters of gorgeous baby animals are presented with their collective name in rhyming verse, alliteration and assonance, and unique artwork.

Foxes, frolicking, frisking, bushy tales whisking. Very sound-effective, the language and the repetitive sounds demand they be read aloud for full appreciation.

Stunning colours play a major part in making even the shadows of night seem exotic and breathtaking. Leaves appear alive and crispy in their autumn shades. Butterfly wings cover baby caterpillars. Cut-out forests reveal hidden baby poults.

Language and learning become a slideshow of beauty and detail.

There is so much in this book to love. It is a collector’s dream and will fit well with other standout picture books that children, and adults love to call their own.

Title: Counting Creatures
Author: Julia Donaldson
Illustrator: Sharon King-Chai
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, $29.99
Publication Date: 13 October 2020
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781529040517
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture Book

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Review: The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker

Review: An Amazing Australian Road Trip

The family – two kids, their parents and aunt, set off on a trip around Australia, with a huge birthday cake precariously perched on the roof (as you do).

They’re on a quest to find the perfect picnic spot to celebrate Auntie’s sixtieth birthday.

This rhyming picture book is Jackie Hosking's love letter both to Australia, and to the Australian tradition of the mega road trip.

In this story, nobody whines about the great distances, numb bottoms or the weather; it’s a tribute to the amazing places to see and the wonderful things to do.

Along the way, the family stop and take in the sights that make Australia a truly fascinating place to see. From Uluru to Ningaloo, and Sydney Harbour to Port Arthur, the family have an absolute ball. Notes are included on each page so that whoever is reading the book aloud can respond to the inevitable questions that will arise from the text. Many of these notes were also respectful to the First Nations people whose lands are depicted in the scenes, and I commend the author for that inclusion.

Lesley Vamos’s glorious illustrations include lots of hilarious detail that depicts the family’s wonderful misadventures at each of the sites they stopped at ...I particularly liked the penguins abducting the aunty in Tasmania.

Hosking is is the author of both non fiction and rhyming picture books, such as The Croc and the Platypus.

My only quibble would be that they maybe need to have another look at where they placed Coober Pedy on the map - -poetic licence, maybe?

Title: An Amazing Australian Road Trip
Author: Jackie Hosking
Illustrator: Lesley Vamos
Publisher: Walker, $24.99
Publication Date: 6 January, 2021
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781760650766
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture Book

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Review: There's Only One Friend Like You

A celebration of friendship, There’s Only One Friend Like You explores all the ways friends care for each other, through thick and thin, through good and bad.

Lots of friends or just a few, friends for a short time or friends forever, our friends are there to love and cherish when we need them most. 

Written in delightful rhyme, with some lovely surprise pages turned on the side, this is a beautiful picture book to read with loved ones and classrooms. 

Jess Racklyeft’s illustrations are blooming with love, with vibrant colours, soft water colour splashes and lots of glorious details to spot (like the peacock with the fabulous pair of red boots!). 

This is one of those amazing books that works for lots of different ages. Read a beautifully flowing bedtime rhyme for the little ones, have fun spotting funky details with toddlers and learn about feeling, emotions, empathy and friendship with your classrooms. 

Beautiful to look at and beautiful to read, There’s Only One Friend Like You is a picture book stunner.

Title: There's Only One Friend Like You
Author/Illustrator: Jess Racklyeft
Publisher: Affirm Press, $19.99  
Publication Date: 24 November 2020
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781922400390
For ages: 3 - 6 
Type: Picture Book

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Review: Monty's Island #3: Elvis Eager and the Golden Egg

A storm has swept debris onto the shore on Monty’s Island. Whatever is reusable is collected and loaded onto Monty’s sled for  reuse. The extraordinary find of a golden egg brings with it more than just curiosity.

The egg hatches to reveal a strange and also golden creature that eats the shell and immediately grows bigger with every mouthful.

A stranger arrives, his canoe having been washed up by the storm. Claiming to be an explorer, Elvis Eager is accepted as that by Monty and his friends, Tawny the lion, Sir Wise the owl, Bunchy the elephant, and Clink the one-legged pirate parrot.

Swooping winged creatures appear in the sky and threaten the group. Their shelter beneath the canoe helps them reach Marigold’s café. Elvis recognises them as Giant Red Winged Oragoths.

What are these creatures and why are they on the island? The book that holds these answers meets a tragic end. Another stranger and storm victim, Ranger Katz from the Rare Beasts Division, turns up.

Things lost are found. Questions are answered and the mystery of the golden egg needs to be solved. 

Can the group escape the wrath of the Oragoths? Monty comes up with a brilliant idea and the friends band together to make it work. But will it?

This is the third book in this adventure series by Emily Rodda for younger readers. With four animal characters personified, it makes for a terrific read as they have abilities that the human characters lack. This spices up the plot and adds interest and excitement for the reader.

Not having read the previous two books, it was easy to read this as a stand alone book, for the characters were depicted and named at the beginning, creating recognition for the reader.

Fantastic illustrations by Lucinda Gifford reinforce the text beautifully in a perfect collaboration between two highly talented artists.

Title: Monty's Island #3: Elvis Eager and the Golden Egg
Author: Emily Rodda
Illustrator: Lucinda Gifford
Publisher: Allen & Unwin, $ 14.99
Publication Date: 5 January 2021
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760876999
For ages: 6 – 8
Type: Junior Fiction

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12 Curly Questions with author Helen Castles

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
I always wanted to be an actress. I'm convinced if I had followed that path I'd have an Academy Award by now!

2. What is your nickname?
When I was a child my family called me 'Bub' because I'm the youngest of seven children but thankfully that petered out when I entered adulthood.

3. What is your greatest fear?
Inadvertently stepping on a snake. Actually, having a snake within a one kilometre radius is enough to terrify me.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
My editor calls it quirky yet sophisticated and I agree.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Dedicated, humourous, colourful, driven and responsible.

6. What book character would you be, and why?
Matilda from Roald Dahl's Matilda. She was a resourceful and intelligent girl who found her own way to a happy ending.

7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I'd go back to 1989 when I was a 17-year-old living in the USA. It was kind of like my last hurrah as a carefree teen. A year later I was at university and had to be all 'adulty'.

8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
I can't believe you have a mortgage. We were supposed to be rich by now!

9. Who is your greatest influence?
My father passed away when I was nine, and everything I do as a writer, I hope would make him proud. He loved books and would be thrilled to know his daughter is a writer.

10. What/who made you start writing?
I had some wonderful teachers as a child who always encouraged my love of writing, but I was influenced to make storytelling my living by the works of screenwriter John Hughes. I wrote screenplays for many years before switching over to children's fiction.

11. What is your favourite word and why?
Actually. I love the way it sounds, I love the way it looks and I love how it can be used. I'm a self-confessed 'word nerd'. One of my favourite pastimes as a child was reading the dictionary and learning new words.

12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
My favourite childhood book, The Wind in the Willows. There's something really comforting about that book.

Helen Castles lives in southern New South Wales and is a newspaper journalist and children's author. Her loves include coffee, chocolate, cuddling puppies and holidaying near the ocean. When she's not chasing up a real-life news story, she's writing about the adventures of feisty detective editor, Scoop McLaren. For more information, see www.newfrontier.com.au.

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Aussie STEM Stars: Fiona Wood, Inventor of Spray-On Skin.

This is a well-written piece of non-fiction that is as compelling a read as any fiction.

It captures the reader from the start, as Fiona Wood's strong personality and humor immediately burst from the page. 

Fiona Wood is a beautiful example of the power of sticking to your dreams and never taking ‘no’ for an answer, despite the odds against you.

Born into a poor mining family in a village in Yorkshire, where the opportunity for further education for girls was very limited, Fiona’s family encouraged all of their children to work as hard as they could and take advantage of any chance to better themselves.

In fact, a government decision in the early 60s to change the catchments for schools in their local area resulted in Fiona and her sister having no school to provide them with an education beyond Year 10. 

When their mother wrote to the government to point out the unfairness of this, a bureaucrat wrote back to say that he did not believe that these girls were university material.

Disgusting!

But the sisters were very fortunate! Their mother got a job at a local private school and the girls could therefore enroll at heavily discounted prices. It makes me sad to think of all the other village girls who would have missed out on completing their high school education.

Once there, Fiona worked hard and played hard. She excelled both academically and on the sports ground. Her initial dream was to become an Olympic sprinter. And although she worked very hard at running she did not achieve that particular ambition.

Which is just as well! The world’s burns victims are probably grateful for this. Not only did Fiona end up going to university, she was accepted into a prestigious medical college where, in her usual way, she threw herself into her studies, determined to be the very best she could be.

On the way she fell in love with a fellow doctor and they migrated to Australia. Despite being told that women with families could not be surgeons, Fiona proved them wrong and not only worked as a surgeon, she developed a passion for helping burns victims and led the field in breakthrough research. 

Her compassion for burns victims combined with her never-give-up mentality resulted in her making huge advances in the area of skin grafting. She was determined to reduce the time required to grow usable skin from the patient’s own cells, until she reduced the time from months to a few days. Her innovations led to the invention of spray-on skin. This saved hundreds of lives, including those of the Bali bombing victims.

Overall, a compelling and fascinating read.

Teachers’ notes are available.

Title: Aussie STEM Stars: Fiona Wood
Author: Cristy Burne
Publisher: Wild Dingo Press, $14.95
Publication Date: October, 2020
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781925893281
For ages: 8-12
Type: Junior Non-Fiction

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Review: Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure

Greg Heffley of Diary of a Wimpy Kid fame has a best friend called Rowley Jefferson. 

Rowely is imaginative and creative, and he’s just decided to write his own book about a character named Roland and his best friend Greg the Barbarian.

Rowley just wants to write the story he wants to write, but much to his annoyance, his best friend Greg is determined to help. 

And Greg has some very specific ideas about what makes a good story.

This is a brilliantly fun book for all fans of the Wimpy Kid series, plus all fans of fun and entertaining stories.

The book is written in an ongoing pattern, with a chapter of Roland and Greg’s adventure (as written by Rowley) and then a debrief chapter where Greg tells Rowley all the things he did wrong and all the things he needs to fix in the next chapter.

The result is a hilarious peek into friendship and the inner working of what does and doesn’t make a story work.

It’s great fun and filled with hilariousness all the way through.

In true Jeff Kinney (the actual author/illustrator) style, there are loads of illustrations throughout, making it an easy read for junior readers. A new series for wimpy kid fans to sink their teeth into, and others to discover, I highly recommend this one for all fans of fun.

Title: Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure
Author/Illustrator: Jeff Kinney
Publisher: Puffin, $14.99  
Publication Date: 4 August 2020
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760897888
For ages: 7 - 12
Type: Junior Fiction

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Review: October, October