Review: Violin & Cello

Review: Something About Alaska

Meet The Illustrator: Chinua Mosley

Name: Chinua Mosley

Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.
My style in this book is playful realism.

What items are an essential part of your creative space?
My adjustable laptop stand is essential for holding my iPad pro (what I use to illustrate) in a comfortable position.

Do you have a favourite artistic medium?
Digital. This book is a vector illustration, but I really like digital watercolor.

Name three artists whose work inspires you.
Morgan Bissant @morg_city, @crumsart, and Allison Black @allisonblackillustration

Which artistic period would you most like to visit and why?
I like the present. I'm about living in the moment and moving forward.

Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator?
I was going to pay someone to illustrate my book and my friend asked me why not do it myself. Skill was my only barrier, so I got to learning.

Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? 

It's nothing too crazy. It's just a laptop stand with my iPad on a coffee table in front of my TV. The tv has a htpc connected to it and plays chillhop while I draw. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but I love to play board games.

What is your favourite part of the illustration process?
When the details start to bring a flat piece to life.

What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?

When you feel analysis paralysis kicking in, pick something at random and keep moving.

Chinua is a native of Lithonia, Georgia. Both of his parents were artistic. He is self-taught and also an educator of 15 years. He mostly taught science but in the last 5 years moved into teaching design. Chinua loves to draw digitally and create functional pieces out of cardboard.

For more information, please follow Chinua on instagram.

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Guest Post: Carla Fitzgerald on The Personal and the Political - Catching Story Ideas

Review: The Book of Wondrous Possibilities

Books are magic. We all know that, right? 

But what if they were magic beyond your wildest imagination? 

What if stories could come to life if they were written for you in a very special book called a Grimoire?

Arlo lives with his uncle Avery and his pet mouse Herbert. His mother passed away a year ago, and Arlo is still adjusting to his new world. He mostly keeps to himself, working in his uncle’s bookshop.

But that all changes when a girl called Lisette bursts through the bookshop door. Lisette has secrets, but she also has a gift for Arlo – a very special book with a very special story written inside.

Arlo isn’t sure he’s ready for the adventure calling him, but Lisette isn’t the kind of girl who takes no for an answer. She may be a street kid, but she’s also strong, brave and daring. She’s also linked to Arlo in ways he didn’t expect, and she needs his help.

Can Arlo find the courage to fight his inner demons and help Lisette?

The Book of Wondrous Possibilities is a true wonder. Award-winning author Debora Abela delivers heart, humour, mystery and fantasy through this brilliant middle-grade novel. The fantasy elements are fresh and unique — something you won’t have seen before — making this book a special gift to young readers.

Arlo and Lisette (and Herbert, too) are all brilliant characters. Each flawed in their own way (expect for maybe Herbert!), they have their own battles to overcome, and they do so throughout the novel, growing and learning from each other. 

Arlo and Lisette are wildly different, but I still saw myself in both of them, and I wonder if this is Abela’s magical way with words — pulling me into the story world and making me connect with their essence and personalities.

The story moves quickly, and each chapter is action-packed and exciting. There are some wild escape scenes, daring rescues and super-baddies that must be fought. Cliff hangers steal the show at each chapter’s end, enticing you to read more and creating the ultimate reading experience.

Fans of mystery and fantasy will love this book. It’s an addictive adventure not to be missed.

Title: The Book of Wondrous Possibilities
Author: Deborah Abela
Publisher: Puffin, $16.99
Publication Date: 2 August 2022
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781761044021
For ages: 8 - 12
Type: Middle Grade

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Review: The Merciless Ones

Junior Review: Two Degrees

Review: 10 Minutes of Danger

What would you do if you were on a school excursion when scientists discovered an asteroid was hurtling toward Earth? 

What would you do if you found out you were in the blast radius, and if you didn’t get out of the way, the whole building was going to come down on top of you? 

Would you have the courage to lead your classmates to safety?

This is the setting of story one in Jack Heath’s new action-packed collection of short stories 10 Minutes of Danger. And from here, things only get more dangerous!

The asteroid creates havoc for a range of kids in a range of different ways, including causing earthquakes, triggering tsunamis and messing with electronics to turn cars into killers. Each story is an action-packed edge-of-your-seat read and takes only 10 minutes to devour. Each features a new protagonist — a new brave kid — that must throw themselves into danger to survive. Twenty seemingly unconnected kids who have only 10 minutes to escape the terrifying situations they find themselves in.

But wait…

Are they unconnected? Are they all individual stories? If you look closely and watch out for the clues, there are secrets within these stories, and when you read them all and get to the end, you’ll be rewarded with the answers you didn’t even know you were looking for.

This is a brilliant book for junior readers. The stories are bite-sized, and there are even time markers throughout each one to tell you how close you are to the end. It’s a small but really positive feature of the book, encouraging readers to keep going.

If you love action, adventure and danger, this one is most definitely for you!

Title: 10 Minutes of Danger
Author: Jack Heath
Publisher: Allen and Unwin, $14.99
Publication Date: 1 July 2022
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760978792
For ages: 8 - 14
Type: Junior Fiction, Middle Grade

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Video: Bedtime Story

From the best-selling author of The Tall Man and The Arsonist, a personal tale about death, life and the enchantment of stories. With illustrations by Anna Walker. Watch the stunning book trailer for this moving book that is both memoir and manual.

Let me tell you a story…

When Chloe Hooper’s partner is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive illness, she has to find a way to tell their two young sons. By instinct, she turns to the bookshelf. Can the news be broken as a bedtime tale? Is there a perfect book to prepare children for loss?

Hooper embarks on a quest to find what practical lessons children’s literature—with its innocent orphans and evil adults, magic, monsters and anthropomorphic animals—can teach about grief and resilience in real life. From the Brothers Grimm to Frances Hodgson Burnett and Tolkien and Dahl—all of whom suffered childhood bereavements—she follows the breadcrumbs of the world’s favourite authors, searching for the deep wisdom in their books and lives.

Both memoir and manual, Bedtime Story is stunningly illustrated by the New York Times award-winning Anna Walker. In an age of worldwide uncertainty, here is a profound and moving exploration of the dark and light of storytelling.

Read our exclusive KBR review by Elizabeth Vercoe, here.

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Review: Bedtime Story

12 Curly Questions with Brenton Cullen

We are delighted to introduce a vibrant new face to our renowned KBR family. Brenton Cullen is familiar figure in Kid Lit circles having reviewed and curated titles spanning every genre for years. 

His current passion is the compilation of children's books and their creators through the Golden Age of story writing, namely the 80s and 90s. 

We can't wait to see what Brenton shares with us in the months to come and today share a little bit more about him; the writer and advocate of great children's stories. Welcome, Brenton!

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
I saw a ghost when I was ten. Nobody ever believes me, but I swear I did!

2. What is your nickname?
I don’t have a proper nickname, but I am often called variations of my name like ‘Brendan’, ‘Brandon’, ‘Quentin’ (that was a weird one!) – I no longer bother to correct people!

3. What is your greatest fear?
Losing my loved ones. And, running out of time to read, and write, all the books I want to.

4. Describe your writing style in ten words.
My writing style, depending on the book I write, can be intriguing, descriptive yet pared back, full of mystery and puzzles, poignant and emotional, with dashes of subtle humour.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Curious, inquisitive, passionate, imaginative, enterprising

6. What book character would you be, and why?
When I was 11, I first read one of my all-time favourite books called The Shadow Thief by Alexandra Adornetto. The boy in the story was named Ernest Pericloff and I related to his bookish personality and his problem with nerves, so I think we are very similar.

7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I’d want to go to the 1980s – and witness the ‘Golden Age’ of Australian Children’s Books for myself. It was the time where books flourished, great writers began their careers, and children’s books and their creators were given great media and awards attention. It seems like an innovative and creative period which produced so many classic stories.

8. What would your ten-year-old self say to you now?
I knew you could do it.

9. Who is your greatest influence?
Personally, my mum for showing me strength has no limit and that it’s never too late to take charge of your life. But in the literary world, it must be the writers I loved as a child, who made me a reader and writer, and whom I am proud to call acquaintances, colleagues, mentors and hopefully friends! People like Libby Gleeson, Wendy Orr, Libby Hathorn, Jackie French, Sally Odgers and so many more. The entire community of children’s book authors inspire me every day!

10. What/who made you start writing?
Apart from the authors I mention above, my three favourite writers growing up were Enid Blyton, JK Rowling, and Ann M Martin. I devoured their books, and they are the main non-Australian writers who truly inspired my ongoing love of writing and reading stories.

11. What is your favourite word and why?
Cadbury. It conjures up delicious images.

12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I would go with a long, in-depth biography of an author. Perhaps Agatha Christie: A Life by Janet Morgan – it offers terrific insight into Agatha’s writing process and her fascinating life. For a children’s book, I choose the Teen Power Inc series by Emily Rodda – I know that’s cheating, but maybe there could be a compendium of all the books together. Teen Power was one of my all-time favourite series as a teen because I love the mysteries!


Brenton Cullen is a book reviewer, writer, bookseller, and collector of children’s literature. Passionate about promoting children’s books and authors from the publishing ‘Golden Age’ of the 1980s & 90s, he is currently writing a book on the subject to keep that time alive. 

Connect with Brenton via his website or through Instagram.

 

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Review: 11 Words for Love

You've heard the word love, but how do you explain it?

In the Arabic language there are more than 50 words for love (al-Hob). This picture book focuses on eleven of them and what they mean.

Author Randa Abdel-Fattah and illustrator Maxine Beneba Clarke share this from the perspective of a child whose family, although not really explicitly stated in words, leaves their homeland for a new one. It's there in the pictures and the emotions expressed.

They make a new life and new memories, experiencing love in many of its forms. Love for family, or which grows between new friends. Love for neighbours. Love for home. Also sudden, romantic love, love for siblings, and for the loved ones who are no longer with us.

The illustrations in 11 Words for Love are full of colour, texture and movement. A suitcase and photographs are recurring images, along with symbols of love. And each expressed example is accompanied by both words and the Arabic script.

The text makes use of rhythm and rhyme as it encourages readers to consider all the ways we experience love.

As the story’s narrator repeats throughout the book, ‘There are eleven words for love, and my family knows them all’. How many will you recognise and how many more kinds of love can you name?

11 Words for Love is a happy, hopeful book, perfect for family and intergenerational sharing.

Teacher’s notes are available to download from the publisher’s website.

Title: 11 Words for Love
Author: Randa Abdel-Fattah
Illustrator: Maxine Beneba Clarke
Publisher: Lothian, $24.99
Publication Date: 28 September 2022
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780734421203
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture Books

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Guest Post: Cherie Bell on $5 Book Reviews

Review: Grub

Although flat, the cover of this book gives the illusion of being tactile sandy earth that makes you want to run your fingers through it. 

The fact that there’s a little squishy-type being sitting atop the one-word title of ‘GRUB’ is a bonus. And then, before even opening to the first line of the story, the endpapers are a creepy-crawly delight.

Down on the rainforest floor, little hungry Grub can sense that something momentous is about to happen which will cause his body to change. 

Upon quizzing insect friends such as the ladybird, dragonfly, stick insect and monarch butterfly, he comes to understand that he won’t follow their paths of change, but that this journey will be all his own.

Alongside beautiful illustrations depicting both the rainforest floor and its exotic flora and fauna, this story also contains the gentle rhythm of line repetition to build up anticipation in the reader.

So he ate and he ate, and he grew and he grew…

What will happen to Grub?

We see Grub changing and growing with every new interaction, until finally he builds a special, protective shell (from his very own droppings, no less) and emerges as something quite special. It’s a lovely surprise but no spoiler alerts here!

The book concludes with five fabulous facts about Grub‘s transformation, and endpapers depicting the transformed insects from those of the front endpapers, which round out the story very nicely indeed.

A beautifully presented work from the winning illustrator of the 2021 Environment Award for Children’s Literature.

Title: Grub
Author/illustrator: Sandra Severgnini
Publisher: EK Books, $24.99
Publication Date: 1 August 2022
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781922539267
For ages: 4 - 8
Type: Picture Book

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Meet The Illustrator: Jennifer Horn

Name: Jennifer Horn

Describe your illustration style in ten words or less. 

Stolen crumbs from Quentin Blake’s scribbles, and cooked Jen-style
OR
Whimsical, scribbly, light, evocative.

What items are an essential part of your creative space? 

A visual diary, an eye-height-ish laptop, and room still for a cup of tea. 

Also natural light and a cat at my side would be nice, but the cat doesn’t often stay.

Do you have a favourite artistic medium? 

I’m pretty artistically basic - pencil and paper is all I need. Though a regular on Wacom tablets these days, I admit to have never tried Procreate – I think I’d miss the ‘tooth’ of the paper too much.

Name three artists whose work inspires you.

So many! Other than previously-mentioned Quentin Blake:, Charlie Mackesy, Kathleen Jennings and Charles Vess.

Which artistic period would you most like to visit and why?

Art Nouveau – I love the languid and fantastically curving-over-itself designs, both in the art and architecture. It feels so otherworldly. I was recently so fortunate to visit some of Antoni Gaudi’s art and architecture in Barcelona – very cool walking into buildings inspired by nature but warped by a creative imagination!

Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator? 

As a child I was always drawing, always reading books to my toys, so I think that combination of storytelling visuals had some great incubating. In Grade Five we had to write and illustrate our own picture book – it was one of the most fulfilling school creative projects I remember. Perhaps though, it was discovering Shaun Tan’s The Arrival while I was neck-deep in studying the wrong visually-creative channel for me (Architecture) that really shone a light on illustration as a back-of-the-mind option. The book’s cinematic storytelling power told through classic sketchwork made me realise that illustration could transcend comicy styles built for solely young readers, and could pride itself in being absolutely beautiful and timeless.

Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? Talk us through it. 

This is the little spare room I do my digital work in, complete with daytime natural light and spindly piece of greenery nearby. The cute little orange and white desk was a gift from my husband when years ago I was living in share-houses and the only at-home place I had to work was the busy communal dining table. It’s propped up by a few pie dishes so I can get the workspace height right! Also propped up is the laptop – Harry Potter books are great for this (I like to think I’m typing on the shoulders of giants). 

Here I am working at my Wacom tablet, which is how I add to the artwork once the hand-drawings are put into Photoshop. Recently I’ve invested in a proper cushioned mousepad as I feel it in my wrist if I do too many hours of digital illustrating at once. My A2 drawing board is tucked behind the chair; this is on what I did all the watercolour illustrations for The Precious Plum. Add a few aesthetic old books and room for the cup of tea, and we’re set to work! Riley the cat will probably come in at some point and push his nose into the bedspread skirts to get under the bed.

 
What is your favourite part of the illustration process?

One really rewarding thing is when drawing a person (from a photo or life) and you feel you’ve really captured them. Sometimes not on the first go, but with an extra centimetre to the chin or concentration on their characteristic features, you work out what really makes it them (and it’s definitely not by drawing everything!). Also when freelance clients remark that I’ve really understood the feel of the story’s scene.

What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator? 

The first step is sharing your work. This can be such a big self-hurdle, but thankfully it gets easier and feels so much more natural the more consistently you do it.

Jennifer Horn is a Brisbane-based illustrator and children’s writer. Her debut picture book The Precious Plum was released in 2021 amongst some very musical live book launches. Her illustrations and short stories have appeared in children's anthologies from Share Your Story and Rhiza Edge. Jen enjoys reading books over radio.


For more information, please visit Jennifer's website.

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