Tuesday 19 March 2024

Revenge of the Chick-Oats

Exciting New Berk-Berk … er Book Release!

Award-winning children’s author, Aleesah Darlison, is thrilled to announce the release of the second book in her junior fiction series, Super Sloth. Revenge of the Chick-Oats is set in New York City and is an action-packed adventure featuring the brave (and often hilarious) deeds of an unbelievably brave, quick, and adorable sloth, and his vigilante offsiders.

About the Book:

Get ready for a feathered adventure with Romeo Fortez … the cutest sloth EVER … and the world’s most daring superhero!

Romeo’s nemesis, the unhinged Professor Ian Weird-Warp, is at it again. Bent on revenge, he concocts a quirky catastrophe. Mixing chicken and goat genes, he spawns a gang of eccentric chick-oats and they’re on the loose in the Big Apple, destroying everything in their path all the while chanting, ‘Berk-berk-baa!’

As the team faces off against Professor Weird-Warp’s sinister demands for Romeo’s surrender, they must hatch a brilliant plan to thwart the mad professor’s wicked schemes once and for all.

Can this unlikely crew save the city from the clutches of the chick-oats?

The series is illustrated by Cheri Hughes and published by Big Sky Publishing. More info at: https://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/books/super-sloth-2/

  

Sunday 17 March 2024

Look Me in the Eye

Look Me in the Eye by Jane Godwin (Hachette Australia) PB RRP $16.99 ISBN9780734420794

Once trust is gone, what is there to hold onto? From award-winning author Jane Godwin, here’s a novel about young teens navigating friendship and trust in a post-pandemic world of surveillance and control.

 

running late
drop it off without me

I type drop what off? I don't know what Mish is talking about.
While I'm typing, another message appears. don't tell bella
But I am Bella.

 

Best friends Bella and Connie live on the outskirts of the city in an area that was once full of open fields and paddocks but is changing as the suburbs creep closer. And now there is Mish, Connie's cousin, who must be included even though she is unfriendly and unpredictable. The pandemic lockdowns have lifted, and the three teens are eager to explore their newfound independence. But with the world opening up, there has been a rise in surveillance, from apps that track their movements to voice recorders and hidden cameras. It feels like everyone is watching them. But when does 'watching' become 'watching over'?

 

Do we have a right to know everything about those we love? Look Me in the Eye is a tale of young teens navigating freedom and trust-building, privacy and secrets, in an era of parental surveillance.

Friday 15 March 2024

Artezans: The Forgotten Magic

Artezans: The Forgotten Magic by L.D. Lapinski (Orion) PB RRP ISBN9781510110090

For the last 400 years, magic has been fading...

Edward Crane has always feared he won't have any magic at all. Sure, he's part of a powerful magic Artezan family, but he's adopted. His twin sister, Elodie, isn't so worried, but then everything always seems to work out perfectly for her.

So when Ed discovers he does have an Artezan power after all, he's relieved. And it's more than he ever could have imagined - in fact, it's a dream come true.

But the problem with dreams is that sometimes they twist themselves into nightmares. And with Ed's new abilities growing by the day, there's a chance that this nightmare will become all too real...

Wednesday 13 March 2024

Ivy Newt and the Time Thief

Ivy Newt and the Time Thief by Derek Keilty and Magda Brol (Scallywag Press) PB RRP $14.99 ISBN 978915252333

This is a fast-paced adventure for emerging readers, in which Ivy and Tom solve the mystery of a spooky house that appears only at Halloween. Second in a highly illustrated chapter book series for ages 5-7 featuring Ivy, an unstoppable and lovable young witch, and her friend and familiar Tom. Every Halloween at sunrise, a spooky haunted house appears near Newt Castle, only to disappear again at the stroke of midnight. Ivy and Tom set out to solve the mystery, stumbling upon an imprisoned witch, a powerful sorcerer, and a curse they must break before time runs out... 

Monday 11 March 2024

My Very Own Special Particular Private and Personal Cat

My Very Own Special Particular Private and Personal Cat by Sandol Soddard Warburb, designed and illustrated by Remy Charlip.

A lively, loving child is taught a thing or two about boundaries by his very own special, most particular cat in this picture book illustrated by the three-time NYT Best Illustrated recipient Remy Charlip. It was awarded a Moonbow Best Children’s Book of 2023.

This is a story about a boy and his very own, special, particular, private, and personal cat — a cat he orders around, puts on his lap, and even dresses up and tucks into bed! But the cat has other plans, and its very own special, particular, private, and personal inner life. After all, everyone knows that you can't ever really own a cat... The story's climax, warm and friendly, yet firm, is all about how to claim the space we each need for ourselves. Many children and adults have undoubtedly felt just as this cat does!

Designed and illustrated by the prolific and visionary Remy Charlip, this picture book is about boundaries and independence, identity and belonging, friendship and respect—all told through a playful and witty text from Sandol Stoddard Warburg.

Saturday 9 March 2024

Pidge’s Poppies

Pidge’s Poppies by Jan Andrews & Timothy Ide (Ford Street Publishing) PB HB RRP $27.95 9781922696380

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

Jan Andrews is former Chair of Australian Poetry, the national body for that art form. She is deeply interested in language, history, and children’s development.

Timothy Ide is an Adelaide based illustrator. His published works include Medieval Monsters and other Creatures, Born to Fly and The Lanternist.

This story is based on a true story about a pair of pigeons at the Australian War Memorial. It remembers the vital role pigeons played in both world wars.  Andrews has crafted a delightful story about Pidge and Henry who are best friends. The title Pidge’s Poppies uses alliteration, and including the word poppies is clever because poppies are a symbol for those who never returned from war. The words are efficient and poignant at the same time.

Andrews encourages the reader to think deeply about the role pigeons played in both world wars. Do they only remember people, or other animals too? Her words allow the illustrations to speak, and the story building is well done. The setting -- at the Australian War Memorial -- is central to the story. History is expertly woven into the text, and I like how the years are stated to define the different world wars. Then she remembered stories about her even-more-times great-grandfather who had gone to the First World War in 1914. The story is strengthened by the facts that are included. Pigeons can always find their way home. I love how Andrews simply and clearly explains things to the reader yet still moves the story along. I can remember the pigeons at the Australian War Memorial being in the news: Jan Andrews has crafted a heart-warming well researched story.

Ide’s illustrations show a deep understanding of the text. The multi-layered illustrations create the visual story with much skill. The illustrations really shine a light on the story. The pigeons are lifelike in appearance and movement. The colours used vary according to the time frames. I love the sepia effect when the story travels through the world wars. The vivid red of the poppies sing and pop on the spreads they appear. Visually many poppies together show the sad loss of life without one word needed. I love too how the many poppies are the pigeons’ nest as they welcome new babies.

My favourite illustration is the page that dramatically shows many pigeon feathers flying in the air with splashes of red to symbolise the bombs and flying bullets for loss of life. It dramatically shows the impact of war without it being too much to a child reader. The front cover is striking, Pidge is front and centre with a poppy in her beak and the going down of sun is powerful.  This story reminds us of all of the vital role pigeons played in both world wars and their sacrifice. The endpapers have a lovely pale sky blue with many pigeons in flight.

Pidges’s Poppies is a picture book that’s a perfect choice for schools to use on Anzac or for Remembrance Day. The history captured is important and the War Memorial is beautifully represented along with the war history.  It is suitable for 4 - 8 years and it will appeal to children, parents, teachers, and librarians. This book is a good fit with the Australian school curriculum and shows some important history of our wonderful nation.

Thursday 7 March 2024

The Grimmelings

The Grimmelings by Rachael King. 2024 Allen & Unwin. Middle-Grade paperback RRP $19.99. ISBN 97811991006646

Reviewed by Debra Williams 

Grimmelings: the first and last glimmers of light in the day. So begins the introduction in chapter one of this Middle-Grade fantasy fiction novel. A boy disappears: at the same time an enormous black stallion appears and another boy, (Gus) mysteriously appears, after 12-year-old Ella pronounces a curse and utters a wish to make a friend on the same day. The locals brand Ella and her family as witches and give them a wide berth.

Ella and Fiona’s grandma, Griselda (Grizzly, as she is affectionately called), is of Scottish background. In her younger days she fled some kind of tragedy (to which she doesn’t refer), and emigrated to New Zealand, where she met her husband-to-be. In later years, both her husband, and the husband of her daughter Morag, mysteriously disappeared in the local lake.

According to Grizzly, there are dangerous creatures that live in the lake. Ella discovers that it is more than just legend, and with her horse Magpie she is embroiled in a perilous life-and-death struggle with the creature known as a Kelpie. What she doesn’t know is that Kelpies can take both human and animal form, and this one has appeared out of nowhere. Ella is alarmed when several sheep are found beheaded, and magpies are murdered mysteriously.

The stuff of Scottish folklore is that the Kelpie appears as a huge horse, which charms people, especially children, to sit on its back. They are unable to escape, and the Kelpie then drowns them in the lake. Ella grows up believing it is just an old tale, but the stakes become highly personal when her little sister Fiona disappears as well.

It is Fiona who understands the truth from Grizzly: that the black stallion which appears at various times, is not actually a horse. There is a terrifying twist towards the end of the story, and Ella becomes enmeshed in trying to save Fiona, her mother, and many others.

With overtones of The Pied Piper of Hamlin, combined with the stuff of Scottish legend, The Grimmelings is a heart-stopping and enthralling fantasy adventure. It comes with a warning -- be careful what you wish for. This is Rachael King’s second book for children: the first, Red Rocks, won the Esther Glen Medal in 2013 and is in development for television. 

Suitable for upper-middle grade 10+ years.