This is NOT a Book!

This is NOT a Book! written by Kellie Byrnes, illustrated by Aska (EK Books) PB HB RRP $24.95 ISBN 978 1 925820508              

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

A main character is trapped inside a book and doesn’t quite believe they are. After all there is no real setting or problem to solve or even a real storyline. Or is there? The fun begins as the story grows and so do the shenanigans. This is metafiction at its best. It takes a reader inside the book to discover how a good story is told. Except as a reader now I am not quite sure how I’ll get out of this book. Help!

 

Kellie Byrnes has made a splash in children’s books since her debut novel The Cloud Conductor, in 2018. This is NOT a Book! is Kellie’s fourth picture book with more books to follow this year.

 

Kellie has written a story that not only brings the reader into the book but it teaches them about what makes a good story. Her use of questioning makes the reader think and become involved in the story. The main character states facts about books to entice the reader to their stance. It’s much like if you turn your back on the ocean it can surprise you. Kellie surprises and engages the reader with her strong voice and wit. She toys with her main character and in such a way that it makes the reader laugh with delight. The more the main character argues their point, the funnier the story becomes. We also see exclamation marks and ellipsis and lots of punchy short sentences. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

 

Aska is an energetic illustrator who has illustrated nine published books. Her expertise in storytelling shines in her illustrations. The visual narrative plays with the text perfectly. The endpapers explore the beginnings and endings of creativity. I am still wondering where the main character has gone now that he has escaped from the book. Aska uses bright and bold colours that pop. Her main character is engaging with lots of movement and facial expressions. The graphic design of the text seems to imply that the text could be moved around. The illustrations silently build the story behind the sassy main character. The ocean sneaks onto a corner and then suddenly becomes real on the next spread. Iska tosses and plays around with the main character in all sorts of places for the reader to explore. Her illustrations show a wonderful understanding of a child’s world.

 

This is NOT a Book! is a picture book that is suitable for 4-8 years and appeals not only to parents but teachers and librarians, too. This book has a clever hook in that it is a great way to introduce children in how to write a story.

The Incurable Imagination

The Incurable Imagination text by Paul Russell and illustrations by Aśka

EK Books (an imprint of Exisle Publishing) 2019 HB RRP $24.99 ISBN 9781925335972

Reviewed by Julie Anne Thorndyke

This is the second lively book by the collaborative team of writer Paul Russell and illustrator Aska. Published by EK Books, it has the same design, fun approach and format as My Storee (2018). This time, it isn’t dyslexia that is causing problems in the classroom—it is a case of incurable imagination.

Audrey was always “ a little bit different”, never doing the expected thing in any situation. When she begins school, with many friends (some of them invisible to grown-ups) it becomes even more obvious that her approach to learning is unique. Not only that, but her wild imagination is contagious.

Teachers try to contain it, but her classmates, parents and eventually even the teachers become infected. Imagination even spreads into the wider community. Wild scenes ensue!

Aska’s illustrations are dynamic and brightly toned, featuring thought-bubbles of imaginary scenes and characters. Monsters, pirates, witches, frogs, trolls, inhabit every page.

Useful in classroom settings to inspire creative work, this light-hearted book will also reassure children whose approach to learning differs from the norm. The children depicted in Aska’s illustrations are energetic and ethnically diverse. Some of the characters wear glasses, but no other differently-abled children are shown. This could be a challenge for the next book?

The Incurable Imagination is a large, sturdy, hardback picture book that will survive many readings in the classroom and school library.

Who wouldn’t love a pet unicorn named Bruce?

My Storee

My Storee by Paul Russell, illustrated by Aska (EK Books) HB RRP $24.99 ISBN 9781925335774 

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

To get published, a manuscript must pass the ‘gatekeepers’, those adults who assess the story, often looking for what is ideologically unsound. Should a book with incorrect spelling all through it, pass the test? Apparently, the publisher, EK Books agreed with the words on the cover of this book, ‘Just because you can’t spell doesn’t mean you can’t write’. Some adults, like this reviewer, believe that the words in a book help a child learn how to spell.

This quibble aside, this is a book which most children aged 5 to 8 years are likely to enjoy because they, like the book’s protagonist, struggle with spelling as they attempt to write stories. The boy in this book is kept awake because he knows ‘a grand adventur (sic) is always (sic) waiting four (sic) me at the end ov (sic) my pencil’. He imagines stories about dragons, his teacher being eaten by a ‘gruesome ogre’, detectives, robot, aliens and more. However, at school, he says, there are too many ‘riting (sic) rulz (sic)’ and with all the rules his imagination suffers. Teachers, he says, cover his writing with red pen and change his meanings with the result that at school he doesn’t like to write.’

A new teacher with new teaching methods is the solution to the boy’s problem. The last sentence in the book reads, ‘So I picked up my pencil and wrote.’

The illustrations in My Storee are colourful and joyous, filled with cartoon characters such as live pencils, surfing mice and unicorn detectives, so they are sure to be enjoyed by child readers.

My Storee

My Storee by Paul Russell, illustrated by Aska (EK Books) HB RRP ISBN9781925335774

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

To get published, a manuscript must pass the ‘gatekeepers’, those adults who assess the story, often looking for what is ideologically unsound. Should a book with incorrect spelling all through it, pass the test? Apparently, the publisher, EK Books agreed with the words on the cover of this book, ‘Just because you can’t spell doesn’t mean you can’t write’. Some adults however, like this reviewer, believe that the words in a book help a child learn how to spell.

This quibble aside, this is a book which most children aged 5 to 8 years are likely to enjoy because they, like the book’s protagonist, struggle with spelling as they attempt to write stories. The boy in this book is kept awake because he knows ‘a grand adventur (sic) is always (sic) waiting four (sic) me at the end ov (sic) my pencil’. He imagines stories about dragons, his teacher being eaten by a ‘gruesome ogre’, detectives, robot, aliens and more. 

However, at school, he says, there are too many ‘riting (sic) rulz (sic)’ and with all the rules his imagination suffers. Teachers, he says, cover his writing with red pen and change his meanings with the result that at school he doesn’t like to write.’

A new teacher with new teaching methods is the solution to the boy’s problem. The last sentence in the book reads, ‘So I picked up my pencil and wrote.’

The illustrations in My Storee are colourful and joyous, filled with cartoon characters such as live pencils, surfing mice and unicorn detectives, so they are sure to be enjoyed by child readers.

Pepsi the Problem Puppy

Pepsi the Problem Puppy by Sandi Parsons, illustrated by Aska (Faraway Nearby Ink) PB RRP $12.99

ISBN 9780987615701

Reviewed by Brook Tayla

Puppies!

Every child wants one!

Every parent thinks twice!

                     .......and then somehow, in one way or another they arrive!

This book is all about the ‘settling-in’ phase and how that is viewed very differently by each member of the family.

Rosie is the protagonist who has long wished for a puppy. Her little brother Jacob always seems to say the wrong thing – especially when Mum’s around. Dad is the parent who finally gives in and finds the puppy, although his research wasn’t so good.

Mum is the reluctant parent who is nit impressed with all the upset and happenings that Pepsi the dog is causing. Granny can see the funny side of everything Pepsi does and it is ultimately because of her that the dog gets to stay.

Children will laugh at the funny scenarios presented in this early independent reader novel.

The author has a real dog called Pepsi with his own web page that you can look up here: www.pepsiparsons.com.au

Looking Up

Looking Up by Sally Murphy, illustrated by Aska (Fremantle Press) PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9781925164572

Reviewed by Teena Raffa-Mulligan

Award-winning WA author Sally Murphy’s latest junior fiction release about a boy who receives an unexpected birthday surprise is sure to become a read-again favourite with young readers.

Pete is desperately hoping for a telescope for his tenth birthday. There’s nothing he wants more. But when a card arrives in the mail from the granddad Pete didn’t know he had, it changes everything.

There are questions Pete wants answered. Mum won’t explain so he decides to find out for himself who this mysterious grandfather is and see if he can become part of their life.

Murphy writes with insight and warmth about family relationships. All her characters are vividly drawn and come to life on the page. From the opening lines I was seeing events unfold through Pete’s eyes, yet also feeling a strong empathy for Mum and her estranged father.

Readers aged six to eight years will have no difficulty connecting with Pete, who loves stargazing and solving mysteries.

Aska’s full-page mono illustrations accompany each chapter and complement the text beautifully. My favourite is Mum and Pete lying hand in hand on the trampoline, deep in discussion about recent events. 

Murphy’s verse novel Pearl Verses the World won an Indie Book of the Year award in 2009, was made a Children’s Book Council of Australia Honour Book in 2010, and won a Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award (Best Book for Language Development, Upper Primary) in 2010.

Her book Toppling won a Queensland Premier’s Literary Award and a Western Australian Premier’s Book Award in 2010. It was also shortlisted for a Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award in 2010 and was made a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book in 2011.

Looking Up deserves to garner the same level of critical acclaim and reader popularity.

Teaching notes are available from www.fremantlepress.com.au