A Toy Christmas

A Toy Christmas – a magical, illustrated anthology of original stories compiled by Sophie Masson (Christmas Press) PB RRP $24.99 ISBN 9780994234063

Reviewed by Catherine Bauer

With Christmas glittering on the near horizon, if it’s a little festive season magic you’re after, look no further than A Toy Christmas, the latest gem from Australian publisher Christmas Press. Compiled and edited by award-winning author Sophie Masson, the 13-story anthology features Christmas-themed tales by some of Australia’s most talented authors, both established and emerging.

Each beautifully crafted story is themed around toys that magically come to life at Christmas time. There are stories about toys that chase the nativity star, toys that realise Christmas is more about who we are with than where we spend it and truly touching tales about toys that help unite sad souls and help build friendships. There’s a story for just about every taste, whether it’s pure fantasy with dragons, adventure and pixies or more contemporary family scenarios featuring grandparents and annoying siblings. 

Illustrated in full color, the anthology is the perfect book to tap into the gathering Christmas cheer, not just for this year, but for many Christmases to come. So gather the family for a story from A Toy Christmas and let the celebrations begin.

Freedom Ride

Freedom Ride by Sue Lawson (black dog books)

PB RRP $ 17.95

ISBN 9781925126365

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

This deeply moving and at times disturbing book is based on real events. It takes us back to the Australian Freedom Ride of 1965. Influenced by the American Civil Rights Movement, Sydney University students formed the Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA) with Charles Perkins, the first Indigenous Australian to graduate from university, as their leader. A busload of students decided to travel through country towns to investigate the living conditions of Aboriginal people. It was when they came to Walgaree that is the focus of the story. What took place was the beginning of change within the social and political climate of Australia for Indigenous population.

The story of the Freedom Ride is delicately wound around a parallel story of the brutality of racism and bullying, the abuse of power, and the degradation suffered by whites and Aboriginals alike that stood up for human rights. It is also about having courage to change against all odds.

Robbie lives with his dad and gran, a narrow-minded, bigoted person without kindness or compassion, not even for her grandson. e has been told fro years that his mother diedHHe has been told that his mother died when he was three and she is never mentioned.

Barry takes over the caravan park in Walgaree after his father dies suddenly. Robbie gets a paid job there during the school holidays instead of doing odd jobs for gran’s gossipy friends for nothing. There he discovers the joys of real family life, kindness and interest, and love from both Barry and his mum.

With gossip a raging river in the town of Walgaree, everyone is blaming the Aborigines for all the vandalism and destruction of property. But Robbie knows who’s really doing it. But he dare not speak out.

Robbie’s friendship with the Aboriginal boy Mickey, also employed by Barry, is an excuse for the town’s bully to bash and persecute him mercilessly without any repercussions from his father who happens to be Walgaree’s police chief.

But this is the least of Robbie’s dilemmas. He discovers his dad and gran have lied to him for years. He also witnesses a gut-wrenching act that the two cover up, and he wars with his conscience about keeping silent.

Now that Robbie knows the truth, is he able to stand up for what he believes in and carve a new path in life?

Riveting and unforgettable, Sue Lawson has again created another exceptional piece of historical fiction. Fast-paced with crisp and precise writing, this book comes highly recommended.

Not Just a Piece of cake: Being an Author

 Not Just a Piece of cake: Being an Author by Hazel Edwards (Brolga Publishing) PB RRP $19.99

ISBN 9781922 175809

Reviewed by Susanne Gervay

The hippopotamus may be eating cake, but you’ll have a feast reading Hazel Edwards’ memoir on ‘Being An Author.’  From country girl who read before she went to school courtesy of her very Baptist grandma who also terrified young Hazel with bloodthirsty missionary serials to fifty-five year old Hazel the Antarctic explorer stranded in ice on the supply ship ‘Polar Bird’, this Memoir is strangely addictive.

Hazel Edwards was born a story teller. An only child, she grew up in rural Victoria where her parents ran the seven-day-a-week general store. Life became difficult when her father fell ill and they had to keep moving, finding themselves in new general stores and towns. Hazel went to four secondary high schools alone and when her parents could not afford for her to continue at school, she started work at the State Bank. Hazel opposed the bank policy which only sponsored the study fees of male employees because ‘Females will just get married.’ She left the State Bank to study primary school teaching.  

However, Hazel knew she was a writer and refused to follow the conventions for girls and ‘marry the farmer … and (do) teaching or nursing.’ She did eventually marry and have two wonderful children who became part of her writing life as she juggled family with her profession. She was a primary school teacher for a while. Her love of teaching found a permanent place in her career through  teaching writing students, mentoring her women writers (the Hazelnuts) and acting as a mentor to many authors.

For this inveterate explorer, endlessly inquisitive, deeply interested in people, life was not just a piece of cake. ‘Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.’ It is also the willingness to go into brave new areas. Who could imagine that the endearing imaginative picture book There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake conceived in 1978 inspired by her children, would become an international best seller?

This memoir reveals Hazel to be a trail-blazer going into areas ‘where angels fear to tread’. Her F2M young adult novel with Ryan Kennedy who underwent gender change from female to male is a leading book in this new wave of young adult literature. Her adult books include Difficult Personalities in collaboration with psychologist Helen McGrath that gives insights into psychopathic behaviours; Non-Boring Family History which continues to be a staple guide in writing family histories; Cycling Solo; Ireland to Istanbul in collaboration with Hazel’s son Trevelyan who actually rode from Ireland to Istanbul.  

Hazel’s current project, an illustrated children’s book Hijabi Girl written in collaboration with librarian Ozge, gives Islamic children a place to be acknowledged.

This memoir is also an author's life on the road. She’s ‘been everywhere, man (or more appropriately woman)’ from a Nepali Montessori School in Kathmandu reading hippo; Nanjing School for the Blind; the mining settlement of Mt Newman in the heart of the East Pilbara. There have been times of exhaustion and exhilaration adventuring on the road as an author speaking at schools, literary festivals, libraries and community events for all ages.  Everything that can goes wrong did go wrong from Hippo the huge stuffed hippopotamus splitting at the seams; to losing her voice; to a helicopter crash in the Antarctic. But then everything that can go right did go right from a standing ovation at St Kilda Film Festival premiere of the Pocket Bonfire film version of Hazel’s Hippo eating that cake; being in Paris and seeing Hippo displayed in the Australian Bookshop; to Alice the Country Women’s Association ‘best cook’ making Hazel 24 profiteroles in Condobolin in exchange for writing ideas.

It is heart-warming to read the fan mail Hazel receives from children and adults. Writing is more than a book. It is a full life that includes working with Auslan, Australian Sign Language and Braille, being a National Reading Ambassador and supporting literacy in a myriad of ways.

Hazel also translates her experiences into practical writing advice. How to embellish and retell stories, maintaining integrity in what you write, writer’s block, developing characters, getting ideas, how to develop them and a host of invaluable insights into the writing process.

Not just a piece of cake: Being An Author is a delightful insight into the life of a much-loved author. It inspires those who wish to begin the author’s journey and those on the journey. It’s also a book with a special quirkiness that once you have finished reading it, you want to drop in again and again. Highly recommended.

Susanne Gervay is a reviewer and children’s author www.sgervay.com

Tabby

Tabby by Stephen Kok, illustrated by P.R Dedelis (Sigmate Studio) RRP AUD $18.95 ISBN 9780994289902                                                                  

Reviewed by Ellie Royce

This graphic novel Tabby is a classic tale interpretation of Romeo and Juliet where two rival cat family groups are challenged to get along together despite their differences. Tabby’s idyllic world is changed when a new family of cats move into the neighbourhood and Tabby Junior falls in love with a cat from the other family!

The 70-page novel is fast- paced and full of images complex enough to inspire thought and stimulate the imagination. Language is clear and connects the images to form a coherent, flowing story-line which poses some interesting moral questions and deals with some important emotional issues in a fun, engaging and easily understandable way.

Graphic novels have earned their place in promoting literacy and as Tabby is an Australian- created graphic novel – not Japanese Manga  or American Superheroes -- it surely deserves a place in Australian libraries and classrooms, as well as on the bookshelves of reluctant readers and lovers of visual storytelling. The great little section at the back of the book which follows its evolution and shows the development of the characters and story is an extra bonus!

It is recommended for readers between 7-12 years.

The Wilderness Fairies: Daisy’s Quest

The Wilderness Fairies: Daisy’s Quest by Jodie Wells-Slowgrove, illustrated by Kerry Millard (Puffin Books) PB RRP $9.99 ISBN 9780143307471

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

As a child aged 7 to 9 years I would have read this book and taken it to bed with me every night. And, too, my imagination fired, I would have gone into the bush time and again looking for the Fairy Wilderness in hopes of catching sight of Daisy.

Daisy at the start of this book series, of special appeal to girls, is a wingless fairy waiting for the Fairy Queen to grant her wings. Her older sister Maggie has wings and a Calling (she is musically gifted); Mum’s Calling is horticulture and Dad’s is healing. Armed with her magical wand and travelling shoes, Daisy now goes with her special friend, the beetle Vu, on the quest for her wings. She has numerous encounters along the way, first with a Monarch butterfly that leaves her a Telling Tube which is opened by a Painted Lady butterfly following advice given to her by Pea, an awkward winged fairy.

Next, Daisy faces danger when she is trapped under water by waterlily pads, but once again she is helped by nature in the form of a water nymph. The persistent and brave Daisy goes on, but in her final struggle to succeed, she uses kindness which in effect results in spoiling her whole mission. Eventually the hapless fairy child meets Queen Jasmine. But although she failed the task, does Daisy still get rewarded for her courage, persistence and kindness?

This is book full of exciting, fast-paced adventure with frequent cliff-hangers. It is also full of magic and secrets, peopled by characters who are genuine, three-dimensional fairies that one cares about. Daisy faces disappointment and frustration, but she remains full of hope and joy. At the front of the book is something many children love – a map showing places where action happens and where people in the story live. During her quest the reader can consult the map as she ventures with Daisy into the Australian wilderness which is full of familiar – and not so familiar – flora and fauna. 

The end of the book offers interesting notes for the reader – in this case how Daisy gets her name (from the Golden Everlasting or Paper Daisy), also how to make Lemon Myrtle Cordial (featured in the story), and about the endangered beetle for which Vu is named.

It is so good to see a book about fairies that young readers can engage with and who are Australian to boot. Most readers of this first book in the series will be hanging out for the next – will Daisy successfully learn how to fly? Highly recommended.

The Wilderness Fairies: Daisy’s Takes Charge

 The Wilderness Fairies: Daisy’s Takes Charge by Jodie Wells-Slowgrove, illustrated by Kerry Millard (Puffin Books) PB RRP $9.99 ISBN9780143307471

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Here is the third in the series set in an Australian wilderness forest that focuses on the adventures of Daisy, a finger-sized fairy who has recently earned her wings. 

In another gentle and charming story, the reader learns how Daisy helps her musically talented older sister, Maggie, get ready for a concert. Maggie is to go into a Songbird Duet with the magpie Melody, so Daisy, trying to surprise her, decides to embellish a beautiful black dress made by Aunt Acacia with corella feathers. Unfortunately, this proves to be a disaster – but aunt steps happily steps in to remedy the problem.

Just before a performance, Daisy’s friend Pea – a recurring fairy character in the series – introduces her to musicians including Boronia, Grebe, Lark and Ash who are all to perform as well. As events progress, Daisy is forced to use her wand to smooth events which threaten to spoil the rehearsal. Then, when Grevillia -- Boronia’s overzealous mother -- threatens to sabotage Maggie's duet with Melody the Magpie, Daisy has the chance to save the day and redeem herself.

Once again, the Australian bush setting brings a unique aspect to the story and the characters are real and lovable, and unlike many book series for children – they are memorable. 

For a reader aged 6 to 9 years, especially a girl, this book is a page-turner with lots of action and adventure. The whimsical ink sketches by one of Australia’s leading illustrators capture the delightful tone of the book. Highly recommended.