A is for Awesome

A is for Awesome by Dallas Clayton (Walker Books)

HC RRP $19.95

ISBN 9780763657451

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

I love this superb rhyming alphabet. It’s so uplifting and offers so much I want to share it with the world. But on my children’s book shelf it goes because it is dedicated to ‘you’. That means me because I have the book. Therefore, all that’s in it is directed at me. ‘A is for Awesome and Amazing’ I can be that at times. ‘C is for Confident, cool and collected’ – I’m rarely all of them together. ‘J, Just remember you’re never alone’– my favourite.

I know it’s my book and I can be selective. But I love the fact that it is full of optimistic, positive, and motivating reinforcement. Just what I needed and it’s come at the right time.

Each page is a pastel coloured platform for a carnival of colourful illustrations, all starting with the letter displayed. Think of all the words of any length you can make with one letter as a thought- provoker. Think of all the words that start with that one letter.

This book encourages children to learn the alphabet so they can create words, have fun and play with letters any way they want. Just like writers do.

Thoughts, ideas, words and illustrations are by Dallas Clayton. I think I’ve said it all.

Maia and What Matters

Maia and What Matters by Tine Mortier, illustrated by Kaatje Vermeire (Book Island)
HC RRP $28
ISBN 9780669667
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Hope, loss, understanding ageing, and the relationship between child and grandparent are the themes in this exquisitely illustrated book. Translated to English from Dutch by Australian author and award-winning translator, David Colmer, the fine line drawings and the soft and muted colours are reminiscent of the long ago classic tales of childhood.

Maia was impatient to be born. It happened quickly under a cherry tree. Her first word was cake and her best friend was grandmother; an active, rebellious, playful and fun-loving free spirit. They had everything in common. They understood each other perfectly and there were times when words weren’t needed between them.

When Grandma has a stroke, Maia doesn’t understand why she’s still. When she wakes up she doesn’t talk or remember anymore. When she can finally move, she has ‘grown slow’.

Maia fills Grandma’s surroundings with drawings of things she knows creating a familiar world of collage, hangs a thousand objects, and brings a plate with cake.

When sounds came out of Grandma’s mouth, Grandpa just nods. But Maia ‘picks the words out of grandma’s mouth’.

After Grandpa ‘had broken a teacup and stopped living’ Maia knew she had to wheel Grandma’s chair to the funeral parlour so she could touch his hair and said ‘bye’.

A deeply moving story made so by the perfectly translated illustrations. The broken cup on the beautiful carpet and the back of an armchair tells of Grandpa’s passing; a child’s perception of a sea of tears cried portrayed by the literal presentation of a boat with Grandma and Maia in it rocking on stormy seas; grandpa in his cold coffin surrounded by frosty flowers and white crystals of air.

But there is always a frisky squirrel appearing in some corner of the pictures which represents hope for the return of their lost freedom and love of the outdoors.

Meet Maia Blog Tour Update

Check out the updated Meet Maia Blog Tour schedule. This book is a real gem and one that will not disappoint. Maia is a delight and her relationship with her grandparents (and cake) is one we can all relate to.

Buzz Words will feature an interview with Book Island's founder and publisher Greet Pauwelijn on November 15 and there will be the chance to WIN a copy of Maia and What Matters.

Sammy and the Skyscraper Sandwich

Sammy and the Skyscraper Sandwich by Lorraine Francis and Pieter Gaudesaboos (Book Island)
HB RRP NZD $24.99
ISBN 9780987669605
Reviewed by Vicki Stanton

A book about food - that got my attention! And this super-sized board book is bound to get the attention of young children with its roll call of everything that could possibly go into a sandwich. The fantastic thing is that Sammy includes them all!

Sammy and the Skyscraper Sandwich will appeal to a child's idea of the ridiculous about something so simple as making a sandwich. Mum and Dad react as if building a sandwich which goes through the roof  and is 'as tall as a skyscraper standing on another skyscraper's shoulders on top of the world's tallest mountain' is an everyday event. Lorraine Francis adds lovely touches of humour with passers-by such as a boy in a hot-air balloon and a man with a megaphone commenting on Sammy's efforts.

Pieter Gaudesaboos' funky illustrations will delight child and adult alike with their 1950s retro feel and rich colours. Each page is an artwork to be pored over with plenty of humour to be found in the illustrations as well. Sammy carts the food in a car and wagons; swings from a trapeze, and then later a crane, to reach the top; and uses the help of a remote control plane to continue adding to his creation.

This is a perfect picture book with the text and illustrations both adding to the telling of the story and the joy of its reading. Cleverly, Book Island has published Sammy and the Skyscraper Sandwich in a board book format for it is bound to be read and reread (and reread and reread) with plenty for even the youngest of children to relate to.

Sammy and the Skyscraper Sandwich was first published in Dutch in Belgium and has now been released in its original language by newly established independent New Zealand publisher, Book Island. Ann Packer, the children's book editor for the New Zealand Listener selected Sammy and the Skyscraper Sandwich for her list of 50 Best Children’s Books of 2012.