Deck the Shed with Bits of Wattle

Deck the Shed with Bits of Wattle [with CD] by Colin Buchanan & Greg Champion, illustrated by Glen Singleton (Scholastic Australia)

HB RRP $19.99

ISBN 978-1-74362-042-7

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Syd the Echidna is getting his shed decorated for Christmas when an unexpected willy willy blows through and scatters all his hard work. Dejected, Syd goes to bed. But while he sleeps, his friends sneak in and redecorate his home. What a wonderful surprise for Syd on Christmas morning.

Deck the Shed With Bits of Wattle is a classic Christmas carol cleverly rewritten with Australian flavour. It reflects the true spirit of Christmas, full of friendship and community with not a present or anything materialistic in sight. The Book is warm and fun with wonderfully drawn bush animals, from Syd the Echidna to Boss Cocky to the pygmy possums with their huge eyes holding brightly shining glow worms.

Australia flora also plays a large role in the story as the shed is decorated with wattle, bottle brushes, ferns and other bush flowers and foliage. Even the language is a fun play on Australian slang, ‘Whack some gum leaves in a bottle’ and ‘To help a mate who was in trouble’.

For a truly Australian Christmas, grab this book and sing-along with words and pictures which shine on every page. And when you get sick of all the Fa la la la la la la la la’s, whack on the accompanying CD and let the wonderful Colin Buchanan sing it for you. 

There’s a Hole in my Bucket

There’s a Hole in my Bucket [with CD] illustrated by Jenny Cooper (Scholastic Australia)
HB RRP $12.99 [Board book]
ISBN 978-1-77543-234-0
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

There’s a Hole in my Bucket is a board book version of the well known song of the same name. In this book, the long-suffering Liza is depicted as an often grumpy goose, while dear Henry is a happily goofy goat.

The illustrations throughout this board book are delightful. Henry keeps getting distracted by all manner of things – like a clothesline full of clothes – and Liza, who starts off cheerful, gets more and more frustrated with him.

The text dances along the pages, echoing the playfulness of the lyrics and the humour is wonderfully alive in both the words and pictures.

This is a fun and attractive board book for both babies and their older readers.

Along with the board book is a CD which is performed by New Zealand comedians the Topp Twins. They sing with wonderfully goaty and goosey voices to great effect.

Gus & Me The story of my Grandad and my first Guitar

Gus & Me The story of my Grandad and my first Guitar by Keith Richards Illus. by Theodora Richards (Orion/Hachette) CD voiceover James Langton
HB with CD RRP $28.99
ISBN: 978 1 4440 1176 0
Reviewed by Hilary Smillie

Theodore Augustus Dupree lived with seven daughters near the Seven Sisters Road, in a house that was filled with instruments and cake. Thus begins a charming and nostalgic picture book reflecting on the happy childhood of Rolling Stone and music legend, Keith Richards, who was greatly influenced by his granddad, Gus.

Gus was a talented musician of the piano, violin and saxophone, but more significantly, he could strum the guitar. Keith loved visiting his grandparents' home and Gus loved giving Keith his time. He took him on long walks and hummed all kinds of tunes as they went. He took Keith to the workshop of a London music store and Keith was fascinated, not only by the workers who plucked strings or tested drums as they fixed broken instruments or made new ones, but by the instruments themselves, particularly the guitars going slowly around on a conveyor belt. That's when he fell in love with musical instruments.

Gus kept a guitar on top of the piano but Keith was not tall enough to reach it. He kept trying and one day his granddad handed it to him, showed him the major chords and taught him to play the classic piece "Malagueňa". This was the stepping stone to his musical career.

Keith's artist daughter, Theodora Richards, has enhanced the simply worded story with lively dashes of colour, some in streams across the page, or e.g., capturing just the legs of Keith and Gus with the family dog, Mr Thompson Wooft. Stars and musical notes abound, and the pen, ink and collage illustrations on the crisp white background have an exhilarating effect. Hand-drawn letters of all sizes have been incorporated, and a couple of pages of these were drawn by Keith himself. Part of the musical score of Malagueňa is on the inside and back inside covers. Unusually, a loose cover accompanies the picture book giving it a classy touch.

Keith Richards wrote the text with Barnaby Harris and Bill Shapiro and a very warm and loving story has resulted. Many family photos are included, and as an extra bonus, a CD of a reading of the story by actor James Langton, along with a spoken introduction and additional guitar music from Keith.

Gus & Me is an impressive picture book and would make an equally stunning gift.

 

Juicy Juicy Green Grass and Other Fun Songs

Juicy Juicy Green Grass and Other Fun Songs [with CD] by Peter Combe, illustrated by Danielle McDonald (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $16.99
ISBN 978-1-74362-064-9
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

The four songs in this picture book are catchy, fun and wildly silly. They are also about things preschool children are often fascinated with and will relate to well - the postman, sheep, traffic lights and the transformation of tadpoles to frogs. The silly humour will hold great appeal for pre-schoolers.

In Juicy Juicy Green Grass, a hungry sheep fantasises about eating fresh green grass, ‘Summer’s been so dry, turned you into brown. Will you come back? Juicy juicy green grass.’

In The Silly Postman, the postman starts off by putting a letter in the letterbox on Monday, but on Tuesday he puts in a frog, and then each day after that he puts something just as inappropriate in the letterbox.

Tadpole Blues tells the tale of a tadpole’s confusion as he starts to grow legs, and Red Says Stop is a catchy tune about traffic light colours and what they mean.

The bold illustrations by Danielle McDonald make every page pop. They are bright with prominent coloured backgrounds. They are uncomplicated with wonderful characterisations, from the hungry sheep with his tongue hanging out to the confused tadpole/frog.

The accompanying CD is performed by the author, Peter Combe, whose timeless songs have been entertaining children for two decades. These are silly ditties about common things and will have everyone singing along instantly.

 

Hokey Pokey

Hokey Pokey [with CD] by Ed Allen, illustrated by Sarah Hardy (Scholastic Australia)

PB RRP $16.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-645-4
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Hokey Pokey is a lively picture book filled with Australian animals. Young readers can see how these animals do the Hokey Pokey – the lizard puts his tongue in, the echidna his pointy nose and the kookaburra’s left wing is shaken all about.

Okey dokey, now let’s do the kookaburra hokey pokey!
You put your left wing in, put your left wing out,
You put your left wing in and shake it all about.
Do the hokey pokey and turn around,
That’s what it’s all about!

As each new animal participates, the rest imitate, and there is a build up of animals as the story progresses. Through the illustrations, there is also a glimpse of who will be next.

The fun and clever ways each animal uses to join in are wonderfully depicted by Hardy’s soft illustrations. They show a variety of beautiful Australian landscapes and are light and playful, in keeping with the song. The humour of the song is also echoed in these pictures, and will give children with an eye for detail, something to seek out and have a little giggle over. 

The Hokey Pokey has been known, loved and energetically performed by children of many generations and Ed Allen’s new version of this classic song will have young children joyfully joining in the fun. The accompanying CD recording of the song, performed by Colin Buchanan, is great fun and toddlers will not be able to stay still long. The repetitive nature of the song/book is perfect for pre-schoolers and they can imitate the animal’s dance moves, and then think up some more themselves.

The Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling [with CD] by Frank Loesser, illustrated by Nathaniel Eckstrom (Scholastic Australia)

HB RRP $24.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-644-7
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

The ‘song’ version of the Ugly Duckling, written by Frank Loesser, has always been my favourite interpretation of this classic Hans Christian Anderson fairytale. An ugly duckling is thrown out of the nest by the other ducklings, because he is different, then has to search for somewhere he’ll fit in and be accepted.

Justine Clarke, children’s entertainer and playschool presenter, brings fresh life to this story on the CD recording which accompanies this picture book.
There once was an ugly duckling,
With feathers all stubby and brown,
And the other birds
In so many words, said,
‘Get out of town!’
‘Get out!’
‘Get out!’
‘Get out of town!’
And he went with a quack and a waddle and a quack,
In a flurry of eiderdown.

Beautifully illustrated, Eckstom’s soft colours and expressive faces bring out the emotions of the story and gently articulate the themes of loneliness, isolation and belonging.

This is a gorgeous book. Young children will fall in love with this ugly little duckling – from his beginning conversation with a goldfish, to the cheeky wink at the end –eagerly following his journey again and again. They will also love the CD, singing along with Justine until they know it by heart.

The Ugly Duckling would make a lovely gift for any baby, toddler or preschool aged child.