Finn and The Pen

Finn and The Pen by David Lawrence, illustrations by PJ Reece with Cherie Dignam. EK Books 2025. Middle-grade paperback RRP $16.99. ISBN 9781921966538

Reviewed by Debra Williams

11-year-old Finn Grimshaw has been dealt a rough blow in life, adopted at birth by the world’s most dastardly foster parents. Finn isn’t alone: he has four foster siblings. The Grimshaws live up to their name by locking Finn in a basement as his room. Dark and dismal, his only relief is reading the books on the bookcase and sending Morse code messages via a torch to his friend next door.

After winning a short story competition (which enrages the Grimshaws), Finn buys a magic pen at a market stall, where his troubles start. By drawing things on paper, the pen can give him anything he wants. It starts out okay and then spirals into disaster, as Finn fakes credit cards, beats a bully, and runs up a huge bill in a swish hotel room to trace his birth parents. When he unwittingly causes a disaster after discovering his birth sister, Finn decides it’s time to stop. He realises what a selfish, uncaring boy he has become as his sister fights for her life, all due to Finn’s recklessness.

As the consequences of his actions steamroll, Finn makes amends. The one good thing is that the lying, cheating Grimshaws are dealt with, and Finn and his foster siblings are adopted by a better family.

With Roald Dahl-esque overtones, this is a strong and engaging story for 8-12-year-old readers.

Xander and the Pen

Xander and the Pen by David Lawrence. Illustrated by Cherie Dignam (EK Publishing). PB RRP $16.99 ISBN: 9781922539403

Reviewed by Kerry Gittins

Xander’s life is typical of that of a 12-year-old boy. He has two best friends – Cat and Tee-Jay, a loving mum and dad, and a younger sister Phoebe who always finds the positives in everything – despite being in a wheelchair. He wishes he could be brave and courageous like his sister and the superheroes he loves to draw – but he isn’t. He wishes he could stand up to the boys that bully him at school – the Clagg brothers aka the ‘Bruise Brothers’ – but he doesn’t. He wishes he could solve the mystery of why the alpacas on Cat’s farm are dying – but he can’t.

Until one day he finds a golden ink pen and discovers that anything he draws with this magic pen comes true. He defeats the Clagg Brothers, enables his sister to walk again, helps his father win a fishing contest that gives the family more money than they’ve ever had, and comes first in a school math competition, even though his friend Tee-Jay deserves the prize more.

But each time something wonderful happens, it quickly turns into something awful. He alienates his friends, his once loving mum and dad are no longer speaking to each other, and Xander himself has changed under the influence of the pen. Instead of the sunny, easy-going person he once was, Xander is now bitter and spiteful.

However, sister Phoebe comes to the rescue with her truthfulness and unwavering support. Xander is soon making amends for situations that went awry. The mystery of the poisoned water and dying alpacas on Cat’s farm is the last problem needing to be solved. Xander knows he can’t do it alone and that to solve the mystery, he must earn back the trust of his friends Cat and Tee-Jay and together find the solution.

David Lawrence tackles some deep and serious issues in this story with warmth and compassion. Disability, bullying, greed, and dishonesty are woven into the story in a way that is age appropriate and meaningful for readers. Cherie Dignam’s black and white illustrations enhance the story and provide the perfect visual insight into the main characters.

This is Book 2 of The Pen series.

Teaching themes could include fantasy, families, bullying, communities, friendship, greed, problem solving, disability, trust, and courage.

Recommended for ages 9+ years.

 

Ruby and the Pen

Ruby and the Pen written by David Lawrence, illustrated by Cherie Dignam (EK Books) PB RRP $16.99 ISBN 9781922539380

Reviewed by Sarah Tegerdine

Imagine buying a mysterious gold pen from a flea market to discover that it’s magical, and whatever you draw with it comes true? Well, that’s exactly what David Lawrence and Cherie Dignam have skillfully and playfully produced with Ruby and the Pen.

This is the story of Ruby, a 12-year-old girl with a brilliant talent for drawing cartoons, but her life is filled with up-hill battles and she is surrounded by bullies. Whether it is her mother’s boyfriend or the girls at her boarding school, life has become really challenging since the passing of her father.

It doesn’t take long before she realises the power that she wields with just a few simple strokes which ultimately brings its own unique set of problems and dilemmas. Initially, it’s great fun but Ruby is tested acutely and the good friendships she has curated are pushed to breaking point when moral values are breached.

Ruby and the Pen is filled with comedy and heart, combined with Cherie’s black and white illustrations which are lively and dynamic. Young readers are going to thoroughly enjoy the first book in this new series.

Recommended for readers aged 9 yrs and over.

The second book in the series, Xander and the Pen is due out in November 2023. 

More Wild and Wacky Adventurers

More Wild and Wacky Adventurers

This madcap book with two humorous and fast-paced stories is co-authored by husband-and-wife team, Bill Condon, and Dianne Bates. It is illustrated by Cherie Dignam and published by IP Kidz.

Here are the stories:

‘Hardnut Hannigan and the Jewel of the Jungle’ 

Harold Hannigan’s parents knew their baby was different when he fell out of his cot and landed head-first on the floor. He was unhurt, but the floor had a very large dent in it. From that day on, Harold was known as Hardnut Hannigan.

Hardnut amazed the world with his extraordinary deeds; he climbed Mount Everest, without an oxygen mask; won an Olympic marathon; swam the English Channel – underwater – and much, much more! But now, at the age of 12, he had run out of adventures to challenge him. Then he read about a long-lost, incredibly precious jewel in the remote and deeply dangerous jungles of Mongo-Wongo. Many a daredevil had tried to find this fabled treasure, and all had failed. That wasn’t going to stop Hardnut! With his faithful emu Thunderbang and his beloved pooch, Itchybutt, he set off on the greatest adventure of his young life! Would he ever find the Jewel of the Jungle? And even if he did, would he live to tell the tale?

‘Captain Offensnotty and the Giddi-Giddi Zombies.’

Get set for a rollicking adventure with Captain ‘Potty Dotty’ Offensnotty and the crew of the Concrete Slug!  Not far into the voyage the crew discover that their captain is sneaking off at night to her home sweet home, which she has secretly towed behind the mother ship. While the crew has to survive sleeping fifteen to a bunk, their crafty captain lives a life of luxury, nibbling chocolates and watching television! Enraged, the sailors stage a mutiny, but before they can reach their captain, they first must get past her cat – which is very big and mean.  They face a fierce feline battering, but it gets even worse for them, because next, the hapless crew are attacked by a sailor-swallowing sea serpent! Can they possibly survive? Perhaps, but even if they do, there is one more terror awaiting them - the ferocious flesh-eating Giddi-Giddi Zombies!

 

WILD & WACKY ADVENTURERS

WILD & WACKY ADVENTURERS, BOOK 1 by Dianne Bates & Bill Condon, illustrated by Cherie Dignam (IP Kidz)

This book written by a husband-and-wife team features two adventurous stories in one…

TAZZIE WALLAROO & THE PERFECT MATCH

The wildest and toughest adventurers in this world – and the next – have failed to find and capture the Abominable Snowman. Famed adventurer, Tasman Wallaroo (known as Tazzie) enters the scene, saying she will ‘crush that cruel creep to crumbs!’ Training hard until she is as trim and taut as Superwoman after a super make-over, she and her team of 28 shaggy-haired Siberian Cha-Wow-Wows depart the Point of No Return.

Will Tazzie and her doggies overcome blizzards and sub-zero weather? Will they survive falling into a crevasse? And thousands of ice mites? And frenzied ice mice? Will they overcome frostbite? And starvation? What happens when Tazzie uncovers an igloo? Is this the home of the Abominable Snowman? And how and why is love somehow on the cards?

KYLIE O’RILEY AND THE WATTA-WOPPING VOLCANO

The world’s most famous volcanologist Kylie O’Riley is asked by Hilda to recover her husband, Rudy, who has fallen into an active volcano, along with her precious ring and picnic basket. Kylie, who is fearless, brave, and extremely gifted, promises to recover Hilda’s treasures. Off she heads to where the mighty Watta-Wopping Volcano is located. There she finds a dragon. Luckily, she can speak Dragonese and is able to persuade it to fly her to Cracka-Cracka Boom-Boom, home of the Gidgee Guy tribe. However, the chief’s son, Tumby, fancies Kylie for dinner.

Will she escape his cooking pot? What about the dangerous exploding Boom-Boom HaHa volcano? Does she find and recover Hilda’s missing husband? What about the precious ring and picnic basket? What antique gift does she receive?

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Bill Condon has written more than one hundred books for children and young adults, as well as numerous plays and poems. His titles have been shortlisted four times in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards, and in 2010 he won the Prime Minister’s Award for young adult literature. He lives on the south coast of NSW with his wife, Di.

Author of 130+ books, mostly for young people, Australian Dianne (Di) Bates is a full-time freelance writer. Di has worked as a newspaper and magazine editor and manuscript assessor. She is a recipient of The Lady Cutler Award for distinguished services to children’s Literature.

Bill and Di have written other stories in the Explorers’ series, including Captain Offensnotty and the Giddi Giddi Zombies, Major Hootensnooten and the Year 2500, Oscar Bubblesquirt and the Pharoah’s Curse, and several others.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR                                                                                                                                         Cherie Dignam has always loved drawing… and nature, and all animals, especially CATs. An aspiring picture book illustrator currently working on her own projects, she hopes to self-publish this soon. “When I am not working to keep my pet cat, Boris supplied with endless tins of tuna, I create from my home a short walk from the beach in sunny Perth, Western Australia.” I use a variety of mediums, including coloured pencils and watercolour, but I am at my happiest with a good old-fashioned dip pen and ink. I love wonky lines and I don’t really like drawing cars or anything too technical. My desk is usually covered in paper, ink splotches, water, empty teacups, pencil shavings and biscuit crumbs.

Wild & Wacky Adventurers

Wild & Wacky Adventurers by Dianne Bates and Bill Condon, illustrated by Cherie Dignam (IP Kidz) PB RRP $16.00 ISBN: 9781922332943

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

This first book of the Wild & Wacky Adventurers series contains two uproarious junior fiction stories broken up into fast-paced chapters. The start of each chapter features a small but side-splitting illustration by Cherie Dignam that perfectly reflects the entertaining essence of the section.

In ‘Tazzie Wallaroo & The Perfect Match’, Tazzie and her team of Cha-Wow-Wow dogs brave the ‘ravenous, repulsive’ Hairybeary, ‘chittering, chattering ice mice monsters’ and a ‘beastly blowhard blizzard’ on their way to capturing the Abominable Snowman – who’s not as mean and smelly as he’s been made out to be.

In ‘Kylie O’Riley & The Watta-Wopping Volcano’, volcanologist Kylie must find an old dude called Rudy who has fallen into a caldera. She hypnotises a gnarly dragon, avoids being a cannibal’s chow and speeds across no man’s land (‘it was a good thing she was a girl’) to the base of Watta-Wopping Volcano, but is she skilled enough to save the singed but still very much alive Rudy?

Dianne Bates and Bill Condon offer up two tasty servings of silliness in bite-size form. Kids aged six to nine will quickly eat up the eccentricity and exploits and be eager for the next chortle-worthy course. Each story has a rich filling – thanks to themes of courage, acceptance, tenacity, and resilience – but there are puns a-plenty to keep the text light and fluffy.

Ideal for reluctant readers, Wild & Wacky Adventurers makes reading scrumptiously fun. Youngsters will be so caught up in the action that they won’t realise they’ve gobbled up the whole book until they see the two saddest words in English literature: ‘The End’.