Saturday, Sunday

Saturday, Sunday by Natalie Kate Forbes, illustrated by Danny Snell (Affirm Press) HB RRP $24.99 ISBN: 9781922848642

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

Saturday is a busy day, bubbling with hustle and bustle: swimming lessons, shopping for groceries, taking books back to the library, visiting the butcher and more. But Sunday is a fun day, when the family can drift through entertaining and creative activities that spark joy and strengthen connection.

In her rhyming couplets, Natalie Kate Forbes focuses on all of the elements of a hectic weekend that kids aged four to eight will instantly recognise. Rather than complain, the children in the story hold on during the wild Saturday ride; they are rewarded with a Sunday that cruises past cloud shapes, across backyard picnics and into blanket forts. Regardless of whether the days are chaotic or calm, the family always finds time for togetherness.

Danny Snell’s illustrations and vignettes are overflowing with charming details for young eyes to discover, from the little boy’s pyjamas (he looks like Max from Where the Wild Things Are) to Rufus the dog trying to lick someone’s bare toes. Muted colours give the book a nostalgic air and help to tone down the frantic pace of the tale before it gets away from the reader.

Saturday, Sunday is a comforting slice of family life that is at once familiar and fascinating. It’s a reminder that our relationships with loved ones become all-important anchors when our world is buffeted by waves of busyness.

The Fire Wombat

The Fire Wombat by Jackie French and Danny Snell (Harper Collins) ISBN: 978-1-4607-5933-2 RRP $19.99 HB

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie 

Following the horrific bushfires this Summer, The Fire Wombat is a lovely tale focusing on the animals and how they survive the ordeal. The story is told in rhyme from the perspective of a wombat, accompanied by engaging illustrations. To escape the fire, the animals all shelter underground, getting along for a change. Then they set off to look for food and water after the fire has passed and eventually find carrots and piped water supplied by the humans. Finally, the wombat returns home as rain helps the bush regenerate.

There were articles in newspapers during the bushfires at the start of this year, telling of wombats leading other animals to safety, then other articles saying this was made up. But it is a good story. I understand Jackie French lives very close to where the fires came and she describes herself on her website as an ‘honourary wombat’ so is eminently qualified to write this book.  Evocative lines in the story such as, ‘Other creatures woke and fled, Spurred by age-old pounding dread’ and ‘To ancient tunnels cool and deep, Where even bushfire’s breath can’t creep’ give a great appreciation of how it feels to be in the path of an inferno.

A highlight for me were the illustrations by Danny Snell also illustrator (and author) of Seagull, illustrator of Ozzie goes to School and many other books.  There are appealing looking cockatoos, goannas and echidnas who all find places to go. And worried looking bandicoots and wallabies who follow the wombats to their burrows.  The Fire Wombat talks about the bushfires without dealing with the humans – until the pages near the end where there are pictures of people, organising fundraisers and boxes of carrots for the animals.

Bushfire is a scary thing for young children, but this story deals with the positives of it. The main character survives and helps other animals to. The people in the community band together to do something worthwhile. And then the bush recovers. While the bushfire ‘monster’ is a terrible thing, life goes on afterwards. This is a great message in a picture book for young children.

Aussie Kids: Meet Mia by the Jetty

Aussie Kids: Meet Mia by the Jetty by Janeen Brian, illustrated by Danny Snell (Puffin Books) PB RRP $16.99 ISBN 978 1 760893668

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

This is one of eight books in the Aussie Kids series about children from different states of Australia, telling of their lives and adventures. 

In this book, Mia, who lives in Victor Harbour, South Australia, with her parents and older sister Alice, awaits the weekend visit of Jim. She decides to take her new friend to nearby Granite Island with Alice and to be a super tour guide: she even makes and wears a guide badge. At Encounter Bay the three children have a sandcastle competition before boarding a horse-drawn tram which takes them across the jetty to the island. Lastly, they are fortunate enough to see a whale in the ocean.

This chapter book manages to showcase places in South Australia while introducing sisters who bicker in a good-natured way. Each page has a black and blue wash illustration which adds to the book’s appeal. At the end of the book there is a page of fun facts about penguins, including Fairy Penguins. Following this is a double-page spread with pictures of and information about the author and illustrator.

Meet Mia by the Jetty is ideal for readers aged 6 years and up who enjoy reading gentle, well-written stories.

Reader Achievement

Janeen Brian’s junior fiction story, Meet Mia by the Jetty published by Penguin Random House and illustrated by Danny Snell, was released on 1 July 2020. It is part of the inaugural and popular Aussie Kids series, targeted at readers 6 to 8 years. Each story features a child in a different state in Australia.

School Magazine will be reprinting two stories and three poems written by Janeen, while publishing one new poem, Just a broomstick now, and a story, Twin Time.

Ozzie Goes to School

Ozzie Goes to School by Jocelyn Crabb, illustrated by Danny Snell (Working Title Press) HB RRP $24.99 ISBN 9781921504907

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Ozzie lives with his dad in a shipping container on the beach. He loves his life, even when the container is closed at night and it’s pitch dark inside. Nothing worries him, but when Dad says he must go to school, he’s afraid for the first time. When Dad says he must go, he promises to give it a try, but just for one week.

By recess on the first day, Ozzie does a runner. Back he goes to school to tell the class about the enormous barramundi he and Dad caught. When it’s time for maths, a frightened Ozzie does another runner! This happens again, but with small accomplishments at school, by Friday Ozzie is ready to run – not away from school, but towards it.

This is a simple story which is likely to be enjoyed by children ready to start school. There is a loving relationship between father and son who work together and who enjoy each other’s company. It’s interesting that it’s not being separated from his dad that’s Ozzie’s problem. Rather it is his fearful reactions to school subjects such as show and tell, maths and reading. We don’t get to know Ozzie’s teacher, Mrs Jocelyn, nor his classmates, but we’re told at the end of the book that Ozzie ‘liked recess and lunch, and the new friend’s he’d made.’

The attractive illustrations use lots of large coloured spaces showing Ozzie and his dad enjoying their beach-side life, as well as showing scenes in the classroom. Ozzie’s classmates are dark and light-skinned, a typical Australian scenario. The beach scenes are visually very appealing, especially the picture of Ozzie, with a back-pack, running along the shoreline under the palms, towards home.

Little Chicken Chickabee

Little Chicken Chickabee by Janeen Brian, illustrated by Danny Snell (Raising Literacy Australia) PB

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Here is another well-designed and well-crafted picture book commissioned by The Little Big Book Club to distribute to parents with the aim of raising literacy in Australia among small children. Attractive painted full-page illustrations and strong repetitive lines introduce the reader to mother hen on her nest in a box with four chickens which have just hatched. Each of the chicks said ‘cheep’ but the ‘last little chicken said… ‘Chickabee!’

Yes, there’s always someone who doesn’t conform! Every time each of the chicks says something (repeated by the others), the last little chicken only says ‘Chickabee.’ When Mother Hen says, ‘No’ and this is repeated by its siblings, the Little Chicken sets off to see the world. Along the way it meets other animals – such as a horse, a cow and a duck – each of which tell him that chickens ought not to say ‘Chickabee’. When the chick asks why, Duck says, ‘It sounds as if you don’t want to be a chicken, that’s why.’

Back home goes Little Chicken, but it still doesn’t fit in. So once again it ventures into the wide world where it meets a range of machines the sounds of which is imitates. Finally it meets a pig which goes with it back home. There Little Chicken is finally accepted by Mother Hen, even though it still hasn’t conformed.

This is a delightful, heart-warming story about acceptance which mirrors the story of a small child which ventures into the world with all of its differences, but is always accepted by its family and friends. Children aged 2 to 5 years are sure to be enchanted by this simple tale. 

Review: Jeremy

Jeremy by Chris Faille, illustrated by Danny Snell (Working Title Press)
RRP HB $24.95
ISBN 9781921504402
Reviewed by Vicki Thornton

Based on a true event, this is the charming story of rescuing and raising a baby kookaburra after it falls out of its nest.

Rescued by the family cat, the baby bird is ugly with no feathers and large bulgy eyes that are closed. He is placed in a box with a hot water bottle and a teddy bear, and named Jeremy. He squawks for food and seems to be hungry all the time but he grows and grows. Soon it is time for Jeremy to learn to fly, to be outside with the other birds. He says goodbye and returns to his family.

This is a very sweet story, with lots of information given gradually but also more detailed information for the discerning reader provided on the endpapers. A trend for a lot of picture books that combine fact with fiction.

But what made the story come alive for me were the illustrations. I loved Snell’s use of vibrant colour, the detailed depiction of the kookaburra but also the artist’s sense of humour. The double page spread of Jeremy watching television late at night, with his teddy bear made me laugh out loud.  A lovely book and even lovelier illustrations.

Somewhere in Australia

Somewhere in Australia by Marcello Pennacchio, illustrated by Danny Snell (Scholastic Australia)
HB RRP $24.99
ISBN 978-1-74169– 522-9
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

There are many picture books available at the moment that are based on classic rhymes or songs. Some lack something and do not work so well, whereas others use the original to create a story which has its own point of difference and unique quality.

Somewhere in Australia is one of the latter. The author has used Australian animals and habitats to reinvent the classic children’s rhyme Down in the Meadow. Some of the animals chosen are iconic – such as the kookaburra, platypus and kangaroo – and some of them are lesser known – the thorny devil, red-back spider and the death adder – but all of them are uniquely Australian and all of them are placed in the beautifully placed in their settings.

In the Blue Mountains of Australia, near a Wollemi Pine,

lived a mother green frog and her little froglets nine.

‘Jump,’ said the mother. ‘We jump,’ said the nine,

as they jumped and they leaped near a Wollemi pine.

The rhythm is not perfect but it is close, and the actions of each animal will delight young listeners. The counting element and the gorgeous pictures of animals with their babies will also appeal.

This hardcover book would make a wonderful gift, especially to overseas friends. It showcases the diversity of Australia’s natural environment, it’s fun to read out loud and the artwork is stunning.
 

You Are My Special Baby

You Are My Special Baby by Carol Chataway & Danny Snell (Working Title Press)

HB RRP $24.95

ISBN: 978 1 921504 18 1

Reviewed by Jenny Mounfield

There is no greater bond than the bond between mother and child. In,You Are My Special Baby this is demonstrated with a selection of Aussie animals: dingo gives her baby kisses, koala gives hers a hug, and fruit bat will be there for her child even when things turn upside down.

Only seventy words from start to finish, this title relies heavily on its illustrations. Each animal is beautifully crafted and posed in such a way as to infuse the reader with a sense of togetherness and love. Muted background tones of pink, blue and green convey a sense of peace.

You Are My Special Baby is the perfect bedtime book to read to children from birth. With so few words young minds won’t have time to wander, and the text is simple enough to serve as an early reader for school-age kids.

With a background in education, Chataway has authored a number of books for children: The Perfect Pet (Working Title ‘04), Wings (Lothian ‘04) and Edwina Sparrow, Girl of Destiny (Lothian ’07).

Snell’s illustrative works include: Whose Tail is That? (written by Christine Nicholls), which earned him a Crichton Award short-listing, the bestselling Notable Book nominated, Bilby Moon (Margaret Spurling), and Emily Rodda’s, The Long Way Home.

Jenny Mounfield is the author of three novels for kids, her most recent title being: The Ice-cream Man (Ford St). She has been reviewing for Buzz Words since ’06, and for The Compulsive Reader since 2010. 

Zizzy

Zizzy written by Penny Matthews, illustrated by Danny Snell (Omnibus Books for Scholastic Aust)
HB large format RRP $26.99
Recommended for 3+ years
Reviewed by Dawn Meredith

Having just recently watched, transfixed, some youtube videos of baby sloths I eagerly opened this book to read about Zizzy. Sloths are dreamy and slow and have the most appealing eyes. They bring out the mothering instinct in everyone, men included!

Zizzy lives in a lush rainforest and spends a lot of time hanging upside down, snoozing and dreaming. One day he sees a patch of blue in the distance and wonders what it is. A green parrot tells him it is the sea and the place where the sun rises. She insists that Zizzy should check it out, but Zizzy is daunted by the journey. Sloths don’t travel far. “You don’t know what you can do until you try,” says the bird and offers to show him the way.

It takes Zizzy a very long time to travel through the rainforest and finally to see the ocean. Sloths have weak spaghetti-like legs that don’t support their weight on the ground. Eventually Zizzy gets to sit on the sand of a vast beach and watch the sun come up. The world turns to gold and a thought crystalises in his head. He makes his way back to the rainforest where he dreams he can do absolutely anything, even fly through in the air - with frogs!

I love Snell’s illustrations. He has captured the essence of sloth features and his rendition of the rainforest is deep, dark and mysterious with comical touches. Armadillos watch Zizzy come down from his trees. A frog sits on his head as he snoozes. An anteater watches his progress to the edge of the rainforest. Zizzy is the cuddliest thing on the planet!

Dawn Meredith is a May Gibbs Fellow for 2010 and writes from the Blue Mountains. www.dawnmeredithauthor.blogpsot.com