Rock, Paper, Incisors: Skunk and Badger 3

Rock, Paper, Incisors: Skunk and Badger 3 by Amy Timberlake. Illustrated by Jon Klassen. Allen & Unwin 2025. Junior Fiction hardback. RRP $19.99. ISBN 9781760877064.

Reviewed by Debra Williams

Skunk and Badger are roommates who have an easy rhythm: Skunk cooks, Badger cleans. Badger is also a writer for Rock Hound Weekly, featuring articles related to geology. A deadline is approaching for his latest article, and Badger is keen to get on with his work. However, there is a major distraction in the form of two juvenile rats, Zeno and Zephyr.

In this third book in the series, Skunk and Badger have fostered the orphaned rats. But what have they taken on? Major distractions and obstacles, that’s what! The spirited brother and sister need a lot of raising, and it’s going to take a village to raise this pair. The roommates call on the assistance of local chickens to help them... and a dinosaur. Badger consults books about rat-raising to help. And, in all the activity and confusion, Badger accidentally hibernates, thereby missing the deadline for his important article. But in the end, it doesn't matter.

This is a lovely book, written in the vein of Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh. It’s an uplifting story of achievement with the help of the local community. The author has cleverly incorporated facts about geology, rats, and cooking into a fictional tale, and with Jon Klassen’s classic-style illustrations, it has a nostalgic feel.

The recommended age group from the publisher is 7-11 years of age. Some of the language is rather formal and would suit confident readers in this age group.

Pax, Journey Home

Pax, Journey Home by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen (HarperCollins) HB RRP $19.99 ISBN: 9780008470289

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

Peter has not seen his pet fox, Pax, for a year. The grief entwined with this separation – and drawn taut by the loss of both of his parents – seals Peter’s heart so tight that not even a sliver of affection can slip in. Meanwhile, Pax and his mate have welcomed a trio of kits, so Pax must find a safe place for them to live away from dangerous humans. Eventually, the paths of Peter and Pax converge once more. Can Peter face the darkness of his past and move into a future filled with light and love? And can Pax trust Peter again, especially now that his female kit is seriously ill? 

 

In this stirring sequel to The New York Times bestselling book Pax, Sara Pennypacker takes her characters on a compelling journey from hurt to healing. Kids aged eight to twelve will adore the rich language that brings this world to life, as well as the underlying theme that explores what it means to be a family. It is helpful but not essential to have read the first book, as Sara weaves the important information from the previous story into the sequel with ease. 

Caldecott medalist Jon Klassen provides both the enticing jacket image as well as the atmospheric black-and-white illustrations within the book. The warm browns on the front cover infuse the story with the glow of emotion. Each interior image is placed with purpose and increases the drama found in the surrounding words.

Throughout Peter and Pax’s alternating chapters, the nature of love and the love of nature tumble and rush like a river running its course. When the two protagonists finally come face-to-face, readers are swept away in a flood of joy as both boy and fox discover the restorative power of hope. 

The Rock from the Sky

The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen (Walker Books) HB RRP $27.99 ISBN 9781406395570

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

Jon Klassen, the talented creator of the ‘hat trilogy’, has produced yet another masterpiece. His most recent book The Rock from the Sky is made up of five interrelated short stories that will engage readers, young and old, with its endearing characters, dry humour and brilliantly simple artwork.

As the title suggests, the stories centre around a rock that falls from the sky. Each narrative is based on an interaction between Turtle and Mole, where one is always curious as to what the other is doing, which is... not much! Most of the conversations are about good places to sit, stand, or nap. Sometimes Snake is thrown into the mix, for added hilarity.

Klassen’s minimalist illustration style, using ink and watercolour, is unique and intriguing. His muted colour palette and page design creates a great sense of space and calm. The characters are quite motionless but their eyes are deeply expressive, leaving plenty of room for the reader to make inferences.

The Rock from the Sky is an entertaining 96-page picture book highly recommended for an audience aged five years and older. This book is independent of the ‘hat’ books, however, in case you’re wondering… yes, all the animals wear a hat!

 

Extra Yarn

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Walker Books)
HC RRP $24.95
ISBN 9781406342314
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Young Annabelle finds a box of coloured yarn in the snow. She uses it to knit herself a jumper and one for her dog, then one for Luke and his dog. But there is lots of yarn left. She knits for her classmates, her teacher, all the people that she knows, but the magic yarn is never ending.

Word spreads about the endless yarn and reaches the ears of a clothes-loving archduke. He offers her ten million pounds for the box of yarn, but Annabelle refuses to part with it at any cost. The archduke sends robbers to steal the box, and he sails away with it.

But when the box is opened, there is only a pair of knitting needles inside. With a curse, the archduke casts the box into the sea. It floats back to its owner.

Here is a delightful message on how some things are worth more than money. The light and dark illustrations represent the bitter cold that engulfs the area. The importance of the yarn to Annabelle and her people is accentuated by the beautiful multi-coloured knitted objects that appear in startling contrast against the background landscape and represent the beauty money can’t buy.

House Held Up By Trees

 House Held Up by Trees by Ted Kooser, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Walker Books)
HB RRP $27.95
ISBN 9780763651077
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis


Ted Kooser’s first picture book was Bag in the Wind. He was the US Poet Laureate from 2004 till 2006 and won the Pulitzer prize for his poetry book, Delights and Shadows: Poems. This new impressive work reinforces his ability to tell a story so well you simply want to read it again.


House Held up by Trees spans the life of a man who built a house on a block that he totally cleared of bushland. The surrounding area was covered in different types of trees, but not a single sprouting plant was allowed within the space of land that the house occupied.


His two children grew up in that surrounding forest, discovering its magic, listening to the rustle of leaves and animals in the bushes. But they always returned to their pristine environment and the perfect lawn that their father worked so hard to keep. Although autumn loosened the leaves and seeds fell to the ground, the man remained vigilant, always ready to remove any threat of sprouting plants from the perfect lawn.


But the children grew as children do, and moved away. The father remained and cared for his house and the grass until he was too old to do so any longer. He tried to sell the house but no one seemed to want to buy it. So he closed it up and moved to the city. 


The house began to fall apart from lack of care. Children smashed the windows with stones and the trees began to take residence around the house once more. They grew around and within the space created by cracks and leaks in the foundations and gutters. The house was held together within the arms of the trees. As the trees grew the house was lifted and embraced tighter in the branches. The trees had one again claimed their ground and the house as well.


This is a moving tale of man versus nature and the ultimate, inevitable take-back. The beautiful illustrations are created digitally and in gouache, in subtle earthy browns, greens, ochre and beige which accent the countryside while focusing on the isolation of the house. The jacket of the book is a replica of the hard cover beneath, showing the house held up by trees.