Trashy Tales: Duck for Cover

Trashy Tales: Duck for Cover by Kate and Jol Temple, illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh (Scholastic Australia) PB RRP $14.99 ISBN: 9781761298844 

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

Benny the bin chicken (aka ibis) and his friends, Scrap the rat and Tweeter (‘the laziest sparrow in the world’), are after some breakfast. But the ‘greedy gobbling bin truck’ has swallowed everything in the ‘best bin in town’. How will they find something to eat? It takes a plucky duckling – who dreams of being a bin chicken – to come to the friends’ rescue, using her innate cuteness to make it rain hot and tasty chips.

The irrepressible ibis at the heart of Kate and Jol Temple’s enormously popular Bin Chicken picture books has flapped his way into a fun-filled junior fiction story aimed at kids aged five to nine. Simple sentences, short paragraphs and a stack of slapstick make this book a perfect bridge between picture books and chapter books for hesitant young readers.

Ronojoy Ghosh, who illustrated the Bin Chicken picture books, steps it up a notch with the energetic and entertaining cartoons in this chapter book. The images break up the text beautifully, giving children time to breathe and take in the action. Well-placed speech bubbles add clever quips to the already amusing story.

Anyone who adores the original Bin Chicken books will quack up at this first volume in the new Trashy Tales series. And along the way, youngsters will be transformed into wise owls when they discover the importance of believing in yourself and that good things come in small packages.

L.O.L. G.O.A.T. Laughs Out Loud

L.O.L. G.O.A.T. Laughs Out Loud (G.O.A.T. #2) by Kate & Jol Temple. Illustrated by Rebel Challenger. Scholastic 2024. Hardback PB RRP $18.99. ISBN 9781760261153

Reviewed by Debra Williams

G.O.A.T. (short for Greatest of All Time) is reading a book when he comments LOL. Duck doesn’t understand, and Goat explains that he has made an LOL, otherwise known as Laughing Out Loud. Duck points out that Goat isn’t actually laughing, so Goat tries to explain what it’s about. Duck then comes up with several alliterations on the LOL theme to make Goat laugh. All efforts fall flat until Duck inadvertently creates an LOL moment when he is saying goodbye.

With bright illustrations, the alliterative text will be fun for young readers in the 5-7 age group.

Winner Winner Bin Chicken Dinner

Winner Winner Bin Chicken Dinner by Kate and Jol Temple, illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh (Scholastic) ISBN 978176097854 RRP $17.99 (HB)

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie

The star of this picture book is an ibis with a large appetite and a random can of tuna stuck on her head. The story, basically about the bin chicken trying to find some food, takes the readers on a journey where they meet some interesting characters, and ends with a satisfying feast. Illustrations of the ibis with her long neck, curved beak and tiny little eyes convey much character as do the seagulls with eye patches and bandannas. The story is written in rhyme which adds to the readability and humour.

After trying a restaurant, the beach, and the fish market (where she meets an angry pelican), the ibis flies around to look for somewhere else. She finds a school with a big pile of lunch boxes and the text includes a detailed description of their likely contents. When humans come into the story, illustrations only show small parts of their bodies − usually their feet or the tops of their heads − emphasising that the birds are the important characters. At the end it’s the sparrow, seagulls, pelican and the ibis who all come together to share a sumptuous staff morning tea.

Highlights of the story for me include the rhyming of calamari with biryani and who doesn’t love descriptions of food? I also enjoyed the mice in almost every picture – not part of the story but good for spotting with their amusing speech bubbles. The moral of the story, that things are much better if everyone gets along, is a good one. That said, at the end the seagulls were still squabbling over the chips! 

Winner Winner Bin Chicken Dinner is a sequel to the book Bin Chicken published in 2020 by the same authors and illustrator. It’s an entertaining story for children aged 3+ years and for the parents who read it to them.

Move that Mountain

Move that Mountain by Kate & Jol Temple, illustrated by Terri Rose Baynton (Scholastic Australia) HB RRP $24.99 ISBN: 9781760974275

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

Move that Mountain comes from the same creators as the award-winning Room on our Rock. And, like the first volume, this one shows youngsters that there are two sides to every story. When the book is read from beginning to end, the puffins believe that they are too little to help a beached whale get back to the sea. But when the book is read in reverse, the puffins work together to find a way to move that mountainous whale.

With just 90 words, Kate and Jol Temple take children aged three and over on an intriguing journey of self-discovery. Simple text ensures that the themes of determination, teamwork and problem-solving lap gently at readers’ feet like waves upon a seashore, encouraging kids to dive into a world where even the smallest person can make a difference.

Muted blues wash over the pages, giving Terri Rose Baynton’s illustrations a cool fluidity that is calming to the eye. The warmth of action is brought to the fore with the oranges and yellows of the puffins’ beaks, which represent the strength required to bring about change.  

A clever and captivating book that is sure to be read again and again, Move that Mountain will inspire the next generation to fight for what’s right. Physical size doesn’t matter when kindness and compassion swell your soul.

Captain Jimmy Cook Discovers X Marks the Spot

Captain Jimmy Cook Discovers X Marks the Spot written by Kate & Jol Temple and illustrated by Jon Foye (Allen and Unwin) PB RRP $12.99

ISBN 9781760291945

Reviewed by Daniela Andrews

Jimmy Cook is, to put it simply, an explorer. Actually (if you can excuse his modesty), he’s pretty much ‘the greatest explorer that ever lived’. After he discovered the third grade, in the first book in this series, he was rather inspired by the historical feats of  ‘the other Captain Cook’. In this, the second ‘Jimmy Cook’ story, he has found a humungous dinosaur footprint … so now he’s busy digging away to find its bones. And give it a name. (‘Jimmyosaurus’ anyone?)

Much to his teachers’ annoyance, Jimmy seems to have developed quite a team of student diggers at the school … especially since he found that map marking X for treasure. Forget the dinosaur, he is about to discover something better … something real. Can he get to it before that show-off, Alice Toolie, does?

Jimmy records his daily adventures in his journal, noting always the weather that day (eg ‘hailstones the size of rhinoceros beetles’) and drawing a picture to illustrate his inventory (eg the ‘arm of a robot toy’). The inventory and weather observations don’t always have any bearing on the story, but are amusing introductions to each chapter. The journal entries are interspersed with funny black and white penciled illustrations by Jon Foye. Almost every page features an illustration, making the design highly attractive to readers aged 7 – 10. 

The three talented creators behind this book have released four children’s books together including I Got This Hat, the book selected for National Simultaneous Storytime in 2016. Their complementary styles work well together, offering the right blend of humour and action, with a dash of nonchalance. Jimmy’s innocent observations about his world are laugh-out-loud funny. Can’t wait to see what he discovers next!