Clarice Bean: Think Like an Elf

Clarice Bean: Think Like an Elf by Lauren Child (HarperCollins) HB with dust jacket RRP $24.99 ISBN

Reviewed by Kathleen Grace

Clarice Bean, subject of numerous books by the inimitable Lauren Child, usually looks forward to Christmas. But this year it’s going to be a quiet day in her house, which doesn’t feel right because Clarice thinks that Christmas is all about noisiness and being full up and family. Without these things, Clarice is going to have to try exceptionally hard to stop the Christmas spirit from floating completely away. As Clarice says: ‘Christmas cannot be Christmas without the Christmas spirit, so it is important to keep an eye on it and not let it float away.’

Now this enthusiastic, cheerful little girl is trying to save her family’s Christmas in this sparkling story of joy, goodwill, and some Clarice catastrophes. Who has eaten the turkey – the dog or the fox? How will the Moody family help? How will they fit the gigantic tree into Clarice’s house and leave seating for the family?

This is a beautifully presented books with good-sized print and lots of different sized and shaped fonts interspersed with double pages of coloured illustrations, and black and white lined drawings. It is easy-to-read, and well plotted with lots happening. The story is told in Clarice’s distinctively quirky, happy voice. Fast-paced and exciting, it is a book sure to be enjoyed by young readers aged seven years and older.

Ruby Redfort: Blink and You Die

Ruby Redfort: Blink and You Die by Lauren Child (Harper Collins Children’s Books) HB RRP $19.99  

ISBN 978000734285

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

Award-winning English author Lauren Child has written the last book in her thrilling Ruby Redfort series. Blink and You Die is the sixth book in the fascinating world of super sleuth extraordinaire Ruby Redfort.  

Both boys and girls who are into code-cracking puzzles, reading maps and who also love a mystery to solve will find this book a perfect read. Readers enter the fictional world of secret agent Ruby who lives as an ordinary child in an ordinary world… until you look closer and scratch the surface.  All is not what it seems. Readers from 8 to 14 years would enjoy entering a children’s world full of mystery and becoming a secret agent.

The Count is a dark figure who wants Ruby dead. He is always lurking in the background shadows.  You can feel he is there but you can’t see him.

‘And one should always, in the words of Mrs Digby:

Fear the wolf that other wolves fear.’

Ruby knows to trust no one at Spectrum the spy agency, but characters who offer love and support surround her such as Mrs Digby the ever-faithful, rock-solid housekeeper who comes to Ruby’s rescue. Then there is Clancy, her bestie who is not a secret agent, but the most honest and reliable friend a girl could ask for. Hitch is the house butler, but really like a bodyguard to Ruby and a secret agent, too. He says, ‘Jeepers, kid relax a little. Anyone would think you were about to meet with the Grim Reaper.’

Without giving too much away, although there is evil around, Ruby is surrounded by goodness, too.  All is revealed at the Eye Ball.     

The story is set in the 1970’s back in the day before iphones and Internet so it is not as easy to source information.  The skills of note-taking and observation are crucial to solving the mysteries but you need the skill set of a genius master code cracker. ENTER RUBY’S WORLD IF YOU DARE!

FB: www.facebook.com/Karen-Hendriks-Childrens-Author

 

I Want a Pet

I Want a Pet by Lauren Child (Walker Books)
HC RRP $9.95
ISBN 9781847803344
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

In this mini edition made for small hands, the girl wants a pet. All the adults in her family have an opinion on what is and isn’t suitable. But the girl has a mind of her own. She considers an African lion, a sheep, a wolf, an octopus, a boa constrictor, or a bat. There is always a reason why none of them will do. Can the pet shop lady come up with a solution?

Lauren Child has used her usual Charlie and Lola formula of writing and illustration to create a story with a nameless girl. This time adults are included in the story and pictures. The illustrations are hilarious. So are the girl’s comments about the negative response to her suggestions which are added at the bottom of each right hand page. The cover is hard for durability for these little books will be opened many times.

Ruby Redfort: Take Your Last Breath

Take Your Last Breath (Ruby Redfort) by Lauren Child (Harper Collins)
HB RRP $19.99
ISBN 9780007334087
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

 Ruby is a genius, recruited by spy agency Spectrum for her ability to crack codes and puzzles, after their ace code breaker was murdered by the villainous Count Von Viscount. She is courageous and daring with written rules which instruct her life. Hitch, an experienced agent, works as butler in the Redfort household in order to protect Ruby. Clancy Crew is Ruby’s best friend and the only person who knows about her secret life.

Strange and unusual things are happening in Twinford. Flocks of seagulls have descended in the city area. Dolphins discovered in the harbour refuse to return to sea.  It appears that someone is tampering with the radar signals and there is strange marine activity in the sea. Is it the asteroid that’s passing close to earth causing these happenings, or something more sinister?

Ruby’s family line is linked to mysteries; stories of ghosts, shipwrecks and pirate treasure. When her parents are thrown overboard by pirates whilst on a trip around Twinford Bay, Ruby needs all her skills, gadgets and Clancy’s help to find answers to more than the strange and unusual happenings in the town.

This book is a combination of mystery, adventure, and complex spy story with delicious sub stories. It will have readers hooked. It has fantastic characters, clever dialogue and super gadgets. Fast-paced and full of tension, the legends of the deep, pirates, priceless treasures, murderers and sea monsters, all vie for centre stage with the life-threatening situations.

Lots of codes and puzzles have been created specifically for this series by ‘super geek consultant’ Marcus du Sautoy, Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, another genius. (Examples of these are found at the end of the book to challenge the reader even more).

Lauren Child, after years of worldwide success with Charlie and Lola and Clarice Bean, has cleverly advanced to an older reader age group. This is the second Ruby Redfort book. The highly acclaimed Look into My Eyes (Ruby Redfort) was released last year.

Slightly Invisible

Slightly Invisible by Lauren Child (Orchard Books)
PB RRP $16.99
ISBN 978 1 40830 792 2
Reviewed by Hilary Smillie

First published in hardback in 2010, Lauren Child’s latest book featuring Charlie and Lola packs its usual zany punch.

Charlie wants time alone with his best friend, Marv, but little sister, Lola, is glued to his side as usual. She hopes she can persuade the boys to play tea parties instead of looking for strange and tricky monsters. Charlie gets more and more exasperated so Lola promises to sit under the table and be quiet while the two friends mix up a special invisibility potion in order to creep up on their quarry.

The boys put the pink potion in the fridge but when they need it to capture their monster, it has been drunk! Lola blames her invisible friend Soren Lorensen, and when the boys complain they will never catch the monster now, Lola shows them how!

Lauren Child’s books plunge the reader into the minds of young children and how they interact with their siblings. They demonstrate the imaginary worlds children live in, interspersed with doses of reality. Slightly Invisible is no exception. The text whirls around the illustrations in a slightly mad way and the dialogue between the children is uniquely entertaining, e.g.,

Marv says, “There are no such things as invisible voices.” Lola says, “If there are no such things as invisible voices, then why can’t you hear him?”

Colourful, exuberant and grounded all at the same time, Slightly Invisible will be eagerly embraced by followers of this highly original author/illustrator.