Ferret on the Loose

Ferret on the Loose by Heather Gallagher, illustrated by Benjamin Johnston (New Frontier Publishing)

PB RRP $12.95

ISBN – 9781921928420

Reviewed by Emma Cameron

Lucy hopes all the training she’s done with Flash will see him win the Annual Fastest Fearless Ferret Race. Elisha, Lucy’s nemesis, wants her ferret Bad Boy Blue to win. He stands a good chance. Sable, who Li owns, is fast but no real threat to either Lucy or Elisha’s entries. Due to falling asleep during races, Mr Olfart’s dopey Sadie will never win. He tells Lucy Flash might, with better training. He’s desperate to win a title he’s never won before.

While training, Flash is injured. Mr Goodo, the vet, prescribes pain killers, banning training for a week. Feeling sorry for him, Lucy lets Flash out of his cage at home. He bolts. After a chase around the house he launches himself into Lucy’s arms and she takes him to the next training session so he can watch. She arrives early. The only one there yet is Mr Olfart. He goads her into letting Flash have a practice race against Sadie with, “What are you: chicken?”

Not long before race day, Flash disappears. No matter how much Dad, Lucy and her friend Penny search, he’s nowhere to be found. On race day, Lucy goes to watch. When Mr Olfart arrives with a new ferret named Mr Incredible as his entry, her sad mood turns to suspicion. His ferret wins and, with help from her brother and Penny, Lucy exposes Mr Olfart as a ferret-napper.

Mr Olfart is banned from racing for two years. Lucy’s ferret is, fairly, disqualified due to having been trained by someone else. To everyone’s delight, Mr Olfart is also punished by being placed on duty for the job nobody likes. Yes, cleaning up the poo after each race. And Lucy says having Flash back is the best prize of all.

This straight-forward, easy to follow tale presents good lessons in fairness and inappropriate behaviour. Like all titles in the Little Rockets series its high quality paper contains well-spaced text and colourful illustrations that break up its ten chapters. Readers aged 7+ are likely to enjoy it very much.

Silver the Silly Sorcerer

Silver the Silly Sorcerer by Candice Lemon-Scott, illustrated by Janet Wolf (New Frontier Publishing)

PB RRP $12.95

ISBN – 9781921928499

Reviewed by Emma Cameron

Silver has only one chance left to pass the Eggs test at school or he’ll have to join the circus as a magician. He can easily make a mouse disappear and reappear, but his test requires he make it reappear as something else. When making the mouse disappear, he accidently makes his teacher vanish too. School is closed as all the other teachers try to work out how to reverse this.

Silver is deemed to have failed the test and is packed off to a failing circus forthwith. As he farewells his family, his sister Star gives him a magic card that he can rub if he needs to get back home in an emergency. Silver thinks life as a circus magician will be awful and, given that his first job is cleaning out the animal cages, he could be right. Worse still, the circus master doesn’t like the fact that Silver’s snake, Slither, is a back chatter.

When Silver does put on his magic act he is so bad it turns out to be seen by the audience as comical, thus earning him the name that matches the book’s title. It also means the circus begins to draw great crowds. Though things always get to a point where Silver is incapable of fixing them, Slither the snake steps in to do so and all turns out fine. But what of the missing teacher?

Well, as the story winds up in dramatic fashion it not only reveals a surprising fact about how the circus acquired its elephant but also has Silver’s teacher reappear as part of the twist. And just as they are at their final and most dangerous point of the tale, Silver rubs the magic card given to him by Star. They immediately return home safely and Silver receives a pass in the Eggs test. Hooray!

Like all Little Rockets titles, this has well-spaced text and colourful illustrations to break up the chapters, thereby encouraging young readers just stepping into chapter books to give it a go. The high quality paper used in production of this series, for readers aged 7+, will prove excellent for very likely repeated library borrowing.

Alice and the Airy Fairy

Alice and the Airy Fairy by Margaret Clark, illustrated by Emma Stuart (New Frontier Publishing)

PB RRP $12.95

ISBN – 9781921928451

Reviewed by Emma Cameron

This lovely story opens with Alice learning that Mum’s cousin, Mary, is visiting. She’s coming to town because ‘she has problems’ and needs to stay till she’s ‘problem-free’. Dad say’s Mary is an airy fairy and Alice hopes this means she is truly magical because Mary may be able to cast a spell to make Alice’s baby sister Bonnie call her ‘Alice’ instead of ‘bum’.

It seems that Mary is presently on the sad side of life and her drab artworks, which she hopes to sell at a local exhibit, reflect this. She lets Alice and Bonnie paint too and Bonnie copies Mary’s work, though Bonnie’s looks slightly less messy. When Mary becomes ill due to gall bladder issues and is hospitalised, Alice and Dad take her paintings to the exhibit.

Gallery space limits displays to six works per artist and Dad unknowingly choses ones by Bonnie. He takes photos so Mary will be able to enjoy the display and, when they all sell, organisers ask for more. Dad brings Mary’s and they don’t sell. Alice hopes to delete the photos of those that sold and replace them with photos of Mary’s work but doesn’t manage to do so before Mary arrives.

When Mary hears how well sales have gone Dad shows her the photos. She appears to be about to say that the works in the photos aren’t hers but stops. Alice keeps the secret and convinces Mary that perhaps art isn’t what she should be doing but that she should run fairy birthday parties for a living. Mary agrees.

As incidents occur in the story Bonnie pipes in with new words she’s never said before. Though none actually mean anything in relation to the incident they add humour and, at story’s end, she says ‘Alice’ for the first time. Eighteen illustrated chapters in this title of the Little Rockets series ensure that the story gallops along at a pace that will be easily gobbled up by beginner readers aged 7+.

Hubert and the Magic Glasses

Hubert and the Magic Glasses by Candice Lemon-Scott, illustrated by Joe Spellman (New Frontier Publishing)

PB RRP $12.95

ISBN – 9781921928246

Reviewed by Emma Cameron

When the story opens, a nervous eleven year old Hubert is in the change room taking his time to put on his soccer gear. He loves soccer but for some reason he seems to play worse each week, not better like his team mates. When it becomes apparent that he needs glasses, Hubert instantly goes into denial. He doesn’t want to let his team down but he doesn’t want to be different either.

Readers will understand his dilemma but will also be pleased to see that he gets no say in whether he will or won’t wear glasses to play. They’ll also delight in seeing how stunned he is to discover that the glasses help. His vastly improved play takes the Able Ants to the grand final. When his glasses smash before the big game the optometrist fixes them with magic but stresses to Hubert that it is he who much control the magic, not the other way around.

Hubert is surrounded by helpful and caring family and friends but the story also shows how it is he who is really able to help himself the most by overcoming his own low self-confidence. It’s a great lesson in how skill will only develop if you keep at it and that simply giving it all you can is sometimes the best magic there is.

Like other titles in the Little Rockets series this book contains well-spaced text and colourful illustrations to help break up the nine chapters, thereby encouraging young readers finding their feet in the world of chapter books to give it a go. The high quality paper used in production of this series, for readers aged 7+, will prove excellent for very likely repeated library borrowing.

Eddie Pipper

Eddie Pipper by Janeen Brian, illustrated by Emma Stuart (New Frontier Publishing)

PB RRP $12.95

ISBN – 9781921928215

Reviewed by Emma Cameron

Soon to turn nine, Eddie Pipper hopes to get a pet penguin for his birthday. The fact it’s an unrealistic aim in terms of species doesn’t matter. See, in the past, Eddie forgot to latch the mouse cage (they escaped) and to feed the goldfish (they died), so Mum said no more pets. Still, the penguin obsessed dreamer hopes that if he proves to Mum and Dad that he’s responsible he’ll get a penguin.

At story opening, readers see Eddie’s creativity with his obsession. Not only is he making a penguin out of paper mache, he dressed up his little sister as one. Sadly, he forgot that he left her in the blow up pool with ice in the water. And he used paper from Dad’s study to paper mache with. Paper containing plans for an origami competition Dad was entering. Origami is Dad’s obsession. Like father, like son. But this helps Dad understand Eddie a little better.

As a fan of Brian’s work I was pleased to see the writing bore her signature humour. I laughed out loud, not only in regard to Eddie’s action but also that of others. Like when Mum finds he placed his sister in a pool of ice and forgot her, she points out the evidence like so, ‘Fridge door. Open. You?’ Eddie nodded. Why did his mum talk like she was texting him? He was right in front of her.

While it may at first seem that Eddie is simply forgetful, the story unfolds to show how his obsession overtakes and consumes his thoughts to the exclusion of practical things like remembering his school bus money or his swimmers and towel the day of the swim certificate test. Readers who have longed for something special not quite within reach will empathise and cheer dear Eddie on.

When he arrives home late for his birthday party, Mum is pleased to learn it’s not because he forgot about it but because he stopped to help an abandoned dog. This results in Eddie winding up with a pet. Not the one he hoped for but one he’ll have much fun with.

Colourful illustrations within each of the nine chapters break up the well-spaced text, making it most appealing to readers finding their feet in the world of chapter books. High quality paper used in production of this Little Rockets series, for readers aged 7+, will prove excellent for very likely repeated library borrowing.

Katie and the Leprechaun

Katie and The Leprechaun by Kathryn England, illustrated by Emma Stuart (New Frontier Publishing)
PB RRP $12.95
Reviewed by Vicki Stanton


On her way to school, Katie O'Reilly bumps into a leprechaun named Paddy. Katie discovers that Paddy is a one-shoe maker and is on the look-out for new ideas. Eventually, once Katie recovers from the shock and amazement of meeting one of the little people, Katie helps her new friend come up with a solution to his dilemma.

Emma Stuart's bright colourful illustrations are dotted throughout the book. The pictures will delight readers and assist them by reflecting the story and breaking up the text. I particularly liked the depiction of Katie with her messy pigtails and freckles.

Katie and the Leprechaun is part of the new junior fiction series, Little Rockets. The books are of a high production quality and perfect for newly independent readers with easy to follow plots and likeable characters.