School of Fish: Frozen Fish

School of Fish: Frozen Fish by Louis Shea (Scholastic) PB RRP $15.99 ISBN 9781761122743

Reviewed by Nikki M Heath

A super-scaled school trip to Antarctica for the students of Shipwreck Primary results in the perfect opportunity for some intense playground rivalry in icy surroundings. The core group of aquatic protagonists (a fish, a shark, a dolphin, and a scampi) meet new friends, explore fresh surroundings and exchange banter while fending off the gang of mean fins and saving their host school from disaster.

This is a full-colour graphic novel with incredible detail and some truly stunning undersea-scape panels. The dialogue is natural and humorous, and the well-chosen font and formatting makes for easier reading than some graphic novels.

A simple schoolyard story in a novel setting with brilliant execution, this book will be fun for lower-to-middle primary students. Don’t make the mistake of recommending it only to reluctant readers - this is swimmingly good fun for everyone.

Double Trouble: Dinosaur Danger

Double Trouble: Dinosaur Danger by Sarah Fraser, illustrations by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)

PB RRP $7.99

ISBN 978-1-74362-376-3

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Seven year old twins Tommy and Coop are known for their love of  pulling pranks. They collect all sorts of gadgets from a joke shop and use them to play tricks on their family, friends and class mates. But on a school excursion to the museum with Mr. Crotchet, the boys know they will have little opportunity for pranks. The button and knot exhibition is shaping up to be as boring as they expected until they see a sign which reads "Dinosaur Danger! Do Not Enter." Maybe there is a way to pull the best prank ever? Or will they get pranked themselves?

Double Trouble is a new Australian series for boys, pitched to the five plus beginner readers market. The boys are cheeky, funny and full of surprises. Each title is slim, with short chapters, large font, easy words and plenty of pictures.

Louis Shea is well-known for illustrating many children's picture books and this series features his humorous illustrations and expressive characters which emphasise the naughtiness and boy humour throughout.

Double Trouble: Midnight Mischief

Double Trouble: Midnight Mischief by Fiona Regan, illustrations by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)

PB RRP $7.99

ISBN 978-1-74362-377-0

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Twice the fun. Double the trouble.

Tommy and Coop are identical twins. They are very excited as school camp is coming up and these seven year olds know it will be a fabulous opportunity for pulling pranks. They have been to Joking Jo's, their favourite joke shop, for supplies and are ready to pull off some of their best pranks. The only problem is that they have promised Mum and Dad they will behave on camp and not prank anyone.

These cheeky brothers, who have never let something like this stand in their way, work out a way to get around the consequences of breaking their promise (or so they think) and soon there is mayhem at midnight.

But the pranks always get the boys into trouble. And every now and then, they may even be out-pranked.

This new Australian series is well suited to young boys who love an entertaining prank and cheeky fun. The structure and text of the story make this a good series for beginner readers while the entertaining and funny illustrations add to the appeal of these stories, enhancing the 'boy humour' throughout.  

Tortoise and the Hair

Tortoise and the Hair by P. Crumble, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Press)

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 978-1-74362-528-6

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Tortoise is ready for his big day. He is going to play guitar on the big stage, in front of everyone. He is very excited about it until he discovers that his favourite wig is missing. Will he be able to perform without it?

This picture book is the story of the journey made by Tortoise's hair, a twist on the classic Hare and Tortoise tale which children know so well. The wig makes its way from bear, to zebra, to monkey and several other animals before being spotted by Hare, who then tries to get it to his friend Tortoise in time for the performance.

'He ran from the cafe clutching the hair,

“Tortoise will need it, I’ll get it there.''’

Is Hare fast enough to save the day? And does Tortoise really need saving in the end?

Shea's illustrations are fabulous, vibrant and luminescent with glowing colours which seem to leap off the page. I love the detail and character he draws into animals - the hippo with her mudpack, Bird at sunrise in her hair roller and Tortoise's sparkly leg-warmers.

I found the rhythm a little awkward and not easy to read aloud, but after a few reads this smooths out. Children will engage in the progression the wig makes from animal to animal and the ending, both in the text and illustrations, is great.

Tortoise and the Hair is a fun and playful book. Young children will enjoy the story and older ones will delight in discovering all the detail of the pictures.

Double Trouble: Skateboard Stars

Double Trouble: Skateboard Stars by Fiona Regan, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)

PB RRP $7.99

ISBN 978-1-74283-857-1

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Identical twins Tommy and Coop love pulling pranks. They also love to skateboard. So when their skateboarding idol comes to town they are super excited. First prize in the skateboarding competition is the chance to meet Jed Michaels and be on his TV show. The twins will do anything to win.

Skateboard Stars combines the twins’ talents for skateboarding and pranking in a funny story about skills and spills in a skateboard half-pipe park.

Written specifically for boys, there is no doubt they will love the action and competitive nature of the skateboard competition and the increasing difficulties of the tricks the riders need to show. They will understand the language of the skate park and appreciate the humour and cheekiness of the stunts pulled.

The black and white illustrations, some full page, split the text making the reading seem less daunting, but also add to the humour story.

The Double Trouble series is pitched to the male 5+ readership. Easy words, large text, short chapters combine to make this a very readable series for beginners. And the funny pictures, cheeky stunts and sporting action will ensure young readers return to this series for more.

Double Trouble: Prank Alert

Double Trouble: Prank Alert by Fiona Regan, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)

PB RRP $3.99

ISBN 978-1-74283-856-4

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Tommy and Coop are identical twins. They are twice the fun but double the trouble. They are sports nuts, Tommy loves tennis while Coop is into soccer, but their favourite pastime of all is pulling pranks. Will their latest school prank lead them into double the punishment?

These boys are cheeky and fun. Their pranks are harmless ones, such as swapping the tennis ball with a ballistic bouncer during a game of handball (they get noticed before it gets too out of hand). They also take their punishment well.

Louis Shea, is well known as a picture book illustrator. His style is instantly recognisable and the black and white pictures in this book feature his humour and expressive faces. They work really well with the text.

The Double Trouble series is pitched to the 5+ readership, following the popular Ella and Olivia series, but this time for boys. Easy words, large text, short chapters, funny pictures and cheeky boys all combine to make this a very readable series for beginners. With its low price, this introductory title is sure to fly off the shelves and into the hands of many young boys. 

We’re Going on an Egg Hunt

We’re Going on an Egg Hunt [with CD] by Laine Mitchell, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)

HB RRP $19.99

ISBN 978-1-74362– 041-0

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

       We’re going on an egg hunt!

       We’re going to find the biggest one!

       I can’t wait!

      Chocolate for you and me!

We’re Going on an Egg Hunt is Mitchell’s Easter interpretation of the very popular We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. It’s nearly Easter and like almost everyone else, the five friends in this vibrant picture book are off to find hidden Easter eggs in their adventurous egg hunt.

Young children will love to join these cute animals as they search for the biggest eggs in exciting places. As in the original hunt they face many dangers, obstacles they must negotiate such as a wild turnabout maze, and a garden with pretty buzzing flowers! Will they go over, under or through?

Shea’s instantly recognisable illustrations are bright, colourful and playful. They are full of cute animals and cheeky detail – check out the chicks hatching in the birds nest, one of them is not a chick! See if you can find the Easter Bunny and eggs hidden in the pages.

Accompanying the book is a CD recording of the song. Children can sing along with lively, funny and popular entertainer Jay Laga’aia. His voice is instantly known and loved by preschool children (and older)) and this Easter reinvention has simple catchy lyrics.

This can be read, re-read, chanted, acted out and listened to over and over again.

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Meerkat

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Meerkat by P. Crumble, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $13.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-646-1
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

‘There was an old lady who swallowed a meerkat,
I don’t know why she swallowed that meerkat ...
Fancy that!’

From the creators of There was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Mozzie comes another addition to the There was An Old Lady/There was an old Bloke series and this time the hungry woman is visiting the zoo. The rhyme in this story works really well making it fun and easy to read aloud and the rhythm aids in creating a crescendo effect. Crumble has chosen animals which young children will know well from their own visits to the zoo. The familiar setting makes the absurdity of the situation even more pronounced. As the animals the Old Lady swallows get bigger and bigger the sense of ridiculousness builds to a fantastic explosive ending.

Shea’s illustrations in this series can be either fabulous or terrifying. In this picture book they are fabulous. The animals are chock full of their own character and the detail in the pictures will keep children thoroughly entertained. The illustration of the Old Lady leaving the zoo after the seams in her clothes have let go ends the story brilliantly. Look out for the ‘Do Not Feed ...’ signs and the hungry monkey who follows the Old Lady around. The zoo animals and setting will make this story a hit for young children and with amusing details to spot in every scene they will be pouring over the pictures as well as reciting the rhyme.

I found this to be the funniest and most entertaining book in the series this far.

Where’s Santa? Around the World

Where’s Santa? Around the World by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)
HB RRP $15.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-685-0
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Santa and Mrs Claus are going on holiday. As they travel they are shadowed by Naughty Nat and Mr Paws who want to swipe Santa’s list to add their names to the Nice list. As well as these four characters, there are plenty of other delights to find on each page in this entertaining look-and-find book. From the Great Wall of China, to the tombs in Egypt and the historic site of Stonehenge, the reader must search through humorously detailed illustrations to spot up to 600 different things.

This is a great book for school aged children and will even keep adults busy as well. Although not as hard as the Where’s Wally books, the pictures are teeming with interesting mini-scenes, interactions and some truly hilarious moments. I’ve always enjoyed Louis Shea’s sense of humour and this book is no exception. It would make a great addition to the Christmas books on the shelf and with the long days of summer holidays approaching, this book could come in handy.

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Mozzie

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Mozzie by P. Crumble, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $14.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-852-6
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

‘There was an old lady who swallowed a mozzie,

I don’t know why she swallowed that mozzie ...

She’s gotta be Aussie!’

This Australian slant on the classic rhyme There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly provides this very amusing tale. A tough old lady swallows all sorts of Australian animals from the humble mozzie up to the mighty croc! At which point something’s got to happen to make her stop.

As a fan of both Shea and Crumble, I haven’t always loved the books in this series, but this one is really enjoyable. Crumble’s rhyme is smooth and the rhythm works really well. This makes it fun and easy to read aloud.

Shea’s unique bold and bright illustrations, along with his trademark expressive animals, are humorous without the tinge of darkness which appear in some of the other books in this series.

This is my favourite book in the series and well worth a look. Check out how the old lady manages to catch the dingo and the croc.

Young children will have a lot of fun with this book.

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

The Bear Went Over the Mountain [with CD] by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $16.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-371-2
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Louis Shea is fast becoming one of my favourite illustrators of picture books inhabited by animals. And The Bear Went Over the Mountain is fantastic. Every page is filled with the most wonderfully expressive animals, from a yawning beaver, to a protective penguin, to a rhino intent on winning, to a very surprised salmon. The pictures are colourful, bold, detailed, confident and incredibly entertaining.

The text is an amusing take on the classic song by the same name and starts with the bear, but then has different animals continue in relay around the world’s settings. So the bear goes down from the mountains to see what is in the forest, then a fox goes from the forest to see what is on the beach, there the turtle goes to see what is in the ocean, and so on.

The MOTH flew through the storm

To see what he could see.

What do you think he saw?

CHAMELEONS in the jungle,

Their camouflage was a bungle!

Golly Gosh! Oh my! Oh me!

It was a sight to see.

Young children will love this picture book. There is so much to see in the illustrations and it’s fun to read aloud. But if you are asked to read it too many times, put on the accompanying CD and let Jay Laga’aia sing it for you. He performs the song really well and has a fabulous voice that most children will recognise as belonging to a favourite Play School presenter.

I highly recommend this book and CD.

There was an Old Bloke who Swallowed a Bunny!

There was an Old Bloke who Swallowed a Bunny! by P.Crumble, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $13.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-160-2
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

There was an Old Bloke Who Swallowed a Bunny! is the newest version of the classic rhyme There was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly. I like P. Crumble but this is not one of my favourites – in fact I found this farmyard version a little hard to swallow. The rhyme is awkward and the procession of animals does not quite make sense. Why does he swallow a duck to carry the mouse?

Louis Shea is a fabulous illustrator and I love his animals and their expressions. On the bunny page there are about thirty rabbits (and two tortoises) and each one is individual. The humour on the page is strong as well, but the pictures have a dark edge to them that may be a little frightening for the very young.

The words follow the convention of the original rhyme, and as always, the author adds a different mix of animals to keep each other company during their brief stay inside his ever growing stomach. 'There was an old bloke who swallowed a llama. The toothy fellow caused quite a drama.'

This is a fun book and many children will enjoy the silliness of events. See if you can find the worm the illustrator has hidden in every picture.

We’re Going on a Croc Hunt

We’re Going on a Croc Hunt by Laine Mitchell, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)
HB RRP $19.99
ISBN 978-1-74283– 248-7
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

We’re Going on a Croc Hunt is a reinvention of a familiar catchy rhyme and has a strong Australian flavour.


The rhythmic refrain:

                                              We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. 
                                                      We’ll have to go through it!

is unaltered, but the obstacles have been cleverly changed to reflect the Australian landscape. Waterholes, hot trickly sand, and spiky brown scrub now bar the way for the adventurous heroes.

I love Louis Shea’s bright, bold and comic style of illustration. He has a talent for animals – these are so full of expression and character that you feel you know them already as the string of six brave friends set off in search of a croc. They take turns to the lead and as they travel further into the adventure, some of the friends drop off, unable to get through an obstacle.

There is so much to look at in the illustrations. What happens on the periphery of the action is fun too. Yabbies are nipping at the devil’s toes, lizards are frying insects on a hot rock in the desert and I love the luminescent frogs in the swamp. The stunned expression on the face of a firefly as a fat frog sleepily shoots out his tongue and wraps it around the poor insects body is fabulous. And all the time the heroes are going ‘sneaky, sneak, sneaky, sneak’ through the dark, spooky swamp.
The last line of the story is a wonderful surprise.

Play the included CD and sing along with children’s entertainer Jay Laga’aia, in a humorous and lively version of this well-known song. This can be read, re-read, chanted, acted out and listened to over and over again. For pre-school aged children.

 

There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Star

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Star by P. Crumble, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $14.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-330-9
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

‘There was an old lady who swallowed a star.’
Now if you think that’s bizarre, read on as she polishes of larger and larger items including an elf, fairy lights, and eventually, Santa Claus himself!

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly has captured the imagination of children for decades and I’m sure some adults can still recite this whole poem. Such a silly and humorous premise with an easy and familiar rhythm has spawned many picture book variations. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Star is a Christmas version.

Unfortunately the rhythm doesn’t quite work for me after the first two layers of the poem. It is uneven and awkward, hard to read aloud. I have read and enjoyed many other P. Crumble books, but the text in this one doesn’t flow.

The illustrations by Louis Shea are intense, and at times a shade on the scary side, but this is not a book for pre-schoolers and should be engrossing for primary students. I imagine they will respond with humour, rather than anxiety to images such as the elf who hides fearfully behind the table just before he is swallowed by the old lady.

And the detail in the illustrations is great. On the first page the old lady sits up in bed yawning, which is when the star drops into her mouth. On the wall is a framed photo of the old man and his chook from a previous book by this author and illustrator There Was an Old Man Who Swallowed a Chook. There are two cheeky mice that can be found on most pages doing something naughty. And I love the spines on the books in the book case: Captain Corelli’s Mandarin, Oliver Twisty, Pride and Prune Juice and many, many more.

It will catch the eye of children between the ages of 7 and 12 with its lenticular moving image cover. As you tilt the book in different directions, the Old Lady climbs to the top of the Christmas tree to eat the star. It will appeal to their sense of humour and the detail in the illustrations will entertain.

This is an enjoyable book, just don’t expect it to be an easy read aloud for pre-school children.