Audrey Skips

Audrey Skips by Andrea Rowe, illustrated by Lisa Coutts (MidnightSun Publishing) HB RRP $29.99 ISBN: 9781922858719

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

Audrey, The Skipping Girl, warms the hearts of Melburnians every night, as her ‘hot peppered feet’ skitter across the roofs and straight into children’s dreams. She tries to cheer the adults when financial hardships bite, but her ‘bright glow dims’ and her memory is ‘lost to an inky sky’. However, the city misses Audrey’s dazzling happiness. People rally together to restore Audrey’s sparkle, and soon she is skipping over the skyline once more.

Based on the real-life story of The Skipping Girl, a historic animated neon sign in Melbourne, Audrey Skips leaps lyrically across the page and lifts spirits with every rope twirl. Andrea Rowe uses lightly rhyming text to reflect the reassuring rhythm of Audrey’s springs, with evocative phrasing that grips the soul. Kids aged four and older are sure to smile when they see what can be achieved when community and conservation come together.

Lisa Coutts makes the most of mixed media to construct a remarkable realm through which Audrey moves with ease. Audrey’s radiant reach stretches across emerald cupolas and into periwinkle rooms, where worry suddenly drains colour from the scenes. It’s only when hope sparks that flashes of red – reminiscent of Audrey’s renowned dress – begin to pop up in the illustrations, a visual clue to the story’s joyful ending.

A touching love letter to a treasured landmark, Audrey Skips is not just for Melburnians. It’s for anyone who seeks light in the dark, and the comfort of tradition in an ever-changing world.

Windy Washing Day

Windy Washing Day by Yvonne Low, illustrated by Kate Talbot (MidnightSun Publishing 2025) HB RRP $29.99 ISBN: 9781922858672 

Reviewed by Sylvia Forbes

It's a dry, sunny day and perfect for hanging out the laundry.

But what happens when an unexpected wind pulls the washing off the line and carries it next door - to the zoo!

Will the animals give up their newfound clothes, and can all the washing be returned safely?

Yvonne Low's Windy Washing Day is a delightfully absurd and energetic tale about a gust of wind, snapping pegs, and washing that goes astray! It has been written in a fun-to-read-out-loud rhyming text and has a constantly shifting (dancing) rhythm - with an occasionally off-kilter metre - which made me imagine that it too had got swept up into the wind! 

The responsible and concerned young child (the narrator of this story) who valiantly goes after Mum's washing, is like a little (unsung) hero. This child, along with the family dog, makes use of some towels caught in a puff of wind and parachute over the fence into the zoo in pursuit of the washing - determined to recover and return it back home. No matter what.

The animals delight in the 'runaway' washing and preen and parade about in their new attire. However, when more animals arrive to find that they've missed out - because there aren't enough items to go around - a tug-of-war begins!

The animals were chasing one another high and low.

There was trouble, there was chaos, there was nowhere safe to go. 

Then just as the retrieval of the washing seems doomed, the young child, with the help of Wise Monkey, Pelican and Toucan, return the washing home again. 

I must admit to giggling at the part where mum discovers her completely dishevelled washing and the poor old family dog takes the blame - all because of her 'guilty' expression! 

(It reminded me of a dog I once knew - who assumed this look of guilt whenever anything went wrong in the household - guilty or not!)  

Kate Talbot's bright and lively illustrations, bounce along with the text. Kids will adore seeing the hilarious assortment of animals trying on and scrapping over the washing items. 

The end papers are gorgeous. Lush jungle-like settings with the eyes of various animals peeping out through the foliage - which children will enjoy pointing out and identifying.

This entertaining and adventuresome picture book neatly concludes with some sage advice for future windy washing days! Suitable for children aged 3 – 8 years.

 

Windy Washing Day

Windy Washing Day by Yvonne Low, illustrated by Kate Talbot (MidnightSun Publishing) HB RRP $29.99 ISBN: 9781922858672

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

On a hot, dry day, a child and their mum decide to hang out a load of washing. Then a mighty breeze springs up. It rips the clothes off the line and sends them flying to the zoo next door. Excited animals grab the garments: ‘Seal slipped on a singlet … Camel took Dad’s cap … Mum’s nighty suited Fox.’ But there aren’t enough pieces for every animal, so they begin to fight. The child tries to ‘calm things down’, but it’s Monkey who gathers the washing and gives it to Toucan and Pelican to carry back home in their beaks. The child knows that next time they’ll ‘double up the pegs’.

Told in rhyming couplets, Yvonne Low’s hilarious story swoops from the familiar to the fantastic in two shakes of a toucan’s tail. Four- to eight-year-olds will adore the animals wrapped in human attire, especially the birds adorned with the family’s ‘multi-coloured undies’. Amid the wacky antics, littlies will discover that helping out with household tasks can be a blast.

Strong colours surge from Kate Talbot’s playful illustrations and sweep readers through the striking spreads. Her characterisation of the protagonist as androgynous allows each child to see themselves in the story, and the animals are bursting with quirky personalities. The endpapers are particularly eye-catching – kids will love to search for creatures concealed in the greenery.

Windy Washing Day is a wildly whimsical picture book that will blow youngsters’ socks off. Witty words are paired with happy hues and folded into a basketful of good clean fun.

Where Shall We Travel Today?

Where Shall We Travel Today? by Kristen Martin, illustrated by Nicky Johnson (MidnightSun Publishing 2025) HB RRP $29.99 ISBN 9781922858542

Reviewed by Sylvia Forbes

I love a book that celebrates the power of the imagination. And this gorgeous picture book delivers in bucketloads - both textually and visually.

It's the Summer holidays and there is a sense of eagerness and anticipation in the air as seven young neighbourhood friends gather to play. I get a feeling that this is a regular thing for these kids - and I can’t help but imagine them rushing to finish their breakfast so that they can get out the door to join their friends and let the adventures begin.

 Kristen Martin's spotless rhyming text with its consistent rhythm is a dream to read out loud. Her lyrical language evokes excitement and enthusiasm as these kids’ imaginations (and feet) run wild and free. And, as the reader, it is easy to suspend reality and go happily on the journey with them as they travel around the world and still manage to make it home in time for bed.

Nicky Johnson's whimsical and expressive illustrations work in equal measure with the text. Bringing a carefree, emotive quality which not only complements - but supports the text perfectly.

From the very start we are introduced to a neighbourhood that feels familiar, comforting and safe. The kids are dressed in their favourite play clothes and there is an overarching feeling that this a close-knit community. The gentle colour palette and warm sun-lit tones she uses gives an essentially Australian look and feel - It's almost as if she stepped outside on a mid-summer’s day, grabbed a large gulp of sunshine then breathed it out into her paint pots. 

The end papers, with their soft twilight tones of lilacs and pinks and faint dusting of distant stars, and the children seen in semi silhouette gazing out into the vast skyscape, represents so perfectly the imagination - which also has no bounds.

And it would be remiss of me not to add, how much I appreciate the harmony that exists between this bunch of kids -- as seen on their constantly beaming faces -- and in the ways they relate to and support one another. It would be quite reasonable to have at least one fractious child within a group of seven, but there is not a cross face or meanspirited moment to be found amongst them - and I think this is a lovely creative choice - one that enriches the overall heartwarming nature of this book.

We clamber up Mount Everest, up walls of rock and snow ...

Then stand on top of all the world and wave to Mum below.

I adore here how the children -- so deeply invested in the imaginal world they have created - still include mum at her washing line. It represents so accurately the way kids’ imaginations work - where both worlds exist at the same time. This blurring of lines between what is real and what is imagined, continues throughout. You see where the kids are in their imaginations -- swinging like monkeys in the Amazon Jungle -- and sailing beneath Niagara Falls (this double page spread with the cascading water is sensational).

Then you see where they really are - and what it is around them that is stimulating their imaginations - swinging on monkey bars - and piled on a billy cart being pulled through sprinklers.

Imagination is one of our greatest resources - It's like having our own special superpower -- we can dream, wonder, create and invent with it. And it doesn't matter what we look like, or where we live, or what clothes we wear -- the ability to imagine is available to all of us.

Where Shall we Travel Today? is a delightful and gentle story that highlights the effortless joy that is experienced during imaginative creative play. It is also a feel-good tale that is full of heart and camaraderie amongst a diverse group of friends.

This is a beautiful and uplifting book that will keep young imaginations active and inspired.

Highly recommended for children aged 3+ years.

 

 

 

 

 

True South

True South by Gisela Ervin-Ward. MidnightSun Publishing 2025. Middle-Grade paperback, also available as an e-book. RRP $19.99. ISBN 9781922858597. Distributed by NewSouth Books.

Reviewed by Debra Williams

When 12-year-old Nell South-Nicholas crashes her sailboat into a submerged house in the local lake, she stumbles into a treasure hunt, resulting in her embroiled in a generations-old family feud. Set in rural Victoria during a drought, age-old family secrets are set to emerge and boil over.

Nell and her best friend Gemma are the captain and crew of Nell’s small boat and regularly race together. So do the girls’ mothers, who are also best friends. The South-Nicholas family are steeped in well-to-do history, the daughters of the family attending St. Helen’s private boarding school. Nell is slated to attend as well, but is reluctant to leave Gemma, her parents, her grandma and her local school. The family is no longer well off. Concerned that they cannot afford the boarding school fees, she throws an entrance exam to try and get out of it.

Charlie Douglas, on the other hand, is from the neighbouring property and doesn’t associate with the South-Nicholas family. Nor does her mean older brother (who is nicknamed Streak), or their angry father. Charlie and Streak’s mother works away as a FIFO, so Charlie and Streak are basically the household managers. For generations, the South-Nicholas family and the Douglas family have remained at odds with each other, and the kids don’t know why; simply that it is frowned upon if they associate with each other. However, after Nell discovers the submerged house, and Charlie uncovers a hand-written note between the pages of an old family Bible, two family histories are revealed through a series of investigations and discoveries. There appears to have been a treasure hidden in the old submerged house before it sank under the waters. Nell and Charlie agree to search for it, whatever it is. The two girls uncover truths about the old feud, which relates to property issues, flooding and the creation of the lake. Nell’s late grandfather was at the head of the land dispute. As the adults become involved anew, can things ever be resolved?

This is a story of girl friendship and rivalry. Gemma becomes distant as Nell spends more time with Charlie to uncover the truth. She appears to be jealous of their burgeoning friendship. Much deeper down, it is a story of family rivalry, jealousy and one family feeling cheated by another. The discovery of the treasure may not be what Nell and the others envisaged, but it has a deeper connection and meaning. Nell eventually reconciles herself to the fact that she will move away to boarding school, and begins to look forward to it, especially after winning a writing prize which results in a scholarship.

There is quite a lot about boating and racing, property boundaries, issues and proper compensation. It is an engaging story of mystery, loyalty and moving forward. 

City Knife: Book 3 of The Burning Days

City Knife: Book 3 of The Burning Days by Rachel Hennessy (MidnightSun Publishing). PB RRP $19.99 ISBN: 9781925227970

Reviewed by Kerry Gittins

Block out the blood. Remember. Think. I am still here . . . I must hold on. My name was Rath. This I remember.

Rath had long ago taken his sons Bayat and Oyan to a safe place outside the city when he found out the truth behind his wife’s experiments. Kalina was ruthlessly kidnapping the homeless and using them as test subjects to carry out ideations of the virus she hoped would turn them into some kind of hybrid being that had the heightened senses, awareness, and strength of a cougar-like animal, whilst retaining human emotional capabilities and understanding.

Fast forward to the present where Rath has been infected with the virus by one of the ‘chimera’ or ‘ferals’ as the creatures are called and is struggling to retain his own humanity.

The chimera had eventually broken free from Kalina’s laboratory and infected almost the entire city with the virus. Those who had managed to flee and secretly returned to find a cure, realised they were not safe, for the cure was short-lived and the chimera were now creeping ever closer. The River, Mountain and Desert Peoples sought to protect themselves by barricading their villages, but Bayat knew this would not work. Now a grown man, he had seen friends consumed by the virus and die at the hands of the chimera. Bayat and Pandora, the River girl he has come to love, undertake a final journey to the city to find the last of the precious cure ZarVex for their friend Emmaline, in the hope that a high enough dose will kill the virus in her. Bayat is determined that any chimera encountered will be killed on sight. But Pandora, whose visions have both haunted and guided her, has looked into the eyes of the chimera, and seen an empathy others have not. Will they be able to save Emmaline? Will Pandora be able to convince Bayat and the other villagers that there is a way both chimera and humans can survive? Or will all hope for the future be lost?

Set in a post-modern, pandemic inflicted, dystopian world that has collapsed into ruin due to environmental degradation, mismanagement of resources and medical autocracy, City Knife reveals the secrets and truths of those who created the chimera, and the strength and determination of those who came after. This is an intricate and intriguing story of despair and hope, love and loss, and hatred and empathy, told through a series of character driven, interwoven, individual chapters. It is a timely reminder that whatever our future holds, we need to be ready for its challenges and to keep hope alive, no matter how fragile it seems, so that humankind and life on earth, will endure. City Knife will have you on the edge of your seat from the opening lines to the very last pages.

Teaching themes could include dystopian futures, pandemics, environmental issues, medical ethics, family, survival, and relationships.  

Highly recommended for ages 12+ years.

Alice’s Shoe

Alice’s Shoe by Julie Thorndyke, illustrated by Jennifer Harrison (MidnightSun Publishing) HB RRP $29.99 ISBN 9781922858139

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

The cover of this hardback picture book is simply stunning! In what seems to be a delicately and beautifully computer-generated illustration, it shows a girl about five years of age with long brown hair (and ribbon), dressed in lovely blue frock and with bare feet. She is sitting on a rock with a pair of brown boots nearby, and with a background of eucalyptus trees. The fly pages are similarly stunning with a dedication from the author offering love and hope to all children everywhere who live with deafblindness.

This is a non-fiction book for readers aged 6+ years about a real-life girl, Alice Betteridge who, born in 1901, was the first deafblind person in Australia to be educated. (Alice has been described as our version of the famous American, Helen Keller). 

Like the illustrations, the written text is of a high quality as it relates Alice’s story from when she is an infant who dislikes wearing shoes, preferring to be barefooted. Diagnosed with deaf blindness at the Sydney Deaf and Blind School at Darlinghurst, Alice's parents are asked for her to be returned when she is five years old.

The deafblind Alice's experience of her environment is sensitively captured by Thorndyke, as the small child negotiates texture, warmth and coolness, and vibrations (such as the vibrations of the pipe organ and the shudder of wooden pews as people stand to sing in church). 

Finally at school, Alice meets her teacher, Miss Roberta Reid, who repetitively uses the deafblind alphabet with her hand and fingers. It takes many attempts before success comes, with Miss Reid continuously spelling out S-H-O-E (which Alice still eschews time and again). ‘Alice suddenly knew. She clutched the leather of her hated shoe. She made the finger signs on her own palm. She repeated it on Miss Reid’s hand.’ Finally, she can put a name to an object, which most certainly means that she could then learn to sign many more words.

MidnightSun Publishing, the author and illustrator of Alice’s Shoe should be proud of this outstanding book which is highly recommended for young readers.

 

 

 

Satin

Satin by Sophie Masson, illustrated by Lorena Carrington (MidnightSun Publishing) HB RRP $29.99 ISBN: 9781922858016 

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

In the early hours of each morning, Satin strolls alone along the sleepy streets in search of blue pieces. He carries them back to the forest, where he is making a ‘beautiful thing’. But something is missing. One day, he hears a child say that their mother is ‘feeling blue’. Satin knows what she needs: ‘the best blue he’s found that day’. Satin chooses to secretly share his blue pieces – his joy – with the townspeople. At the very last house, a young woman ‘with blue in her hair and blue at her throat’ invites him inside. Now he no longer must look for blue on his own.

Inspired by the satin bowerbird, Sophie Masson’s mesmerising fable is infused with melancholy. Sibilant alliteration snakes across the pages as Satin silently seeks a life without loneliness. Children aged four and older will empathise with Satin’s longing for love and emerge from the story with a steadfast belief in the power of sharing to strengthen connection.

Exuding sapphire and shadow, Lorena Carrington’s illustrations serve as a moody backdrop to Sophie’s wistful words. Satin is shown in silhouette, which heightens the heartache of his solitude. Only when the protagonist begins to bestow his blue upon others does Lorena lighten the ambience with pinks, yellows, and greens – it is the dawn of a new life for Satin.

Quiet yet compelling, Satin is a soulful sojourn in a thought-provoking world. It offers new insights with each reading – from the meaning of ‘blue’ to the significance of society – and is an ode to our profound desire for love. 

The Plastic Throne

The Plastic Throne by Amani Uduman, illustrated by Kera Bruton (MidnightSun Publishing) HB RRP $24.99 ISBN 9781925227802

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

When young Denver flushes his unwanted broccoli down the toilet, it provokes a grand idea…. Why doesn’t he flush EVERYTHING he doesn’t want down the toilet? And, so he does! All is well until his wise sister informs him of what happens to the items he flushes. That night, after he goes to bed, the ocean transforms into comical chaos. Feeling terrible, Denver sets out to rectify the situation: however, his new idea may possibly be worse than the one before.

The lively illustrations appear on single and double-page spreads and offer plenty of detail to keep a young audience occupied. The ‘rubber chicken’ endpapers are a highlight.

The Plastic Throne is a playful narrative about an important issue. The humorous approach will engage readers while highlighting the need to care for our natural environment. This picture book is suited to children aged 5 years and older.

Mamma Ocean

Mamma Ocean by Jane Jolly and Sally Heinrick, (Midnight Sun Publishing), September, 2020, HB RRP $29.99

ISBN: 9781925227659

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

Mama Ocean is a picture book that gives a voice, and a heart and soul to the ocean. Mama Ocean is a character with great sparkling beauty. She rules her world but is powerless to outside forces. Her children bestow gifts to Mama but these only cause Mama sadness and distress. For Mama is the lungs of the ocean and her tears are our tears, for her gifts are rubbish.

 

Jane Jolly’s poetic writing has such an emotive pull with its evocative simplicity, strong verbs and alliteration, for example, ‘The creatures stared at her. Distressed.’ Her words sweep and swirl just like the ocean’s currents and the short sentences have punch and panache. The creatures of the ocean are Mama’s children. Their gifts to Mamma to make her well are found in the swirling, bobbing ocean currents. When this doesn’t work, the children must use their own powers to save Mamma Ocean. Jane Jolly’s writing empowers the reader to think.

Sally Heinrich’s swirling lines, patterning and colour choices create a mesmerising visual narrative that enchants. She creates lots of movement, uses fine detail with her linework and captures the reader with her characterisation. The wordless double page spread is a powerful visual environmental message as the spread of the rubbish is laid out bare for all to see. Heinrich’s illustrations are a perfect fit for Jolly’s words. The watercolours of blues and greens with pops of colour for the sea creatures give the story a mythical appeal that showcases the ocean and its creatures and as the rubbish builds up the water darkens, and Mama suffocates.

Mama Ocean is a picture book that has been created by the same team that created One Step at a Time, a CBCA Honour Book, and Pappa Sky, a CBCA notable book. This is a dynamic combination of master storytellers. Mama Ocean is a stunning book that’s suitable for children in primary school from Kindergarten to Year 6. It fits beautifully into the school curriculum

Kaye's New Books

THE FRIENDLY GAMES

Author: Kaye Baillie

Illustrator: Fiona Burrows

Publisher: MidnightSun

Release Date: 1 June 2020

John Ian Wing couldn't be more excited about the upcoming Melbourne Olympic Games. It's 1956 and from his parents' Bourke Street restaurant, John swells with pride watching the hive of activity as the city prepares to welcome its guests. But when world tensions threaten to overshadow the good nature of the Games, John knows he must do something to remind everyone of the meaning of friendship and peace. Based on a true story, The Friendly Games is a fascinating tale of one boy's role in one of Australia's most significant sporting events.
Published by MidnightSun Publishing, Australia

BOO LOVES BOOKS

Author: Kaye Baillie

Illustrator: Tracie Grimwood

Publisher: New Frontier Publishing

Release Date: 1 May 2020 Australia/UK/New Zealand

US Release Date: 1 October 2020

Some dogs are shy and anxious and so are some children. Can Boo and Phoebe turn their fears into a positive experience? A charming story of friendship between a shy little girl and a huge, gentle rescue dog.

Cryptosight

Cryptosight by Nean McKenzie (MidnightSun Publishing), ISBN 9781925227536 RRP $17.99

Reviewed by Claire Stuckey

Cryptosight is a special telepathic power to hear or see creatures that may or may not exist. Set in the Flinders Ranges, this Australian mystery adventure commences with Rafferty and Zara on a training session to test not only their survival skills but their understanding of the world of Cryptozoology. With their father missing and their mother acting suspiciously, the siblings embark on a quest to find their father with help from strangers and other cryptozoologists. Travelling across the state the siblings contend with three suspicious men also out to find their father and the unknown creatures. 

Each sibling is different: Raff is practical while free-spirited Zara embraces the unknown. As the enthralling adventure develops, we discover that each has special skills. They discover a grandfather who cares for them and how to rely on and trust each other.

Cryptosight is an enjoyable mystery adventure with mild fantasy overtones in a great Australian setting. The ancient mysteries of hidden creatures make an enthralling basis for the action-packed adventures of the siblings. With determined yet vulnerable young people as the principal characters I think that ages 8-12 years will enjoy this fast-paced story.  

A Cardboard Palace

A Cardboard Palace written by Allayne L. Webster, (MidnightSun Publishing)   PB RRP$17.99   ISBN 9781925227253

Reviewed by Stefan Nicholson

The romantic, bohemian city of Paris is the setting for Allayne Webster’s new novel. Many Paris tourist landmarks are described in great detail during the course of the story, which adds to the authenticity of the author’s research.

The story is centred around a migrant shanty town on the outskirts of the city that is threatened with demolition. The poverty and hopelessness of its residents is shown through the lives of the homeless children who are forced into criminal activity by greedy opportunists and desperate parents.

The first chapter immediately introduces one of these children, Jorge, and his English criminal minder Bill who takes on the modern equivalent of a cruel Fagan.

The story follows Jorge’s struggle with Bill’s manipulation of his army of child thieves.  There is a secondary story surrounding Jorge’s love for Ada who is being forced to marry at the age of 10, accepted by the camp culture. Some of his friends die due to sickness and accident. Jorge realises some relief from his hopelessness in the guise of Australian chef Sticky Ricky who mentors him and the empowerment of his fellow companions as they rise to fight for a better life. The battle then is between the survival of Jorge and the defeat of Bill.

The first chapter is written in past tense to rapidly show the mechanism of the petty theft used by the team on a typical day.

From the second chapter on, the story is written in the present tense through the eyes of Jorge, to create a film-like effect. This is an interesting approach because the present tense allows the story to flow with the immediacy of sequential events, adding to the characterisation of Jorge.  We are there with Jorge as events unfold which makes the climax more intense and satisfying. It does however include expanded descriptions to the story line and the general element of suspense is somewhat diminished because we only see what Jorge sees and not what is happening elsewhere.

This story will be enjoyed by the intended middle-school audience, no doubt with some lively class discussions on the social issues it raises and the way it was written.

First Person Shooter

First Person Shooter by Cameron Raynes (MidnightSun Publishing) PB RRP $24.99, also available as an ebook   ISBN 978 1925227079                         

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

This is MidnightSun Publishing’s first foray into cross-over fiction, described by Books+Publishing as ‘a slice of Australian Gothic’, with comparisons made to the works of Craig Silvey, Tim Winton and John Marsden, all of which must be encouraging for first time novelist Raynes.

First Person Shooter is told in first person by an interesting and likeable teenager, Jayden, who stutters, an affliction which causes him much embarrassment, to speak infrequently, and to become a keen listener and observer. Jayden lives with his dad and his aged dog, Charlie; he’s addicted to Xbox games, is a hard worker on his family orchard, and has a part-time job in a butcher’s. His best friend is the fatherless Shannon, whose mum Madeleine is in prison as a result of murdering her former partner, Terry.

This is a novel that strongly features a wide range of men from the feral and criminal to the average bloke. There is nothing pretentious or eccentric about the book’s characters as one often sees in current YA novels. Through Jayden’s intelligent eyes, Raynes writes about real characters one comes across in day-to-day life – characters you feel you might know, and some of them intimately. They are all strongly realised, even minor characters, like Jayden’s neighbour Nigel, an ex-bikie and Vietnam vet who is dying of liver failure, Roger the butcher with a lewd and suggestive mouth, Uncle Craig, a former soldier in Afghanistan and Dad’s brother. And then there’s Shannon, whose smile Jayden describes as ‘like a little bomb of goodness (that) has gone off inside her and everything about her glows.’

Told in sections, each representing a day of the week, and then six months later, the book concerns itself with maleness, soldiering, guns, butchering, bullying, assaults and more that imbues the story with a strong sense of testosterone-filled action. Caught with ammunition at school, Jayden is suspended. What follows is Madeleine’s released from prison and, at the same time, a local drug war. There is much suspense as the reader wonders if Madeleine’s sociopathic stepson will seek revenge for his father’s death.

This is an event-filled book which deals with many themes: death, family disintegration, friendship and loyalty, all happening in a small country town which is vividly realised. And, too, there are many memorable images created, for instance, a scene that perfectly captures the sheer terror Jayden experiences when he is asked to read in class (‘what I was going to say slouches off and dies somewhere inside me’) and ‘old memories, rubbed smooth by holding them too long in my head.’

Cameron Raynes and his publisher ought to feel pleased with this novel. It has a unique and compelling voice, one which isn’t often explored in YA literature. No doubt it will be short-listed for, or win awards.

One Step at a Time

One Step at a Time by Jane Jolly, illustrated by Sally Heinrich (MidnightSun Publishing)

HB RRP $27.99

ISBN 9780987380951

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

The cover of this picture book immediately grabs one’s attention as it is bold and attractive, showing that the artwork is obviously the result of print-making. Opening it, one is amused by the fly pages showing an elephant trudging across the page in line after line. The illustrator, Sally Heinrich, has been recognized through various fellowships and this book, the first picture book from an Australian publishing company which established in late 2014, is pictorially stunning.

Set in Thailand and based on fact, the story is of a boy, Luk, who is keeper of Mali an elephant; together they help Luk’s grandmother drag timber from the forest. However, disaster is moments away when Mali steps on a landmine and is downed. Saffron-robed monks from a temple chant ‘aged-old blessings’ on Mali and the small boy tends her. Happily, a practical solution is found to help the crippled elephant and all ends well.

The publisher claims this is a ‘ground-breaking story’ and portrayed in picture book form, it most likely is as it draws a child reader’s attention to the dreadful problem of more than 110 active mines scattered in over 70 countries around the world – a fact mentioned in a post-script.

That Jolly is a fine writer is evidenced by the fact she has won three CBCA Notable mentions for her picture books. This is a beautifully designed book with illustrations which are dramatic in parts and tender in others. The illustrator makes frequent use of border illustrations that are in keeping with the oriental feel of the book. Jolly and Heinrich and MidnightSun Publishing ought to be well-pleased with this special book for children aged 6 years and up.