About Face

About Face by Robert Moore, illustrated by Monkeystack (IPKidz) 

PB RRP $26.00
ISBN 9781921869129       
Reviewed by Margaret Warner

The bold cover of About Face invites young readers into this humorous story in which each of the facial features becomes an independent character. Nose even has a bandaid across the bridge and mouth has a missing tooth, just like the children who will enjoy this book. Each eye and ear, the nose and mouth all work together using their different functions in a surreptitious adventure to make raspberry pies while having fun dancing to lively music.

The vibrant colours of the illustrations against the darker background will immediately capture a child’s interest and be a source of discussion. The text stands out boldly, printed in white against the dark blue background of each page, making it easy for a young reader to follow the words. In the final pages, the child who has dreamed of the fun adventure wakes up to the reality of an earache, a runny nose, watery eyes and cracked lips.

Young children will enjoy having this book read to them or reading it themselves and will have a giggle at the characters up to mischief. The book could be complemented with songs and rhymes about the face and body and be a useful resource in a unit of work on the senses.

Tiger Tames the Min Min

Tiger Tames the Min Min by David Reiter, illustrations by Chris Green and Monkeystack (IP Kidz)

PB RRP $16.95, eBook $9.95

ISBN 9781921479748

Reviewed by Margaret Warner

This is the third entertaining book in the Project Earth-Mend series. Once again Tiger the Cat, Wanda the blue-tongue lizard and Syd the crow join with the extra terrestrial, Tark from Planet Griffon who can shape change but usually takes the form of a frog, in their quest to save the Earth from The Great Danger. Along the way, the band of eco warriors is joined by a camel named Number 12, who has decided that his racing days are over.

Number 12 leads the group to central Australia to spread the word about how to save planet Earth and to search for the mysterious Min Min lights. They also have to seek out the influential but elusive Kangaroo who has the power to enlist other native animals in the campaign. While on their important mission, the little group is confronted by Mick, another extra terrestrial from the distant Planet Abell 2218, who is on his own secret and highly questionable mission on Earth.

The underlying messages about sustainability and saving the planet are artfully integrated into an entertaining sci-fi storyline with a hint of suspense. The humour is quirky and contemporary and often quite sophisticated and will really appeal to readers who ‘get it’, for example when they make contact with sand monitors in the desert…the geeky monitor who was already so good at YouTube that he had uplpoaded a short film about water conservation and collecting bush tucker in the desert that quickly became a best seller and was aired in the Birdsville Cinemaplex instead of the popcorn and soft drink ads for a week, shortly after achieves celebrity status when the film was seen by a film producer.

There are a number of references to people and events that may go ‘over the head’ of some readers but that won’t detract from the overall storyline or intended humour. Readers who loved the first two books in the Project Earth-Mend series will love this one too, which is suitable for upper primary readers.