Paint with Magic

Paint with Magic by Sandi Wooton, illustrated by Pat Kan (Big Sky Publishing) HB RRP ISBN 9781922265180

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

This is a clever picture book which would be ideal for the classroom as it teaches the readers which creatures live in and near the ocean. 

Told in rhyming verse ideal for reading aloud, it starts with a child indoors on a cold, rainy day who decides to paint an octopus. 

The octopus then dictates other creatures to be painted in the sea such as fish, whale, dolphin, squid. The magic begins with the addition of starfish, crabs, urchin and shells. But suddenly there’s a shark! What will happen next?

This is a fast-paced, exciting book which is sure to be a hit with readers aged three to six years. The illustrations in watercolour are bright and attractive with the artist declaring towards the end of the book, ‘It’s my best work, my best painting ever!’ 

Next there’s a clean sheet of paper so the young artist gets to work on a new painting. To find out what it begins with, you need to grab Paint with Magic and read it all the way through!

Tommy Bell, Bushranger Book: Shoot-Out at the Rock & The Horse Thief

Tommy Bell, Bushranger Book: Shoot-Out at the Rock & The Horse Thief by Jane Smith, illustrated by Pat Kan (Big Sky Publishing)   PB RRP $14.99                                                                                                                              ISBN 9781925275940 & 9781925520064

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Here are two chapter books in the Tommy Bell series where readers can enjoy fast-paced fictional adventures with real bushrangers. In Shoot-Out at the Rock, Tommy is sent to Grandpa’s farm after getting into trouble at school near Uralla. There Grandpa gives him a horse called Combo to use. Together, horse and riding explore a cave: it is here that Tommy finds a bushranger’s cabbage-tree’ hat. Grandpa tells Tommy about a bushranger called Captain Thunderbolt who roamed around Uralla in the 1860s on his horse also called Combo. Thereafter Tommy is transported back in time to find himself involved with Fred Ward who bails up a coach. This turns out to be Captain Thunderbolt himself.

In the rest of the story, author Jane Smith interweaves Tommy’s journey with his family and Combo to a dressage event, with unpredictable ventures in 1850s Victorian goldfields. At the conclusion of this adventure story, there is an historical note about Thunderbolt as well as a question and answer section.

In The Horse Thief, Tommy again finds himself in trouble at school with a new friend. It transpires that Francis is less trouble than the bushranger Tommy meets while wearing his bushranger’s hat which once again takes him back to the gold rush days. Continuing his time-travel adventures, Tommy finds himself involved in a horse robbery, a police chase and a prison escape. This time he is involved, too, with another bushranger -- Francis Christie, a skilled horse rider whose alias is familiar to Australian history buffs – Frank Gardiner.

For readers who like historical facts, there are footnotes again in this book which tell more about Gardiner and his life. The writing in both books is clear and fast-paced while the illustrations that highlight aspects of the narration are stark and simple, with thick black lines reminiscent of wood-cut prints.

These books would suit readers, particularly boys, aged 9 to 12 years.

There’s a Magpie in My Soup

There’s a Magpie in My Soup by Sean Farrar, illustrated by Pat Kan (Big Sky Publishing) HB RRP $24.99 PB RRP $14.99

ISBN: HB 978-1-925275-67-4

           PB 978-1-925275-68-1

Reviewed by Anita Howard

This is a book of nonsense and anticipation that children will enjoy, filled with Australian animals in unexpected places such as a snake in a cake and a cockatoo in a loo.

The format for the book is two full spread pages, with the initial page introducing the animal and object and the following page a reaction between animal and object. These pairs are separated by an individual full spread page of text and illustration.

There are delightful rhyming phrases that children will enjoy repeating and I can imagine action accompanying the text.

The illustrative style of wash and quick, expressive pen work delightfully adds to the mischievousness of the text.

Tommy Bell Bushranger Boy - Shoot-out at the Rock

Tommy Bell Bushranger Boy - Shoot-out at the Rock by Jane Smith, illustrated by Pat Kan (Big Sky Publishing) PB RRP $14.99 ISBN 978-1-925275-94-0

Reviewed by Anita Howard

This is an enjoyable story about the history of Australian bushrangers that will spark the interest of children aged 7 years and up.

The story begins with a disengaged Tommy who has failed his history test; he is kept in over lunch to read a boring history book, and misses his chance to buy a special donut. When Tommy notices a boy eating his desired donut, he kicks him and steals the donut, then he runs away from school. His distressed parents announce he will spend the whole of his upcoming school holidays working on his grandparents’ farm. This is not how Tommy had planned on spending his holidays.

Farm life is not as tough as he expects and he is provided with Combo, a horse, for the duration of his stay. The discovery of a cave and an old bushranger’s hat during one of his rides is the pivotal event that sends Tommy from the contemporary farm life into the life and times of Captain Thunderbolt, an Australian bushranger.

This section is fast-paced, as Tommy appears at moments such as a shooting between police and the bushrangers.Tommy’s first-hand experiences in Captain Thunderbolt’s world soon changes his attitude to stealing, violence; and history.

This is the first of a series of books, where Tommy, with the help of the old hat, travels back to the world of the Australian bushrangers.

Sprinkled with bold illustrations, and concluded with historic notes about Captain Thunderbolt, the story is followed by a fictional interview with Captain Thunderbolt.