I Love You

I Love You by Xiao Mao, illustrated by Tang Yun (New Frontier Publishing) HB RRP $24.99

ISBN 9781925059762

Reviewed by Rebecca Newman

Little Badger learns how to say ‘I love you’ in five other languages — Chinese, Italian, French, German and Spanish. She spends the rest of the day practising her new words by calling out to everything she loves in her world (including everyday objects and people).

The cheerful illustrations have an earthy palette and a folk-art feel.

I Love You has a very simple storyline with a dose of positive energy. By the time Little Badger gets a good night kiss from her mother you’ll certainly know how to say ‘I love you’ in five more languages, too!

Preschoolers will love learning a few words in another language. This would make a good addition to a themed picture book collection for Harmony Day.

About the reviewer: Rebecca Newman is a children’s writer and poet. When she’s not writing or reviewing, she is kept busy as the managing editor at Alphabet Soup’s website. rebeccanewman.net.au

Baby Band

Baby Band by Diane Jackson Hill, illustrated by Giuseppe Poli (New Frontier Publishing) HB RRP $24.99  ISBN 9781925059779

Reviewed by Rebecca Newman

When a new baby arrives in apartment 8A his crying annoys everyone on level 8. Then he discovers the joy of crashing together pots and pans. In their separate apartments each neighbour contributes their own sound to the baby’s pots-and-pans performance. The formerly reclusive neighbours finally fling open their doors and shimmy to the apartment block’s rooftop to play together in a makeshift band.

Poli’s delightful illustrations include musical quirks for the observant reader. (I particularly liked the treble clef in the street light’s frame, and the manuscript paper on the outside walls of the building.)

The endpapers give us the story in miniature — at the front we see the neighbours at a park, enjoying the day but not interacting with each other. At the end of the book the endpapers show the same park with the neighbours jamming together (including the noisy baby, pan in hand) and dancing.

Baby Band is great to read aloud.

About the reviewer: Rebecca Newman is a children’s writer and poet. When she’s not writing or reviewing, she is kept busy as the managing editor at Alphabet Soup’s website. rebeccanewman.net.au

How Many Dinosaurs Deep?

How Many Dinosaurs Deep? by Ben Kitchin, illustrated by Vicky Fieldhouse (New Frontier Publishing) HB RRP $24.99

ISBN 9781925059731

Reviewed by Rebecca Newman

Jim is ready to go swimming and has just graduated from the baby pool. He’s anxious about the depth of the middle-sized pool and asks his mother about it. His mum reassures him by explaining that the water would only be up to a Stegosaurus’s knee. While he watches other children in the pool (and works up the courage to go swimming himself) they chat about the depth of various bodies of water — the bath, the big pool, the water near a familiar jetty, the deepest water in all the world — compared to the different dinosaurs he knows. All this dinosaur talks puts Jim at ease and as he jumps into the pool he calls out, ‘It’s just Stegosaurus-knee-deep!’

Children who love dinosaurs will enjoy the bright illustrations showing the obliging dinosaurs stacked up in various water depths. This picture book is a wonderful springboard for discussions with young children about measurement, space, and resilience. And dinosaurs!

At the end of the book there’s an illustrated glossary with interesting facts about the dinosaurs shown in the book.

About the reviewer: Rebecca Newman is a children’s writer and poet. She is the editor of Alphabet Soup’s website and former editor of Alphabet Soup’s print magazine. rebeccanewman.net.au

Sage Cookson’s Fishy Surprise

Sage Cookson’s Fishy Surprise by Sally Murphy, illustrated by Celeste Hulme (New Frontier Publishing) PB RRP $9.99

ISBN 9781925059755

Reviewed by Rebecca Newman

Sage Cookson’s parents are television chefs and Sage goes with them whenever they travel to locations to film. Now the Cooksons are off to Crystal Bay in Queensland, and Sage is thrilled about bringing her best friend along.

Soon after they arrive their excitement is dampened when Sage thinks she’s seen Nancy. (Nancy had a run in with the Cooksons in an earlier book). Could Nancy be behind the hundreds of rotting fish on the beach? Is someone trying to sabotage the cooking show? Sage finds herself in hot water — as usual — when she tries to investigate on her own.

This is the third book in the Sage Cookson series of chapter books for early readers. The short chapters have occasional black and white illustrations. Each title in the series includes a themed recipe at the back of the book and this time the recipe is beer battered fish and chips. These books are sure to be popular with readers aged 7 and up, budding chefs, and young fans of cooking shows like MasterChef.

The series also has its own website www.sagecookson.com.au featuring sample chapters, more of Sage Cookson’s recipes, and activities related to the books.

About the reviewer: Rebecca Newman is a children’s writer and poet. She is the editor of Alphabet Soup’s website and former editor of Alphabet Soup’s print magazine. rebeccanewman.net.au

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast retold by Alex Field, illustrated by Helene Magisson (New Frontier Publishing) HB RRP $24.99

ISBN 9781925059809

Reviewed by Rebecca Newman

This is a retelling of the well-known fairytale in a picture book format. The text of the story is in large clear type with lots of white space. The pared back narrative occasionally feels more like a story summary than storytelling — however, this simpler format might enable younger readers to have a go at reading the story for themselves.

I’m already a fan of Helene Magisson’s work as an illustrator and her illustrations glow with fairytale magic. The use of birdcages and butterflies in the background to symbolise imprisonment and then freedom will delight the observant child reader. The end papers give an extra twist to this element.

Beauty and the Beast is just one title in the Happily Ever After series and will be in bookshops from 1 March 2017. This is a beautifully presented hardcover book.

About the reviewer: Rebecca Newman is a children’s writer and poet. She is the editor of Alphabet Soup’s website and former editor of Alphabet Soup’s print magazine. rebeccanewman.net.au

All I Want for Christmas is Rain

All I Want for Christmas is Rain by Cori Brooke, illustrated by Megan Forward.  (New Frontier Publishing) PB RRP: $24.99 ISBN 9781925059717

Reviewed by Rebecca Newman

In this picture book for young readers, drought threatens a family’s outback farm and Jane decides to travel by train to town to ask Santa to bring rain for Christmas.

The story is told through rhyming text and the rhythm has occasional hiccups, but the story itself is simple and enjoyable.

Megan Forward’s illustrations are the highlight of the book — starting with the endpapers at the opening of the book where we have a hint of the drought with swirling brown. The artwork greatly assists in the storytelling, echoing the heat of an outback summer and drawing the reader through to the end of the book with the arrival of Christmas rain (thank you, Santa!). The  endpapers at the end of the book have a greenish tinge as a hint to what will come.

All I want for Christmas is rain would be a great book as a starting point when discussing children’s experiences of Christmas in urban and outback Australia, and in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Night before Christmas

The Night before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore, illustrated by Helene Magisson,  (New Frontier Publishing) PB RRP: $24.99 ISBN 9781925059700

Reviewed by Rebecca Newman

This picture book features the text of the famous poem with illustrations by Helen Magisson. The text will be familiar to many adults and is easy and satisfying to read aloud.

Magisson’s illustrations have that special Christmas glow, with the colours of a traditional northern-hemisphere winter — candy cane reds, aqua-white snow, and a liberal sprinkling of snowflake dots over everything outdoors. There are illustrative details in the bottom corners of many of the pages to reward the attentive young reader. (I like the wind-up ballerina, and the household cat chasing a wind-up mouse.)

The Night Before Christmas evokes all the excitement of an old-fashioned childhood Christmas and would be a lovely addition to a child’s Christmas picture book collection.

Sage Cookson’s Ring of Truth

Sage Cookson’s Ring of Truth by Sally Murphy, illustrated by Celeste Hulme (New Frontier Publishing) PB RRP $9.99

ISBN 9781925059748

Reviewed by Rebecca Newman

Sage Cookson is an ordinary girl. However, her parents are television chefs and their TV show takes the family all over Australia. Sage has a knack for finding adventures while her parents are busy with their TV commitments.

In Sage Cookson’s Ring of Truth the Cookson family travels to a bakery on Harmon Island, off Tasmania, to film the latest episode of the TV show. After meeting the bakery’s owners — sisters Babette and Bettina — Sage enjoys sampling the pastries and breads.

Then disaster strikes. Bettina’s emerald ring goes missing and she thinks Sage is the thief. Sage decides to find the ring and clear her name. While her mum and dad are in front of the cameras, Sage searches everywhere inside and outside the bakery. Eventually the ring turns up in the last place anyone expects …

This is the second book in the Sage Cookson series and these quick-paced early chapter books will appeal to readers aged 7+. Chapters are short and each features a black and white illustration as a hint about what will happen next.

Extras: There’s a recipe for beef and mushroom pies at the end of the book. The series also has its own website www.sagecookson.com.au featuring sample chapters from the books, more of Sage Cookson’s recipes, and activities related to the books.

I Spy Dad!

I Spy Dad! by Janeen Brian, illustrated by Chantal Stewart.  (New Frontier Publishing) PB RRP: $14.99 ISBN 9781925059649

Reviewed by Rebecca Newman

A little girl spies all kinds of dads playing with their children:

“A rowing dad

a mowing dad

a snip-snap sewing dad.”

None of these dads belongs to our narrator — where could her dad be? She keeps looking and the list of dads grows longer until she spies her own dad at the end of the book.

Stewart’s artwork is a great match for the rollicking rhythm and rhyming text. Lively illustrations show families from a variety of cultural backgrounds having fun together.

This is a new paperback edition of a picture book favourite, and the companion to I Spy Mum! by the same creative partnership. Perfect for three to six year olds and a joy to read aloud.