The Other Shadow

The Other Shadow by Tania Ingram ISBN: 9781761203251 Scholastic RRP $15.99

Reviewed by Melissa Wray

Thomas has a friend that only he can see, a shadow that supports Thomas whenever he needs it, especially since his dad died. But what will happen if the shadow disappears? How will Thomas cope?

Thomas has the weight of the world on his shoulders as he tries to look after his younger sister, especially when his mother spirals out of control. She suffers from mental health challenges and the effects on the two children range from forgetting to buy food to unwashed clothes to leaving her children alone for days.

Ingram has tackled several big hitting topics in this book and has done so with compassion and sensitivity. Topics like neglect, mental health, child protection and foster care are very real topics and much needed conversations about some of our most vulnerable people, yet they are rarely found so eloquently within young adult storylines. Ingram has responded to these gritty and uncomfortable areas through the creation of a beautiful young character called Thomas, whose strength and vulnerability is portrayed in a heart wrenching combination.

Thomas tries to be a good son for his mum when she is well but is even more desperate to be a good older brother for his sister Tilly when his mum is unwell. It is often around these moments that the other shadow quietly arrives and provides support and guidance for Thomas. The introduction of the other shadow to Thomas’s world after his dad dies is a beautiful metaphor that the reader can interpret in many ways. It would be a great discussion point for secondary school age readers or any book club.

Ingram has also woven some strong supporting characters into the storyline. But the strength in her storytelling shines in the way she addresses Mum’s mental health challenges. It is very well done and sensitive. This story will break your heart and raise you up again and again. Make sure you have the tissue handy!

While The Other Shadow uses a younger main character, the mature themes of child protective services and mental health issues might mean some confronting storylines. For this reason, I suggest The Other Shadow is suitable for a mature 12+ year-old readership.

Walls

Walls by Tania Ingram & Ruth-Mary Smith (Wombat Books) PB RRP $26.99 9781761111518

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

Tania Ingram is an internationally published author who writes picture books, novels, and poetry. She has been shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the year award and is a Premier’s Reading Ambassador.

Ruth-Mary Smith is an Australian illustrator with a special love of gentle emotions that she portrays in picture books. Her work is sweet, warm and whimsical. She loves using the traditional mediums of drawing and watercolour as well as making digital illustrations.

A Viking and a Knight are convinced they live on the best side of the book and they both disagree. An argument unfolds and a wall is built to keep their side safe from each other. A hidden danger lurks that both the Knight and Viking fail to see. This is a story about differences, prejudice and fear.

Ingram has cleverly written a text that speaks to a child reader and involves them in the story. Speech blurbs are used to tell the story which lets a child feel like they really are a part of the story. It is an effective way to use minimal text, show character, plot and move the story along at a great pace. It also enables Ingram to bring in some interesting words for vocabulary development. How Ludicrous! 

Each page has only one or two sentences ensuring the story is kept engaging and fun. Another clever move on Ingram’s part is she has allowed a lot of space for the illustrator to shine in her craft and to bring multiple layers to the story. Another skillful inclusion is the use of the gutter of the book which acts as a wall, too. She leaves the last two spreads totally to the illustrator which is brilliant.

Smith delights the reader with her illustrations in this book. They truly sing and capture attention with their cuteness. She has created two endearing characters of a boy and girl who are on each side of the wall too. They interact and play together while the Knight and Viking argue. They are not included in the text yet really level up this picture book and make it so much more powerful. The little Knight boy and the Viking girl feature on the endpapers. The colour palette has a fairytale feel and perfectly suits the story.  The Knight and Viking are striking with their body language and facial expressions. Both are so indignant and right that you can’t help but laugh. A powerful thought-provoker is that the images show the ignorance of both the Knight and Viking in comparison to the innocent wisdom of the children.

 Walls is a picture book that will resonate with children, parents, teachers and librarians because it is not only fun but powerful in its messaging. It is a true picture book in very sense because the text and illustrations are divine together. This book is suitable for readers 3-7 years.

Aggie Flea Steals the Show

Aggie Flea Steals the Show by Tania Ingram & A. Yi (Scholastic Australia) JF PB RRP $16.99 9781760976309

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

Tania Ingram is an internationally published, best-selling author of children’s picture books and novels including the Jinny and Cooper Series and the hilarious Aggie Flea series.

A. Yi is an illustrator and animation artist based in Sydney. She has illustrated various children’s books including the best-selling Alice Miranda series.

Aggie Flea Steals the Show takes a reader on a such a fun journey. Aggie wants the role of Web Legs the superhero spider from Mars in the school play. But her imagination lands her in big trouble when the school play is ready to go on stage. Will Aggie shine or break the set and destroy the cast’s play dreams?

Ingram has created such a brilliant, fun character. Aggie Flea is imaginative, brave, and true to herself. You just can’t help fall in love with her. The energetic text takes you into Aggie’s world and you don’t want to leave until you reach the end of the story. Then you miss Aggie. The writing is playful but has an honesty about it that really is childlike and imaginative. Sometimes my big imagination gets me into trouble, though. Like, the time I thought my new neighbour was a vampire.

Ingram builds information into the story so that when something happens it has a greater impact. Mrs Flossy is deathly afraid of spiders. Whenever she sees one, she turns a strange grey colour and blinks a lot. You know spiders are going to appear in the story you just don’t know when. The dialogue and language are spot on and direct. ‘Go home, dork, and if I catch you spying on me again, I’ll give you a dead arm,’ he says. Each chapter builds the anticipation of the school play but also adds depth and layers to the characters and the story. Cleverly, comic strips have been added into the text featuring Aggie’s favourite character Princess Zombie and what she would do. This allowed A. Yi even more creative space. 

Yi’s illustrations are cartoon-like, full of action and include full pages and vignettes. The facial expressions and body language of the characters add depth, meaning and even more humour to the story. Aggie Flea on the lilac cover in school uniform with a pink feather boa, star sunglasses and cross eyes lets readers know who the story is about and that she is funny. The Princess Zombie comic strips add pizazz and allows you into another part of Aggie Flea’s imagination.

Aggie Flea Steals the Show is a junior fiction book that is the second book in a series and it sure does not disappoint. It makes you look forward to more Aggie Flea adventures.  It is suitable for 7 plus years. I think teachers will enjoy sharing this book with their class or a parent reading to their child. It really is a junior fiction book to hook children into reading.

Jinny and Cooper: Revenge of the Stone Witch

Jinny and Cooper: Revenge of the Stone Witch by Tania Ingram (Puffin Books) PB RRP $14.99 ISBN 9780143308997

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

This is the fourth in a series of chapter books suitable for readers 7 to 10 years. The narrator of this book is Jinny (short for Jinnifer) while Cooper is her scruffy, teleporting and talking guinea pig – a very greedy one at that with a preference for junk food.

During the school holidays too-polite Katie comes to stay next door to Jinny which is nice at first but soon Jinny is feeling jealous. Even brother Tyrone (who calls himself Super Booger) thinks Katie is ‘super awesome’. More trouble arrives when Miss Morgan moves into the nearby house last occupied by a witch: is the new neighbour a witch, too? (In the previous book, there is an adventure about a teacher who is a witch living in this house.)

Suspicions are aroused when a cloaked woman is seen digging in Jinny’s front garden at night. Who is the woman? Jinny and Tyrone discover a series of knotted strings where the woman dug. This is a clue which they follow – only to find that Miss Morgan was the culprit. She reveals much information to the children about a coven of witches and lets it be known that there is mischief afoot. Who is the real witch?

With Cooper’s help, the children find themselves in the home of elderly Mrs Goodfellow, Katie’s grand-mother. Females are turned to stone! Can the salt and potatoes – said to ward off witches – help save the day? And how does Cooper work to prevent more trouble?

There are lots of possibilities in this story which are sure to have young readers guessing, and too there is a lot of humour. The action moves quickly and the characters, especially Cooper, are idiosyncratic and engaging. 

Jinny and Cooper: My Teacher’s Big Bad Secret

Jinny and Cooper: My Teacher’s Big Bad Secret by Tania Ingram (Puffin Books) PB RRP $14.99 ISBN 9780143308751

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Readers aged 7 to 10 years who’ve discovered the Jinny and Cooper book series, no doubt will have eagerly been awaiting this latest book of the adventures of Jinny, a girl, and her guinea pig, Cooper. This story starts when, after years of begging for a pet guinea pig, Jinny goes with her mum and brother Tyrone to a pet shop. There are plenty of beautiful, shiny guinea pigs for sale, but the shop-keeper has a dirty, scruffy pig under the counter which he’s keen to let go. (Wonder why? Mmm…) Mum is in charge so when she’s offered freebies to go with the guinea pig, a bargain is grabbed and Jinny is forced to take on this particular one.

At first Jinny names the guinea pig ‘Frizzy’, but a few days later, to her and Tyrone’s astonishment, said pig starts talking, telling them that his name is Cooper. This is no ordinary guinea pig, folks! Not only does he refuse typical guinea pig food – carrots, lettuce and the like – but he’s a glutton for anything sweet or any junk food. And there’s more: Cooper is able to make himself invisible. He can teleport, too! All of this leads to misadventures throughout this book and the book that follows.

Child readers will love the fact that Cooper is so determined to go to Jinny’s school that he makes use of his magical powers. But once there, Cooper becomes convinced that Jinny’s kind, elderly teacher, Miss Bunney, is a witch. Sorry, there is no spoiler alert in this review; suffice to say that Cooper turns out, through misadventure, to be the hero of the tale.

A teacher as a witch? Seems politically incorrect at a time when society is trying to show women in a good light. But kids don’t care – many fantasise about their teachers’ private lives. Some schools might not want a chapter book about witches in their library (but Roald Dahl’s The Witches was immensely popular). Each to her own…

My Teacher’s Big Bad Secret is a fast-paced, easy to read book with feisty child (and animal) characters (but not so nice adults). Having a talking pet is a dream of many children and thus this book is likely to find a happy and wide readership.

The Great Barbie Disaster

The Great Barbie Disaster by Tania Ingram, illustrated by Christina Miesen (Omnibus Books) PB RRP $12.99

ISBN 978-1-74299-124-5

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Dad wants to make a barbeque. He comes from a long line of barbie builders and thinks shop bought barbies are for wimps. The trouble is Dad’s not very good at building things. The Great Barbie Disaster is a very funny story about all of his attempts to construct the perfect backyard barbie and what goes wrong – very wrong – each time.

There’s nothing more Aussie than a backyard barbie in the summer and this story captures the essence of summer and family. I related strongly as my father was a backyard builder and I suspect there are lots of kids out there who have watched or helped as Dad constructed a chicken coop, barbeque, cubby or outdoor furniture with varying degrees of success who will relate to this tale as well.

Part of the Mates series, this title is filled with the humour, Australian culture and entertaining storylines these Great Aussie Yarns are known for. Written for the eight year old age range, short chapters, large varied font and illustrations - which break up the text, filling the pages with colour and appeal - make this a perfect tale for beginner and young readers. The text is clear and uncomplicated and explains concepts such as the waste station within the story.

The voice of the girl who narrates the story is engaging. She is laid-back with just a tinge of sarcasm, but clearly loves and admires her Dad.

Using soft colours, the illustrator has created pictures which echo the humour of the words, enhancing the story and adding the enjoyment of the reading experience. These pictures, large and small, fill the pages and bring the characters to life.

Dog on Log

Dog on Log by Tania Ingram, illustrated by Kat Chadwick (Omnibus Books)
HB RRP $24.99
ISBN 978-1-86291-964-8
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Cat is coming to stay with dog. Dog and all his friends are preparing for the visit with decorations, balloons and party food. Cat arrives and all goes well until rat steals cat’s cake. Then chaos breaks out.

Dog on Log is reminiscent of Dr Suess books or P.D. Eastman’s Go, Dog, Go. The rhyme is almost all pure, the rhythm is perfect - a pleasure to read aloud - and the use of opposites is clever and consistent:

 Big cat asleep.
 Small rat awake.
 Small rat stealing big cat’s cake.

These simple words are fantastic for children who are just beginning to experiment with language, with the meaning and sounds of the words they are using. The sentence structure starts simply and builds up with the action of the story as it heads towards the chaotic atmosphere. This helps to increase the anticipation of events:

 Dog. Frog.
 Frog on dog.
 Frog on log.

The illustrations are as complex and detailed as the text is spare. There is so much to see. Every time I read it I notice something new. There is no mention of a chicken in the text, but she is as large a character as the dog, cat, frog and hog. From the first page where she sits under a tree with her sewing machine sewing strings of bunting she became my favourite character and I followed her actions in the illustrations throughout the book.

There is so much to enjoy in this book. The slapstick humour, the characters which come to life, the fun play on words and the gorgeously entertaining illustrations. The storyline is never sacrificed for the rhyme or vice versa.

Dog on Log has leaped onto my favourite’s shelf and I think will be much loved by young children (4+) and all who read to them.