Stories for 7 Year Olds

Stories for 7 Year Olds edited by Linsay Knight, illustrated by Tom Jellett (Random House Australia)
PB RRP $14.95
ISBN 9781742756622
Reviewed by Marian McGuinness

This is the third instalment in the Stories for … anthology series. For seven-year-old readers, editor Linsay Knight says, ‘these stories take readers into worlds beyond the familiar – particularly into fantastical and humorous worlds.’

The lime green cover is the colour of grass and the great outdoors, and I can imagine a young reader sitting under a tree or spread out on a rug, laughing and turning the pages of this selection of stories.

With more words to the page and three black-line illustrations per story, the seven-year-olds are eased into a more grown-up style of reading. The 11 stories have slightly more complicated language and layered plots, rather than single-line plots.

There are sub-headings, dot points and pieces of poetry scattered throughout the stories. Some are short stories and some are written in chapters. There’s lots of colloquial language to connect with, such as ‘Mum’s gone mental about food,’ in Morris Gleitzman’s, Think Big.

The concept of allusion is found in Mr Jonah’s Whale by Vashti Farrer, and a sense of irony is gleaned in Paul Jennings’ Snookle, where readers will find they should be careful what they wish for!

There are new genres introduced, like Deb Abela’s sci-fi story, My Friend Wilbur, and the understanding of legend comes across in JB Thomas’ How the Crow’s Feathers turned Black.

We meet Alice-Miranda’s new friend, Millie, which provides an introduction to Jacqueline Harvey’s series of the same name.

There are lots of laughs as Derek learns to ride a surfboard in a swimming pool and African Itching Ants run amok as a guest author plays one too many practical jokes on the kids at assembly. One lovely touch is the main character Daisy, who, as a shy girl finds her voice and saves the day.

As with the rest of the series of Stories for …, you can read about each of the authors at the back of the book and see where else your favourite stories have been published such is the quality of the inclusions.

My Australian Story: Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge (My Australian Story) by Vashti Farrer (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $16.99
ISBN 9 781741 699531
Reviewed by Felicity Pulman

Vashti Farrer’s new addition to the My Australian Story series gives a detailed and valuable insight into the construction of one of the world’s most notable icons.

After a passing reference to August 1930 (with some fascinating information about how the bridge spans were finally joined together) the book begins in January, 1931. Through the diaries of Billie and Alice, we read about the year leading up to the opening of the bridge from two very different points of view.  Alice lives on the north shore. Her father is an engineer working on the Bridge so her perspective of the construction is very different from Billie’s, whose father has been out of work and whose employment as a ‘donkeyman’ on ‘the Iron Lung’ has proved a life-saver for the family.

The two viewpoints coincide nicely as we learn about different aspects of the Bridge’s construction from both the workers’ and the management’s point of view. Detailed information about the construction process is spread throughout the text, bringing home to the reader just what a mighty project this was, and how far-reaching the consequences.  The danger of working on the Bridge is also highlighted. There were 16 deaths associated with its construction, and many men were injured.

Because the building of the Bridge took place during the Great Depression, Billie’s diary is of particular interest, touching as it does on how some families struggled to survive during those hard years.  Billie is keeping the diary to share with his mate Bluey, whose family was dispossessed by the clearance of houses before building on the Bridge commenced. Unable to afford housing elsewhere, the family has been moved to Happy Valley Camp at La Perouse, home for the homeless. The resolution, at the end of the Diary, is touching. It also brings home the truth of why the Bridge was called ‘the Iron Lung’ – ‘because it employed a total of 1654 workers and so kept Sydney “alive” through jobs.’  The notes at the end of the Diary are of particular interest.

The politics of the time are skilfully interwoven through the narrative:  the refusal of Labor Premier Jack Lang to pay the interest on NSW’s overseas debt, his raiding of the State Savings Bank in an effort to keep NSW solvent, and his refusal to invite either the King or the Governor to formally open the Bridge are set against the rising popularity and machinations of the New Guard, culminating in the opening of the Bridge with all its attendant drama.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sydney Harbour Bridge, and I learned a lot while doing so. Highly recommended.

© Felicity Pulman
www.felicitypulman.com.au 
www.youtube.com/felicitypulman 

Bruno Fiddlestein’s Dilemma, Mrs Papadopoulos’s Purple Hippopotamuses and Widow Hegarty’s Goat

Bruno Fiddlestein’s Dilemma, Mrs Papadopoulos’s Purple Hippopotamuses and Widow Hegarty’s Goat: collections of short stories by Vashti Farrer, illustrated by Naomi Kelly (Five Senses Education P/L)
PB RRP $12.95 each
Reviewed by Felicity Pulman

Vashti Farrer’s humorous and quirky short stories and poems have long been enjoyed by readers of NSW School Magazine, and her work will now reach a far wider audience with the publication of both old and new stories in these collections with subtitles: ‘stories to snortle at,’ ‘tall tales,’ and ‘unlikely escapades’. Readers will chortle over the antics of such things as a friendly emu called Ethel, a pair of naughty purple hippopotamus slippers, a pigeon with street smarts, the match-making goat of Widow Hegarty, and the garden gnomes who make themselves useful. They’ll also discover how Miss Muffet overcame her fear of spiders, and what happens when you play the violin to vegetables.

Of particular interest to my grandchildren were the fun stories about their favourite animals: cats and dogs that often got into trouble or had to save their owners. Some old favourites are also included in the collections: the stories of Lulubelle and Bones, Mr Pavlov’s Possum, and Green Piece’s Princess Euphorbia (ribbit!)

Alert readers will enjoy the puns. Imagine having classmates with names like Will Argue, Aidan Abbett, Wanda Round, Iona Broome and Luke Heare, and being taught by Miss Happ!

Naomi Kelly’s delightful drawings illustrate most of the stories and poems, adding an extra dimension of fun. Enjoy these wonderful collections, and remember:

‘Don’t maffle, cronk or chimble

When a bumblepuppy’s nigh,

It might clawscrunt up your mazzard

Nurk your goblocks on the sly.

It might knoup your knevel slister,

Sloom your snortle on the run,

Till you’re faffled, motched and gloppened

And it’s had its bit of fun.’

(c) Felicity Pulman, 2011

Lilli-Pilli, The Frog Princess

 

Lilli-Pilli, The Frog Princess by Vashti Farrer, illustrated by Owen Swan (Scholastic Press Australia) 

HB RRP $24.99

ISBN 978-1-74169-620-2

Reviewed by Felicity Pulman

The pastel line drawing of a joyful young girl leaping off the pink front cover on long frog legs is guaranteed to prompt a curious child to investigate further.  This is a delightful modern fairy tale of a young princess who cannot please her royal parents, Queen Euphorbia and King Nasturtium, or live up to their expectations because, unlike the other royal princesses, she has long frog legs that get in the way of everything she does.

The curving text on some pages perfectly illustrates the leaps and capers of her progress from acrobatics at the Royal Swimming Pool, through lessons on how to be a proper princess, to the dance floor of the Grand Ball where prospective suitors complain that she’s treading on their toes.

Princess Lilli-Pilli is rescued from ignominy by Prince Antirrhinum, star gymnast of the Royal Circus, who twirls and whirls her and throws her into the air, to the amazement and delight of everyone (except the Royal Dancing Master.)  The princess’s future happiness is assured, especially when she becomes the prince’s partner in the Royal Circus’s newest act: The Flying Antirrhinums.

Owen Swan’s delicate illustrations complement perfectly the quirky humour of Vashti Farrer’s text – doing ‘pullovers, back-flips and hip-back circles’ sounds like such fun!  Above all, this story gives a positive message to children that, even if you’re different in some way, even if you don’t fit in, it’s still possible to be happy and fulfilled because everyone has a special talent of some sort.

 

Felicity Pulman is the author of numerous award-winning novels for children and teenagers, including Ghost Boy, the Shalott trilogy and the Janna Mysteries.