Where’s Wally: The Totally Essential Travel Collection

Where’s Wally: The Totally Essential Travel Collection by Martin Handford (Walker Books)

HC RRP $ 24.95

RRP $ 24.95

ISBN 9781406356465

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

This Where’s Wally collection is a fantastic travel companion for any age. All seven classic adventures are here together in one book to entertain, challenge, and occupy the mind during short or long journeys. It invites readers to begin by finding Woof, Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard and Odlaw, also twenty-five Wally watchers hidden amongst the crowds.There are hours of search-and-find occupation, and at the beginning of each adventure, is a checklist on a fold-out page. The covers hide six fantastic postcards to use or keep.

Wally is setting out on a worldwide hike equipped with all his gear. From beaches to ski slopes, camp sites to railway stations, and through different eras all over the world, there are new things to find and learn about. Adventures with invisible monks, unfriendly giants, gobbling gluttons, carpet flyers, nasty nasties, and lots more ghoul to drool about and enjoy, fill every page. From the bottom of the sea to the underground, and from the Land of Wallies to Hollywood, try searching each scene with a magnifying glass to find all the hidden things that can sometimes be missed.

At the end of the journey the party/celebrations begin. Flags of 18 countries are flying. Six flags have something wrong. Have fun finding what it is.

New and old Wally fans of all ages will have a terrific time with this flexible compact book. No one will say ‘I’m bored’ with this in their lap.

Master the Arts! A Kid’s Activity book about Italian Masterpieces

Master the Arts! A Kids' Activity book about Italian Masterpieces illustrated by Tim Fleming (National Gallery of Victoria)

PB RRP $ 19.95

ISBN 9780724103904

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Fully illustrated in colour by Melbourne artist Tim Fleming and published to coincide with the Prado’s Collection at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, this interesting activity book covers eight Italian masterpieces. Works included are by Andrea di Lione, Raphael, Codazzi, Tiepolo, Tintoretto,Titian, Mario Nuzzi, Ligozzi, and Vanvitelli.

Full of wonderful information it encourages children to discover and learn while engaging in the countless activities. It includes fun games, art to complete and challenges. This will awaken an interest in the famous Masters and their work, how they went about it, and what was involved in becoming an artist.

The book is made up of many parts which include the role of an artist’s apprentice and his duties, and how they made and mixed pigments using strange, sometimes disgusting ingredients. There is a section on the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece and Rome, and one on the plague. It highlights the Colosseum and what it meant to be a gladiator.

Ideal for the 6+ age group, both boys and girls are encouraged to use their imagination, creativity and challenge themselves with painting and drawing like the Masters.

The exhibition is called Melbourne Winter Masterpieces: Italian Masterpieces from Spain’s Royal Court, Museo Del Prado and will be showing from the 16 May – 31 August 2014.

The Captain Underpants Super-Silly Sticker Studio

The Captain Underpants Super-Silly Sticker Studio by Dav Pilkey (Klutz)
PB RRP $19.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-022-3
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

The Captain Underpants Super-Silly Sticker Studio is both a sticker book and an activity book. Packed with stickers that glow in the dark, stickers to colour in (with the textas provided with the book), funny gags and things to do, this book will keep kids entertained for hours. The glow in the dark stickers will be especially appealing for Dave Pilkey fans as the messages change when the lights are switched off.

As well as the recognisable illustrations, Pilkey’s brand of humour is evident in activities such as using charts to find silly names for your friends and creating characters by swapping heads and bodies. The characters are all from Captain Underpants books and kids will have great fun colouring, sticking and leaving glow in the dark messages in the bathroom.

For all fans of Dave Pilkey whatever the age.

How to Make Small Things with Violet Mackerel

How to Make Small Things with Violet Mackerel by Anna Branford (Walker Books)
PB Fold over Flap RRP $ 19.95
ISBN 9781922179401
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

In this interesting craft book Violet Mackerel shows readers how to make her favourite small things to use, wear, and to give. Young girls will love the creative ideas that will stimulate the use of imagination and lateral thinking. In an era of electronic over-indulgence, books like this will induce children to actually make things for themselves and get personal satisfaction from the results.

It’s a how-to hand-make collection of terrific projects which focus on reconstructing old things and making them into new ones, or using what you have to make something pretty or useful.  The items include hair slides, note books, matchbox drawers, wrist warmers from ‘socks without partners’ and a list of other great stuff.

Each project lists what you will need, with an easy to follow, step by step instructions in pictures. You can’t go wrong. With Christmas coming on these fantastic and inexpensive ideas can be made as gifts for friends and family.

101 Things to Do to Become a Superhero or Evil Genius

 101 Things to Do to Become a Superhero by Helen Szirtes and Richard Horne, designed and illustrated by Richard Horne (Bloomsbury)

PB RRP $15.99

ISBN 978 1 4088 0257 1

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie

From the series of '101Things', Horne and Szirtes team up again to tackle the topic of how to become either a superhero, or an evil genius, or both. Written with a humour that upper primary boys or girls should appreciate, this book is packed full with information, checklists, activities and stars to stick on the pages completed.

Visually breaking the book up each page has a different coloured header relating to its theme. For example identity is blue, saving the world is green and special powers are brown. The left side of the double page has a small picture with information underneath. The reader then fills out the right side by doing some sort of activity. Activities range from trying to fly (nothing dangerous), to perfecting one's evil laugh. The densely filled pages contain many hours of entertainment should the entire book be completed.

The print is quite small but is broken up further by headings and dot points and always relates to something to do on the next page. In this way less keen readers may be encouraged to keep going. Pages jump from one topic to another and one activity to another. There is no need to read the book in any order, although there is an introduction at the beginning and some answers at the end (no cheating).

101 Things to Do to Become a Superhero or Evil Genius is a very interactive book which encourages imagination and uses humour well. By the end of the book the reader will have unintentionally learnt a few things. And this is regardless of whether they have used it for good or for evil.