Henrietta and the Perfect Night

Henrietta and the Perfect Night by Martine Murray (Allen and Unwin)

HB RRP $16.99   ISBN 9781760290245

Reviewed by Daniela Andrews

Fans of Henrietta the Great Go-Getter will be pleased to discover this hardcover book by Martine Murray, featuring five new Henrietta stories.

Henrietta is just as spirited and adventurous as ever: ‘I’m an explorer of life, and that includes trees, bugs, animals and all mysteries.’ In this collection, she practices how to be patient and be a good big sister (‘The Waiting Game’), how to rescue somebody and make a friend at school (‘The First Day’), how to survive a sleepover with the pesky older brother of her best friend (‘The Sleepover’), how to save the school play when the lead gets stage fright (‘The School Play’) and how to adjust to life with a new baby brother (‘The Arrival’). The stories need to be read in sequence to be properly enjoyed, with the title alluding to the final story’s conclusion.

The book is illustrated in full colour by Martine Murray, award-winning author of How to Make a Bird and Molly and Pim and the Millions of Stars. Each double page features an illustration to break up the text, making this a great novel for readers aged 5 years and older who are starting to read chapter books. The design is likely to appeal to the age group too, with key phrases appearing in an alternate font of different size or colour.

Henrietta is ‘a Big Thinker’ and her thoughts and observations are highly amusing! The stories are told in first-person perspective, allowing the author to offer fantastic examples of friendship, courage and kindness without seeming to preach these values to her readers. (‘You only need one friend in a room full of strangers to feel perfectly happy.’) Henrietta is, at times, bold and sassy, at other times quiet and afraid, but the range of emotions she feels gives scope to her situations and makes her very real and lovable.

Ballet Backflip: Ella Diaries #2

Ballet Backflip: Ella Diaries #2 by Meredith Costain, illustrated by Danielle McDonald (Scholastic Australia)

PB RRP $12.99

ISBN 978-1-74362-864-5

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Ella is back with her second top secret diary. Grade 5 is not the easy year Ella was hoping for but when she gets to her ballet class all her worries are forgotten. That is until the role she desperately wants in the ballet performance is given to another dancer. Can she keep dancing or should she give in to playground pressure and join the gymnastics classes which Peach has convinced everyone to join? Even Ella’s traitorous BFF Zoe has given up ballet for gym.

The Ella Diaries is a series which will appeal to many young girls. Handwritten, the i’s are topped with hearts and there are many words that are emphasised and scribbled out. Ella’s spelling - Don Tay instead of Danté - and the sketches and diagrams, especially of gym and ballet moves make this feel like a real diary belonging to a ten year old – a very passionate one. I have a daughter who had to choose between ballet and gymnastics and I recognise the agonising decision.

Social issues are hard to navigate as young girls grow up. Fitting in becomes more important than standing out as individuals at this age. It takes strength to follow your own passions and go against the majority as Ella is discovering.

There is much to identify with in Ella. Girls between seven and eleven will get swept up in the pages of Ella’s diary as she jots down her secret thoughts, tries to keep her cool in the face of changing relationships and find the bravery to try new things.