Lily the Elf: The Midnight Owl

Lily the Elf: The Midnight Owl by Anna Branford, illustrated by Lisa Coutts (Walker Books)

PB RRP $ 7.95

ISBN 9781925081053

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Children’s fears and insecurities are the themes that Anna Branford has chosen to address in this first book of her new series for emerging readers. It introduces Lily the Elf and themes of imagining, overcoming fears, and learning to be brave.

Lily lives with her dad in a tiny house under a bridge. Her granny lives in a flat at the back of their house.

Lily can’t sleep. All she hears is the spooky questioning hoot of the owl. To both her granny and dad, the sound is a welcome one. But their encouraging words don’t help the tiny Lily. Granny suggests an adventure. Perhaps seeing the owl face-to-face would change things for Lily.

Lily prepares herself by practising at being brave. Will reading a scary book, going into a dark cellar or jumping off a high toadstool make her braver? She dresses brave. In the mirror she looks brave. Will these things help?

It’s the feather that granny shows her and the story connected to it that opens up other possibilities for Lily. The themes weave through the simple text accompanied by black and white illustrations that depict the loving family and the close relationship they share. A happy, embracing story with a message that things imagined, are not always what they first seem.

Delightfully delicate like the tiny elf, this story promises readers, mainly girls of the 5+ age, a new and interesting character that becomes involved in challenging adventures with a positive outcome. This will surely create as strong an interest in younger readers as the highly successful Violet Mackerel books did for an older age.

Blue

Blue by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Michael Foreman (Walker Books)

PB RRP $16.95

ISBN 9781406354546

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Raffi wants to discover what he’s good at. His brother Jake seems to be good at everything.  Unable to sleep and seeing only the dark, Raffi wriggles and jiggles in his bed. Blue, a magical light appears and invites Raffi to follow. The boy immediately trusts the voice, and is carried on streams of blue light into the dark and on an adventure, by what turns out to be a giant blue magical cat.

Together they head off into the night, lighting the up the dark with a single pointing action. Raffi awakes next day from his glorious dream with a new-found confidence. He now feels he is good at something too. Even his fear of the dark is diminished.

This thoughtful book reflects on doubts, fears and insecurities that children may have about the dark, seeing themselves as not being good at anything, and lacking confidence.

Gorgeously created by two big names in children’s picture books, the blue illustrations that fill the book identify strongly with confidence and inner security, the main themes of this story. An ideal book for initiating conversation between adult and child about insecurities/fears, for there’s a lot to touch upon.

Wimpy Shrimpy

Wimpy Shrimpy by Matt Buckingham (Koala Books)

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 978-1-74276-102-2

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

‘Down at the bottom of the sea lived a little shrimp. And this little shrimp was a bit of a wimp.’

Shrimpy is too scared to play with his friends. He is worried he will get lost in hide-and-seek, worried the ball will squash him during a game of catch or that his legs will get tangled during hopscotch. His friends encourage him to join in but nothing will convince him. Until one day something does happen.

This story identifies the anxieties many young children have. As young children begin to step into the world by themselves, at playgroup or kindergarten, the possibilities of things that can go wrong are endless. The courage it takes for most of them to become involved in social groups is enormous. And this is all explored in a light and humorous way.

The illustrations are bright and playful. I love that some pictures are close up and some further away, encompassing more. Shrimpy’s loneliness and isolation is emphasised so well in this manner.

This is a tale told well. It has a nice structure, with a repeated refrain. Kids will enjoy chanting “Oh, don’t be wimpy, Shrimpy!” over and over again. And when the worst that can happen does, it is unexpected, but perfectly logical.

The story has a satisfying solution which should be a confidence booster for any young children with similar fears to Shrimpy’s. A great read for three to six year olds.

Fear

Fear edited by R.L Stine (Random House)

PB RRP $18.95

ISBN 978-1-7427-5046-0

Reviewed by Oliver Phommavanh

Fear is a collection of suspense and horror stories for older readers. It’s headed by a legend of the genre, R.L Stine. It’s not all vampires and angels. Some of the stories are planted in the real world, offering tense situations that reveal dastardly secrets. Jennifer Allison’s 'The Perfects' story begins in normal suburbia but ends up with a ‘delicious’ ending.

Every story is tight and concise. There’s no waffling here, just genuine scares. The authors’ distinct styles mean that no two stories feel the same, even though some scenarios overlap. But hey, babysitting kids is plain scary by itself. 

The better stories have a killer twist. A favourite of mine is 'Suckers' by Suzanne Weyn which has an ending that you won’t see coming and will force you to revisit earlier scenes. There are stories that warrant its own novel, such as Heather Brewer’s 'Shadow Children', who paints a fascinating world of deadly shadows in a few pages. 'Dragonfly Eyes' by Alane Ferguson is going to be expanded into its own book. When you read this short story of a girl who has crossed over into the afterlife, you’ll be begging for more. Ferguson’s imagery and description is simply mesmerising.R.L Stine shines with his contribution, 'Welcome to the Club'. It’s a simple story, spun around with his trademark wry humour and twists.

Readers will have their favourites but they will enjoy every story in this Fear anthology. It’s perfect for anyone who likes their scares in short bursts. It’s recommended for ages 15 and up.    

Monster

Monster by Andrew Daddo, illustrated by Bruce Whatley (ABC Books)

HB RRP $24.99
ISBN 9780733322754
Reviewed by Tracey Slater

A little boy cannot go to sleep because of the monster in his bedroom. He calls out to his parents repeatedly and they answer with unsympathetic wisecracks and sarcasm. When the parents eventually order the boy into his bunk bed, both he and the monster drift off to sleep together.

Andrew Daddo has given us an unusual take on the ‘monster story’. The tone is humorous including some very light gross out humour, which is unlikely to offend the preschoolers out there.

Bruce Whatley has made the monster a sweet, timid, gummy creature with an under bite - not exactly a threat to children. The illustrations greatly enhance the text, adding a touch of ambiguity to the tale. The boy and the monster mirror each other throughout, so that in the end one is a little unsure whether the boy is actually the monster, or whether the boy is imagining that his sibling is a monster or whether the little boy is with a real monster- it’s somewhat open to interpretation.

There is a question of whether a preschool or early schoolchild would be comfortable with the ambiguous content, or whether they would ‘get’ the parental sarcasm. These aspects seem to tip the story towards a slightly older readership than probably intended. Overall, Monster is a sweet tale, setting out to prove that not all monsters are scary.