Lucia and Lawrence by Joanna Francis

Lucia and Lawrence are next-door neighbours.
Lucia has a head full of dreams that reach as high as the sky and as deep as the sea.
Lawrence has a head full of numbers that are useful, predicable and safe.

Lucia and Lawrence live side by side but have very different personalities. Their friendship is coloured by Lucia’s exuberance and Lawrence’s reticence. Yet, mostly they find a middle ground that allows them to play together. Until Lucia’s birthday. Lucia invites Lawrence to join in her celebration, but Lawrence says no. That’s all. No. Lucia parties without him, and it’s only afterwards that she discovers there are different ways to celebrate. Illustrations are pencil and watercolour and show their two worlds becoming one.

Lucia is very outgoing and a little bit wild. Lawrence is pretty much the opposite and feels safest in his room with his numbers. But their friendship happens at the intersection of their personalities, with their imagination. Together, their adventures harness the talents and strengths of each. A gentle story of friendship. Recommended for early schoolers.

Lucia and Lawrence, Joanna Francis
New Frontier Publishing 2018 ISBN: 9781925594157

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller
www.clairesaxby.com

Little Stunt Riding Hood by Matt Cosgrove

Once upon a fine, fully sick, hotted-up motorcycle…
… there revved a little daredevil, making the loudest noise you ever heard!
‘Oh, he is so annoying!’ the neighbours would proclaim as he roared past on his motorbike.

In a new ‘Epic Fail Tale’ from Matt Cosgrove, Little Red Riding Hood gets a makeover. No character is safe. Little Red Riding Hood undergoes not just a gender change, but now he’s riding a motorbike and bringing mayhem. The neighbourhood will never be the same. Spreads are interspersed with illustrations, thought bubbles, puns and word substitutions. There’s even a bonus Seven Ninjas graphic story at the end.

Don’t say you weren’t warned! ‘Little Stunt Riding Hood’ is the wildest adventure on two wheels, through the most windy, convoluted, gross, punny ‘forest’ you never imagined. This is no fairy tale. But it is a cautionary tale. Just not in any way you’ve ever been cautioned before. Recommended for newly independent readers, and those transitioning from fully illustrated texts. Pun for everyone.

Little Stunt Riding Hood, Matt Cosgrove Scholastic 2018 ISBN: 9781742992501
review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller
www.clairesaxby.com

Jacaranda Magic by Dannika Patterson and Megan Forward

Five friends feeling bored on a hot sticky day.
‘What should we do?
What games can we play?’

It’s a summer day and five friends are at a loss. What to play? None of their normal games/activities will do. When a breeze showers them with Jacaranda flowers, their imaginations come alive. The flowers, the branches, the tree itself all contribute in sparking game after game that they devise and share. The Jacaranda tree offers endless opportunity for invention and imagination. Illustrations are pencil and watercolour, loose and summery.

Imagination requires space to grow. Time space, not just physical space. Cued by falling flowers, a group of children begin to imagine new worlds. No props are needed beyond imagination and the tree. A potentially empty summer’s day fills with adventure and discovery as the children explore their physical world. Recommended for pre- and early-schoolers.

Jacaranda Magic Dannika Patterson ill Megan Forward

Ford St Publishing 2018 ISBN: 9781925804010
review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller
www.clairesaxby.com

Freaks on the Loose by Leigh Hobbs

Miss Corker was a brand-new teacher and she was about to meet 4F, her brand-new class.
The headmaster introduced the children one by one.

‘Freaks on the Loose’ is two books in one, combining ‘4F for Freaks’ and ‘Freaks Ahoy’. In the first instalment, 4F have seen off another teacher and they see no reason that Miss Corker won’t soon follow. They have a reputation for awfulness and it’s well earned. Miss Corker consults The Teacher’s Handbook and makes it to the end of the first day. Just. Next day, though, there’s another new teacher, Miss Schnorkel. And Miss Schnorkel appears to have the measure of this legendary class. In the second story, Miss Schnorkel takes the class on an excursion aboard a boat. They visit a ship of retired teachers and of course mayhem ensues. Text is minimal and most of each page is filled with black and white images of the dreadful students and their appalling behaviour.

It’s difficult to decide whether this is a warning to aspiring teachers, or a manual for students. Either way, it’s full of giggles and guffaws as teacher and students get to know one another. Leigh Hobb’s iconic illustrations and monstrous characters are perfectly pitched at newly independent readers. Recommended for teachers and students alike.

Freaks on the Loose, Leigh Hobbs, Allen&Unwin 2018 ISBN: 9781780294311

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller
www.clairesaxby.com

Meet Me at the Intersection, edited by Rebecca Lim & Ambelin Kwaymullina

We are the voices too often unheard, the people too often unseen. But we are here; we are speaking. And through this book, we invite you into our worlds.
Meet us at the intersections. 

As the introduction to this collection reminds us, there is a startling lack of diversity in the books offered to children and teens the world over. Most importantly, stories told by diverse creators are significantly under represented in the publishing landscape, and thus in bookstores, libraries and schools. Meet Me at the Intersection aims to bridge this gap by offering an anthology written by authors who are First Nations, People of Colour, LGBTIQA+ aor who live with disability.

Included stories include memoir, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, speculative fiction and poetry and each includes a brief biography of the writer and their aims and considerations in producing their contribution to the anthology.

Edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina and iwth contributions form a mix of established and emerging creators, including Alice Pung, Kelly Gardiner and Amra Pajalic, the collection offers a range of unique perspectives of life for readers of all backgrounds.

Meet Me at the Intersection, edited by Rebecca Lim & Ambelin Kwaymullina
Fremantle Press, 2018
ISBN 9781925591705

Off the Track, by Cristy Burne

Harry’s perfect life was straying way off track. he looked pleadingly at Mum. Surely she could see? Spending an entire weekend tramping around stinking-hot snake-filled scrub was a horrible mistake. But doing it without a phone? That was just brutal.

Harry is not happy. Not only has his mum moved him from his comfortable life in Sydney to live in Perth, but now she’s agreed to spend the weekend hiking in the bush with her old friend Ana, and her daughter Deepika. There are snakes, and spiders and insects in the bush – and, worst of all, no mobile phones allowed. Well, not for Harry, anyway. Mum seems to be the only one allowed to have her phone. She says it’s in case of emergencies, but Harry knows she’ll be using it every chance she gets. Out on the Bibbulmun Track, his worst fears are realised – there really are snakes and spiders. And every time they are in range, Mum has her phone out. Then, just when he starts to enjoy himself, Harry discovers that things really can go wrong out in the bush.

Off the Track highlights the Australian outdoors, and especially Western Australia’s iconic Bibbulmun Track, in a pleasing blend of adventure and self-discovery. Many young readers will relate to Harry’s dismay of being ‘forced’ to live without every day conveniences like flushing toilets, beds, and technology. Others will love the outdoors setting and the taste of hiking the story offers.

Gripping junior fiction.

Off the Track, by Cristy Burne
Fremantle Press, 2018
ISBN 9781925591743

The Geography of Friendship, by Sally Piper

They haven’t seen each other for years, but here they are, falling onto the same old pattern as though there’s no other worth considering. Maybe it’s more to do with the place they’re walking through. Maybe the land has designs on them – maybe it always had – robbing them of the power to choose alternatives.

It’s been twenty years since they first walked the rail as teens, and twenty years since their friendship fell apart. Now, Samantha, Lisa and Nicole are walking the same trail, in an attempt to salvage something, even though it is clear to at least two of them what its they are trying to salvage.
That first hike was meant to be an adventure, a kind of coming of age in the wilderness, but what happened in those five days changed all of them, and severed their friendship. Will revisiting the scene of those terrible five days really mend their friendship, and will it help each woman to heal the wounds which continue to effect their lives?

The Geography of Friendship is a finely woven story. the use of three perspectives, and the shift bewteen the events of the past, the present and those in the intervening years, could become complicated, but rather makes for a pleasing complexity as the reader gets to know each woman and gradually piece together what has happened.

Absorbing and satisfying.

The Geography of Friendship, by Sally Piper
UQP, 2018
ISBN 9780702259975

Dogasaurus, by Lucinda Gifford

One day, Molly was walking in the forest when a Mysterious Thing rolled out from behind a fern.
And, even though she knew she shouldn’t,
Molly took it home.

Molly lives on a peaceful farm near a Mysterious Forest, which she loves to explore. When she finds a Mysterious Thing, she decides to take it home and, when it hatches and out comes a baby dinosaur, she decides to keep him as a pet, and name him Rex. But Rex grows quickly, and Molly soon realises that having a dinosaur on a farm can be a big problem.

Dogosaurus is a humorous offering, which youngsters will lvoe for its silliness. At the same time, the gentle underlying messages of conversation and ownership are valuable. Rex is a friendly looking, playful dinosaur with goggly eyes and a goofy smile so that even when he wreaks havoc, he is endearing to readers.

Great for young dinosaur fans, or anyone who needs a smile.

Dogosaurus, by Lucinda Gifford
Scholastic Australia, 2018
ISBN 9781743810712

Kookaburras Love to Laugh, by Laura & Philip Bunting

This guy doesn’t like to koo.
And he isn’t keen to kaa.
He’s the most serious
kooka in the borough.

Everybody knows that kookaburras love to laugh – when it’s sunny, when it’s rainy or even just for no reason. But one kooka just doesn’t like laughing. He is serious, and enjoys serious pursuits, which puts him at odds with the other kookaburras. He sets off to find a new flock, but finds it harder than he expects. All flocks, it seems, have their faults.

Kookaburras Love to Laugh is a picture book which will have youngsters (and adults, too) laughing, even when the hero of the story doesn’t. From the creators of the equally funny Koalas Eat Gum Leaves and Mopoke, this new offering has simple, humorous text and digital collage illustrations.

Lots of fun.

Kookaburras Love to Laugh , by Laura & Philip Bunting
Omnibus Books, 2018
ISBN 9781742769660

Time for School, Daddy, by Dave Hackett

‘Wake up, Daddy, it’s time for school.’
‘But I’m tired,’ says Daddy.

It’s morning, and a little girl has to get her faddy ready for school. But first he’s too tired to get up, then he has a rumbly tummy, and next he is missing a sock.  Finally, she gets Daddy ready, with lunch packed and hair combed and ont he bus to school.

Time for School, Daddy  is a funny take on the morning rush of school days, with the role reversal showing the child in control and  determined to keep things on track.  This use of humour helps to normalise the multiple worries and dramas which can be part of the routine, and will allow children and parents to see their own routines from a different angle.  Colourful, child-like,  cartoon-style illustration on white backgrounds also offer a lovleyw at for young readers to connect.

Time for School, Daddy, by Dave Hackett
UQP, 2018
ISBN 9780702260049