charity – Aussie Reviews

365 Awesome Aussie Jokes, by Camp Quality

What to you get when you cross a sheep with a kangaroo?
A woolly jumper.

365 Awesome Aussie Jokes is a collection of …365 Aussie jokes. There’s one for each day of the year. The first joke of the month is a celebrity joke, coming from writers, broadcasters and singers. There are knock-knocks, puns, Did-you-hear-abouts and many more. Each opening includes black and white illustrations while the border around pages reminds the reader to laugh (in case they forget…or the joke doesn’t tickle their fancy).

365 Awesome Aussie Jokes is put together by Camp Quality, an organisation that supports kids and families of kids with cancer. The collection lives the adage that ‘laughter is the best medicine’. The jokes are short and the font is large, allowing access to quite young readers. If the ‘reader’ is too young to decipher the text themselves, they have plenty to laugh with as the jokes are read to them. A foreword explains how this and preceding joke books came to be. Proceeds are used to fund Camp Quality programs. There are two forms in the back. One provides the opportunity to send in jokes, the other outlines how donations to Camp Quality may be made. Recommended for all jokesters.

365 Awesome Aussie Jokes, Camp Quality
Scholastic Australia 2010
ISBN: 9781741696103

Reviewed by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author www.clairesaxby.com

This book can be purchased in good bookstores or online at Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Noah's Garden, by Mo Johnson & Annabelle Josse

Anything is possible in Noah’s garden.

In Noah’s garden he can fly an aeroplane, fight with pirates, bathe with tigers and ride crazy camels. But there’s one thing he can’t do in his garden, and that is the thing he wants to do most – play with his baby sister Jessica. Noah and his family are living in The Children’s Hospital because his new sister Jessica was born with a serious medical condition. Surrounded by loving adults and fired by his fertile imagination, Noah spends his days playing in the hospital’s garden, and hoping that one day Jess will be able to join him.

Noah’s Garden is a touching tale about the power of the imagination, and the courage of a family living through a trying experience. Based on author Mo Johnson’s observations of friends in the same situation, and brought to life through the beautiful watercolour paintings of debut illustrator Annabelle Josse, this is an inspirational picture book offering.

Johnson is donating all of her royalties for this book to the Royal Chidlren’s Hospital Foundation.

Noah’s Garden, by Mo Johnson and Annabelle Josse
Walker Books, 2010
ISBN 9781921150159

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

New Beginnings

On the 26th of December 2004, an earthquake under the Indian Ocean created a series of devastating tsunamis, killing over 280 000 people, and rendering homeless thousands more. Aid was needed straight away, and came from around the world, but the process of rebuilding is ongoing, and more help is still needed.

In New Beginnings, sixteen renowned authors have donated extracts from their forthcoming new books as well as unpublished short stories, free of charge, with proceeds going to various tsunami earthquake charities.

There are tantalising first chapters from authors including Maeve Binchy, J M Coetzee, Stephen King, Joanna Trollope and more as well as short stories from Margaret Atwood.

As well as getting a glimpse into these unpublished works (many of which will, of course, tempt you to buy the final products when they are released), buyers will have the pleasure of knowing their purchase is helping such a worthy cause.

New Beginnings, by Various Authors
Bloomsbury, 2005