October 2009 – Page 4 – Aussie Reviews

Fearless, by Colin Thompson & Sarah Davis

When the Claybourne-Willments…got Fearless as a little puppy
it seemed a good name for him.
Except Fearless wasn’t.

Fearless is a bulldog with a problem. He might look fearsome to people who don’t know him, but in reality he is scared of everything. He has a big, loving heart, and is a quivering mess whenever anything frightening happens.

But one night Fearless meets a burglar, trying to steal his mum’s handbag. And Fearless manages to live up to his name – even if it is by accident.

Fearless is a gorgeous, whimsically funny book about names, about love and about courage. The text is delightful and the illustrations, by Chrichton Award winning illustrator Sarah Davis, are absolutely gorgeous. Fearless’ facial expressions are especially endearing, and kids will laugh out loud at his antics.

Suitable for children aged 4 to 8, and likely to withstand repeated readings.

Fearless, by Colin Thompson & Sarah Davis
ABC Books, 2009

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

The Aussie Night Before Christmas Board Game Book

’twas the night before Christmas
there wasn’t a sound.
Not a possum was stirring;
no-one was around.

Following on from the success of The Aussie Night Before Christmas hardcover, board book, pop up and activity book, this popular story has been rereleased as a board game book, containing both the story and 10 games for children to play.

The story is an Aussie version of Clement Moore’s poem The Night Before Christmas, complete with kangaroos, utes and thongs. At the back of the book there are boards for six different board games, and punch out cards for four card games, as well as tokens and instructions for all ten games.

An Aussie Night Before Christmas Board Game Book is a wonderful Christmas offering for young Aussies, or for sending overseas as an Aussie flavoured Christmas gift.

Lots of fun.

An Aussie Night Before Christmas Board Game Book, by Yvonne Morrison and Kilmeny Niland
Scholastic Australia, 2009

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

Thorpey, by Ruth Starke

What is Thorpey doing? Is there something wrong?
Instead of swimming around, he stays in one spot.
He floats on his back. He leans to one side.

When the narrator of this story is given a goldfish for his birthday, he’s initially unimpressed, but as he gets to know the fish (who he names Thorpey) he realises that goldfish are pretty cool. It isn’t long before he thinks Thorpey is the best pet ever. So when Thorpey stops swimming and starts lying on the bottom of the tank, the boy is worried. What can be wrong with Thorpey, and is there any way of fixing him?

Thorpey is a short chapter book for beginning readers, part of the new Mates series from Omnibus books. With a simple storyline, the support of full colour illustrations on every page, and a high interest plot line, Thorpey is a mystery story which readers will enjoy trying to solve.

A cute offering.

Thorpey , by Roth Starke, illustrated by Katie Jardine
Omnibus, 2009

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

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, by Kevin Whitlark

On the first day of Christmas
My true love sent to me…
A fat cat in a fur tree.

It’s Christmastime and all the dogs are busy getting up to all kinds of mischief. Each day brings a new batch of doggy fun – two chewed up slippers, three French poodles, four pointers pointing and more. Using the repetitive pattern of well known song The Twelve days of Christmas, the book encourages kids to join in, whilst also providing lots of silliness both in the words and the doggy illustrations

On each spread the new set of dogs or mischief is illustrated around the text on the left side, whilst on the right the dogs from the previous spreads cavort over, under and around the Christmas tree. There are dogs of different sizes, shapes and colour, doing doggy things such as catching Frisbees or fetching balls, as well as more unlikely, humorous things such as playing cards, fencing or playing instruments.

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas is a lively offering which will appeal to children from toddlers and through primary school.

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, by Kevin Whitlark
Scholastic Australia, 2009

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

The Toilet Kid, by Pat Flynn

Perhaps she’s looking for me, wanting to kiss my fat lips.
Just as I’m about to walk out and meet her she bends over.
Barrfff!
Aww, that’s disgusting! She’s just chucked up her breakfast.

Matt’s life is looking up. He’s fitter, he’s lost weight – and he has a girlfriend – the beautiful Kayla. But Kayla is acting strangely, and it soon becomes apparent that Matt isn’t the only kid with issues about food. Skinny, healthy Kayla has issues of her own – and if Matt is to help her, she might not like him any more.

The Toilet Kid is a sequel to the award-winning The Tuckshop Kid and, like its prequel, combines humour with an exploration of serious issues. Whilst Tuckshop Kid focussed on Matt’s unhealthy over eating and bad eating habits, the chief focus of The Toilet Kid is the issue of bulimia and body image.

Aimed at upper primary aged readers, the story is light-hearted and short enough to be accessible to even reluctant readers, with illustrative support and the use of notebook entries adding interest.

The Toilet Kid, by Pat Flynn
UQP, 2009

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

Mostly Sunny With a Chance of Storms, by Marion Roberts

Mum looked dead excited, and I guess she thought that I’d be excited too. And maybe I should have been. I mean, it’s not every day your family finds out they’ve inherited their very own big old white-and-black mansion. But to be honest, I found the idea about as exciting as a wet sock, and I guess it showed on my face..
‘I thought you’d be thrilled, Sunny,’ said Mum. ‘You love that old house.’
‘I loved the house because it was Granny Carmelene’s. When she was alive! I can’t imagine living there now. It’d be sad.’

First she had to adapt to being part of a blended family, and becoming a big sister when her dad and his new partner had a baby. Now Sunny Hathaway has to face even more changes when Mum and Carl decide the family should move into the mansion they’ve just inherited. And her dad’s house is not much of a refuge. Her new baby sister is gorgeous, but her step mother, Steph, is struggling with being a new mother. For Sunny it seems life is all changes.

Mostly Sunny with the Chance of Storms is a rich sequel to Sunny Side Up (2008) and,like its predecessor is a blend of reality, whimsy and complexity. With two step siblings and a step father at her mum’s home, and a step mother and baby half sister at her dad’s, Sunny’s life is fairly complicated. But add in a grumpy Italian gardener living in a cottage in the grounds of the mansion, a first crush on a boy with no telephone or internet, and a recently deceased grandmother who may be visiting in the form on an angel, and complicated just doesn’t come close to describing Sunny’s life.

There is a lot happening in this book, but it is not overloaded – rather it is a finely tuned, feel-good story which will appeal to upper primary aged readers.

Mostly Sunny with the Chance of Storms, by Marion Roberts
Allen & Unwin, 2009

Don't Breathe a Word, by Marianne Musgrove

I, Mackenzie Elizabeth Carew, do solemnly swear never to communicate anything about what happened tonight.’…I closed my eyes and said the sacred words.
‘May my nose fall off and my hair turn blue,
May I fall in a tub full of alpaca poo.’
Tahlia nodded. ‘We have some major thinking to do.’

Mackenzie and Tahlia live with their grandad. He’s almost the only family they have since their parents passed away. But something has happened to Grandpa and suddenly he isn’t the responsible one any more – it is up to the girls to look after him. Tahlia tells Mackenzie that they mustn’t tell anyone – but as Grandpa gets increasingly erratic and Tahlia leaves more and more of the work to Mackenzie keeping the secret gets harder and harder.

Don’t Breathe a Word is a gentle exploration of some difficult subject matter. Grandpa is suffering from dementia, and, for the girls, their fear of being separated from him shapes their attempts to care for him, and their interactions with friends and neighbours, as well as their older half-sister Lydia.

For children who face difficult situations, Don’t Breathe a Word will be a help, and for those children who don’t face such dilemmas it will be intriguing. Musgrove portrays the situation with gentle creativity, and the use of the first person narrator takes us inside Mackenzie’s head as she struggles courageously with the hand life has dealt her.

Beautifully rendered.

Don’t Breathe a Word, by Marianne Musgrove
Random House, 2009

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

Pink, by Lili Wilkinson

How could I explain to Chloe that I wanted rules and homework and standardised testing? I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to be around people who cared about maths and structure and results. Not so much the cadets, though. The truth was, I’d begged my parents to let me change to a private school. I wrote letters and sat a scholarship exam and when I got the acceptance form halfway through first term, I danced around my room like a lunatic.

Ava and her girlfriend Chloe wear black and hang out with artists and intellectuals. Chloe is firmly anti-establishment and Ava is too. Or is she? Hidden in her wardrobe, Ava has a shiny bag containing a pink cashmere jumper. If Chloe discovered her guilty secret she’d laugh herself silly or spurn Ava forever. So Ava pretends that her girly side doesn’t exist – and switches school, pretending to Chloe that she doesn’t want to go.

At her new school, Ava finds herself accepted by a group of shinily perfect Pastels, and decides to try out for the school musical. But when she finds herself consigned to the ranks of the stage crew, a group of misfits, she finds it increasingly hard to balance her growing friendship with the other stage crew, with that with Pastels, and, of course, her relationship with Chloe. With fibs and cover ups, she is digging herself into a big hole – and everything comes unstuck on the opening night of the musical.

Pink is a funny, issues-driven, pink-clad story about self-identity, honesty and friendship. Ava’s first-person narration takes the reader inside the dilemmas of a teen reaching for a sense of self, and while she faces some serious issues, she is also laugh out loud funny, self-deprecating and honest (with the reader, if not always with her friends).

The pink cover suggest the book might be girly and light – but, while it might be funny, it is an important book, dealing with sexual identity, a topic which is under represented in YA fiction. This is a book for all teens.

Pink, by Lili Wilkinson
Allen & Unwin, 2009

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

The Hottest Boy Who Ever Lived, by Anna Fienberg

Hector was sad.
He was unbearably, bone-achingly sad.
‘No offence, Minton,’ he said to his salamander, ‘but I would give up my mangoes, my treehouse, even my view of the volcano, just for someone to talk to.’

Hector is the hottest boy who ever lived, which makes it hard for him to be around other people. Only Minton, the fire salamander, can get close to him. But whilst Hector is glad to have Minton, he is still lonely.

When a storm sweeps Hector and Minton away to cold snowy lands, they meet Gilda, a Viking adventurer, who likes Hector’s warmth. Though it takes the other Vikings some time to get know Minton, soon his life has changed for the better.

First published in picture book format, The Hottest Boy Who Ever Lived is a gorgeous chapter book showing the strength and the magic of friendship. Illustrated in colour, this is an ideal text for beginning readers, but independent readers will also enjoy the absurdity and gentle humour of the concept.

From the creative team behind the Tashi series, The Hottest Boy Who Ever Lived is a heart-warming tale.

The Hottest Boy Who Ever Lived , by Anna Fienberg & Kim Gamble
Allen & Unwin, 2009

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

They Told Me I Had to Write This, by Kim Miller

They told me I had to write this. It’s taken a while to get started but here I am.
‘Here I am.’ Sounds like I’m talking to the coppers again.
‘Here I am. Yes, sir. No, sir. OK I did it, sir. Here I am.’
The stuff I’ve been given up for. I can’t believe it. People are still on my back in this place. Same old story. So here I am writing. Figure that one out.

Clem is always in trouble – with his teachers, with the police, with his dad. In fact, he’s been in so much strife that now he’s been sent to a school for troubled teens. His counsellor, the Rev, wants him to write letters, so he writes them to his much loved but now dead Gram, telling her about his day to day life – and about his past.

As he settles into life at this new school, Clem enjoys bike racing, makes some new friends and unexpectedly finds a girlfriend. But he also has to face some hard times – the death of one of his classmates, his troubled relationship with his dad, and some tough memories from his childhood. Can he get through all these and turn his life around?

They Told Me I Had To Write This is a gut-wrenching novel, which is likely to reduce the reader to tears in places. At the same time, though, it is an uplifting read. Clem is a likeable narrator – honest, self-deprecating and humorous – and it is an honour to witness his growth as he turns his life around with the support of good friends and caring adults.

There is a touch of romance, lots of bikes and vehicles, and some twists, and the use of the letter/diary format makes the text both accessible and interesting as we wait for Clem to divulge information.

Excellent.

They Told Me I Had To Write This, by Kim Miller
Ford Street, 2009

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