October 2015 – Aussie Reviews

Meet My Book: Awesome Animals, by Di Bates

It is truly awesome to welcome author Di Bates to the blog today, to introduce us to her new book series, Awesome Animals. Welcome Di. Over to you.

Please tell readers about your new books.

Awesome Animals (Big Sky Publishing) is an entertaining new non-fiction animal series for kids – a Guinness Book of Records meets Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

Awesome Cats and Awesome Dogs, the first two books in the series, are each an entertaining new read — a Guinness Book of Records meets Ripley’s Believe It or Not! which features fascinating stories about animals from all over the world. As well, there are relevant book lists, jokes and even humorous animal verses. Each beautifully styled book contains true stories and amazing photographs and quirky, illustrated break-out boxes, introduced by funny cartoon animal characters. The book is best suited for children aged 8 to 11 years, but there’s no doubt older readers will love the books, too.

What are the books about?

Each of the books is a miscellany of fun facts and stories about real-life cats and dogs. As well, there are poems and jokes and a list of children’s books featuring cats and dogs.

Before writing these books I searched for something similar, but found nothing. Yes, there are books about cats and dogs, but the presentation of content in the awesome books is unique. Take cats, for example: in Awesome Cats there are hundreds of short stories about cats in history, cat adventures, famous cats and famous people’s cats, working cats, spoilt cats, and cats in fiction and in TV, on stage and in movies. Here’s just a little ‘teaser’ from the book: ‘In 1976 a mystery cat in Hong Kong killed more than 20 dogs. According to local people it was about four feet long and black or gray in color. It was never caught.’ Imagine that, a dog-killing cat; certainly not a lap cat!

How did the idea for this series come about?

As a full-time, professional children’s author, I am always searching for an idea which will result in a book that any child would love to read. The three books in the Awesome Animals series are dogs, cats and horses (Awesome Horses will be published in 2016): it would be impossible, I’m sure, to find one of these animals that any child didn’t love, much less cherish. I started researching stories about dogs, first as I’m a real dog lover. Before long, I was finding amazing dog stories everywhere! Here are just a few famous dogs, for example, whose stories are told in Awesome Dogs: Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Old Yeller, Bullet, Scooby Doo and Benji. I just love dogs and really miss our last beloved dog, Sassy; she has been irreplaceable since she died two years ago of old age.

Where can people buy Awesome Cats and Awesome Dog?

The books retail for $14.99 each. Here’s where you can get Awesome Cats:

http://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/Books/Children/Awesome-Animals-Cats/1123/productview.aspx

… and Awesome Dogs: http://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/Books/Children/Awesome-Animals-Dogs/1124/productview.aspx

Meet My Book: Pickle and Bree's Guide to Good Deeds, by Alison Reynolds

It is a pleasure to welcome Alison Reynolds to the blog today. Alison is here to introduce us to her two new books, which sound absolutely wonderful. Welcome Alison!

1. Give us the details – title, publisher, illustrator, release date. Pickle & Bree's Guide to Good Deeds: The Birthday Party Cake
Pickle and Bree’s Guide to Good Deeds – The Decorating Disaster
Pickle and Bree’s Guide to Good Deeds – The Birthday Party Cake
Illustrator Mikki Butterley
The Five Mile Press
October 2015
2. Why did you write the book?
I was commissioned to write a book about manners subtly hidden in a picture book.
3. How long from idea to publication?
About 9 months. I feel as if I’ve given birth to twins!
4. What was the hardest thing about writing it?
I had been ill and delayed the whole process. (A big thank you to understanding editors)
5. Coolest thing about your book?
The illustrations! I love them.
6. Something you learnt through writing the book?
That it is possible to have a message and a story without being didactic. Also, sometimes it is possible to break the rules. These books are over the customary 500 word rule for picture books.
7. What did you do celebrate the release?
Dinner at favourite Italian restaurant.

Pickle & Bree's Guide to Good Deeds: The Decorating Disaster
8. And how will you promote the book?
I’m having a colouring competition and another competition for adults beginning Thursday 15th October.
9. What are you working on next?
There are a few ideas floating around for picture books, and I’ve got the first page and outline of a historical YA.
10. Where we can find out more about you and your book?
www.alisonreynolds.com.au

Thanks so much for visiting, Alison. The books look divine.

Bogtrotter, by Margaret Wild & Judith Rossell

He ran day after day,
week after week,
year after year.
Sometimes he felt bored,
but he didn’t know why.
Sometimes he wished things would change,
but he didn’t know how or what or why.

Every day Bogtrotter comes out of his cave, stretches and runs: up the bog, down the bog and around the bog, until it is time to go home. Sometimes he feels discontent, but he doesn’t know why, or how to change things, until he meets a frog who causes him to question why he always does things the same way. That afternoon he picks a flower for the first time, which leads to other changes.

Bogtrotter is a lovely tale of the joy of life and taking risks. The Bogtrotter is a grassy green being with a cuddly body and big smile. His surroundings are simple, making him the chief focus of the illustrations. His energy and expressions make him a delightful star.

Bogtrotter, suitable for kids (and adults) of all ages, is wonderful way of exploring the value of thinking outside the square.

Bogtrotter, by Margaret Wild & Judith Rossell
Walker Books, 2015
ISBN 9781921977558

Available from good bookstores and online.

Meet Banjo Paterson, by Kristin Weidenbach & James Gulliver Hancock

As he sat in his dingy office, Banjo dreamed of the drovers bringing big mobs of cattle down from Queensland. He stared out the window and longed to swap places with those in the back of beyond.

Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson is one of Australia’s best known and loved poets. Poems such as ‘The Man From Snowy River’, ‘Clancy of the Overflow’ and ‘Waltzing Matilda’ have entertained Australians of all ages for more than a century. Meet… Banjo Paterson introduces young readers to the man behind the poems, and how he came to write them.

Told in simple language the text focusses on key events in Paterson’s life and how these translated to the page. Illustrations on every spread bring scenes to life but also depict the way his imagination worked and, in turn, ignited the imagination of readers.

Part of the Meet… series, which brings notable Australians to life in a form accessible to young readers. Suitable both for classroom use and for private reading.

Meet… Banjo Paterson, Kristin Weidenbach & James Gulliver Hancock
Random House Australia, 2016

On Track, by Kathryn Apel

Sometimes it feels
like my body doesn’t belong
to me, like I tell it to do stuff
and it doesn’t. My feet stumble along
and trip over each other, my hands fumble
and drop, and it’s almost like I’m wrapped in
invisible bubble wrap – stumbly, fumbly, bumbly –
like a spaceman bumping and blundering along.

Toby and his brother Shaun were born less than a year apart, but though they are close in age, they are very different in every other way. Shaun is smart, and good at everything he does. Toby struggles at school, and doesn’t find anything easy – except running away from his ‘big, better brother.’ Shaun might be good at everything, but he feels that people don’t notice his successes – especially when Toby is around.

Tensions between the brothers grow when Toby is diagnosed with a muscular condition and starts getting extra help, including a new laptop for school. When he then joins the school’s athletics team, Shaun resents that this means the coach will spend less time with him. With Sports Day getting closer, tensions between the pair grow.

On Track is a wonderful verse novel about sibling rivalry, self identity and self confidence. Told through the dual first person narratives of Shaun and Toby, the story allows readers to see both brothers’ struggles and motivations, allowing empathy for both to develop. This in turn will help readers to see that individual differences are not always better or worse.

This is Apel’s second verse novel, and makes excellent use of the form, allowing an emotional connection with the two characters. Readers will care about the boys and what happens to them, and the resolution is satisfying without being overly contrived. The inclusion of sport in the plot will add interest for many readers.

On Track, by Kathryn Apel
UQP, 2016
ISBN 9780702253737

Available from good bookstores and online.

Crystal Force, by Joe Ducie

Irene and Tristan dived for cover but Drake watched the shards fall like sparks opf electric-blue snow mixed with white. They disappeared into the actual snow and melted the hard-packed powder beneath. The lighter sparks were swept away on the wind, marking the prsitine snow with hundreds of tiny burns.

I did that. Whatever it was, it was beautiful, and I did it.

Will Drake is on the run. No longer a prisoner in the word’s supposedly most secure facility, now he’s been branded a terrorist and, with his friends Irene and Tristan, is on the run He wants to get to his mother in England, and help to cure her cancer. First, though, he has to evade the Alliance and get out of Canada. Pretty difficult when the Alliance controls transport, communication – in fact, pretty much everything. Then there’s the fact that he has special powers – the result of being exposed to the powerful but mysterious Crystal X during his time as a prisoner. Though these powers might help him escape, they are also the very reason the Alliance will stop at nothing to track him down.

Crystal Force is the sequel to the award-winning The Rig and would probably work best being read in order. However, there is enough back story to bring the reader up to speed, and enough action and intrigue to keep them reading. Set in a not too distant future where technology and a mysterious substance with supernatural links combine in disturbing ways, Crystal Force is a gripping read for young adult readers.

Crystal Force, by Joe Ducie
Hot Key Books, 2015
ISBN 9781471404559

Available from good bookstores and online.

Voicing the Dead by Gary Crew

You ask, ‘Can the dead speak?’

I answer, ‘Is this blood that runs in my veins, or ink?’

You ask, ‘Are you real or a character in a book?’

I answer, ‘I am real enough. I call myself Jack Ireland. I am sixteen years old. A century ago I sailed the South Seas. I lived then, I live now.’

You ask, ‘So is this history?’

I answer, ‘If it bores you, shut the book – but you will not silence my voice. After all I have suffered, it is impossible to destroy me. So I ask you to red me. I ask you to hear me. See me. Touch me. Others have, and tasted my blood …’

You ask, ‘Yet you are still alive?’

I answer, ‘Ask no more. Read …’

You ask, ‘Can the dead speak?’

I answer, ‘Is this blood that runs in my veins, or ink?’

You ask, ‘Are you real or a character in a book?’

I answer, ‘I am real enough. I call myself Jack Ireland. I am sixteen years old. A century ago I sailed the South Seas. I lived then, I live now.’

You ask, ‘So is this history?’

You ask, ‘Yet you are still alive?’

I answer, ‘Ask no more. Read …’

Jack Ireland was best boy to the captain of ‘Charles Eaton’ a sailing ship in the 1830s. He thinks well of himself, perhaps a little too well. Even before the ship has pulled anchor, he has to revise his thinking and become a little more humble. But his life aboard ship is easier than many of the the crew and some of the passengers. The ‘Charles Eaton’ travels to Australia and delivers its load before heading north into the Torres Strait. There they are shipwrecked and Jack’s real adventure begins. Their boats are wrecked and passengers and some crew set out on a raft. Jack begins to show his mettle as the remaining crew seek food and build a second raft. They discover tropical paradise islands and encounter indigenous islanders. These are traders. Jack doesn’t need to understand their language to realise that he and others are tradeable.

Fourteen-year-old Jack Ireland is determined to tell his own tale. Others have told it, he says, but not as truly as he can himself. He finds himself with ‘ink in his veins’ and able to travel through and reference all the books he’s read. And having been the Captain’s best boy, he’s read his way through the Captain’s vast library. More than this, he’s read through many other books throughout time, both before and after his shipwreck. He quotes from books written about the ‘Charles Eaton’ and about himself. He acknowledges where they get it right, but mostly he feels that he is not well-represented, or not well enough. He seeks to set the tale straight. ‘Voicing the Dead’ is based on a real shipwreck, Jack Ireland was one of the survivors, but this story is fiction, a revisiting of the journey leading to the shipwreck and the time afterwards. The reader looking for adventure will find rewards here, as will the historian and literature buff. This is a complex and rich novel, full of intrigue and sensory detail. Recommended for mature secondary-aged readers.

Voicing the Dead, Gary Crew
Ford Street Publishing 2015 ISBN: 9781925272055

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com

Silver Shoes 4: Dance Till You Drop by Samantha-Ellen Bound

‘You can’t what?’ Ellie crossed her arms and narrowed her big green eyes at me.

Uh-oh. I knew I was in trouble.

I looked at Ellie’s fluoro-pink jazz boots. Then at Ashley’s bag with the ripped handle. Then at a picture of a young Miss Caroline dancing on a cruise ship above the bluest water I’d ever seen.

But I couldn’t look at Ellie.

‘I can’t come to your birthday party,’ I whispered. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Why not?’ said Ellie.

I picked at my leotard. Then I gave a little cough. Wow. Sometimes Ellie can be scary when she’s excited or passionate about something and can’t stop talking. But when she’s silent? That’s terrifying.

‘You can’t what?’ Ellie crossed her arms and narrowed her big green eyes at me.

Uh-oh. I knew I was in trouble.

I looked at Ellie’s fluoro-pink jazz boots. Then at Ashley’s bag with the ripped handle. Then at a picture of a young Miss Caroline dancing on a cruise ship above the bluest water I’d ever seen.

But I couldn’t look at Ellie.

‘I can’t come to your birthday party,’ I whispered. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Why not?’ said Ellie.

Paige has been dancing forever. She takes almost every dance class on offer at Silver Shoes dance school, as well as others. But she’s exhausted and starting to lose her passion. An extra dance commitment means she’s going to miss her best friend’s birthday and now her best friend Ellie is not talking to her. Paige is sure all of her friends are better dancers than she is and now she’s starting to wonder if Benji, her ballroom dancing partner is sick of dancing with her too. Paige’s mother was once a dancer and is keen for Paige to take as many opportunities as she can. Her mother also manages the costumes, but Paige is so tired, she’s struggling to be enthusiastic about the costume her mother is making for the ballroom competition. Black and white illustrations are scattered throughout. Added extras include a bio for Paige, a glossary and some dance step instructions.

Dance Till You Drop is a fourth title in the Silver Shoes series from Random House. Each features one of four friends who dance together at Silver Shoes dance school. Paige is feeling the pressure to dance in every class, so much so that’s she’s not sure what she wants to do. All she knows is that she’s not doing anything as well as she’d like to. Her friends have their own challenges, and it’s up to Paige to take control and tell her former-dancer mother how she feels. Her fatigue is feeding her anxiety, but she eventually does make her own decisions. Recommended for mid-primary lovers of all styles of dance.

Silver Shoes 4: Dance Till You Drop by Samantha-Ellen Bound
Random House Australia 2015 ISBN: 9780857983725

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com

Pup Patrol 1: Farm Rescue; Pup Patrol 2: Bush Rescue; Pup Patrol 3: Storm Rescue by Darrel & Sally Odgers

‘Baaaa! Baaaaaa! Baaaaaddddd!’ Sheep in a panic make a pawful lot of noise.

‘Can we take the boat to rescue them?’ James shouted. (He had to shout over the noise of the rain, the sheep and the river.) ‘Stamp and your dog work well together. They can help by keeping the sheep in a bunch.’

‘Too Risky, yelled Glen Pepper. Rain dripped off his long nose. ‘Look at that!’

He pointed as a whole tree tore past us on the flood. ‘If that hit the boat, we’d tip over!’

Rusty, the old Border Collie, barked once, sharply. Then he growled, ‘Do something! Quickly!’ to Glen.

Glen stared at the sheep and shook his head. Rain poured down. It was like having a big bucket of water tipped over us.

‘Why are humans so slow?’ said Rusty. ‘Those sheep need help!’

‘Baaaa! Baaaaaa! Baaaaaddddd!’ Sheep in a panic make a pawful lot of noise.

‘Too Risky, yelled Glen Pepper. Rain dripped off his long nose. ‘Look at that!’

He pointed as a whole tree tore past us on the flood. ‘If that hit the boat, we’d tip over!’

Rusty, the old Border Collie, barked once, sharply. Then he growled, ‘Do something! Quickly!’ to Glen.

Glen stared at the sheep and shook his head. Rain poured down. It was like having a big bucket of water tipped over us.

‘Why are humans so slow?’ said Rusty. ‘Those sheep need help!’

Stamp (full name: Barnaby Station Stamp of Approval) is a young border collie and this is his story. He is travelling around Australia with James. James is taking a year off before going to university. James uses the CB radio in his Fourby (ute) to maintain regular contact with his parents at home. Each title includes a list of characters, glossary and many doggy puns. Most openings include black and white illustrations.

In Farm Rescue they take shelter on Pepper Plains when they encounter floods. There Stamp meets Rusty, an older border collie. When the floodwaters rise, it’s up to them to save some sheep. At the end of ‘Farm Rescue’ James adopts another dog, a young and wild pup he calls Ace.

In Bush Rescue, James, Stamp and Ace visit a vet in Jasper. Unfortunately, there’s a bushfire raging and there’s no time for anything but emergency services. James helps out at the vet and together they are involved in pet and wild animal rescue.

In Storm Rescue , James, Stamp and Ace head north into far north Queensland in search of adventure. This time the adventure comes in the form of a cyclone and all three are kept busy with rescues and more in the Atherton Tablelands.

Pup Patrol is told from Stamp’s perspective and Stamp and all the animals he encounters can talk to one another. Stamp is well-behaved and skilled at working with James. Ace, on the other hand is young and a little wild. But between them, James and Stamp teach him how to behave. Each adventure presents a different part of Australia experiencing extremes of weather. There are plenty of insights into dog behaviour and dog training. And there are many puns to set readers giggling. (Perhaps also to encourage them to invent some of their own?) Recommended for newly independent readers ready for chapter books.

Pup Patrol 1: Farm Rescue (ISBN: 9781743622995), Pup Patrol 2:Bush Rescue (ISBN: 9781743623008), Pup Patrol 3: Storm Rescue (ISBN: 9781743623015), Darrel & Sally Odgers Scholastic Press 2015

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com

Budinge and the Min Min Lights by Uncle Joe Kirk, with Greer Casey and Sandi Harrold ill Sandi Harrold

Budinge lived with his grandmother in an old wooden house beside a waterhole, deep in the Australian bush.

Each evening Budinge would take his fishing rod to the waterhole. He would sit on his favourite rock and he would fish until bedtime.

One night he noticed a bright light twinkling through the trees.

‘Hmmm,’ he wondered, ‘What can it be?’

Oh goodness me! Oh goodness me!

I think that thing is watching me!

Budinge lived with his grandmother in an old wooden house beside a waterhole, deep in the Australian bush.

Each evening Budinge would take his fishing rod to the waterhole. He would sit on his favourite rock and he would fish until bedtime.

One night he noticed a bright light twinkling through the trees.

‘Hmmm,’ he wondered, ‘What can it be?’

Oh goodness me! Oh goodness me!

I think that thing is watching me!

Budinge lives happily with his grandmother in the bush. One evening when fishing, he sees a bright twinkling light and remembers his grandmother’s story about the Min Min lights. The Min Min lights come to naughty children and entice them away from their homes. Budinge watches as another light appears, then the two lights unite to become one. He flees as they come towards him, finally diving into his bed and pulling the covers over his head. After a while he becomes brave enough to have another look. He discovers that the light is made up on many small lights – a cluster of fireflies. He is no longer scared and enjoys playing with the fireflies. Throughout there is a refrain that escalates the tension. The final words ask the reader to think about why Buddinge’s grandmother might have told him this story. Each opening has text set in a coloured page on the left with illustrations occupying the right page.

Budinge and the Min Min Lights is a dreaming story from Uncle Joe Kirk, intended to help young readers understand Aboriginal culture. It’s easy to imagine this as an oral tale shared with and passed to the next generation. The refrain adds to the tension and demonstrates Budinge’s growing fear. The night bush landscape can appear threatening and dangerous, but may not be if you can learn to read and understand it. Recommended for early primary-readers and anyone wanting to extend their knowledge of Australia’s traditional stories.

Budinge and the Min Min Lights, Uncle Joe Kirk with Greer Casey and Sandi Harrold, ill Sandi Harrold Scholastic Australia 2015 ISBN: 9781743628577

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller