Month: August 2016

Chook Doolan Saves the Day by James Roy ill Lucinda Gifford

Hi. I’m Chook, and you’re not.

This is my family. We’re the Doolans.

I’m the little one on the end.

No, the other end.

My mum and dad call me Simon, because that’s my name. Simon Doolan.Some of the kids at school have a different name for me.

They call me Chook.

Hi. I’m Chook, and you’re not.

This is my family. We’re the Doolans.

I’m the little one on the end.

No, the other end.

My mum and dad call me Simon, because that’s my name. Simon Doolan.Some of the kids at school have a different name for me.

They call me Chook.

Chook Doolan is a slightly anxious young boy who worries about many aspects of his life, at home and at school. At school lots of people play soccer, including his friend Joe. But the thought of being on the same football ground as Ashton Findus, Marty Petrovic and a ball fills him with fear. And he’s sure he’s no good at it. His big brother Ricky and friend Joe try to share their love of the game by teaching some of the rules and skills. Perhaps there’s a place for Chook after all. Illustrations appear on every opening. Text is large and includes hypersize words. Chapters are short.

‘Chook Doolan’ is a new series of short chapter books for the newly independent reader in transition from fully illustrated books to chapter books. Chook is a realistic character set in a contemporary setting familiar to many young readers. His anxieties too will resonate with young readers. Chook is a keen observer of his world, and while he worries about things, he does not let them stop him from trying new experiences. Recommended for newly independent readers in the early years of school.

Chook Doolan Saves the Day , James Roy ill Lucinda Gifford
Walker Books Australia 2016 ISBN: 9781922244956

Fizz and the Police Dog Tryouts by Lesley Gibbes ill Stephen Michael King

‘I’m not a little puppy anymore!’ sang Fizz to the world. ‘I’m all grown up and ready to find a job.’

Fizz knew exactly what job he wanted.

‘I want to be a police dog,’ he said, puffing out his chest.

‘I’m not a little puppy anymore!’ sang Fizz to the world. ‘I’m all grown up and ready to find a job.’

Fizz knew exactly what job he wanted.

‘I want to be a police dog,’ he said, puffing out his chest.

Fizz has all the right attributes for a police dog: he is brave; clever; and super-fast. There’s only one teensy tiny problem – Fizz doesn’t look like a police dog. He is ‘a small cute ball of white, fizzy, fuzzy fur’. But while others may think his looks disqualify him from any real chance of becoming a police dog, Fizz is determined. It’s clear that he’s not the only dog keen to tryout – there are dogs of all shapes and sizes lining up for the tryouts. Most are friendly, but Amadeus, a big, black, cold-eyed, gang-leader dog, is scathing. Fizz, he says, has less than no chance. One by one, dogs are sent home as they fail the tests. Fizz is undaunted. There are illustrations on every opening, a character spread and a contents page.

‘Fizz The Police Dog Series’ offers four titles about Fizz and his adventures. Fizz and the Police Dog Tryouts is Book 1. Each title is in a different colour, and numbers on the spine are complemented by a letter on each title, spelling out the name of the main character. Fizz makes many friends, although not all of them are destined to be police dogs. The character sketches introduce the reader to the dogs and people they will encounter. Titled and numbered chapters also include full page illustrations which hint at the action to come. Fizz may be little, but he’s friendly, smart and determined. Fizz has a lovely supportive family, although his mother, particularly, thinks he really should join the show circuit. Recommended for junior primary independent readers.

Fizz and the Police Dog Tryouts, Leslie Gibbes ill Stephen Michael King
Allen & Unwin 2016 ISBN: 9781760112851

Fizz and the Dog Academy Rescue by Lesley Gibbes ill Stephen Michael King

‘Whoo-hoo!’ barked Fizz, as he leapt out of bed and raced to his breakfast bowl.

‘Slow down, son,’ said Fizz’s father. ‘There’s plenty of time before you leave for the academy.’

Fizz buzzed all over. His dream of becoming a police dog had come true.

‘Did you clean your ears, sugarplum?’ asked Fizz’s mother.

‘Yes, Mum,’ said Fizz, between mouthfuls of food.

‘Well, give your fur a good shake. I want you to look especially fluffy on your first day of training.’

‘Whoo-hoo!’ barked Fizz, as he leapt out of bed and raced to his breakfast bowl.

‘Slow down, son,’ said Fizz’s father. ‘There’s plenty of time before you leave for the Academy.’

Fizz buzzed all over. His dream of becoming a police dog had come true.

‘Did you clean your ears, sugarplum?’ asked Fizz’s mother.

‘Yes, Mum,’ said Fizz, between mouthfuls of food.

‘Well, give your fur a good shake. I want you to look especially fluffy on your first day of training.’

Fizz is very excited to be beginning his training as an undercover police dog. He may not look like a police dog, but that’s going to be an advantage in undercover work. But first there are detective skills for him and new friend Remi, to master. Only then can they graduate as undercover police dogs. Amadeus, the dog who does look like a police dog, is convinced that Fizz and Remi will fail. There are illustrations on every opening, chapter headings and full page illustrations, a character spread and a contents page.

‘A Police Dog Adventure’ featuring Fizz and friends is a new series of early chapter books from Allen & Unwin. This is Book 2 of four titles so far. In this instalment, Fizz, his friends and his nemesis are at the Academy for training. Amadeus is sure Fizz is a poor chioce as a recruit, but Fizz and his friend Remi are to be undercover police dogs precisely because they are not stereotypically police dogs. Their extra training begins almost immediately when other recruits are being injured and sent home. It’s up to Fizz and Remi to work out what’s going on. Lots of fun and pun for beginner readers. Recommended for newly independent readers ready for first chapter books.

Fizz and the Dog Academy Rescue, Lesley Gibbes ill Stephen Michael King
Allen & Unwin 2016 ISBN: 9781760112844

Mrs Dog, by Janeen Brian & Marjorie Crosby-Fairall

‘Leave it, Mrs Dog,’ called Tall One.
‘It’s too small and weak to live.’
But Mrs Dog carried the little Woolly-Head home to the Big Kennel.

Mrs Dog is getting too old to round up sheep, but when she finds a tiny orphaned lamb, she is determined to help him. She takes him home, keeps him warm and tries to teach him all that she knows. Baa-rah does his best to do the things Mrs Dog teaches him, and one day, when it is Mrs DOg who needs help, Baa-Rah saves the day.

Mrs Dog is an adorable picture book story about an unlikely friendship between a dog and a sheep, elderly and very young. Children will love not just the events of the story, but the use of language, with Mrs Dog’s terminology for sheep being Woolly-Heads, the humans called Tall Ones and so on. The illustrations, in soft colours and with loads of detail, capture farm life and the expressions of the animals. A wonderful touch is that while the humans do lend a helping hand, they are barely there in the illustrations, allowing the bond between animals to be highlighted.

A lovely picture book.

Mrs Dog, by Janeen Brian & Marjorie Crosby-Fairall
Five Mile, 2016
ISBN 9781760066451

A Brief Take on the Australian Novel, by Jean-Francoise Vernay

While I was researching Australian fiction, people started asking me what they should read. This is a tricky question because you need to provide an answer while carefully avoiding establishing a canon. bearing in mind that any recommendation would reflect my own tastes, I tried to conceive a neutral space like a giant table on which would lie any appealing Australiana-packed novel, for avid readers to make their own choices.

For much of its history, novel writing in Australia has been seen as on offshoot of, or even one and the same as, the English novel. But, just as the nation has moved further and further way from being British, so too has the novel, shaped by the writers who call the country home. A Brief Take on the Australian Novel offers a survey of these writers and of the evolution of the Australian novel from colonial times to the present, including the influence of global trends, shifting social and political landscapes, the role of immigrants, minorities and Aindigenous writers, and more.

Written in accessible language and with discussion of what Vernay considers key texts and authors, chapters are broken by ‘Inserts’ win the form of whole page text boxes exploring individual texts, significant authors and more. This comprehensive overview does not claim to be all-encompassing or indisputable, instead being the ‘take’ of Vernay, a self-described outsider, who grew up in New Caledonia with a French father and Australian mother, but who has spent 20 years researching Australian fiction.

Suitable for any one with a love of or interest in Australian literature.

A Brief Take on the Australian Novel, by Jean-Francois Vernay
Wakefield Press, 2016
ISBN 9781743054048

Did You Take the B from my _ook? by Beck & Matt Stanton

I think mt favourite letter has gone from this _ook!
Let’s check!

Designed to be read aloud to one or more children, Did You Take the B from My _ook? is an interactive offering which will have kids laughing and interjecting throughout. The reader, it seems, has sneezed the B from the bok in the arly pages, and so everyword that should begin with B is incomplete. There are _ulls, _eds, _alls and _utterflies aplenty – just no Bs to correctly pronounce them. The solution, it seems, is to have the listeners call out for B to come back.

Did You Take the B from My _ook? tags itself as a book that drives kids crazy, but it’s mor elikely to make them laugh and want to join in with the tongue-twisting silliness of trying to say all those B words without the letter b.

With simple illustrations and a sturdy format, this is perfect for sharing in a school or child care setting as well as at home.

Did You Take the B from My _ook? , by Beck & Matt Stanton
ABC Books, 2016
ISBN 9780733334832

Desert Lake: The Story of Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre, by Pamela Freeman and Liz Anelli

Far up north, clouds are gathering: thunderheads and rain clouds.
Rain falls.
Rivers fill and break their banks,
And water swirls and roars down the empty riverbeds towards the lake.

Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre – is a dry salt lake in the centre of Australia. But once roughly every ten years heavy rains to the north fill the lake with water, awakening frogs and shrimp. carrying fish down creek beds, giving new life to parched plants, and bringing birds, including pelicans and ducks, to the lake to breed, feed and flourish. When the lake starts to dry out again the birds and their new young fly away and the other life returns to dormancy waiting for the next flood.

Desert Lake: The Story of Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre is a beautiful non-fiction book which brings the changing lake to lif through the combination of well-written text and stunning mixed media illustrations. The narrative text is complemented on each spread by the inclusion of facts, presented in a different font so that readers can read the story and facts separately, if desired. The illustrations show the diversity of the lake’s inhabitants and the lake itself through contrasts between the ochres and browns of the dry, and the greens and blues of the wet.

Par of the Nature Storybook series, Desert Lake is excellent both as an educational tool and for prib=vate enjoyment.

Desert Lake: The Story of Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre, by Pamela Freeman & Liz Anelli
Walker Books, 2016
ISBN 9781921529436

You Have My Heart, by Corinne Fenton and Robin Cowcher

On good days and bad days
and all those in-between days…
you have my heart.

Whether its a sunshine-inside-of-me day, a tears-tumbling-down day or an en-between day, the voice of this books tells ‘you’, the reader/listener, that you always have ‘my heart’. The simple but whimsical text is an attestation of love between reader and listener, between parent and child, or between giver and receiver, being a book perfect both for quiet-time reading with a young child and for gift giving to another adult.

The illustrations too are deceptively simple, using ink and watercolour with greys and reddy-pinks to depict a child of indeterminate age demonstrating the range of emotions with the help of a single red balloon which, at the end, becomes heart-shaped.

This gorgeous small format hardcover is sheer delight.

You Have My Heart, by Corinne Fenton & Robin Cowcher
Five Mile Press, 2016
ISBN 9781760401917

Castle of Dreams, by Elise McCune

‘Robert. His name was Captain Robert Shine.’
She handed me the photograph. I noticed the sharpenss of the soldier’s dark eyes, the strong jawline and the firm tilt of his head, and most of all the startling intimacy between subject and photographer.
‘Oh, Nan…he;s a handsome guy. Who took the photo?’I saw a wary reaction flare in Nan’s watery eyes.
‘A girl I once knew. She liked to take photos.’ Nan closed her lips firmly.

When Stella returns home to spend Christmas with her parents and her much loved grandmother, she senses that the tension between her mother, Linda and her grandmother, Rose, hasn’t lessened since last time she was here. She has never understood how her Nan, so loving to her, is so harsh towards her own daughter. When she accidentally finds an old photograph in her Nan’s bedroom, she starts to investigate.

Over sixty years earlier, Rose and her sister Vivienne share an idyllic childhood living in a Spanish-style castle in northern Queensland. Nothing, it seems, can come between them. But when Rose leaves home and meets a handsome American soldier, this relationship will test the bond between sisters.

Castle of Dreams is an engaging story of three generations, and the secrets that can shape family relationships long after they are kept. As Stella unravels her Nan’s past, she also learns more about her mother and a mysterious aunt she never knew she had.

Set in World War 2 and in contemporary times, this is an absorbing story of love and betrayal.

Castle of Dreams, by Elise McCune
Allen & Unwin, 2016
ISBN 9781760291846

Yong, by Janeen Brian

I never wanted to come.
And now I’m probably going to die. Before this trip I had never been out of my village in Guangdong. Never walked past the banks of the rice fields or smelled the air beyond the dark hills.
Yet, here I am, aged thirteen, in a sailing ship that’s being hurled about in seas as tall as mountains, heading for some strange shore across the other side of the world.

Yong does not want to go to Australia. He wants to stay home in his village and look after his younger siblings and his grandmother. But he is the firstborn son, and has no choice: his father insists that he accompany him to the goldfields in Ballarat. There they are to make their fortune, to send money home for their family, and eventually return.

The trip by ship to Australia is long and tedious, and, when storms hit, dangerous too. Yong and his father are lucky to escape with their lives, but find themselves not in Victoria, but South Australia, and so begin another long journey – on foot. With other men from their village and an untrustworthy guide it seems they might never arrive.

Yong is a moving historical fiction tale set in 1850s Australia against the backdrop of the goldrush. Whilst gold is the goal for Yong and his father, however, the focus of the story is on unearthing the culture and type of people who came to Australia in search of gold, specifically the Chinese. Through the eyes of Yong we see his concerns about leaving behind his birth country and family, his bewilderment at his new country, and how his culture affects his experiences.

An engaging story, Yong is ideal for private reading and for schools and libraries.

Yong, by Janeen Brian
Walker Books, 2016
ISBN 9781925126297