Tag: abc books

Angel Breath, by Glenda Millard & Dee Huxley

With no eggs and no fat chickens, all Pierre has left is his pig. But oh, how he loves Jean-Jacques! He is a fine fellow, big and black and whiskery.

It is Autumn and the poor farmer, Pierre and his pig, Jean-Jacques, are searching for truffles. Pierre dreams of the money they will have if they can find some. He will buy himself a new red beret and, for Jean Jacques, a fine leather collar.

Jean-Jacques does not know what truffles smell like, but Pierre tells him they smell like the breath of an angel. When Jean-Jacques smells something beautiful, he is sure it smells like an angel. But are there truffles underneath the mound of leaves in the forest – or something far more beautiful?

Angel Breath is an evocative book from one of Australia’s foremost children’s authors. Set in the European forest, the tale is warm and the characters endearing. The subdued colours of Dee Huxley’s illustrations are perfect for the setting and tone of the story.

Children will love the twist in the story and guessing what it is hiding under the leaves. Adults will love the gentle, lyrical text.

Beautiful.

Angel Breath, by Glenda Millard and Dee Huxley
ABC Books, 2005

Fairy Realm – The Star Cloak, by Emily Rodda

“Tomorrow night, a few minutes after the first star appears, Wish Night will begin in the Realm. The stars are getting ready for it there, and even here, in the mortal world, they seem to come closer. Even here there’s magic in the air. I feel it – and so do you.”

In the first series of Fairy Realm books, Jessie had wonderful adventures with her friends in the Realm. Now, in the first book of Series Two, Jessie and her fairy friends are preparing for Wish Night, a magical night that happens just once each year. When her friend Griff the Elf accidentally damages the Star Cloak, which is needed for the Wish Night celebrations, it is up to Jessie to get the cloak repaired and make sure the celebrations can go ahead. But first, she and Griff must face danger on Stardust Mountain.

Young fairy-lovers will be delighted with this offering – it has a delightful blend of magic, adventure and suspense. The black and white illustrations by Raoul Vitale are outstanding, with fine detail and photo-realistic depth. The hard-cover format, complete with ribbon bookmark is another highlight.

Fairy Realm: The Star Cloak, by Emily Rodda
ABC Books, 2005

Antarctica, by Coral Tulloch

Antarctica is the highest, driest, windiest, coldest, cleanest, most isolated and most peaceful continent on Earth. It is a continent of wilderness, a place of enormous size and energy, of constant change and of great and rare beautfy.

Antarctica is a place of fascination to many people. It looms as a frontier-land, almost unreachable and almost as alien as the moon.

In this volume, author Coral Tulloch allows children to understand Antarctica – its geography, its history, its animal and plant life. She explains the research that goes on at Antarctic bases and elaborates on its importance, not just to Antarctica, but to the whole world.

Coral Tulloch visited Antarctica as part of a supply mission and this book is the product of that visit and of research and support from others who have been there. The information in the book is accessible to children but not over-simplified, and is supported by illustrations, photographs and maps. Suitable for children aged 8 and up, especially those in upper primary and lower secondary school, this would be an invaluable addition to classroom or library collcstions.

Antarctica, by Coral Tulloch
ABC Books, first published in hardcover 2003, this paperback edition 2005

 

Emily's Rapunzel Hair, by Cecily Matthews

Poor Emily has fallen under the spell of Rapunzel–she wants her short hair to become long and flowing just like her friend Lucy Brown, who has piggy tails and tells Emily that girls have long hair and boys have short. Emily’s hair just doesn’t grow as quickly as Lucy’s, and she becomes impatient with waiting. To help ease the impatience, Emily makes pretend Rapunzel hair with red tights, and plays a series of make-believe games with Grandma, has a trip to town on the bus with Mum, visits the ducks at a local park, visits a green frog at her grandparent’s house, nearly loses her pet chick, and finally gets what she craves at her aunt and uncle’s wedding.

The book contains 7 stories, each able to be read on their own, but linked together by Emily’s exuberant personality, her desire for long hair, her toys and pet animals. Very young children will enjoy looking at the pictures, and will relate to Emily’s adventures and her bubs, chook, ducks and frog, but will probably only be able to sit through one story at a time. Older children and early readers will enjoy working through the book at their own pace, and will enjoy following Emily’s adventures and the light plot.

Cecily Matthews’ text is pitched at the right level for children under 8, and Freya Blackwood’s watercolour and pencil illustrations are soft, with lots of detail for parents and children to look at together. There is ample opportunity to talk about the child relevant stories; and to discuss similar adventures, tea parties, trips, and animals which your children have experienced, in order to make the story personal. Keen children who like to participate in their storybooks may also consider putting tights on their heads, having tea parties with their stuffed animals, playing with their ducks (hopefully not in piles of dirt under the bed!), singing along with the bus songs, and talking to frogs in the letterbox. This is a lovely story which encourages patience, and celebrates the gentle joys of childhood games from an author who has extensive experience in parenthood.

Emily’s Rapunzel Hair, By Cecily Matthews, Illustrated by Freya Blackwood ABC Books
Hardcover, ISBN: 0642589038, A$27.95, 48 pages, April 2005

The Bilbies of Bliss, by Margaret Wild

Biba loved it at Bliss. There was so much to do! And the food was delicious!
Now and again, though, she worried that things weren’t as happy as they should be. The Rules were strict, and Matron sometimes lost her temper. But Biba pushed these thoughts away because she felt so lucky just being there.

Biba the Bilby has scrimped and saved so that she can spend her retirment in the beautiful surrounds of the retirment home called Bliss. Here the food is delicious, the food is tasty and the building and surrounds are perfect. Biba feels fortunate to be here.

So, if Matron’s rules:
No dancing.
No parties.
No midnight feasts.
No visiting each other’s rooms.
No talking after lights out.
No being late for dinner.
No falling asleep at the dinner table.
seem a little harsh, timid Biba is not going to complain. But when a new Bilby, Nina, comes to live at Bliss, she soon starts to question the rules. When Matron locks out a latecomer at dinner time, Nina lets him in, and when Matron ostracises a Bilby who falls asleep at dinner, Nina goes and sits with her. Biba is horrified. What if Matron sends Nina away?

Soon, though, Nina’s courage starts to spread to the other Bilbies, and Matron finds her authority being challenged. When they tell her that is she that must leave Bliss, life at Bliss becomes just as it should be – blissful.

This is a delightful allegorical tale about ageing, dignity and compassion. It also shares a message about standing up for justice and working together to change what is wrong. By choosing anthropomorphised animal characters, Wild has softened the message of the tale, but not diminished it. There is a serious message which adults and older children will easily perceive, whilst younger readers will enjoy the tale for its surface value.

The watercolour illustrations match the gentleness of the text, and with antique shades of olives, blues, mauves and greys, provide an antique feel appropriate to the setting of an aged person’s home. The attire of the bilbies, with beads, jackets and sensible shoes, is especially delightful.

This a book which is sure to endure, touching both children and adults, for a long time to come.

The Bilbies of Bliss, by Margaret Wild and Noela Young
ABC Books, 2005

H20 – Stories of Water, compiled by Margaret Hamilton

In her poem My Country, Dorothea Mackellar described Australia as a land of ‘beauty rich and rare’; a land of ‘droughts and flooding rain’. These characteristics have shaped our land and our people. Although it is the driest continent on the planet, Australia is an island continent surrounded by water and most of us live on or near the coastline.

These were the thoughts which shaped Maragret Hamilton’s decision to compile a book of stories about water, a collection which drew contributions from some of Australia’s finest children’s authors.

These nine tales, whilst all focussing on the single theme of water, explore the very depth of that subject. Water can be life or death, passion or defeat, and all of these extremes, and more, are explored here.

Several of the stories deal with family holidays to the beach, a reflection of the importance of these events in Australian life, but each has a different focus. In Promise Simon French shows a dysfunctional family holidaying in the town where the father was born – and the power of the river there to bring past and present together. In Lost Boat Alan Baillie gives a modern-day take of the boy who cried wolf theme, as a group of bored kids play tricks on other beachgoers.

The pacing of this collection is good – with each story standing well alone, but also building an awareness of the power of water in all its moods. Readers will be moved in places, shocked or scared in others and amused in still others.

This would be a wonderful collection for classroom use, tying into themes of water and the environment, but it just as approptiate for individual reading.

H2O: Stories of Water, compiled by Margaret Hamilton
ABC Books, 2005

The Haunted Castle of Count Viper, by Judith Rossell

Dear President
I need your help urgently! The despicable Count Viper has kidnapped my children, Mika and Elsa. In return for their safety, he demands to know the location of the legendary Cave of Diamonds. I have searched through all the library records, and found only one small, mysterious scrap of information about his cave.
Please send one of your members to rescue my children as soon as possible. I’m frantic with worry.

The opening pages of this intriguing offering challenge young readers to find the missing twins and then search for the legendary Cave of Diamonds. In the pages which follow puzzlers must trace through the richly detailed mazes, finding clues, following trails and overcoming obstacles.

The Haunted Castle of Count Viper is the second book in the Explorer’s Club series , following on from the succesful The Lost Treasure of the Green Iguana. In this new title puzzlers must overcome poison slugfish, venomous spiders, giant cave rats, ghosts and hungry wolves and travel through swamps, graveyards, caves and Count Viper’s castle.

Suitable for 7 to 12 year olds.

The Haunted Castle of Count Viper, by Judith Rossell
ABC Books, 2004

Whose nose? feet? ears? by Jeanette Rowe

Reviewed by Magdalena Ball

Jeannette Rowe’s books are vibrant and child friendly, full of big, naïve, and visually appealing pictures with characters like YoYo that young children love instantly. Her lift-the-flap Whose series is very basic and ideal for the youngest children in your family (from about 6 months or so), and parents can really help develop early cognative skills plus a love of books by haming it up and asking the question, “Whose nose?” and then answering “Pig’s nose.” Children really enjoy looking at pictures of animals and as soon as they are old enough to speak, they will begin identifying the owners of noses, feet and ears themselves.

The Whose series was originally created as small individual books, sold in sets of three, but this new compilation has all three books in one large, glossy hardback, perfect for gift giving. Children will love Rowe’s big gold pig with purple dots, her vivid cobalt blue elephant outlined in green and black, her white and pink mouse, the turquoise rhino, and other adorable and unique creatures. This new book is sturdier than the little ones, and as the flaps are a simple fold back, will withstand use from small, chubby fingers just coming to grips with their fine motor skills.

Rowe’s books have now become classics for the youngest children in the house, and this new compilation is very likely to be a favourite. Older children, especially new readers around 4-5 will enjoy reading this to younger siblings, and both will benefit from the confidence building that comes with being able to get the questions right and successfully participate. The books focus on two things that young children know and understand well – body parts and animals, and all three “stories” end with a reference to the child – “my feet,” which parents can make much of by tickling, pointing at the child, and generally having fun. This is a lovely, gorgeously presented book which has been designed to take the kind of heavy use that it will certainly get in any home with young children. A beautiful Christmas present. For more information visit: http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=160658

Whose nose? feet? ears? by Jeanette Rowe ABC Books ISBN 0-7333-1423-6, hardback, 2004

This book first appeared at Preschool Entertainment. It is reprinted here with permission.

Aussie Pony Tales (No 2) by Sheryn Dee

Two new adventures with Jessie and her pony Magic.

After the Storm
A storm has come and gone in the night. Jessie and her pony Magic have a job to do. They ride around the fence line, making sure broken branches haven’t damaged the fence. In this second book of Pony Tales, Jessie finds a bird’s nest, blown from a tree during the storm. Nearby is a tiny bird, too young to be on its own. Jessie wants to carry it home in her riding helmet, but knows she mustn’t ride without her helmet. It’s a long tiring walk home, carrying the bird and leading Magic, but Mum knows just how to help.

Helping Out
There’s always plenty to do around the farm, especially now there’s a new baby on the way. When a water pipe bursts in the yard, it’s one more job for Jessie’s dad in an already busy day. Jessie decides to help out. She and her pony, Magic will move the sheep from one paddock, up the track a bit, and into another paddock. Jessie has often helped Dad and is sure she’ll be able to manage on her own. She successfully moves most of the sheep, but a few stragglers refuse to do what they should.

Aussie Pony Tales (No 2) by Sheryn Dee from ABC Books, gives us the next two adventures of Jessie and her pony Magic. These stories, written for 5-8 year olds, show what it’s like to live on Jessie’s farm. The distinctive bright cover is very similar to that of the first book, suggesting the next of these engaging story twins will be easy to spot.

Aussie Pony Tales (No 2), by Sheryn Dee
ABC Books 2003

Aussie Pony Tales (No 1) by Sheryn Dee

Two pony stories for the price of one:

The Best Day
Jessie wakes early on her seventh birthday. She can hardly believe that the pony outside the window is really hers. It seems to take a lifetime until she can have her first ride on her very own pony. Jessie and her pony walk around the horse paddock, getting used to each other. The pony must also become familiar with all the sights and sounds of the farm, including Max, the dog.

Sleepy Lizard It’s a beautiful Spring day and Jessie is planning to spend all day riding Magic, her pony. After helping Dad with some of the farm chores, finally Jessie can saddle Magic and begin. They ride around the horse paddock for a while then through an open gate, ready for their first adventure. Jessie spots a lizard on the track and dismounts for a closer look. She strays into the bush and loses sight of Magic and the track. The adventure has a happy ending, but Jessie learns some new rules that will help to keep her safe.

These pony stories are full of details and instructions sure to delight the young horse-lover. The joy of owning a horse is clearly communicated, but the writer is careful to include the responsibilities too. The reader making the transition to first chapter books will find these stories a manageable length, with detailed black and white illustrations on most pages. Cover art and numbering suggest there will be more of these stories and they are sure to develop a following in their intended 5-8 year old readership.

Aussie Pony Tales (No 1), by Sheryn Dee
ABC Books, 2003