black dog books – Page 3

Saving Pandas, by Dr Carla Litchfield

Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are massive bears, just like black bears, polar bears and brown bears. They share the same habitat as red pandas, but are not closely related to them. Surprisingly little is known about the behaviour of giant pandas in the wild – except that they spend about 12 hours a day eating bamboo!

Saving Pandas is a new addition to the non fiction series of picture books from Black Dog Books. The books are large format paperbacks, with beautiful photos of animals and their habitats. Extra info bites extend the non fiction narrative and are displayed in different fonts. Words that might be unfamiliar are in bold and a glossary at the back gives their meaning. The final page also provides extra ‘panda facts’ and website addresses. Saving Pandas is full of photos of young and mature pandas. Red pandas might share the name and a similar habitat, but are not closely related to Giant pandas.

Giant pandas look cute and cuddly but with her opening words, Dr Litchfield reminds us that they are also enormous and well…they are bears! Few people would want to cuddle a big black bear, but there’s something about pandas that makes them seem cuddle-able. Despite the size. Despite the claws. This new series ‘Rare Earth’ from Black Dog Books looks at endangered animals and the programs in place to help them survive. Some readers may only respond to the cuteness of these giants, but for others, it’s an introduction to the world of animal conservation. Pitched for lower- to middle-primary aged readers, the language is simple but informative and perfect for lovers of animals and of non-fiction.

Saving Pandas (Rare Earth) Dr Carla Litchfield
Black Dog Books 2010
ISBN 9781742031149

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

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

After, by Sue Lawson

I watched the old woman smooth down the purple doona. Her words rattled around my head.
Clean linen.
Comfortable.
Your mother’s bed.
The word ‘mother’ hung in the air.
The old man in the doorway cleared his throat. ‘Here are your bags, Callum.’
Callum? No one – not even Franger, my old principal – called me Callum. I was CJ. CJ Alexander.
I repeated the only word I’d said since they’d picked me up at the Millington train station two hours ago. ‘Thanks.’
‘Right, Patricia, let’s leave him to settle in,’ said the man.
The woman looked me up and down. ‘The wardrobe’s empty,’ she said. ‘So are the drawers. We’ll be in the kitchen.’
‘Thanks…’ What did I call her? Grandma? Gran? Nan? It was all too hard. As I eased the door shut behind them, an ache settled in my chest. I dumped my stuff on the bed and unzipped the duffle bag. The smell of home filled my head, sparking memories.

Callum has come to stay with his grandparents in the small country town of Winter Creek. He’s never met his grandparents and they don’t seem all that happy to see him. He brings with him an overwhelming secret, one that interrupts his sleep and fills his daytime thoughts. He’s angry with his mother for banishing him to the country, to stay with strangers. He’s angry with his grandparents because they seem to want him to be something he isn’t. He’s angry with everyone who comes anywhere near him. But mostly he’s angry with himself. There are so many secrets and they colour every facet of his life. Then he discovers that he has to start at a new school. Can his life get any worse?

The subtitle for ‘After reads ‘What happens when you can’t live with before?’ and the reader is immediately aware that Callum is carrying a big horrible secret so big that he is haunted by it day and night. Short chapters intersperse the After narrative, flashbacks to ‘before’. The reader is as much in the dark as Callum’s newly met grandparents. Callum, despite his terrifying anger, is a sympathetic character and slowly, slowly his story unfolds. Sue Lawson uses first person to keep the reader very close, but also to emphasise the unreliable narrator aspect of this voice. Callum is not the only one with secrets and these secrets impact on the ‘healing’ that his mother hoped would come from his time in her childhood home and home town. The joys and challenges of living in a small rural community are convincingly drawn. There are themes of loss and forgiveness, consequences for actions, but the strongest theme is the damage done by secrets. This is a compelling read for mid-secondary readers and beyond.

After, Sue Lawson
Black Dog Books 2009
ISBN: 9781742031125

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

This title can be purchased online from Fishpond.

Angel Fish, by Lili Wilkinson

A boy has come to Machery.
I think he might be an angel.
When he speaks, even the birds stop singing to listen. When he speaks, his eyes shine with a light that I know cannot come from dirt and skin. When he speaks, my head whirls round and round with strange thoughts, and my heart goes patter patter patter.

Gabriel is delighted when he meets the charismatic Stephan, who tells him that they must journey to the Holy land to defeat the evil Saracen. Together they march across the country and over the Alps, collecting an army of thousands of children as they go. Their destination is Genoa, where Stephan will part the waters so they can travel across the ocean to the Holy Land.

But as Stephan changes, and the struggles of the journey burden Gabriel and the other children, Gabriel begins to question their journey. Is Stephan really a prophet? And can they defeat the Saracen?

Angel Fish is a breathtaking story based around the historical Children’s Crusade. As author Lili Wilkinson points out in her back of book note, this Crusade has not been well documented, and so what she presents is fictionalised, made very personal by creating a rich cast of characters, including Gabriel and Stephan, as well as the wild orphan Fox-Boy, the sad but loving Ines and the noble boy Eustache.

The resulting tale is breathtaking, poignant and beautiful.

Angel Fish, by Lili Wilkinson
black dog, 2009

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

Hostage, by Karen Tayleur

The thing I remember is that the chemist floor had a large black scuff near the counter.
I don’t remember the knife.
I remember something cold on my neck, which could have been a knife, or could just have been his long cold fingers pressing in to me.
But it was the scuff I remember best.
I was thinking, ‘Someone should really clean that.’
And then we were in the car.
And then we were gone.

Tully has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time – and that is never truer than on Christmas Eve when she is at the pharmacy counter at the same time as a thief, wanting to hold the place up. Suddenly Tully is a hostage, a knife at her throat, thrust into the getaway car for a wild ride. But as the ride continues, Tully befriends the driver, Griffin, who she has known in passing previously, and confronts her troubled childhood.

Hostage is a face-paced psychological and physical journey, taking place in the space of a day as Tully and Griffin revisit the settings of Tully’s childhood, and the reader is privy to the tumultuous events of that childhood. With the past – both more distant and recent – revealed in enticing slivers, and through a mix of first person reporting, third person narrative and snippets from Tully’s ‘memory tin’, the reader is carried briskly through the story needing to keep turning pages and find out what has happened – and what will happen.

Fascinating.

Hostage, by Karen Tayleur
black dog, 2009

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

A History of Cricket, by Catherine Chambers

Millions of people across the globe play the game and watch it for hours, days or even weeks at a time. They sweat under an Australian December sun, or shiver through cool English summers. Sometimes players run themselves ragged until the sun turns red in the sky. At other times, they hang around the outfield with the starry hope that they will make a match-winning catch.
So what is about this sport that makes it so popular? Why do athletes suffer these agonies and endure these conditions? Well, there is only one answer. Cricket just hast to be the mightiest, most noble game. The pinnacle of all physical, mental and emotional tests.

A History of Cricket is just that. It searches for the origins of the game in Egypt, Germany and India as well in Britain. It finds no definitive answer but introduces many possibilities. Was the game we now know as cricket once called ‘kegeling’ or Gilli-danda? A History of Cricket moves from these speculations to more verifiable facts in Britain and her colonies. The growth of cricket as a national and international sport is not without its setbacks, whether they be urbanisation, or civil war. It is a story of passionate players and advocates, of rules and endless statistics, of tea and tradition. It’s also a story of a game that continues to change in response to changing times and tastes. Cricket can be played anywhere from the backyard to the grandest playing field. Equipment ranges from plastic bats and tennis balls to the finest willow bat, helmets and safety gear. It is team sport, although personalities add colour to the games.

Cricket has enough rules to confound all but the most dedicated follower. And the rules are constantly changing. There are different rules for each form of the game. But it continues to garner support, and excite passion around the world. A History of Cricket looks at some of the reasons why. It speculates on the origin then moves to firmer ground with the facts and figures that only cricket could amass. Game greats are introduced and controversies examined. The birth of women’s cricket is documented, rules are outlined, warm-ups suggested. Rules are discussed, and of course statistics. There is something here for every young cricket fan, and perhaps for the parent who wants to share the passion.

A History of Cricket, Catherine Chambers
Black Dog Books 2009
ISBN: 9781742030586

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

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

The Pony Patch Collection, by Bernadette Kelly

The most important thing is not to leave before your pony has learnt the day’s lesson. Today’s lesson was that I was in charge.

Norton is a pony with attitude. He likes eating and playing games, but he doesn’t like listening to his owner, Molly. Nonetheless, Molly loves Norton, and she thinks he’s the most perfect pony in the world.

Previously published as four separate junior fiction titles, The Pony Patch Collection is a four-in-one bindup with the same great humorous storylines, comic black and white illustrations and easy to read text. The pink cover with foil embellishments make for a pretty package, sure to delight young readers.

The Pony Patch Collection, by Bernadette Kelly
black dog, 2009

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

Halloween in Christmas Hills, by Karen Tayleur

Whenever Miles Cameron looked at Mr Jack’s house he couldn’t help but think of all his lost favourite balls. When the kids’ balls went over Mr Jack’s fence they didn’t even bother asking to get them back. Mr Jack kept the balls. That’s why the kids called him Stingy Jack.

The Johnson family love holidays – Australia Day, Christmas, St Patrick’s Day and Halloween. They like to dress up and celebrate with their neighbours. But one neighbour – Stingy Jack – never joins in. When Miles is allowed to go trick or treating for the first time, his siblings dare him to ring Stingy Jack’s doorbell. Soon, Miles is wondering whether that action will be his downfall. But Mr Jack has a surprise of his own.

Halloween in Christmas Hills is a humorous picture book story about Halloween and about appearances and friendship. The text also offers some insight into the Halloween tradition which is often perceived as being an American custom.

With the humorous illustrative style of Heath McKenzie, who manages to make the illustrations comic and creepy at the same time, this is a fun offering.

Halloween in Christmas Hills: The Legend of Stingy Jack, by Karen Tayleur & Heath McKenzie
black dog, 2009

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

The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas, illustrated by Heath McKenzie

With shops full of tinsel and presents, it’s pretty obvious Christmas is on its way. But there’s a catch. Alongside the tinsel and lights, are scenes of snow, plum puddings and all the trappings of a Northern Hemisphere style Christmas. Here in Australia, Christmas usually entails cooling down and trying to escape the heat as we celebrate this special event in the midst of our summer.

The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas, puts an Aussie slant on the old song, with partridges and maids a milking replaced with a kookaburra up a gum tree, wombats, possums and, of course, flies.

Accompanying the humorous text are colourful, funny illustrations with illustrator Heath McKenzie interpreting them in a unique way. The seven possums playing are in front of the TV with Playstations, and the six sharks are swimming in paddle pools.

This is a fun Christmas offering which will appeal to Aussie kids, but would also make a novel gift for overseas friends and family. First released in hardcover format in 2006, it has been rereleased this Christmas in board book format.

The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas [Board book], illustrated by Heath McKenzie
Black Dog Books, 2009

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

In the Shadow of the Palace, by Judith A Simpson

Rani’s twin, Ranjit, came bounding into the room. The servants clicked their tongues in disapproval and Anila, the princesses’ tutor, objected loudly.
‘Who do you think you are, you bold boy? You do not enter your sisters’ chamber like a baby buffalo. Go out and come in again in the manner of the future king we hope you will be.’
Two of the princesses just grinned, but Rani laughed as Ranjit backed out bowing over double.
‘I’m sorry, oh great Queen of Gurus,’ he intoned as if he were one of the Brahmin priests conduction a ceremony. ‘I’m so sorry for offending you. I will be-’
At that moment Ranjit backed into a small tale knocking it flying and sending hair ornaments skittering along the floor. Ranjit took one look at Anila’s face and fled.

In the Shadow of the Palace begins with light-hearted child’s play but the shadow of the title soon makes its presence known. The three princesses are to marry very soon and they may no longer be together. Worse is to come. Before they can begin to meet the boys/men who will compete for their attentions, they are kidnapped by a rival kingdom in a bid for power. Rani, the main character and middle sister is the most outspoken of the three. Her boldness and initiative are bound to get her into even more trouble and sure enough they do. While her sisters remain locked in the palace, she is set to work in the kitchen, doing the lowliest tasks. It becomes clear that rescue is unlikely and Rani determines to make her own escape and to liberate her two sisters. She goes undercover as a trainee soldier, and finds allies in surprising places.

In the Shadow of the Palace is book one in a new series from black dog books, well known for their historical offerings (eg Carole Wilkinson’s Dragonkeeper series). Judith A. Simpson takes the reader back in history to a time of kingdoms, bandits, class structures and strategic marriages. The more things change, the more things stay the same. So it is with ‘In the Shadow of the Palace’. Beneath the cultural differences, there are the same issues which face children of today. Learning to trust, finding your place in a changing world, standing up for what you believe in – all these are as relevant as they ever were. Wrap this up in a grand adventure with a broad raft of characters including the resourceful and flawed main character Rani, and In the Shadow of the Palace is sure to attract a faithful readership. Recommended for upper primary- to early secondary-aged readers.

In the Shadow of the Palace: The Princess of Pushkar, Judith A Simpson
black dog books 2009
ISBN: 9781742030524

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

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

Uncle Eddie Books, by Lucy Farmer

When the sun sank down behind the lake, Uncle Eddie sat outside his house and waited for the hippos…He heard the frogs croaking. He heard an owl hooting. He even heard the faint laugh of a hyena. But he did not hear the noise he was waiting for – the heavy footsteps of sausage-chomping hippos marching towards his long grass.

Uncle Eddie looks after a national park on the shores of Lake Wakka Wakka in southern Africa. He has built himself a hut, and is quite happy there.

But Uncle Eddie has a problem. The grass around his hut is growing too long. What he needs is an animal to come and graze on the grass and keep it short – and he thinks the hippos in the nearby lake are just right for the job. Each night, however, the hippos climb out of the other side of the lake and eat the grass over there. If only he can get them to change sides, Uncle Eddie will be happy.

Uncle Eddie and the Hippos is one of two titles in the new Uncle Eddie series from Black Dog Books. In the second title, Uncle Eddie needs to outwit a large crocodile in Uncle Eddie and the Croc. Each book is complemented by full colour illustrations (by Kevin Burgemeestre) and back of book fact pages.

An absorbing, high-interest series for junior and middle primary aged readers.

Uncle Eddie and the Hippos and Uncle Eddie and the Croc, by Lucy Farmer, illustrated by Kevin Burgemeestre
Black Dog Books, 2009