harper collins – Page 3 – Aussie Reviews

Hairy MacLary, Shoo, by Lynley Dodd

Reviewed by Dale Harcombe

In the world of children’s books, no-one writes and illustrates the rhyming picture books better than Lynley Dodd with her Hairy Maclary series. Her use of language and rhyme is impeccable. She is wonderful for introducing young listeners and readers to new words. Her books are fun and Hairy Maclary and friends are cute dogs who get into lots of scrapes. In that, Hairy Maclary, Shoo is no exception.

I remember giving this to one of my grandchildren in hardcover. All my grandchildren loved hearing and then reading the Hairy Maclary books. They have several.

This latest edition of Hairy Maclary, Shoo is a board book version for those tiny fingers that cannot quite be trusted with the real thing. I have to admit I am not a fan of board books and never have been. I never bought them for my own children and refuse to buy them for my grandchildren, preferring to teach them the right way to handle books from a young age by using proper books. However if you like board books or your children or grandchildren cannot be trusted to care for books, then the board book version of Hairy Maclary, Shoowill be a welcome addition.

Hairy Maclary, Shoo has all the wit and charm of other Hairy Maclary books as Hairy Maclary’s curiosity gets him into one scrape after another and sees him ending up at Magnolia School. This is another gem from Lynley Dodd with the usual expressive illustrations. Great fun.

Hairy Maclary, Shoo By Lynley Dodd
ABC for Kids, 2011
HarperCollins Publishers
Board book RRP $14.99

This book is available in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond.

Always Jack, by Susanne Gervay

Leo’s staying this weekend. Mum has ordered me to clean my room. I don’t see why I have to. Mum told Samantha that she has to help me. I don’t want her to. My head is thumping and she’s humming. I grit my teeth. ‘Stop humming.’ She doesn’t. I ignore her.

In I am Jack Jack had to confront a bully. In Super Jack he dealt with the changes force on him when his family blends with that of his new stepdad. Now, in Always Jack Jack is back – and, as always, his life is complicated. His family might be lots of fun, and very supportive, but Nanna is getting older and wobblier, his stepfather Rob needs to spend more time with his own son, Leo, and Rob and Mum’s wedding seems to be the main topic of conversation. Then Mum comes home with news that is so bad all those other things seem trivial. Jack will need all off his courage to survive this one.

Always Jack is a wonderful complement to the earlier two books about young Jack and his slightly crazy, very loving family. Jack is a delightful first person narrator who is honest, funny and full of life. We experience wonderful highs and terrible lows with him, knowing that somehow, his strength and the support of the wonderful people around him, will get him through.

There are a lot of issues explored in this little offering – blended families, the impact of cancer, friendship, the migrant experience, war, ageing and more – but it works because author Susanne Gervay weaves the story tightly, carrying the reader along on Jack’s journey.

Wonderful stuff.

Always Jack, by Susanne Gervay
Angus & Robertson, 2010
ISBN This book is available in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Goodnight Mice! by Frances Watts

Reviewed by Dale Harcombe

The rhyme and rhythm of this picture book is perfect for the story of four mice who are tired but suddenly become very active , skittering and scampering around when Mum and Dad say it’s time for bed.

The text and accompaniying illustrations take the reader through all the routines the mice do before bedtime, routines of bath times and brushing teeth and kisses goodnight that young children will be familiar with. The repetition of once and twice is effective in the story. Sometimes it is

Kiss Grandpa once,
Kiss Grandpa twice.

Other times it is

Mum sighs once.
Dad sighs twice.

This is a gentle tale that will delight young children and provide a satisfactory ending to a day. It is a story filled with warmth and family love.

The illustrations are cute. Although they are not overly imbued with colour most of the time, they are warm and suit the gentle text. The faces of the mice are very expressive. I particularly liked the bath Time illustrations and those of the scampering, scrambling scurrying fun. I loved the books on the bookshelf and the mice being read a bedtime book. Even the end papers are a delight to pore over with the little mice in various activities.

This is sure to become a book young children and parents will be happy to read again and again.

Goodnight, Mice!
Text Frances Watts
Illustrations Judy Watson
Hard cover picture book $24.99
ABC for Kids
HarperCollins Publishers

Available in good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

I Love Me, by Bev Aisbett

Do you feel that life has left you out in the cold?
Do you feel unloved, unwanted or overlooked?
Do you reach out to others for support only to find that they leave you disappointed or dissatisfied?

Every person has times in his or her life when it seems no one is on their side. When you feel this way it is easy to also feel angry, hurt or depressed. But, says Bev Aisbett, author of I Love Me, there is one person you can always trust and rely on: yourself.

I Love Me is a simple guide to becoming your own best friend. Using cartoon style illustration and large, minimal text, the book is quick to read and easy to absorb. there are no lengthy sermons or detailed reflections – just no-nonsense talk aimed at helping readers forgive and love themselves.

From the author of Living With IT this is a helpful, uplifting offering.

I Love Me: A Guide to Being Your Own Best Friend, by Bev Aisbett
Harper Collins, 2010

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

The Feel Good Body, by Jennifer Fleming & Anna-Louise Bouvier

I ask if a lifetime of body wobbles and poor posture means it too late to correct any problems. ‘It’s never too late. Like anything, the earlier you start the better, because there’s less wear and tear. But every aspect of your muscle system can be activated and improved at any age.’

If your back is bent, your belly is spreading, or you suffer from recurring headaches, you may feel that you are never going to get on top of these niggles. But this little offering is, as the title suggests, a guide to feeling – and looking – great.

The Feel Good Body offers a seven step program to easing aches and looking great. Putting it into place is relatively easy – though it does require some focus on making one change to the way you do things every three days. Including changes to the way you walk, sit, stand and more, each change is aimed at helping your body function at its optimum.

Supporting the program is straight forward background to why it was developed and why it will work, along with anecdotes and tips to motivate and keep on track. From the co-author of Spotless, Jennifer Fleming, and physiotherapist Anna-Louise Bouvier, this straight forward guide is accessible and inspiring.

The Feel Good Body: 7 Steps to Easing Aches and Looking Great, by Jennifer Fleming & Anna-Louise Bouvier
Harper Collins, 2010

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

Zoobots, by Bruce Whatley & Ben Smith Whatley

Zebo longed for another best friend.
One not big.
One not too small.
One
just
right.

Zebo lives in Junk Jungle with her two best friends, Hyde and TC. She loves them both but you can never have too many best friends, and Zebo longs for another one, about the same size as her, and perhaps a girl, like her, too. Together the three friends assemble a collection of junk in an attempt to make a best friend that fits all their requirements – but they find it isn’t as easy as they think.

Zoobots is a cute picture book offering from the pairing of award winning author/illustrator Bruce Whatley and his son, Ben Smith Whatley. Using software-enhanced 3D graphics, the pair have brought the junkyard to life with a realistic look and feel, and endearing characters, including Zebo, who is a painted and shaped like a zebra made from junk, Hyde, like a rhinoceros, and TC, like a bird, as well as Ruby, their new friend, who resembles a giraffe.

Children will enjoy the story here, but they will also love the quality and quirkiness of the illustrations.

Zoobots, by Bruce Whatley and Ben Smith Whatley
Harper Collins, 2010

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

Dance of the Deadly Dinosaurs, by Jackie French

Up, up through the blackness of the wormhole ceiling. Boo was pressed next to Yesterday’s blue silk dress on one side, and Princess’s gold brocade one on the other, his nose between Mug’s armoured knees, the pink dinosaurs around them.
Up…up…suddenly the world grew light.
Too light. Boo blinked. Something was shining in his eyes!
It was a sign, as tall as the cliff at school, adorned with blinking lights. There was a picture of a bed – a big one, with brass knobs and a patchwork quilt – and words above it, pulsing red and green and blue: ‘Welcome to the Ghastly Otherwhen.”
He gulped. It looked as though they’d arrived.

In Lessons for a Werewolf Warrior Boojum Bark (Boo), would-be Hero, banded with his friends from hero school to overcome the evil Greedle. Now, with the Greedle out of the way, Boo is determined to visit the Ghastly Otherwhen, previously the Greedle’s home, to rescue his mother. But no hero has ever conquered the Otherwhen, and everyone seems to be trying to talk him out of it – everyone except his friends Yesterday, Princess Princess, Mug and Squeak.

Together the four friends journey to the Otherwhen, but when they get there they find it is not at all what they had expected. How can they rescue Boo’s mum when she seems so happy to be there, and doesn’t remember Boo at all?

Dance of the Deadly Dinosaurs is the second title in the School for Heroes series from award winning author Jackie French. An entertaining blend of humour, action, adventure and even mystery, there is much here to keep middle and upper primary aged readers turning the pages.

Dance of the Deadly Dinosaurs (School for Heroes), by Jackie French
Harper Collins, 2010

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

The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill, by Dorothy Wall

Over seventy years after he first made Australian children smile, rascally koala Blinky Bill is back in print in The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill. Combing three volumes of Blinky’s adventures, this book was first published as a combined volume in 1939, and has been rereleased to commemorate the seventy year anniversary.

In hard cover format, with coloured pages (different for each of the three books), and coloured endpapers and plates as well as black and white illustrations, this is a delightful offering which will be loved by collectors who remember the stories from their childhood, as well as children who may not have heard them before. Whilst the stories are in places dated (even politically incorrect), Blinky’s adventures are still lots of fun. I shared the book with my nine year old son over several weeks of bedtime reading, and he laughed out loud many times, and repeatedly asked for more.

The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill would be an ideal gift for any Aussie kid.

The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill, by Dorothy Wall
This edition Harper Collins, 2009

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

Slow Cooker, by Sally Wise

Reviewed by Dale Harcombe

If you ask me every home should have at least one crock pot or slow cooker, but some cook books I’ve seen for crock pots have been down right boring. This one is anything but. Just reading through the recipes in this book is enough to make you hungry.

The dishes in this cookbook make the mouth water, with recipes for Lamb and Quince Hotpot and Middle Eastern Lamb Stew to name just a couple. It has recipes for standards like Stroganoff and Lasagne, as well as Lemon Roast Chicken or Spicy Roast Chicken made in a crock pot. And there are the old favourite Hedgehogs which are always popular with adult and child alike.

When it comes to desserts, who could resist Clafoutis made with blueberries and raspberries, Summer Fruits Cobbler and the richly beautiful Black Forest Self Saucing Pudding?

As well as myriad recipes designed to please the palate, Sally Wise gives helpful hints about using the slow cooker or slow cookers. She has several which give you some indication of how much they get used. I know other people who have several.

I liked the way she gave hints of other ingredients that could be substituted for those in the recipe

The other advantage is the recipes are not complicated, which for no fuss cooks like me is ideal. The book doesn’t have colour photos, but to me this is no disadvantage. I’d rather just have great recipes than an elaborately photographic book. If you have a crock pot or slow cooker, this book is a must.

Slow Cookerby Sally Wise
*** ABC Books- HarperCollinsPublishers $24.99
Reviewed By Dale Harcombe

The ABC Book of Dinosaurs, by Helen Martin and Judith Simpson

The ABC Book of Dinosaurs is a sturdy board book introducing dinosaurs to small children. The text is sparing and the illustrations gentle. Size comparisons are demonstrated very clearly in illustrations where the text indicates ‘small’ and ‘tall’ etc. Accurate names are used, but so too are descriptors like ‘spiky tail’ for the Kentrosaurus and ‘three sharp horns for Triceratops. The narrative text is rhyming, and different font sizes are used to help differentiate between the narrative text and labels and the like. Illustrations are pastel coloured with plenty of white space to allow close examination of each of these remarkable creatures.

Dinosaurs continue to entrance generation after generation of young children. The ABC Book of Dinosaurs is a new title for the very young in a series that includes the beautiful ‘Animals’. The ABC Book of Dinosaurs offers accurate information in a very simple style without overwhelming the illustrations or ‘dumbing down’. Danny Snell’s illustrations have smiling faces…even the big-toothed Tyrannosaurus Rex appears almost friendly. A beautiful book. Recommended for toddlers and dinosaur fans.

The ABC Book of Dinosaurs , Helen Martin and Judith Simpson, ill Danny Snell
ABC Books Harper Collins 2009
ISBN: 9780733324796

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

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