younger readers – Page 4

Booms Busts and Bushfires, by Jackie French

Booms, Busts and Bushfires is the eighth title in this ‘Fair Dinkum Histories’ series from Jackie French and Scholastic. The series started with Shipwreck, Sailors and 60,000 Years and ends with this newest title. Jackie French casts her net wide, to touch on a wide range of subjects from the liberal environment that founded the Nimbin communities, through weather extremes, to politics, economics, technology and Indigenous rights…

Australia had changed before, but slowly – with hot, dry periods that lasted for years, decades, even thousands of years; with the slow spread of Indigenous nations across the continent, and the faster, but still gradual, spread of the colonisers after 1788.
Now everything seemed to speed up. So many changes had occurred in the US, the UK and Europe during the 1960s – all of them watched every night in Australian lounge rooms on the television news – that some people spoke of the 60s as a decade of social revolution. Different ways of thinking, new inventions and changing fashions still mostly came from overseas, but communications and travel brought information to Australians faster than every before. Once we had been at the end of the world. Now, with cheap plane tickets and TV, we no longer seemed so far away.

Booms, Busts and Bushfires is the eighth title in this ‘Fair Dinkum Histories’ series from Jackie French and Scholastic. The series started with Shipwreck, Sailors and 60,000 Years and ends with this newest title. Jackie French casts her net wide, to touch on a wide range of subjects from the liberal environment that founded the Nimbin communities, through weather extremes, to politics, economics, technology and Indigenous rights. Text boxes inserted throughout expand information where necessary. Peter Sheehan’s cartoon-like illustrations help to illustrate and lighten the text, although the tone is conversational and entertaining as well as informative. There are detailed Contents, Bibliography and Index pages for skimmers or re-readers keen to find particular information.

History is such a big topic that it’s hard to pin it down. Attempts to include everything must fail, because it is impossible to gather it all together. Particularly in books for children. Jackie French’s strength is surely in her ability to dance across the years landing lightly on events, minor and major. Social history is as important as politics in helping the world come alive to those who did not live it. Booms, Busts and Bushfires and the other titles in this series provide a tasting plate – enough of a look to get a broad sense of history, and enough details to encourage and support further reading. Peter Sheehan includes a wonderful series of caricatures of Australian Prime Ministers! Recommended for mid- to upper-primary readers and beyond.

Booms, Busts and BushfiresJackie French, Peter Sheehan
Scholastic Press 2011
ISBN: 9781741697865

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

This book can be purchased in good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Why Headless Chickens Run, by Michael Cox

This book is full to bursting with stories and facts that are so completely crazy, weird and astounding that you could well be forgiven for thinking they aren’t true. For instance, there’s the utterly astonishing story of a chicken called Mike who walked around without his head for eighteen whole months. And then there’s the really daft bit about the batty boffin who not only had himself roasted alive in an oven to ‘see what would happen’ , but also had himself lowered into an active volcano. There’s also the tale of the crazy English farmer who liked to go fox hunting on his pet bull, not with foxhounds, but accompanied by his pack of pet pigs!

Why Headless Chickens Runis a collection of wild and whacky true stories from all over the world. As well as the title story, there are stories about medical experimentation, the dangers of kissing (yes really!), the man acknowledged as the father of ‘spoonerisms’ (Is the bean dizzy? Yes, the Dean is busy!) and whose breath is ‘on show’ in the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, USA. There are collections of collective nouns, lists of very unusual first names (Babberley, Strongitharm) and games to play (or not). And for the reader who is after some new magazines, check the list: Hair Growers News; Coil Winding International and Dental Glove Update. There’s something for everyone. Facts and stories are presented in a range of fonts with black and white illustrations.

Nonsense can make for fun reading. But take a care, you might actually learn something here. Granted it may be for situations that you are unlikely to encounter, but you just never know when this information will come in handy! The slowest marathon run ever? The answer is here. And as for Mike, the headless chicken, you’ll learn just how that was possible, as well as discovering a bit about chicken anatomy and human entrepreneurship. Why Headless Chickens Run is great fun, perfect for dipping into or reading from cover to cover. Either way, primary readers will have plenty of information with which to impress their friends. Recommended for mid- to upper primary readers.

Why Headless Chickens Run and Other Crazy Things You Need to Know!, Michael Cox
Scholastic Australia 2011
ISBN: 9781741699791

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

This book is available in good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Barlay, by Cheryl Kickett-Tucket

Sarah and her brothers, Jay and Rene, lived with their parents and Nan in a white house with a red roof. The house sat high in the hills on the Darling scarp, nestled amongst the tall white gum trees. Many birds made their homes in the trees and Sarah loved ot listen to the, and watch the bush animals eat and play. She was a Noongar girl, so for her family the bush was a spiritual place where people could learn many special things.

Sarah lives with her family on the edge of the bush. One night her grandmother Nan, tells her the story of the woordatj, a mysterious creature who lives in the bush and is seldom seen but always watching. His role, says Nan, is to make sure children listen to their elders. If not, he comes and takes them away. Sarah is thrilled by the story and apprehensive next day when she learns a trip to the waterhole is planned. What if the woordatj finds them? Nan reassures her that he only comes after sundown. They spend the day in the bush and learning more of the ways to respect and enjoy it. ‘Barlay!’ means ‘Look out!’ Barlay! is a brightly coloured paperback chapter book with black and white illustrations throughout.

Sarah listens closely to her grandmother’s stories. The story is intended to instil caution and respect for the bush and to keep her and her family safe. But Nan is no fierce finger-wagging killjoy. She has a lively sense of humour and a deep knowledge. A family outing is an opportunity for plenty of fun as well as a learning time for the children. Sarah appears to have a special connection with Nan, and it’s easy to imagine that she will remember these stories and pass them in her turn to her children. This is the way of story. Barlay! and other stories in the Fremantle Press’s Waarda series are created by indigenous writers and illustrators in part to bring their stories to indigenous children, but they are magical stories for all. Chapters are short and perfect for readers in transition from picture books to novels.

Barlay!, Cheryl Kickett-Tucker
Fremantle Press 2010
ISBN: 9781921696114

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 Pup's Tale, by Darrel & Sally Odgers

One sunny Thursday morning, I was doing rounds with Dr Jeanie. I was surprised when she drove the Pet Vet van to Jeandabah instead of straight to a farm.
I say up tall so I could see through the van window. We’d stopped in an ordinary street. Maybe someone had a pony or a house cow behind a house? I sniffed at the gap in the window.
Dr Jeanie looked at her notes.
‘Number seven,’ she said. ‘This is the place.’ She got out of the van with her bag, and hesitated. ‘I don’t know if you should come, Trump.’
I whined to let Dr Jeanie know I certainly should come. I am her A.L.O. and I can’t do my job if I stay in the van. Besides, I was lonely.

Trump is an A.L.O.: an Animal Liaison Officer, and he helps Dr Jeanie in her veterinary work. Together they are an unbeatable team in the Pet Vet series. The Pup’s Tale is Book 6. In this adventure, a Labrador Retriever has delivered a very large litter of puppies. 15! And that’s one too many even for devoted mother, Pipwen. A little chocolate-coloured puppy is at risk of abandonment. Trump and Dr Jeanie to the rescue! Black and white illustrations are scattered throughout and potentially challenging words or concepts are in bold text with an explanatory information box nearby.

The Pup’s Tale is an engaging story for children new to independent reading. The print is largish, with interspersed illustrations and short chapters. There’s an adventure, with drama and solution, but there’s also factual information about how a vet practice works and about different animals. Readers can learn about different breeds of dog and some of the work involved in having pets or show animals. The main characters are introduced at the beginning, with a personal introduction from the narrator, Trump. The animals can communicate with each other, but stay in ‘character’ of their breed. Recommended for newly independent readers and anyone wanting to know a bit more about whelping, dog breeds and their behaviour.

The Pup’s Tale (Pet Vet), Darrel & Sally Odgers
Scholastic Press 2011
ISBN: 9781741697254

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

This book is available in good bookstores or online from Fishpond

Friendship Maker, by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Welcome to my Manual.
My name is Lara Zany and I am an official Friendship Matchmaker.
If you’re reading this Manual it’s probably because you’re sick and tired of feeling lonely. Or maybe you have a friend but you’re not sure where you stand with them. Or maybe you’re the third wheel in a trio. Or can’t work out how to strike up a conversation with somebody in the canteen line. Maybe you’re the one who gets picked last at sports. Don’t worry. I’m here for you. You’ve come to the right place!

Lara Zany has it sorted. She knows just what friendship is and how to make it happen. She’s in Grade Five at Potts Court Primary School and is their official Friendship Matchmaker. She knows just how to help start conversations, avoid bullies, repair misunderstandings and much more. And everyone is happy with the service she’s providing. But now, there’s a new girl at school. Emily Wong doesn’t seem to understand the rules. In fact, she seems determined to break all Lara’s rules. Lara tries to save her from the bullies and from standing out, suggesting that she’ll never make friends if she keeps going. Instead of being grateful Emily challenges her to a competition.

Lara has put a lot of energy into her Manual. She is sure that it will soon be published by Harry Potter’s publisher and she will be catapulted into the world as an instant millionaire. But that’s the future. Right now, she’s keeping the manual a secret and most of her school energy is invested in sorting out all the friendships at school. There are rules for escaping the attention of the school bully, and for keeping your friends. Only occasionally is there a hint at the events that precipitated this preoccupation with analysing the ‘rules of friendship’. Readers will recognise the LBC (loner by choice), Trios, Quads, BOBF (Bus Only Best Friends), and some of the conversational gambits. The Friendship Matchmaker uses first person, and allows the reader to ‘read between the lines’, seeing what’s going on behind Lara’s words. Recommended for mid-primary readers.

The Friendship Matchmaker, Randa Abdel-Fattah
Omnibus Books 2011
ISBN: 9781862919204

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

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

Erasmus James & the Grat Siege, by DC Green

My eyes tore open.
The dawn-smeared skyline tilted 90 degrees.
‘That’s not supposed to happen!’
I gawked at the 40 bodies around me, jolting from their sleep. Most were kids, their ages ranging from zit-piled 16-year-olds to wrinkly unborn babies in jars.
air whizzed past, thick with salt, watering our eyes.
Nicole, a bratty nine-year-old, shrieked, ‘We’re all gonna DIE!’
‘Don’t panic!’ I screamed (only mildly panicked).
My balding dad snored beside me, drool trailing from his chin onto the jar baby cradled in his lap. Beside him dozed Sanders, a chook so ancient she left her purse on Noah’s Ark.
Stupid hard-to-wake adults! I jabbed their ribs.
‘Good gravy!’ Dad blinked. ‘We’re plunging from the sky!’

Erasmus James is back in the final adventure of DC Green’s trilogy. Erasmus James & the Grat Siege opens with disaster and goes downhill from there. An initially hopeful landing, on what appears to be a new island in the world Uponia, turns nasty when it becomes clear that the Grats (Giant armoured rats) they are fleeing have followed them. The Grats, led by arch-villain Dice, are determined to destroy every non-Grat in existence on every ZAPP world imaginable. Erasmus, sometimes known as Raz, has a lot to deal with for a twelve-nearly-thirteen-year-old boy. He must convince the locals he’s on the side of good, bring together enemies more accustomed to eating one another and find a way to beat the mind-twisting Dice and her endless army.

In this world where computer games take children on adventures to foreign worlds with alien creatures, nothing can compare to the world inside the mind of main character and former king of the kids, Erasmus. It’s impossible to predict just what will happen next. It’s crazy fun wrapped up in mindgames. While Erasmus James & the Grat Siege can be read as a stand alone novel, readers will enjoy reading how Erasmus and his crew got into this much of a mess. The other titles in this series are: Erasmus James & the Galactic Zapp Machine and Erasmus James: King of Kid’s Paradise. Extraordinarily punny, Erasmus James & the Grat Siege will spin you around until you lose all sense of who you are and what you’re doing there. In a good way. You’ll get dizzy in this whirlwind universe of giant chooks, ninja stallions, a reclusive inventor king, a mind-invading Queen, and of course an ultra-confident, quick-thinking, mega-inventive almost-teenage boy.

Erasmus James & the Grat Siege DC Green
Barrel Books 2011
ISBN: 9780980348859

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

Buzz Off! by Randa Abdel-Fattah

It’s stinking hot. I’ve thrown the blanket off my bed. I’m lying spread out, trying to fall asleep. But the cool change hasn’t come and my skin is prickly with sweat.
I close my eyes and I can see myself jumping into our swimming pool. Thinking about water cools me down. I start to forget about the heat. My body relaxes. I’m about to fall into deep sleep.
Suddenly …

Noor can’t sleep because it’s too hot. And if that wasn’t annoying enough, along come the flies. Buzzing all about, but impossible to catch. Then Noor realises he can hear them talking. Suddenly the game changes. Noor, already fly-fighter extraordinaire, is insulted when he discovers just what the flies think of him. Now it’s personal! He hatches a plan to get rid of all the flies. But sometimes the solution isn’t quite the solution it seems to be. Illustrations are colourful and cartoon-y and appear on every opening. Most pages also include a header and/or footer showing some of the fly’s favourite foods. Challenging words, or even just words to be emphasised are in different, larger fonts.

The ‘Aussie Mates’ series has produced some very funny new Aussie yarns. And certainly, nothing feels more Aussie than flies. No barbecue or picnic is complete without flies. This time, though, the notion of Australian-ness has been expanded to portray some of newer Australians. Mum wears a headscarf but she also wears a hat with corks strung from it. Noor wants to rid the world of flies, but it’s soon clear that every creature has a purpose in the world, even if it seems like flies are just there to stop him sleeping and to dive into his family’s food. In the way of these yarns, the magical elements (like being able to understand fly-talk) are woven in with little explanation. None is needed. It’s clear that these are tall tales, designed to be collected and enjoyed. The ‘Aussie Mates’ series is for newly independent readers, but there’s plenty of fun to be had for older readers.

Mates: Buzz Off Randa Abdel-Fattah, Dan McGuiness
Omnibus Books 2011
ISBN: 9781862918481

Alpha Monsters, by Chris Kennett

Young Freddy Jackson looked up at the rain
But he thought he might like to go out just the same.
‘I’m going outside,’ Freddy called out with glee.
‘OK,’ said his mum. ‘But be back before tea!’

Freddy discovers by accident an island of Alpha monsters. A monster – or rather – the monster named A, is sad because he’s lost his best teddy. Freddy offers to help him find his teddy and A explains that each of the animals has a letter. So they retrace his day, via alphabetic encounters like ‘In the town square H was digging huge holes, And I slipped in ink, dropping five icy poles.’ Illustrations are computer-generated and the monsters come in a friendly array of sizes, some with tails, different type and number of legs, single or multiple eyes. Pages are full-colour and monsters display a range of emotions.

There’s more than one way to skin a fish, so the saying goes, and there’s more than one way to present an alphabet. Chris Kennett has wrapped his alphabet in an island full of monsters. There are extra letter-words in some rhymes and opportunities for readers to count as well (how many eyes, how many feet, how many monsters?) There are happy monsters, grumpy ones and more. There are extras in each page to encourage rereading, as well as identifying the monster that matches the letter. Good pre-reading fun. Freddy solves the mystery of the lost teddy, retrieves his own teddy and still makes it home for tea! Recommended for pre-school children.

Alpha Monsters, Chris Kennett
Scholastic Australia 2011
ISBN: 9781741697612

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

This book can be purchased in good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers, by Briony Stewart

t night when it gets cold, tiny beads of water turn to ice, making everything glitter like the jewelled belongings of an empress. Even the tiles of our roof sparkle as I climb onto them from my bedroom window in my warmest hanten coat. Tomodo is waiting for me, his spines shining in the moonlight from his tail to his steps. Once I am sitting safely between his shoulders, he throws his black wings open to the air of the night and leaps into the sky.

Kumiko is tired of living in fear. Since she learnt about the dreaded Shadow Catchers, powerful sorcerers who will stop at nothing to steal dragon magic, she has known that she, her family, and her dragon Tomodo, are in danger. But instead of waiting for the Shadow Catchers to find her, Kumiko has decided she will find them – and stop them once and for all.

Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers is the third and final story in the Kumiko series, and is as enchanting as the first two. What is wonderful about this series is that it shows a child who sees herself as nothing special, and scared of everything, uncovering her own strengths and, as a result, blossoming. In each instalment the stakes have been raised – and as a result Kumiko has had to dig ever deeper to overcome the troubles that beset her and her friends.

The writing is poetic and utterly enchanting, with such gems as the breathtaking line: sometimes one short hug is like a long conversation between friends.

Whilst it is sad to see the series end, Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers is a perfect conclusion.

Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers, by Briony Stewart
UQP, 2011

ISBN 9780702238741

This book can be purchased in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Raven's Mountain, by Wendy Orr

My face is in the snow. My head is whirling. I can’t think. I don’t know where I am or why. Lifting my head hurts. There’s a rumbly thunder noise floating up from below me.
The last thing I remember is being afraid that Lily would laugh if she saw my Top-of-the-World Dance.
Then I see the sick in the snow. My whole body remembers the fall and nearly throws up again.

Raven isn’t happy about moving away from the home she’s always known, to the mountains on the other side of the country. Now her step-father, Scott, is taking Raven and her sister Lily hiking up the mountains. After a trek through the wilderness Raven feels for a fleeting moment like she’s on top of the world – until the mountain top comes alive, and Raven finds herself part of a rock fall. When she comes to, she is alone, with no sign of Scott or Lily. It is up to her to retrace their route to get help.

Raven’s Mountain is a gripping adventure story of the courage of a young girl who must rely on her untapped strengths to survive and to save her family. Along the way she develops a unique connection with a family of bears and with a raven, helping her to survive and to connect with her inner reserves.

From the award-winning author of Nim’s Island , Raven’s Mountain is a satisfying read which middle and upper primary aged readers will adore.

Raven’s Mountain, by Wendy Orr
Allen & Unwin, 2011
ISBN 9781742374659

This book can be purchased in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.