Fans of the Crayons series of books will eagerly grab this from the display shelf in the library, entreating others to be as keen as they to read this latest outing, and tempt those unused to the hilarity of these books, to seek them out.
From the cover to the last page, kids will titter with suppressed laughter, giggle happily and scream out loud at the sight of these crayons and their antics.
There are several readings of the book on YouTube to check out.
Each of the crayons, red, yellow, orange, white and blue makes something for Easter, but the purple crayon tells each of them that what they have made is not an egg. Purple crayon’s rudeness continues even as each of the crayons reports to it what they are working on. Their paper decorations reflect each of the crayons, as do their responses.
The shapes the group are decorating come together at the end into the shape of an egg, satisfying the questioning purple crayon. Yellow and orange crayons decorations look like the colour of the sun, blue has decorated paper that looks like a rhombus but needs a nap after the purple crayon’s questioning, and the white crayon in decorating a star is sad that no one can see what it has made.
An absolute delight of quirkiness, offering a different look at Easter, encouraging creativity, teaching a little along the way about mathematical shapes, and presenting a look at how not to treat your fellow travellers.
Each of the paper shapes is put together to make an egg for Easter, and each page highlights Jeffer’s distinctive illustrative technique, one all children will love to emulate.
I just love the box of crayons on the cover welcoming readers to their space.
Hachette, 2023. ISBN: 9781472296955. (Age:Adult, Young Adult) Recommended.
The Fraud Squad is a fun and light-hearted debut from Singaporean-American author, Kyla Zhao. A book that does not take itself too seriously, the story is set in the glamourous but cutthroat world of Singaporean high fashion and high society.
Samantha Song works an unfulfilling and unexciting role in public relations but she has always dreamed of working at one of the most elite publications in Singapore. However, Samantha is from an impoverished background and works to support her chronically ill mother. Without the family background, connections or wealth to support her in Singapore’s highly stratified society, Samantha’s ambitions must remain unfulfilled. That is, until one fateful night when she agrees to join her wealthy colleague Anya for dinner. At the dinner she meets Timothy, the scion of one Singapore’s most wealthy and established families. And, between the three of them, they come up with an audacious plan to turn this working-class girl into the city’s newest and coolest socialite. There is just one catch. For the plan to work, no one can know of Samantha’s real background. If she is to infiltrate high society and land the life of her dreams, she will have to decide what, and who, is most important to her.
Clearly drawing on her background as a former fashion and lifestyle writer at Vogue Singapore, Zhao has created a vibrant world for readers. Zhao’s Singapore is colourful and entertaining though likely skewed to pander to Western audiences desperate for more content after the success of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. While the motivations of the characters do not always make sense and this causes them to come across as a little one dimensional, The Fraud Squad will satisfy anyone looking for an amusing and uncomplicated read.
Themes Romance, Friendship, Family, Singapore, Asian literature, Fashion, LGBTQ+.
Rose Tabeni
Willa and Woof: Wedding rescue by Jacqueline Harvey
Wedding Rescue is the fourth book in a very popular new series, Willa and Woof. Created by talented Australian author, Jacqueline Harvey, this story is filled with beautiful friendships, across the generations, a little suspense and some problem solving too.
Willa is an eight and three quarter year old girl, who has a beloved albino Irish wolf hound named Woof. They do almost everything together and both enjoy visiting their friend, Frank, who lives next door in his retirement villa. Willa also has a best friend, Tae, who is eight and a half years old.
On a hot Summer’s day, Willa is excited for Aunty Jane’s upcoming wedding, but she is not happy about the meringue style dress that has been chosen for her to wear. Frank is trying to console her, but to no avail. When a fire breaks out not far away from their home, Willa quickly forgets about the silly dress fiasco and becomes very worried about ‘the dragon on the mountain’.
Everyone tells her thing are going to be fine, but Willa has a bad feeling. When people in the neighbourhood realise the fire is coming towards them, Willa is really scared. Thankfully, rain comes and puts the raging fire out, but unfortunately, the fire has destroyed Aunty Jane’s wedding venue and it looks as if the wedding will have to be cancelled. Can Willa and her friends work together to give Aunty Jane’s the special day she was hoping for?
Jacqueline Harvey has created a storyline with real situations and relatable people. Moving smoothly from one venture to the next, with illustrations and an easy to read text, this would make a suitable read for children who are past the emerging novel stage and looking for a slightly longer text.
For young readers who enjoy a main character with a ‘friend next door’ feel, Willa and Woof is a great read.
Themes Friendship, Emotions, Problem solving, Family.
Michelle O'Connell
A good thing happened today by Michelle Figueroa, Ill. Ramona Kaulitzki
Harper, 2022. ISBN: 9780063142312. (Age:4+)
Creator of the Good News Movement means that author and journalist, Michelle Figueroa has an issue to pursue and this she does without apology in this timely book. Designed to promote good news, the book underscores the good things happening in a child’s life, making a concerted effort to be inclusive as it jumps to different countries and their good news stories.
Figueroa bases her pages on stories she has heard or reported on in her years as a journalist. Each story from a different country, Colombia, Kenya, Netherlands has an accompanying paragraph at the end of the book explaining how the story came to be told.
In Kenya people bring water to animals in need. In Colombia a library is made from discarded books. Good things can happen in a moment or a melody. Songs can be played on the cobblestones in Colombia. We can do good deeds; in New York someone receives their diploma, while in the Netherlands a man receives a letter, people lend a helping hand, helping a bird take flight, or opening a door, or knitting a blanket out of old jumpers for someone in need. When disaster strikes a splash of colour helps lift the spirits. Goodness comes from inside, the need to be kind is in us all.
An earnest look at our inherent kindness, this book displays a range of kind moments where someone is helping another. It impels children to think about kindness and good news stories, about being helpful and doing good deeds, about other people and their needs.
Children will want to join in with the idea of the book, talking about the good news stories that are in their lives.
Themes Kindness.
Fran Knight
Tumbleglass by Kate Constable
Allen & Unwin, 2023. ISBN: 9781760526962. (Age:12+) Highly recommended.
It is a little sobering to discover that times and events that you remember experiencing in 1999 and 1972 are the destinations in a timeslip novel, and are described as equally exotic and unfamiliar as a trip back to 1900 or 1940s. However, it is amusing to recognise clothing, music and events as seen through the eyes of a Gen Z character.
Set initially in contemporary Melbourne, Tumble Glass is a timeslip novel set firmly in Australia, with 13-year-old Rowen and her older sister Ash visiting a number of periods of history where significant social upheaval was happening. They experience the parties of the 1990s, Aboriginal activism of 1972, young soldiers being farewelled to WW2, and domestic life in 1900, all based in their family home as it was in the various time periods.
As they interact with younger versions of their parents, Ash and Rowen risk drastically changing the future, and Rowan discovers she has a special affinity with the house. Ash becomes stuck in 1990 and before her family forget her, Rowen is tasked with retrieving glass items from various eras, that their neighbour Verity can fashion into a magical object to enable Ash’s return.
Constable’s research into the customs and language of each period is woven seamlessly into the story, and Rowen’s faux pas as she refers to items or customs from 2020s, and her mother's malapropisms add amusement and contrast.
This is a well-paced story with lots of low-key action, likeable characters and enough mystery and intrigue to keep you hooked. It layers personal stories of loss and resilience onto tumultuous historical events, making history come alive with characters who are easy to relate to, whatever their place in history.
Themes Family, Timeslip, Australian history.
Margaret Crohn
Agents of S.U.I.T by John Patrick Green
Macmillan, 2023. ISBN: 9781035015467. (Age:7-12)
The agents of S.U.I.T, Special Undercover Investigation Teams, have taken on a new agent, a chameleon named Cilantro whose secret weapon is a natural camouflage ability to blend into the background. Cilantro’s only problem is that the very exciting spy technology V.E.S.T stays visible, spoiling the effect. Agent Cilantro’s first mission is to catch a cat burgler, who turns out to be a dog, who is stealing the tiny packets of condiments you get with takeaway and stash in the back of the utensil drawer. The burglar nearly escapes but gets caught up by the icecream van driven by The Investigators, alligators, Brash and Mango who feature in previous books in the series. As Cilantro explains “the dog is the source of the stolen sauce”. The puns and wordplay continue throughout as Cilantro and offsider Monocle are sent by Inspector Vague on an unspecified mission that involves crop circles, militant sheep and alien Throng. The colourful, clear graphics and straightforward layout propel the story forward, allowing the fun wordplay and absurd plot to stand out. At 200 pages the book would lend itself to being read aloud in episodes but I am sure that readers of the previous Investigators series will love this one. There are pages at the end on how to draw Cilantro using simple shapes and some fun information about the creators. The Investigators website has links, activities and videos.
A male bowerbird builds his structure hoping to attract a mate with his skills at construction and the things he places in front. Today he has a lovely purple flower, but the passing female bird says that it is not enough.
Bert flies away to find something else to please the demanding Nanette. Each time he brings something back to place by his bower she tells him the same thing. And so off he flies again, the list growing:
‘A rose hip, a rusty zip A pencil, and a paperclip ‘
Rather like the Twelve Days of Christmas, the list gets longer as Bert tries his best to attract Nanette.
Eventually another male bird, Claude, inspects his bower suggesting that the something he needs is nearby and sends Bert off to collect it. When he returns the bird has destroyed his nest taking all his pretty things with him, and Nanette is by his side. Bert has been tricked, but on repairing his bower, with his purple flower still in place, a female bird stops by, admires his purple flower and is happy to stay.
A lovely verse story, children will appreciate the repetition of the lines each bird says and the growing list of things Bert collects for his bower. Predicting the rhyming word will enthuse many readers as they come to grips with rhyming words, while the repeated growing list of things Bert collects will be enthusiastically read together.
Reading this tale out loud is a treat, and younger readers and more skilled readers will appreciate the rhythm and sounds as it is read to them.
Illustrations by Catherine Rayner will delight young readers. Using pencil and dip pen and ink, she experiments with a range of implements to achieve her goal, and on her web site can be found instructions for developing some of the animals she draws: https://www.catherinerayner.co.uk/pages/step-by-step-drawing-guides
I love the dejected look on Bert’s face, trying so hard to attract Nanette, but in the end being duped by her and the heartless Claude. Jean is the most attractive bird he has ever seen and her illustration is wonderful, a sharp contrast to the demanding and snooty Nanette. Information about Donaldson and Rayner can be found on the publication page, and a paragraph about bower birds is also included.
A charming story about striving for a mate, the happiness in achieving that goal and the duplicity of some met along the way will gladden the hearts of younger readers, soaking up the repetition, prediction, humour and all the while sympathising with Bert.
Subtitled, ‘the small bird with the large heart’, children will instantly warm to this little bird, betrayed by some but in the end finding true love.
Louisa doesn't ever get to visit her teenage aunt in England, instead, Aunt Neela visits her in America. With only a year or so separating them in age, they are so close, just like Lou's mother, Laura, is with her sister, May. But one day, Lou misses a call from Neela, a call where Neela says she's at the market. This doesn't mean much to Louisa, but it means everything to her mum and aunt - the market is full of goblins, and her family is full of witches. Laura and May were banished from York over 18 years ago for their actions involving the market, and now that Neela is stuck in the market, Louisa is determined to save Neela, no matter the cost.
This dark horror/fantasy moves between present and past, the story being told from Louisa's perspective (present) as well as May's (in the past). Even with the switching between past and present, the story moves well. A bit of a bildungsroman, both Louisa and May go through great change through the story, resulting in growth and maturing for both characters. Something to note is that repetition is frequent throughout the book - examples include: the market, the market, the market; closer, closer, closer; come buy, come buy. Can be tedious for readers - unsure of what the author was aiming for by constantly repeating. Goblins and magic are the centre of this novel, where goblins glamour themselves to have human appearance, and some humans have magic to protect themselves and heal others who have been injured by goblins. An interesting novel with dark corners and a few twists.
If the world were 100 animals by Miranda Smith. Illus. by Aaron Cushley
Red Shed, 2022. ISBN: 9780008524371. (Age:6+) Highly recommended.
What a treasure trove of information, presented in a way that is accessible to mid primary aged children and older, filled with colour and maps, illustrations that draw the reader in to look more closely, taking in every detail. I had fun with this book and I am sure many children will too.
To distill the huge numbers of animals, into a base of 100 is awe inspiring. Out of 100 animals in the world 94 are invertebrates and 6 are vertebrates. The invertebrates (those without a backbone) include a huge range of animals, many so small they can only be seen using a microscope.
Out of 100 mammals, 94 are placental, while 5 are marsupial and 1 is a monotreme. The book continues with each double page offering another companion, interesting facts and eye popping numbers. Illustrations cover each page to showcase the animals being spoken of and each is a fascinating spread on which to feast the eyes and take in the science. Readers will want to research some of the new words, adding the animals that fit into the category. Who can go past the word monotreme and not want to know which animals are in that small group?
Some of the pages are just mind boggling. A beautiful double page opens out on its side and illustrates the depth of the sea, with lots of pairs of eyes looking out at the reader, because, of every 100 animals that live in the sea, only 9 are known! No wonder there is lots of sea exploration going on. Another which will give readers cause to stop and think is the 100 animals that live in the wild. In the past all animals were wild, but now only 5 live in the wild, 36 are humans and 59 are found on farms.
A page which children will recognise too is the one about pets. It would be interesting for readers to predict just how many dogs and cats, birds and fish are kept as pets before they open this page. They may be surprised.
And another page which I found fascinating was that of 100 animals, 10 are still living, while 90 have becomes extinct.
On the publication page is information about where the statistics came from and on the last double page is information to make readers think a little further after they have read the book.
A group of kids will greatly enjoy this book, while in a class, it will engender much discussion and research, and looked at alone will be engrossing.
I loved it and I’m sure many others will too. It is a companion to ‘If the world were 100 People' also published by Red Shed, part of the HarperCollins group.
Spice Road is the first novel in a series to be written by Maiya Ibrahim, an Australian, who has set out to create a magical world imbued with the Arabian culture of her ancestry. So for diverse readers, it will be a joy to read of characters dressed in sirwal, eating a felafel sandwich, and drinking a special spiced tea.
Imani has grown up in the privileged world of the Sahir. She has excelled in her training as a Shield warrior, and has learnt how to use the magic of the misra tea to transform the force of her dagger into a sword or a spear. She is bound to protect her country and guard the secret of the Spice tea. It is only when she ventures out on a quest to find and bring back her disgraced elder brother Atheer, who has supposedly broken his allegiances and shared the magic outside of their country’s border, that she starts to build a broader picture of the wider world and the people within it. She comes to question everything she has been told as a child, and has to adapt her thinking to the new experiences that impact her. This is the most compelling part of Ibrahim’s novel – the depiction of a closed, almost xenophobic mind, gradually opening up and reassessing her belief system. Issues of privilege, class and prejudice are explored from many angles.
All of this is set in an ancient mystical world, with djinns and monsters to overcome, each of the challenges revealing some new understanding as the characters grow and develop. There is romance, but the two potential love interests each have their barriers to trust and friendship, and are another puzzle for Imani to gradually work out.
All in all, Spice Road is an exciting fantasy adventure. The Kingdom of Alqibah is beautifully described and the reader is easily carried along through scenes of crumbling ruins and desert sands. The quest become one of finding one’s heart or true values, learning to see beyond the sheltered home world to embrace affinity with others who live a different life, part of a wider humanity. The ending is a satisfying conclusion, but the threads are there to pick up again, as Imani has yet to face the return home and make a decision about what to do with her new knowledge. Readers will no doubt eagerly await the sequel.
The cover of Immortality, with the view of a woman from above, her dress around her like the wrinkles of a brain, is just as eye-catchingly dramatic as the cover of its predecessor, Anatomy, with the skirt spread like the red chambers of a heart. This time the focus is not so much on the gaining of surgical anatomical skills as the pursuit of the chemistry of immortality. The second book in the Anatomy duology picks up the story of Hazel Sinnett, a young lady determined to become a surgeon and physician in Edinburgh in the early 1800s. At the same time she wants to learn more about the secret Tincture that supposedly gives immortality to those who dare to swallow it. Perhaps then, she will find out if her lost love, Jack Currer, is still alive, waiting for her somewhere in the world.
The frequent problem with sequels is the amount of time that has to be spent in the second novel explaining who the characters are and filling in the story until that point, and Immortality suffers from this drawback just as much as any other. In fact the first third of the book becomes a kind of rehash along with the introduction of several otherwise interesting characters who are introduced for plot purposes and then dropped with little to no reference to them again. It is only after that prolonged section of the book is concluded that the real story picks up as Hazell is given the role of physician to the Princess Charlotte of the Royal House of Hanover, a princess who seems to be cursed with a mysterious ailment that prevents her fulfilling her role as princess of England, and then ultimately mother to a future king.
It is only in the last third of the novel that we discover what happened to the dashing Jack Currer, the man who stole Hazel’s heart in the graveyards and theatres of Edinburgh. Will Hazel ever find happiness; will she be able to practise medicine alone as a single woman; or will she have to find some kind of compromise in a society that expects women to become wives and mothers?
Despite the plot flaws, Schwartz provides a good examination of the roles of women, corruption of the political world, the flaws of humankind, and the imaginative possibilities of immortality. This along with a good mix of macabre gruesomeness and gothic romance makes this book one that will be popular with young adult readers, especially those who were hooked into the excitement of the first novel and who may have felt a bit disappointed with its ambiguous ending. All the ends are neatly tied up by the closing pages of Immortality, so while some readers may be reluctant to finally set it down, I am sure that Dana Schwartz is up to beginning a new historical mystery romance that will be equally engaging.
An afternoon spent by the beach gives the opportunity for a mother and daughter to strengthen their relationship over the things they find by the sea. As they wander by the shore, the girl picks up little treasures which she shows her mother in her cupped hands. "Look", she says as they wonder at the small purse pebble, the strand of seaweed, blue sea glass and a tiny heart shaped pink shell. They take these precious jewels down to the sea where they spy a ship passing by taking goods to far away places. They build a sand castle to house their treasures, and splash through the water nearby. Running up the sand dunes, they leave behind footprints that look like stepping stones between them, and the girl sits on top of one dune, surveying the world beneath her feet.
All the while, mother and daughter are sharing adventures, sights, sounds and found objects, bringing them closer together, sharing things that will be wonderful memories when they return home. The simplest of things, an afternoon at the beach can be suffused with imagination and activities that are not done everyday, so creating a stronger bond between the woman and her child.
Told in verse form, the story begs to be read aloud, encouraging young children to join in with the repeated words, and predict the rhyming word at the end of each line.
The story evokes the strong connection between mother and daughter, and this connection is beautifully depicted with the stunning illustrations. The spectacle of the sea and sky and the sand dunes, gives every reader a sense of the openness, the vista, the panorama of being at the beach where no one else can be seen, their footprints the only ones there. Water colour and pencil illustrations are cut out and reformed to make collage spreads, illustrating their time at the beach and all that they saw. Younger children will love picking out the detail on each page. I loved the rock pool, where the two are paddling and seeing what they can see. Goldsmith’s water colour technique gives the reader a soft, loving and companionable feel to the images, and nowhere is this more striking than the last page where they are sharing the pink shell surrounded by some of the other things they found during their time at the beach. A wonderful offering for Mother’s Day, reiterating the joy to be found in doing the simplest of things together.
Themes Mother’s Day, Mothers and daughters, Beach, Sea shells, Sand castles, Family.
Fran Knight
Twenty questions by Mac Barnett and Christian Robinson
This intriguing, investigative book will lead readers to ask questions, answer some, ask others, connect with others and share their answers, so initiating stories based on some of the imaginings. Who could resist deciding which woman robbed the bank on the third double page. I cam imagine kids having a great fun making observations and deductions about the six women shown, winkling out who could have done it and why, thereby writing a story about opportunity, need and consequences. Similarly the wonderful 'Who is she waiting for?' towards the end of the book, had me thinking about a host of scenarios and situations, possibilities and intrigues and younger minds will slip into wild imaginings with relish.
And the cow on the wind turbine! Why is she there, how did she get there? What is she thinking?! How will she get down?! What are the other cows thinking?! What can she see?! Endless very funny possibilities.
Quirky, explorative, leading, the twenty questions posed in the book will initiate many more as kids grab hold of the opportunity offered in developing story.
I remember being offered one liners as openings to a story to be written in an exam, how much better is this, offered a question which could lead anywhere and everywhere, supported by Christian Robinson’s amazing illustrations, each as different as the last, each offering a context to the question posed, each offering an open ended investigation.
Who is on the other side of this door? Illustrated with a high snow covered peak, a door near the top of the peak, intriguingly placed where a door could not possibly be. Robinson’s mountain provokes more questions, prompting the viewer to think of many things other than who is waiting on the other side. I would love to be a fly on the wall for some of the discussions that evolve after reading this book. Full of wit and humour, the whole book grabs the reader and encourages them to think, imagine, observe. What a treat!
Until 1960, when Jane Goodall observed a chimpanzee using a blade of grass to 'fish' for termites, it was believed that humans were the only animal to use tools and that the use of these because we have opposable thumbs were what separated us from animals in general. However, since her discovery, we've learned that many creatures use sticks, leaves, rocks, and other natural items as tools to perform all kinds of tasks.
In this fascinating picture book from Caldecott Honor-winning team Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, readers learn all about what makes a tool a tool - 'an object than an animal manipulates and uses to affect its environment, another animal or itself' - and the remarkable ways animals that use them to interact with the world. From the tailorbird, which repurposes spider silk to stitch a leaf into its nest, to the gorilla, which uses sticks to test water depth and build bridges, these animals are intelligent, innovative, and creative.
Written in a narrative style that is easily accessible to the young independent reader, and using his signature cut paper illustrations, Steve Jenkins offers readers a closer look at these animals, their habitats, and their behaviours, making it a 'poster-child' for why we must continue to offer our students a robust non fiction print collection. How else will they discover that apes and monkeys regularly clean their teeth, that crows indulge in sword-fighting just for fun and the bottlenose dolphins of Shark Bay, WA have learned to use seashells to catch food?
This is one that will fascinate animal enthusiasts and aspiring inventors everywhere, and perhaps inspire them to look more closely and investigate further.
George is no ordinary bear. He lives with a little girl called Clementine and her mother, who have taught him to read! There was nothing he liked more than to sit in the garden and read once he'd helped out around the house because, next to reading, being useful was his favourite thing to do.
One day, when George finishes his book early and knows it will be a long time before Clementine and her mother return home, he decides to go to the library by himself. At first it's exciting to stroll along the sunny street. But poor George's trip soon ends in disaster because not everyone can cope with seeing a large brown bear walking down the street, and, to make things worse, his library book is ruined. Do bears really cry? Can anyone help George to feel better when his feelings are hurt?
This is a heart-warming story for young readers who probably wouldn't blink if they saw a bear walking down the street and they certainly wouldn't carry on like the townspeople. But it is also a timely reminder that some of the things that we say and do can hurt other's feelings, even if that is not our intention, and so we need to think before we speak or act and be sensitive to the feelings of those around us. For little ones who are so egocentric this is something they have to learn and so this, apart from being just a grand read-together, is a great discussion starter.
