In the beginning chapter of the second book of the Mackenzie Arnold series, the group of friends are all playing soccer in the park. The temporary goal constructed in book one is standing up well to their game but does not quite trap Ryder’s runaway puppy Ronaldo. He is eventually picked up by a girl in a Messi jumper, whom Macca learns has newly arrived from Argentina and is called Sofia. Macca invites her to play soccer with her and her friends and they are all immediately impressed by Sofia’s skill. So much so that they ask her to join their team, the Seaport Strikers. Macca also tells Sofia about her new hearing devices and Sofia shares Spanish words with her new friends
When Sofia begins training with the Strikers, problems arise for Macca when Ryder becomes jealous of Sofia’s skill. Both Sofia and Ryder put Macca in a difficult position as she does not want to take sides. Macca decides to try to help them work it out but it ends in disappointment for all three children. Will they solve their issues so the team can become connected again?
In this story we are introduced to Macca’s older brother Sam, a rugby player, who helps to train Macca who now has the role of goalkeeper, in high-intensity exercises. We also hear from unfriendly Austin again. He is continually belittling Macca at school and this time has a bet she cannot restrict goals against the Seaport Strikers upcoming opponents.
Caught in the Middle, is another highly accessible and engrossing story in the Mackenzie Arnold series that gives the reader the opportunity to learn more about soccer, the skills needed, the different set up plays, and the soccer terminology used. It is also a story about family, friendship and learning to work through problems. The third book, The Big Leap, will be out in September 2024.
The meteoric rise to fame by the Australian women’s soccer team, the Matildas, has encouraged a whole new generation of young children to play soccer. The well-known goalkeeper of the team, Mackenzie Arnold a.k.a. Macca, features in a series of four books with a young Year 6 Macca as the main character. The first book in the series, Finders Keepers, introduces Macca and her friends and has some important lessons for Macca to learn.
Macca lives and breathes sport. She loves tennis, skateboarding, school sport lessons but her greatest love is soccer and being part of a team. Macca and her friends play for the Seaport Strikers and for Macca it is the best team ever. The next game is against the toughest team and all Macca wants to do is play her best. However, through a series of not so well thought out choices, including Ryder’s ball being taken away due to Macca’s goalkicking against a fence, Macca falling off her skateboard while riding barefoot, and to top it all off turning up late to training twice, Macca is benched for Saturday’s game. Is this the beginning of the end of Macca’s soccer career? At Saturday’s match, due to injuries to three players Macca has the opportunity to show her coach and teammates that she is a team player and can be relied upon. Called up to her first ever goal keeping duties, she remembers Mary’s tips and helps the team to hold their own.
This engaging and entertaining read will appeal to fans of sporting hero fiction. Macca is an appealing character, full of energy and goodwill but also someone who enjoys taking a risk. The second book in the series is called Caught in the Middle and has been released alongside the first book.
A funny look at a spider making his web in circumstances which see it destroyed time and time again. At first he weaves between a lawn mower, a red apple, a lazy dog and a bicycle. Each time a nice piece of lunch comes by, Spiro is excited that his hunger will be appeased. But something always happens. When a fly flies past, Spiro is happy, but Lucy takes her bike for a ride, breaking Spiro’s web. He tries again, rebuilding the web, looping it now to the lazy dog, a climbing cat, the apple and the lawnmower. He sees a moth but the lazy dog runs after the climbing cat, so the web is destroyed again.
Again he tries and tries, reading up on web building, and rebuilds his web, looping it between the lawnmower, the dog toy, the bird’s nest and the apple. The stink bug flies by, but this time a bird swoops down and takes the worm from the apple, pulling apart Spiro’s web once again.
Readers will love the repetition of the things Spiro uses to anchor his web, and have fun guessing what may happen next.
Inside the bird hollow in the tree, the chicks see the spider. Spiro is exhausted and wondering what to do next, when Gary starts up the lawn mower, scaring off the chicks and breaking the web. Spiro is relieved that he is not the birds’ food, and is happy when Gary turns the lights on in the garden. Now he has all the insects he could hope for to be trapped in his web.
This wonderfully funny story of perseverance and determination will be enjoyed by all readers as they watch Spiro keep trying again and again to build a new web to get his dinner.
The illustrations are just wonderful. It is amazing that illustrations can get over how a spider is feeling but these do. We feel the disappointment when something wrecks his web, watching his legs become more and more dejected as each effort is destroyed.
Readers will love watching Spiro and his efforts, predicting what the web will be fixed on and guessing what may happen on the next page. A wonderful laugh out loud book to be shared.
Little Steps, 2024. ISBN: 9781922833419. (Age:3-7)
Cry Hard Chucky is a book to put into the homes of all those adults who were told to stop crying when they were upset as children. It's a poignant reminder of how adult responses to children showing emotion can have a big impact on their emotional development.
On each page a young boy named Chucky does something wrong, hurts himself or feels sad or scared. On each occasion his dad recites the same refrain: 'Cry hard, Chucky, it'll do you good'. And it does. The illustrations do a lot of the heavy lifting here, showing great emotional facial features and body language from both Chucky and his family. They also show Chucky afterwards, not always happy but always having another go, lifting himself up from his sorrow or his hurt and moving forward.
Beautiful watercolour illustrations portray wonderfully common family spaces, maintaining realistic and relatable settings and events for young Aussie kids (family bathtime, the safety of hiding in a kitchen corner, school sports days, saying goodbye to family pets and trips to the hospital). This is a lovely reminder for everyone that it's always best (and okay!) to let our emotions out and accept comfort and gives a nice line for adults to try with their own children (cry hard, it'll do you good).
Daughter of calamity is a debut novel for Chinese-American writer Rosalie M. Lin. It is a historical fantasy that places the reader in a different world indeed. Lin is a young voice, writing a novel that emphatically reflects her youth (in the street cred. of her language and the activities depicted), her education (a degree in Comparative literature and an unfinished biomedical PhD) and her experience which includes pole-dancing in a Beijing nightclub.
This novel is rooted in the sleazy, nasty nightlife of Shanghai in 1932. It's the Shanghai that was carved up at that time, in the colonial period, into French, American and Japanese concessions. It is the Shanghai of gangsters and courtesans, puppets and puppeteers, western corruption and avarice and ancient shamanistic practice.
Daughter of calamity is narrated in the first person voice of Jingwen. Jingwen is a strong and engaging central character. She is very capable and independent and is coming of age - starting to realise that she is something or has something that is powerful but unknown. She has her fair share of human sorrows, heart ache and misunderstandings of people - especially her mother and grandmother. For years she has lived with her grandmother selling human bones for her without question as a child who is inured to it. Her grandmother is a 'doctor'. Strangeness drenches the settings and plot in this highly atmospheric novel. By day Jingwen works hard training with a dance troupe. At night she is a taxi dancer at the Paramount, a sumptuous nightclub where the girls compete viciously with each other to secure the patronage of the wealthiest men. Danger and horror enters as dancers begin to have parts of their faces (eg. their lips or eyes) and even their entire faces cut away and taken to unknown places by unknown assailants. Jingwen is deceived and manipulated by powerful men of opposing forces and the story tangles down into a savage underworld of evil businessmen, street gangsters and dark mysticism. Who can she trust? Who might betray her? Who is she herself? What is she capable of and why is she seemingly the chosen one at the centre of all of these opposing and clashing worlds?
This is a story of self discovery. It is a page turner... very dark-full of vulnerability, passion, decadence, mysticism and danger. Lin conjures a shimmering atmospheric novel: the shrines, the birdsong, the mists, the fragrances, the shikumen, the lilong, the longtang, the wharves, the gardens, the cabarets and dance halls, the several faces of people who are not what they appear to be - who can morph into mystical god-like beings. 'Deep in Shanghai's cabarets, humanity wears a different mask... made of skin instead of suits, and it tears easily... Dripping in jewels, we come trying to fill the empty spaces within ourselves...'
Daughter of calamity reads as a real clash of worlds - the old cultural and spirit filled China - powerful and mystical, clashes with the western world. The men in business suits who woo the dancers are representatives of the corruption,extortion and looting of Shanghai's soul. The girls are like birds - there for the taking - even of their body parts. But our main protagonists are not as they seem. There is power in the darkness and revenge is vicious and exacting.
This is a book that depicts a world of sin and danger. It is compelling, fantastical and violent.
Themes Colonial Shanghai 1932, Dance halls, Body part trade, Gods and gangsters.
Wendy Jeffrey
Billy and the epic escape by Jamie Oliver
Penguin, 2024. ISBN: 9780241683965. (Age:8-10)
Billy and the epic escape follows the further adventures of Billy who was introduced to readers in celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's debut children's novel Billy and the giant adventure. Both books are available as audio books and are narrated by Jamie Oliver et al. with 'immersive music and sound effects'. Both books follow the adventures of Billy and his friends as they unite using their differing individual skills to confront magical creatures who are destroying the 'Rhythm' and hurting individuals and as they team up with magical creatures on the side of good like the Sprites, Boonas and Giants. Both books emphasise that everybody has unique skills and flaws. Both books are heartening in the lovely intergenerational relationships built between children and elderly people and the recognition of the particular skills that everybody has to contribute. Both books read as a father telling a very long serialised bedtime story.
Monica Armino's illustrations enhance the story, being liberally scattered throughout the book. Some are full page, some wrap around as borders; they are seemingly randomly placed but help the reluctant reader enjoy text. Some chapter headers and illustrations are by Alan Brown in pastiche style of Monica Armino. The text design by Janene Spencer includes many examples of onomatopoeia in enlarged, bold print. The chosen font is Atkinson Hyper legible 10.2/17.42pt which really helps children who struggle with the printed word (as did Jamie Oliver himself).
Oliver's narrative tone (particularly in the prologue and epilogue) is very warm and comforting. The prologue recaps Billy's book one adventures in Waterfall Woods which is always useful for the reader who wants to read a second book in a series as a stand-alone. Once again the children enter the oak tree portal into the magical world. This time the threat is a lady called Scary Red. The best gardeners from around the world have been trapped by her and this time, even an Aboriginal child is stolen from Australia. A futuristic element enters this book with the advent of robot rangers.
In Billy and the epic escape there is much frenetic action which is slightly disconnected at times. Many diverse action sequences are begun, abandoned and then circled back to at a later stage. It makes for circuitous reading. The action remains at all times at a high level of intensity which eventually results in a loss of excitement and immediacy for the reader. The plot does not pace towards a climax so that the reader can have a sense of anticipation and later release. Rather, Billy and the epic escape rockets from one 'epic' event to the next and the reader may begin to suffer from excitement fatigue. The characters are rather too many and too one-dimensional to captivate the reader and to remain memorable.
Unsurprisingly, with a celebrity chef turning his hand to writing, recipes and food are integral components or accompaniments to the story with bonus recipes for the young cook to try at the end of the book.
Though not a contribution to the catalogue of quality children's literature that merit multiple readings, Billy and the epic escape is still a fun read. It is written in an earnest and warm tone and the author has thrown everything he can at it to make it as thrilling as he can.
Learn your way to happy by Bernie Hayne. Illus. by Valery Vell
Little Steps, 2024. ISBN: 9781922833426. (Age:3-8)
This is a beautifully written book and a follow up to Bernie Hayne's first first book, Smile Your Way To Happy. The illustrations are cartoony, almost Cocomelon-like, so will appeal greatly to young ones. The book follows young people as they grow and provides inspiration advice told in rhyming verse ('Everyday is a chance to learn-what will it be today? Can you tie your shoelaces to get you on your way?') Readers are urged to take little steps that help get them though the day, to set goals and work to achieve them, to learn to share, to help mum and dad and to care about others because that's 'what life is all about'.
Learn Your Way To Happy is an uplifting and positive reminder about doing the best we can both for ourselves and others. It reads beautifully aloud and the illustrations are bright and culturally diverse.
Themes Positive psychology, Happiness, Life Skills, Rhyming Stories.
A skinny one-eyed kid called Patch living with his alcoholic mother, and a friendless girl called Saint raised by her bus-driver grandmother, are drawn together, their loneliness overcome by shared pirate adventures roaming in the wild woodlands behind their homes . . . until the day Patch disappears, the day that he hurled himself at the masked man attacking Misty, the pretty girl from his school.
Finding the boy that means everything to her becomes an obsession for Saint. She never gives up on him. When Saint eventually discovers him trapped in a dark cell, Patch has developed his own obsession, to find and rescue the girl that spoke to him in the dark, telling him stories that lifted his spirits and helped him keep hope. Her name is Grace. But among the names of the girls reported missing there is no Grace, no one whose case even resembles her.
Whitaker has written a gripping mystery detective story, the language is clear and concise, and the chapters are short, heightening the pace as time passes and it becomes apparent that a serial killer is still at large. As the years pass, Saint becomes an implacable police detective, determined in her belief in Patch, longing to preserve the unique relationship they had as children. While the mystery story is compelling, Whitaker’s novel is in essence a heart-rending love story, of longing and lost love. The achingly beautiful story of the two strong but forlorn characters, Patch and Saint, will stay in your memory long afterwards.
Themes Mystery, Missing person, Detectives, Serial killer, Love, Friendship, Obsession.
Helen Eddy
The daredevil princess and the grumpy giant by Belinda Murrell
Princess Tillie is a kind, thoughtful and adventurous princess who lives with her mother Queen Cordelia, her inventive father, King Edwin and her younger brother Prince Oskar. Her companions are her friend Lukas, her beloved dachshunds Mitzi and Fritzi, as well as Honey Blossom, a precocious and well-loved unicorn.
In this latest story, the Mid-Winter Eve Festival will be taking place and Princess Tillie is excited. Her beloved animal companions do not share her enthusiasm due to the extreme cold. While at the Festival a local boy Bruno causes some mischief beginning with strategically thrown snowballs and some unkind words. When Honey Blossom steps in to support Princess Tillie, Bruno retaliates by asking Mr Grim to bring the guards to tie her up. While the guards are occupied, Bruno sets off the fireworks in one huge explosion and awakens a sleeping giant, Bobo. Bobo is enraged and determined to find the culprit and goes on a rampage. Will Princess Tillie be able to use her kindness and problem-solving to save her town and her people?
The Daredevil Princess and the Grumpy Giant is the fourth story in the series by well-known author Belinda Murrell. This is another engaging tale that is perfect for those readers who are ready for chapter books. With charming illustrations by Rebecca Crane placed throughout the story and the clever use of onomatopoeia, this latest book is sure to be enjoyed by young readers.
Australian author and illustrator Kelly Canby (The Hole Story, Littlelight) creates picture books that address big themes in approachable ways. The addition of her sublime illustrations make her books a delight to read and share.
A Leaf Called Greaf is a gentle introduction to what it feels like to grieve a loved one and how eventually we can let go of that grief and move forward with it in a more heart-warming rather than sorrowful way. Grief is visualised in the story as a beguiling green leaf that a lonely bear cannot let go of. His lost brothers and sisters are depicted as white line drawings that follow him on his travels, cuddle in close to him and and shield him almost like a blanket. But over time, cleverly and artistically shown through colours and landscapes of the changing seasons, Greaf changes. It starts to turn orange and feels different to Bear, until eventually it feels crisp and tense and looks orange and black, like a fallen autumn leaf. Bear gently lets go and off go his siblings. In the shade of a green leafy tree on a sunny day Bear smiles as a red heart drifts down to him from his brothers and sisters, symbolising the love and memories that he will always hold in his heart.
This is a spectacularly conceived book that will be useful for parents and educators needing to address sorrow and grief with young children. While clear in it's focus, it allows adults to add as much extra information or explanation as is necessary, depending on the age of the child.
Themes Death, Grief.
Nicole Nelson
Mitchell itches: An eczema story by Kristin Kelly. Illus. by Amelina Jones
EK Books, 2024. ISBN: 9781922539724.
Ever since he was born, Mitchell has been itchy - so much so that even as a baby he had to wear special mittens and socks to help him control his constant need to scratch. And while he is young, surrounded by family who understand the condition and do all they can to alleviate it, things are okay, but when he gets to school things take a turn for the worse with the lack of understanding leading to taunts, bullying and isolation. Yet, when there is a family holiday by the seaside things ease, and Mitchell finds a way to distract himself from the need to scratch. But holidays can't last forever and school returns - will he find a way to be accepted for the little boy he is, itches and all?
Sadly this story could be that of my husband - and the one in five children living with eczema - right down the special mittens, the allergy to eggs and milk, and the special care of his family. And while he has now grown out of the condition, what he had as a child shaped who he is today as a mature+ - aged grandfather. Although he doesn't have Mitchell's special talent, he did have the bullying, the shame and the ostracisation that went with such conditions in the 50s and 60s. So stories like this that not only help the Mitchells to understand that the condition is more common that they realise, but also educate those around them that it is not catchy and underneath the irritated skin is a regular person, can play an invaluable part in making life less miserable than it is.
And while this is specifically about eczema, there is also an underlying message about discovering something that we love to indulge in and completely distract us from whatever is troubling us. In fact, it is not indulgent, it's necessary to give the brain a break so it can be refreshed and renewed when reality impacts again. So all sorts of lessons for all of us.
Themes Eczema.
Barbara Braxton
Of jade and dragons by Amber Chen
Penguin, 2024. ISBN: 9780241624364. (Age:12-17)
The Antaran Territories encompass the Nine Isles overseen by a High Commander whose bamboo and bison skin airships, with their cobra insignia Aihui Ying can sometimes see flying over the pastoral lands of her Huarin Isle home. Ying, the eldest daughter of chieftain Aihui Shan-jin, dreams of visiting the capital, Fei, not for its wealth and fine architecture but its Engineers Guild. She would like to be an apprentice, following in her father’s footsteps but they don’t allow girls to apply. Her mother died when Ying was 8 and she has spent many hours with her father encouraged to learn and invent intricate engineering marvels. When she disturbs an intruder in her father’s workshop she is able to wrench an oval jade pendant from the stranger before he escapes but her father is mortally wounded and his last act is to give her a hidden notebook which he asks her to destroy. The pendant has a dragon insignia, the mark of the Empire so Ying decides to find her father’s killer and infiltrate the Engineers Guild in Fei to see who is trying to steal her father’s secrets. There is so much going for Of Jade and Dragons, the lovely cover, the Asian, medieval world, the celebration of engineering and the female engineer protagonist but it was strangely unsatisfying. After getting into the Engineers Guild the first trial is an essay, which the privileged candidates were assured of passing, the second trial involved getting lost and the third destroying a sophisticated automaton, very little engineering involved. I hated the focus on destruction and war with the Empire (for unspecified reasons), including the beheading of their ambassador. The characters were one dimensional, the minor ones especially so, presumably to be developed in subsequent books. Ying is supposedly 18 but she acted much younger and her attraction to her prince seemed more suited to a junior romance. I would have loved to see more creativity, engineering and friendship-building, Ying seems to learn little from her experiences and it was a missed opportunity for some growth which is disappointing. The characters of fellow candidates Ye-kan and Chang-en have a lot of potential, maybe they will come to the fore in the following books as this is the first part of the Fall of the Dragon series.
Ella sits at the table while her father queues to buy their lunch.
She watches a small bird hopping around the other people in the line. It has only one leg but hops onto the chair at Ella’s table. She has nothing to give. She spies a man with a backpack and grizzled hair and beard. He bows his head asking people in the line for a few coins. Each turns him away. Like the bird, he is shoo-ed, or told to go away or he is treated as if he is not there, people hurrying past. He sits down a little way from them all, and the bird totters over to him. He rummages around in his pockets and finds a bag, which he shakes out for the bird. With the crumbs on his hand, he holds it out for the bird and it hops onto his hand to eat.
Ella and her father watch and then walk over to the man and invite him to share their lunch.
A lovely story reprising ideas of kindness and sharing will give many children cause to stop and think about the disparity in our society. The image of the bird, disabled and hungry, brings the reader to a feeling of sympathy which they will then endow upon the man. Cummings’ description of the man brings him into sharp focus with the readers, who must have seen homeless people in their streets. Discarded, ignored and without a voice, Cummings shows the basic thing we can all do. The man has a prickle-bush beard and hair, carries his life on his back, his shoulder slumped like the broken wings of a storm-weary bird.
Devries' illustrations wonderfully match the image of the homeless man with his unkempt beard and hair, scruffy clothes, an inadequate bag on his back, sitting away from the crowd of well heeled people who rejected him. The close ups of the man are beautifully imagined. Unlaced shoes, torn knees of his jeans, an umbrella on his back which you know has missing spokes, all underline the image shown through the words.
Readers will feel for the man and suggest what they can do to help the homeless in their orbit. They will peer at the setting of the story, and note touches such as the broken umbrella, the scarf at the man’s neck, the unlaced shoes and frayed backpack.
Kindness and a caring for others prompts the man and his daughter to share their lunch with the homeless man.
Themes Kindness, Sharing, Good Samaritan, Homelessness, Father and daughter.
Fran Knight
Everyone starts small by Liz Garton Scanlon. Illus. by Dominique Ramsey
Sun grows beams and Grass grows blades and Cloud cannot contain herself.
Spring rains change Water from a tumbling creek to a roaring river and bring Tree nutrients it needs to stretch toward the sky. As Sun's rays intensify, the sprouts and fruits and insects of the forest grow and bloom and develop, all working together in harmony. Even Fire, whose work causes Tree to ache from the inside, brings opportunity for the next generation of flora and fauna. This poetic tribute to our planet's resilience, accompanied by its striking illustrations is a resonant story of life, death, and regeneration and demonstrates to young readers the interdependence of the elements of Nature and how without one, or too much of one, our planet cannot survive, let alone thrive.
It echoes the old Aesop fable of The North Wind and the Sun although the theme of this is not competition but the symbiosis of the elements, despite Tree warning that 'it is not a race'. As well as building a greater awareness of the world around them, it introduces young readers to the concept of life cycles and possibly sparking investigations of the connections between creatures and their habitats and what they can do to help such as making a bee motel.
For those more mature readers, the personification could be a metaphor for their own lives, a reassurance that despite all they might experience as they grow and mature into independence, like Tree, they have the resilience and wherewithal to cope with whatever they encounter no matter how bleak the immediate future might seem. Despite the devastation of Fire and the harshness of Winter, following the devastation, the Earth renews itself, and new lives arise again, rife with fabulous potential - just as they can.
Themes Nature study, Environment.
Barbara Braxton
The opal dinosaur by Yvonne Mes. Illus. by Sylvia Morris
The Opal Dinosaur is the true story of the discovery of a smallish dinosaur called an iguanodontid, scientific name Fostoria dhimbangunmal. The dinosaur was named after Bob Foster, who first discovered the bones at Lightning Ridge NSW in 1984, and the Traditional Owners of the lands where the bones were found. It took until 2019 for the dinosaur to be officially named.
This incredible story began over 100 million years ago when a tiny dinosaur and its herd were chased by a larger dinosaur. The herd were split up and a few were trapped on the crumbling riverbank and ended up in the water where they could not out-swim the fast torrent and perished. As they lay on the riverbank their bones were buried beneath the sand.
Millions of years pass. Humans now walk the land, the Gamilaraay people first and then others who settle in the area. The bone fragments have over the years turned into opals. Fortunately for this little dinosaur Bob Foster realised he had found something special and took them to the Australian Museum in Sydney where they were identified as dinosaur fossils. Years passed and it is palaeontologist Dr Phil Bell who realises the significance of Bob Foster’s discovery.
This is an absorbing story that will appeal to many young readers as their fascination with dinosaurs, fossils, rocks and minerals, often leads them to seek new books on these topics. The endpapers are particularly stunning with the front displaying a view of Earth showing Gondwana and a timeline starting with the Triassic period, and the back showing Australia from the time of the First Peoples 65000 years ago and the timeline of the important events in the small dinosaur’s journey. In the final pages are comprehensive facts and a detailed glossary. Teacher notes are available.
