New Frontier, 2021. ISBN: 9781922326294. (Age:3+) Highly recommended.
A child loses her bearings when a storm hits her village. She cannot find anyone else and all she knows has disappeared. Going to the beach to find a boat, she spots a baby seal, a pup, and takes it with her as she guides the boat out into the sea. The two form a companionship which keeps them both alive as they are tossed about on the waves, searching for home. They huddle together for warmth during the cold nights, perilously watch the storm as it passes by, see frightening monsters rising from the deep, and fish when the water is calm. Eventually mother seal comes nearby and the pup is happily reunited. The seal guides the child to an island where she is also reunited with her family.
This lovely story of loss and longing will touch those who read of the young girl’s plight, separated from her family, alone in a hostile world, wondering what will become of her, a seal pup her only companion.
Children will recognise that there are many such children alone in our world and talk about the children they see on the TV news and when charity ads are shown. The readers will be able to discuss why children are so separated from their families, and form opinions about what is needed to make sure children are safe.
Empathy and compassion will be show by the readers as they take in the child’s loneliness, tossed on the sea of life.
Pagnataro’s beautiful illustrations reveal a sea at once frightening, with waves seeming to crash around them, the deeper blues hiding a host of monsters and the unknown, while the calmer days are overlaid with colour and stillness and warmth.
The contrast between the different stages on the ocean will not be lost on the readers and they will search each page for hints of lurking dangers and clear skies ahead. Teacher's notes are available.
The Nazis knew my name by Magda Hellinger & May Lee
Simon & Schuster, 2021. ISBN: 9781760859299. (Age:15 - Adult) Recommended.
Magda Hellinger was a Slovakian kindergarten teacher when, in 1942, she was deported into the hands of the Nazis and forced into the horror of existence in Auschwitz. Her natural leadership skills and language abilities were recognised by the Germans, and she was regularly co-opted into the role of prisoner leader – a role that enabled her to be ‘known’ by the Nazis, but also put her in a position that could sometimes help others, but always at the risk of her own life. Her life was never easy, and her survival was a miracle, but the story of the years lost in Auschwitz and the many lives lost is so awful that it should not be forgotten. This is the story of one Jewish life; her influence, and her story, is powerful and compelling.
This is a biography written using the accounts of Magda herself, but it is her daughter’s research following her death and David Brewster’s writing skills that have drawn the threads together giving an insight into the awfulness of the Holocaust experience for those who suffered its horrors. Resilience does not always explain why some survived and others didn’t, but Magda’s story reveals that sometimes it was the power of a single voice or relationship that could make a difference.
Themes World War II, Jewish holocaust, Survival, Auschwitz, Concentration camps, Biography.
Carolyn Hull
Enola Holmes and the black barouche by Nancy Springer
Allen & Unwin, 2021. ISBN: 9781761065255. (Age:12-17) Highly recommended.
American author Nancy Springer is back with Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche, adding to the growing popular Enola Holmes series of books that now span a decade of publication. These books have been adapted to the screen and Enola Holmes can now be viewed on Netflix.
The central character Enola (Alone spelt backwards) is the feisty and independent teen sister of the famous super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Her speciality is missing persons investigations. Enola lives alone in rooms rented in the Professional Women's Club in London. She works in concert with her brother at times but keeps ahead of him most of the time. Springer evokes through language, costume and setting the atmosphere and society of the Victorian era of London. The social and personal expectations of women of the times is not a handicap to Enola. Rather she uses fashion as performativ e- very much a part of her presentation and game. She conforms beautifully outwardly and can, like a chameleon, manage any social situation. Her life is one of strength and action.The language is beautiful upper crust English at its best and most fun and the wit of the conversations is quick and dry. The story is told in first person through Enola herself.
In Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche, Enola is presented with the problem of the missing twin sister of Miss Letitia Glover. Letitia's sister, Lady Felicity (Flossie) was married to the handsome and arrogant Earl of Dunhench and, like his previous wife, has suddenly died of a "sudden and virulent disease" and also, like his previous wife, been rapidly cremated. This is all very suspicious. The death certificate was not signed by their friend Dr Watson at all but seems to be a forgery of his signature. Enola, along with Letitia and her old friend the young Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether conspire to find out the truth. Dangerous, exuberant sleuth work begins. Hilarious things happen involving amongst other things the misbehaviour of crazy hired hacks and fantastic disguises. Much time is spent sleuthing in dark gardens, crumbling country mansions, asylums for the insane and country inns of doubtful reputation and driving in horse-drawn conveyances of many styles accompanied by coachmen or alone. Enola flits from the drawing rooms of the Victorian landed gentry to the lowest country inns and Victorian madhouses where wealthy men could lock their wives away with the flimsiest of excuses.
Enola is a young, capable and smart girl of her time. She never falters and never gives up as she supports her friends. Tension remains high throughout the story as our intrepid heroine unravels a sinister crime.
A great read. Addictive for lovers of crime fiction.
Themes Detectives - Sherlock and Enola Holmes, London, Missing persons investigations, Victorian England.
Tunnel 29 is an amazing story – a revelation of the risks that some Berliners were prepared to take to escape the restrictions of the East German-sanctioned Berlin Wall or to help those they loved to be reunited.Helena Merriman has documented the inside story of the Tunnel under the Wall and the rescue. The tunnel was built in secret from West Berlin and yet filmed by a CBS film crew, that enabled 29 East German residents to escape to freedom. From both sides of the wall, tunnellers and those seeking freedom from the oppression of East German life, there was great risk and yet they persisted. With great skill Merriman has also outlined the political context that enabled post-war Berlin to become divided in such a physical way, and led to many within Berlin, East and West, becoming spies and informers for the East German Stasi. Into this very political story there is the human angle of the participants, those who survived to tell their story or whose Stasi files were released to reveal the personal history and difficulties they faced. With an NBC film crew also documenting the actual tunnelling and escape, and with considerable political fallout possible if it was discovered, this is a story that reveals the tensions of the Cold War and the impacts for so many in the East and the West.
This is a memoir and a respectful biographical journey into the lives of people who lived in a time of considerable tension. It is powerful and yet surprisingly warm to everyone involved. Even the spy who could potentially betray the operation is portrayed with great humanity, and it is obvious to the reader that this was a miraculous escape and a time of great difficulty. Merriman’s slow unravelling of the story is compelling, almost in the style of a novel, but it is always a piece of non-fiction tunnelling through the truths of a real, but tense, event. I can highly recommend this book to readers interested in political history or real human drama. It is an adult text, but could easily be read and appreciated by younger readers aged 16+
Themes Berlin Wall, Freedom, International politics, Post-World War II – Cold War.
Carolyn Hull
An emotion of great delight by Tahereh Mafi
Electric Monkey, 2021. ISBN: 9781405298261. (Age:14+) Recommended.
Shadi spends her time, head down, trying to avoid conflict, as a young Muslim girl in an aggressive environment, the post 9/11 world of 2003, around the time that the United States entered into war with Iraq. She is American, but constantly identified as alien because of her hijab, threatened by belligerent police, and taunted by fellow school students. She has promised her mother to never react, never make a scene, so she is quiet, her feelings repressed.
Mafi’s writing is outstanding in describing Shadi’s inner turmoil, the feelings that bubble below the surface; a portrayal of victimhood that is exacerbated by the cruel revilement she receives from her former best friend Zahra. On top of that, Shadi’s home life is falling apart, her brother killed in a car accident, her father in hospital, and her mother lost to grief. Her sister Shayda has become angry, the two girls each holding different views about the cause of their brother’s death. And Ali, the boy that Shadi is drawn to, seems lost to her.
At times the emotional descriptions seem torrential, never ending. There are some bright moments, but the threads tend to get lost. Mafi’s depiction of the lost and lonely girl, envious of the warm and welcoming home life of her former friend Zahra, is particularly moving, a very realistic portrayal of an anguished and suffering child.
The writing is powerful, and will bring tears to the eyes. However I think there comes a point where the reader shares Ali’s exasperation at Shadi’s failure to stand up for herself. But perhaps that is realistic; in real life, people don’t suddenly become heroes. There is no magical happy ending. Mafi brings the story to a climax that may be a little confusing and unsatisfying to the reader, but in reality patterns that have been established over years will not be easily resolved. There is hope, but not a magical resolution.
Young adolescent readers will not fail to be drawn into Shadi’s emotional world. It is gripping. Also, the depiction of friendship that deteriorates into spitefulness, and the experience of daily Islamophobic bullying, are particularly powerful. Readers will feel empathy for Shadi’s plight and gain greater insight into the world of the person cast as the outsider.
All the avid fans of Bluey, the very popular ABC children’s show, will be thrilled to see another book about Bluey and her family. This time Mum is going off to a baby shower and Dad will be putting Bluey and Bingo to bed. Even though Mum promises to kiss Bluey goodnight when she comes home, Bluey is unhappy and apprehensive because it is always Mum who puts them to bed. Will Dad be up to the task, and will Bluey overcome her fears?
The story line will resonate in families who have children who are worried about change. Bluey is so used to Mum putting her to bed that it takes a lot of effort on the part of Dad to keep her occupied. He organises playing follow the leader and then pushes the duo on the swings. But it is not until Bluey uses her imagination and sets up her own baby shower to play with that she settles down.
With a durable cover and thick pages, Bluey: Daddy Putdown will withstand much use from young children. Illustrated with the iconic Bluey characters, the bright colours are gorgeous, and the details will be ones that children love. Bluey’s baby shower is so cute, with all the toys sitting in a circle, each with different expression on their faces. And for carers there are some very funny moments that they will appreciate.
Another happy, feel-good book in this series that is sure to be popular with young children.
Themes Change, Bedtime, Families.
Pat Pledger
Stop the Dad jokes! by Adrian Beck. Illus. by Simon Greiner
Anyone who has had to listen to corny jokes will empathize with this young boy who is off too the zoo with his dad. He thought it was going to be fun until Dad told a joke. Dad insists that it is every dad’s mission to tell Dad jokes, and goes on to demonstrate how the giraffe, lion, crocodile, elephant, leopard and other animals all like to tell jokes. And then on a double page spread, are some very weak, funny jokes ('What do you call a pig doing karate? A pork chop!') that will have the young set giggling themselves silly.
The rhyming narrative lends itself to being read aloud and will be a source of much fun and laughter in the family. Greiner’s illustrations, in bold colours, outlined in black, are also a source of amusement, especially the long-suffering expressions on the faces of all the young offspring, both human and animal. It is not difficult to imagine the author and illustrator getting together to laugh about the jokes that they share in this very funny book.
Ideal for Father’s Day, reading the Stop the dad jokes! will be a source of happiness and will have everyone laughing.
Themes Humour, Jokes, Fathers.
Pat Pledger
Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter
It is Maggie’s tenth birthday and she has been promised a puppy but when they go to get it she has an allergic reaction. She had set her heart on having a dog; her twin brothers have each other and her parents are expecting a new baby; a dog would be hers, filling a gap in her life. However allergy tests show she has a severe reaction to anything with feathers or fur and having a dog is out of the question. To make things worse Maggie is anxious as a boundary change means she has to start at a new school leaving her friends behind. Determined, Maggie sets out to find a pet alternative that doesn’t have fur or feathers and a new neighbour turns out to be a new friend to help with the quest. Meanwhile a course of injections over the next few months aims to alleviate Maggie’s severe allergic reactions. There is no instant cure for Maggie’s allergies but she learns to manage her condition with help. There are a lot of setbacks as she negotiates a difficult period in her life but a loving family and a good friend help her through the difficult times. She is able to develop stronger relationships and move towards a rich and fulfilling future.
This colourful comic style graphic novel is well paced with some strong characterisations particularly in the depiction of a loving family being supportive of each other. It is an engaging story with some valuable information about allergic reactions. Megan Wagner Lloyd's website has a page of ‘Megan’s Comics/Graphic Novel Writing Resources” that some might find useful and Michelle Mee’s website has some inspirational examples of her illustrations.
For those who can't get enough of the A Murder Most Unladylike Collection here are six more mysteries in the one book entitled Once upon a crime. There is a waiting list for this book at our school already and all of the previous books are out on loan. In Once upon a crime, Robin Stevens serves up more "delicious mysteries and deadly murders" involving the same characters: Daisy Wells, Hazel Wong, The Junior Pinkertons and Hazel's little sister May. Daisy and Hazel are now just that little bit older, fourth formers at Deepdean School, with older girls' concerns emerging including love interests. May is following in their footsteps with the ambition to be the greatest spy ever.
The murder cases in Once upon a crime occur between January 1936 and September 1939. Locations of the murder cases are quintessentially English and include St Pancras Registry office during Uncle Felix and Miss Livedon's marriage, the mummy room in the British museum, Saltings Beach, the hills country outside Weston Boys' School, onboard the SS Strathclyde and a flat in London. The second world war is a backdrop to the stories. It seems distinctly likely that Hazel's uncle and aunt are involved in the spy game during the war and their attitude to life is a fertile and encouraging influence on the young detectives. In The case of the Missing Treasure, Uncle Felix actively delivers progressive clues in the form of riddles for the children to decode.The children involved in each specific detective case narrate their story in first person. As in the previous books in the A Murder Most Unladylike Collection, methodical case notes are kept where murder suspects lists include active observations, witness reports, times and motives. Most cases are solved through a process of elimination and often there is a dramatic confrontation between the murderer and the young detectives.
These books are very funny. They are, as The Daily Mail states - "simply spiffing" and as The Telegraph states - "A feelgood blend of Malory Towers and Cluedo." Robin Stevens is the Agatha Christie for younger readers of today. Part of the fascination for today's readers is the era depicted and the life and adventures of English boarding school girls and boys growing up during wartime in England. At the back of Once upon a crime is a timeline that depicts the cases solved by the detective society from 1934 through to 1939 and there is a letter from the author... " At the moment I'm writing a brand-new series called The Ministry of Unladylike Activity...
Look out, Robin Stevens is writing more of these very English, very thrilling stories, full of fiendish villains, codes to crack and crimes to be solved. Once upon a Crime is recommended to readers who enjoy light hearted whodunits.
The duo Chris Ferrie (physicist and mathematician) and illustrator Lindsay Dale-Scott have come up with another fascinating book containing 100 bug words. Each double page spread of this brightly coloured board book features a category of insects and 8 to 12 words associated with those insects. The book opens with the familiar group of Bees, wasps, and ants and contains the word colony, showing ants taking food to the nest following a scent trail. On the opposite side of the page are the words Yellow jacket, Spider wasp, Honey bee, Bumble bee all illustrated, while there is a brood comb for the honeybee and the bumblebee is shown pollinating a flower. The spider wasp is solitary while the honeybee is social. An amazing amount of information is given just on these two pages, with the gorgeous illustrations expanding the reader’s knowledge.
The following pages include Centipedes and Millipedes, Worms, Gastropods, Spiders, Scorpions Ticks and Mites, Flies, Beetles, True bugs, Mantises and grasshoppers, and finally Butterflies and Moths. All follow the same structure, with appealing illustrations. There are simple words for the very young and more complicated scientific labels that will engage the interest of the older reader, while adults will enjoy learning more vocabulary as well.
Young children will be introduced to new words and concepts about bugs, while recognising familiar insects like butterflies and spiders. This sturdy board book will stand up to a lot of handling and its padded cover will intrigue the user. Reading this book with young children is a clever way of increasing vocabulary and encouraging curiousity and learning.
Big Quiz Book: 1001 Brain Busting Trivia Questions
National Geographic Kids, 2021. ISBN: 9780008408961. (Age:8+)
Twenty years ago, while hanging out the washing, I had an idea for a quiz for students in Year 5 and 6 that would be about Australia and Australians and be made freely available online so students all over Australia could participate to develop their information literacy, their digital literacy and communication skills. The Quizzard of Oz was a huge success both online and off when I eventually offered it on CD so schools weren't tied to my timeframe of marking 150 quizzes each Monday night!
When the name and concept were hijacked and patented by an app company, the quiz eventually morphed into Backpack Bear (because I didn't have the means to fight a legal battle) and to this day, students are demonstrating their love of these sorts of trivia contests by eagerly competing.
So this new publication from the ever-popular NatGeoKids is the perfect addition to any teacher's or family's collection if they want to tap into this fascination. Arranged in 9 categories (covering geography, history, creatures, science and technology, space, sport, music and the arts and food) there are 69 separate quizzes of multiple choice or true-false questions (including answers and a lot of fun facts) as well as a monster tie-breaker. While participants might guess at the answers, there is also scope to investigate them thoroughly and perhaps discover a whole lot more about the topic at the same time.
Properly credited, the questions could become the basis of a new quiz set by a teacher to occupy students during this time of lockdown, encouraging both the student and their family to get involved in the research, or for those what-do-I-do-when-I'm-finished? moments as an alternative to the 'read a book" answer. I know from my experience the hours it can take to build quizzes with questions so to have 1001 on tap would be very welcome. And a link to the Nat Geo Kids' website would be a bonus as there are even more quality activities there. Suddenly, staying at home is looking very entertaining!
Barbara Braxton
My first 100 dinosaur words by Chris Ferrie. Illus. by Lindsay Dale-Scott
Chris Ferrie is a physicist, mathematician, and father of four children, and as you would expect with this background, has produced a fascinating list of 100 words that relate to dinosaurs and their world. Each double page spread in this colourful board book focuses on one type of dinosaur and then gives 8 to 12 words relating to them. An example is the two-page spread on Stegosaurs, which has a picture of a huayangosaurus, with an arrow to the word 'spines', a picture of Coprolite (fossilized poop), and on the opposite page has a picture of a stegosaurus, with the words, 'beak', 'scutes', 'thagomizer,' and picture of a fossil stegosaurus with the words 'spikes' and 'plates'. Other sections include Mesozoic Era, Sauropods, Carnosaurs, Coelurosuaurs, Ankylosaurs, Pachycephalosaurs, Ceratopsians, Ornithopods, Ichthyosaurs and Mosasaurs, Pterosaurs, and finally Plesiosaurs.
Children who already are familiar with the names of many dinosaurs will be thrilled to learn the more difficult names of the categories, while very small children will be able to easily identify the more common dinosaurs and their attributes. The work of a paleontologist and paleobiologist is also introduced and pictures of fossils are featured.
The illustrations are bright and colourful and there are plenty of interesting details for young readers to look at and talk about. The board book is perfect for little hands, with a shiny padded cover that is sure to appeal. My first 100 dinosaur words will be grabbed by eager readers who love dinosaurs and adults who read to their children are going to learn a lot about dinosaurs as well.
Themes Dinosaurs.
Pat Pledger
I am every good thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James
Egmont Books, 2021. ISBN: 9780755502707. (Age:3+)
I am a non-stop ball of energy. Powerful and full of light. I am a go-getter. A difference-maker. A leader.
"Step inside the mind of the confident narrator of this book! He is proud of everything that makes him who he is. He's got big plans, and will see them through. He's creative, adventurous, smart, funny. A good friend. A superhero. Sometimes he falls, but he always gets back up. And other times he's afraid, because he's often misunderstood. So, slow down, look and listen as he shows you who he really is …"
Oprah Magazine says this book is "one of its essential books for discussing racism with kids" and other quotes from reviews all refer to the main character above all else. Yet, when I read it I didn't even notice his colour, although the illustrations are so lifelike and full of energy, because I saw it through the lens of the performances at the Olympic Games - and not just those by Australians. So often, as I watched (as an alternative to the ad infinitum of COVID 19 and lockdown), the back story of the athlete was shared and so often it was a story of triumph over tragedy, of hard work, perseverance, resilience, overcoming hurdles and obstacles, staring the impossible in the face... and that is what I took from this book.
So many of our students would have seen performances that have inspired them - the silver lining of lockdown being the access to real-time coverage rather than a news snippet - and dreams will have been dreamt, particularly with some of the sports being so accessible, like skateboarding, and the age of the competitors so close to their own. And within this book is the sort of motivational, inspirational language that will fan the flames of the spark of those dreams.
So while this book may have been intended to help young black children to rise above the racism and be the person they are, and sadly, will resonate on that level with some of our students, it can be used in lots of ways to affirm and reaffirm, to challenge and to change, to build not just dreams but hope and expectation.
There are so many cliches about it being the inner person that counts, and while that is true, we all know it's not that simple. So help students see their potential by having them identify the highest wall facing them right now, whether that's understanding a science formula or improving their lap time, and then help them put in place a plan to climb over it. Dreams. beliefs and goals can be the driving force but sometimes we need some strategies to make them happen. Have them add a page to the book that celebrates them.
Themes Self-perception.
Barbara Braxton
Shackleton's endurance: an Antarctic survival story by Joanna Grochowicz
Allen & Unwin, 2021. ISBN: 9781760526092. (Age:10+) Highly recommended.
The story of Shackleton and his crew, who in 1914 endured the most horrific of shipwrecks, is one of the most thrilling of survival stories, ensuring that one ship, Discovery, that Shackleton helped fit out, stationed in Dundee, Scotland, will always be a tourist mecca, inviting people to look over the ship and marvel at the story of his life and others in the flurry of Antarctic exploration prior to World War One.
Shackleton and his twenty seven men set off for the Antarctic in August 1914, on board Endurance, aiming to walk across the last unknown continent by foot. It was to take three months. They did not return to any semblance of civilisation until August 1916, surviving two Antarctic winters, a feat unparalleled in the history of Antarctic exploration.
In this absorbing book, Grochowicz retells their story, with maps and diagrams to support the text. A list of the members of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, followed by two pages of thumb nail sketches of each member of the team introduces the story, dubbed ‘the last great polar journey’.
A useful timeline and maps of the voyage ready the reader for what is in store. And a non-fiction narrative follows - absorbing, heart stopping and intimate.
When their ship was crushed by pack ice, they had no alternative but to make a much more dangerous journey. With no way of contacting anyone with the First World War in its throes, they had to battle extreme hunger, exhaustion, despair, and unimaginable cold. Their leader, Shackleton, was the one man who could pull off such a feat. Determined, inspiring, dogged, courageous, Shackleton fought against insurmountable odds to get all of his men home.
This story bears rewriting over and over again, a testament to endurance, and this book, told in the style of a fictional story will enthral readers of all ages. Teachers' notes are available.
For the many little train lovers out there comes this delightful story about a birthday party at a miniature railway. It even features the well-loved train cake from the classic Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book. A beautiful map of the train track features on the front and endpapers, complete with roundhouse and signal box; young children will delight in following the track with their finger. The illustrations depict a culturally diverse spread of people and the landscape features the greens and browns of Australia, with lots of gum trees and big blue skies. There are small groups of families gathered all over the train park, all celebrating birthdays of differing ages. They are sitting down and talking together, playing, eating and riding on the minature trains. 'We're at the park. Time to unpack. What can you hear? Clickety-clack'. Children will love joining in with the 'clickety clack' repeated on each page and the train-like rhythm of the short and simple text. After the train ride the families can be seen gathered around, each birthday child blowing out the candles on their cake. 'One more train, but this one's a snack. Blow out the candles! Clickety-clack'.
This is a warm, gentle book depicting a special family day out and the magic of birthday celebrations. It is perfect for train lovers and those who have visited a mini railway, but will delight any preschoolers.
