How Plants Talk is a beautifully illustrated board book for early primary school aged children. There is a touch of humour throughout as the plants communicate with each other as new situations arise such as a worm entering the root system, a caterpillar munching on leaves, travelling by night in a car, repotting and pruning, being fed nutrients, and finally settled and healthy in a flower shop. The clever use of speech bubbles draws the reader’s attention to the plants sharing their thoughts and the delightful illustrations are an added appeal as is the opportunity to ‘Life the Flap’. The highlighting of key concept words is helpful for the reader but the complexity of the text and information at times will need an older reader to explain in detail what is happening.
Themes Board Book, Lift the flap, Plants, Facts, Humour.
Kathryn Beilby
Shout it out! Yoga therapy for emotional resilience by Loranine Rushton & Adele Vincent. Illus. by Andrew McIntosh
Little Steps, 2024. ISBN: 9781922833228. (Age:6+)
This book is for children who may be experiencing big feelings leading to frustration and responses to situations that may not be quite as they want. Jasmine is having one of those days where all is not going as well as expected. She tries very hard to change her way of responding and thinking and some important yoga poses and techniques are helping her to get through her day.
The long text is broken up by the use of larger font to emphasis key words. The illustrations show images of Jasmine initiating the yoga poses and in the final pages are the individual poses clearly shown with supporting instructions.
This picture book may be a resource for all who struggle with negative feelings and the yoga may help contain or refocus their feelings.
Themes Big Feelings, Children, Yoga, Emotional Resilience.
Kathryn Beilby
18,000 holes in the universe: Snack attack by Adam Wallace, Lisa Foley and James Hart
18,000 Holes in the Universe: Snack Attack is an energetic and imaginative story that combines adventure, humour, and just enough chaos to be healthy. Creatively written by Adam Wallace and Lisa Foley, and brought to life through James Hart’s vibrant illustrations, this book follows the fearless GOLF Squad - a group of resourceful kids - as they tee off into another wild and wacky adventure.
This time, the stakes are even higher as the squad dives into Snack Attack World, a deliciously dangerous land filled with larger-than-life snacks. Readers will be captivated by the surreal setting, featuring giant pizza slices, gooey melting marshmallows, and even an erupting volcano of popcorn. The quirky, food-themed obstacles add both comedy and suspense, making every twist in the story unpredictable and exciting.
The heart of the story centres on the kids’ mission to rescue their beloved Grandpa Galileo, who’s trapped in this zany golf universe. Adding to the tension is Grandpa’s brother, Great Uncle Goof, whose villainous plans to demolish the land threaten everything. Armed with their magical golf club - a versatile and imaginative tool that can morph into whatever they need - the GOLF Squad must work together, think creatively, and act courageously to save the day before time runs out.
Perfect for readers aged 7-12, 18,000 Holes in the Universe: Snack Attack is a fantastic pick for kids who love fast-paced action, offbeat humour, and imaginative escapades. It’s a celebration of creativity, teamwork, and perseverance, with just the right mix of silliness and excitement to keep readers turning the pages. Fans of adventure stories, crazy worlds, and snack-filled chaos won’t want to miss this delightful journey!
Themes Themes: Humour, Golf, Friendship, Adventure, Teamwork, Problem solving.
Michelle O'Connell
The too-tall tales of Alma T. Best: Out of bounds by Katherine Collette
When you're 12 years old and 6 foot tall, people ask the most annoying questions. The Number One Most Annoying Question according to Alma T. Best is, 'Do you play basketball?'
Uh, no. She hates basketball.
Alma lives in Shellsville, a town known for its sewage treatment plant and their basketball team.All her friends are looking forward to moving to Point Elizabeth High School, but Alma has won a scholarship to Holy Grace, an all-girls college that is also the biggest rival of the Basketball team.
When Alma arrives at the new school with the size 11 runners her mum purchased that do not fit in, rather than admit to living in Shellsville she makes up a story about living on a Peach farm far away from the sewage plant.What ensues is a true testament to the fact that one small lie can have long reaching consequences.
During a project to create a fundraiser for a Mother’s Day stall, her group decides to sell peach jam and Alma must produce the peaches.Rather than coming clean, Alma perpetuates the lie with theft, and more lies including failing to tell her family that she is on the basketball team.Alma is a smart, resourceful and well-read student but her need to continually make up stories and add to her lies impacts her whole life until she is caught out and must come clean.
The story is about fitting in, friendships and lengths one will go to fit in and be included but the constant lies and theft and the fact that in the end Alma really faces very few consequences and all is forgiven feels too neat and easy.This is a book that will appeal to readers who like Dork Diaries, BSC and other friendship stories, the inclusion of basketball will also appeal to the more sport orientated readers, however it isn’t one that would be one I would reach for due to the lack of consequences for Alma.The story was enjoyable, and I am looing forward to the next book in the series to see if Alma has learnt her lesson.
While it wouldn’t be a book I would reach for I do think that it will gain popularity in the school library and is one that is worth having, especially as it would lead to conversations about the consequences of lying and theft.
Themes Friendship, Sport, Lies, Family, Humour.
Mhairi Alcorn
Augustin and the hot air balloon by David Metzenthen
Ford Street Publishing, 2022. ISBN: 9781925804966. (Age:10+) Highly recommended.
Augustin is a poor boy who lives in a barn. Celine is a rich girl who lives in a mighty palace. Together they escape into the sky . . . Only to land in a world of terrible trouble and dangerous secrets!
Augustin is an 11-year-old goatherder who is worried about starving to death during the coming winter, and when he sees the Montgolfier Brother’s hot air balloon ready to fly he decides to become the first person to be in the basket. He hopes to land far away in a warm country with plenty of food and achieve fame as the first person to make that type of flight.
Little does he know that another child has the same thought and is none to pleased to find him along for the journey. Celine lives in the palace with Marie Antoinette as her mother’s close friend. As the journey continues the two become unlikely friends as they use their life skills and unique understanding of their corner of the world to survive.
I first read this two years ago and reread it to complete the review, both times I have been engaged in the story and the history embedded in both the story and the chapter headings. This is a history novel, told from the perspective of children living in very different circumstances but is so much more than that, it is an adventure story about unexpected friendships interwoven with historic fact.
This is a book that would appeal to young readers who enjoy historical novels, adventure stories or just want a fun read about two children. It would work as a read aloud or class novel just as well as an independent read. I would highly recommend this book to teachers and students alike. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes Friendship, History, Adventure, French Revolution.
Mhairi Alcorn
Why your parents are hung-up on your phone and what to do about it by Dean Burnett
Penguin, 2024. ISBN: 9780241679593. (Age:11-16)
Neuroscientist Dean Burnett has attempted to provide a fair and honest account for both adults and teenagers in the use and/or overuse of mobile phones. This reasonably weighty paperback is not for the faint-hearted but for those parents/carers/educators and their teenage children to read together.
The text is highly accessible and uses a questioning technique throughout, graphic images, bold headings, speech bubbles plus ample white space. The contents page begins with some basics about the book beginning with information about the author, what the book is about and how to get started.
The chapters include ‘Are phones bad for your health?’, ‘Back in my day, we didn’t have phones’ which may not be quite true for teenagers and their parents these days, ‘Who are you talking to?’, ‘You shouldn’t be looking at that, ‘No Phones in class!’ and ‘Mobile Hotspots’. Within these chapters, consideration is given to such points as the social side of phone use, misinformation, the use of a phone as a listening tool to help focus, instantaneous communication between children and parents as well as the unfortunate and disturbing phenomena of cyberbullying. In the final pages are acknowledgements, resources and an index.
This book may be a beneficial addition to a secondary school or home library but would certainly benefit from a shared read and discussion between a trusted adult and teenager.
Themes Mobile phones, Parents, Teenagers, Screentime.
Kathryn Beilby
(Be smart about) Screen time by Rachel Brian
Little Brown, 2024. ISBN: 9780316575546. (Age:6-10) Mobile phones, Online Safety, Technology, Devices.
Rachel Brian, the creator of Consent (for Kids!) has written another book for children, this time providing advice for younger users of screen time. This graphic-style non-fiction book is presented with eight short chapters in large blue and black accessible text with speech bubbles, bold headings, humorous characters and graphic organisers for visual guidance. Marble the cat also has wise sayings spread throughout.
For young children the excitement of more freedom on screen time sometimes overrides the potential problems that may occur. This book explains many concepts of screen time in simple language including the dangers of trolls, bots, bullies, violence, misinformation and inappropriate images. The book also shares the enjoyable social side on screen time as well connecting with safe people. There is an emphasis on setting boundaries and staying safe.
(Be Smart About) Screen Time! is a worthwhile read between a trusted adult and child. It gives important information about a world of technology that can be quite daunting for inexperienced users.
Themes Mobile phones, Online Safety, Technology, Devices.
Kathryn Beilby
The songbirds of Florence by Olivia Spooner
Hachette, 2024. ISBN: 9781869715144. (Age:16+ - Adult) Recommended - for lovers of wartime romance.
If you love war-based stories involving the participation of women in conflict, this is for you. For many New Zealand servicemen the conflict and pain of serving in Egypt and Europe during the Second World was far removed from their lives in New Zealand. For some there was no return. For the women who volunteered to provide a supportive role in the WAAC there were many times when they wondered what they had done. Nicknamed the Tuis (after a New Zealand songbird), they were often serving in roles to provide emotional and practical support to soldiers when they were away from the frontline. For Margot her service enabled her to be more than a wartime widow and to eventually explore freedom and new love, and for Addy it was a chance to allow her personality to flourish and to be adored. But their service in wartime was not easy or removed from the anguish of war. Their friendship though was a powerful glue that enabled them to stay whole when everything around them was falling apart.
With more than a hint of the horrors of war as well as the romantic ups and downs of life for service personnel, this is also a war story that demonstrates the impact of the struggles for New Zealanders in wartime (removed from their service in combination with Australian service personnel) and also for the women who served in support roles. This romance and war service saga also details how the war shaped women’s independence and their changing roles in society. It also demonstrates the rocky path to romance during wartime conflict. This is a book for romance novel devotees, but with a wartime setting. It is relatively gentle in its approach and the horrible experiences of war are mostly a backdrop and not as confronting as some war-based fiction.
Themes World War II - New Zealand service, historical fiction, romance, WAAC (Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps), World War II - Egypt, World War II - Italy.
Carolyn Hull
The hullabaloo about elephant poo by Dee White & Christopher Nielsen
This story, sure to attract lots of attention with twin themes of elephants and poo, bolstered by its pages of laugh out loud illustrations, will be one that children ask to be read over and over again. Wonderful cheeky rhymes will entice readers to predict the rhyming words and repeat the verses with the reader.
And to be able to talk about bottoms and behinds and poo will strike a chord with all readers. Surprisingly elephant poo has a number of uses. Cleaned and separated, small nuggets can be ground for coffee, while it can be mulched for the garden, and prepared, can be used to make paper, while burning some of it is a good mozzie repellant, concluding that;
There’s really no need for the hullabaloo Elephants are awesome and so is their poo.
Lots of wonderful alliterations will entice the reader to look at all the images of bottoms in the story while watching the uses the poo is used for and kids will be enchanted with the bright images before them, showing the elephant in a pile of different poses. An elephant on the loo will cause much hilarity, prompting children to think of elephants in other unusual places, not necessarily having a poo. And readers will love the use the pairs of words for themselves, adding more as they read.
Great fun for the readers and the listeners, Hullabaloo about elephant poo is a verse story to read often, remarking on all the uses the poo can be made for, while examining the meaning of the word hullabaloo, and listening to all the different words used for behind. Lots of elephants inhabit the first endpaper while the last gives children a snakes and ladders game to play. Teacher's notes are available.
Busy Betty & the perfect Christmas present by Reese Witherspoon. Illus. by Xindi Yan
Penguin, 2024. ISBN: 9781761047527. (Age:4+)
Busy Betty is looking for the perfect Christmas present. She wants to give everyone a gift, even the dog, Frank. She and Moe put their heads together to find ways of making money to buy the presents, after she has discovered that her piggy bank is empty. One suggestion is a lemonade stall, but as it it the middle of winter, they doubt anyone wold like to buy a lemonade, let alone be out on the streets in this cold.
So this idea is knocked on the head. But what about selling cookies at a stall. The two decide that they should make cookies to offer to passersby.
All sounds great and the cookies are made, but where are the customers? No on is in the street on this cold blustery day. They make a family of snow people to make it look like they have customers. But all to no avail.
No one comes by. But suddenly Frank leaps past the stall grabbing the cookies as he goes. Betty is non plussed. If they have no cookies to make some money to but presents, then there will be no gifts.
Suddenly Bo walks up and spies the one cookie left on the ground and picks it up to eat it, saying that this one must be for him. An idea hits Betty. What about a cookie made juts for the right person. That afternoon Betty is in the kitchen, cooking up a storm. When it is time for the opening of their presents, each of her family is delighted with the cookie made jut for them.
A wonderful tale focussing not on money and presents at Christmas, but an idea which many kids will love to follow: making a cookie just for the person.
A humorous tale that is sure to delight as children everywhere wait for Christmas to come around. All the trappings of Christmas are shown in the vivacious illustrations, full of life and colour, capturing the excitement felt by the whole family. This day focuses on family and sharing is all there before their eyes. Kids will love pointing out the things which represent Christmas: reindeer ears, Christmas wrapping, Christmas tree, stockings, presents, tinsel, snowmen etc. This northern hemisphere book shows a different landscape to our sun drenched Christmasses, and will excite readers as they see the warm clothes the children are wearing, as well as their activities: snow boarding, building snowmen and playing in the snow.
This smallish sized paperback book is full of questions and activities for true Taylor Swift fans. Beginning with Level 1 which asks simple questions about Taylor, her family and her early life then goes through many levels until Level 13 is reached which is the Mastermind level for true ‘Swiftie’ fans. Fortunately, the answers are in the back of the book!
Throughout the book are word finds, true or false and multiple choice questions, finish the lyric and decode the friendship bracelet. These activities are all completed in the book, so will be a handy Taylor Swift reference when completed.
Themes Taylor Swift, Questions, Activities.
Kathryn Beilby
Mia Megastar: In the spotlight by Ada Nicodemou. Illus. by Serena Geddes
Mia Megastar: In the Spotlight is the third book of a new series for primary-school aged readers. Written by well-known Australian actor and entertainer Ada Nicodemou, this new story focuses on Mia and her friends making a movie.
Set in an old possibly haunted house belonging to Mia’s Uncle Michael, it is the perfect place for the Stage Stars to be themselves and follow the script written by Mia and Seb. Filmed by director Seb, the film is full of action with some very scary moments for the children.
During the filming process, Mia has a number of issues to deal with. The first one being the opportunity of a drama scholarship to a local private school that Petra attends. The second one involves Mia’s secret dream to audition for Sunset Beach and the third and most important one is that Mia and best friend Brina have fallen out. Will Mia be able to sort out these worries?
Mia is a strong and creative character with lots of personality. This book is a busy read with graphic-style images and highlighted key words to add emphasis. The recipe included in this book is for Rizogalo (Greek Rice Pudding).
Themes Drama/Acting, Friendship, Family, Drama Club, Greek culture, Teamwork, Humour.
Nell Buchanan and Ivan, starring in Hammer’s previous books, Treasure & dirt, The Tilt and The Seven are back, this time investigating a crime in a lonely mountain valley. A local entrepreneur, Wolfgang Burnside, has been found murdered and Nell is stunned to discover that he was a close blood relative. The past is fraught with secrets. Nell’s mother must have been in the Valley, but what secrets was she hiding when she fled? Will Nell finally find out who her father is and why she didn’t know him? How is this connected to the murder?
Ivan and Nell are faced with confusing information about the past. Gold is rumoured to be found in the abandoned mine. Meanwhile there was a bank robbery that was never solved and hints of police corruption. Somehow, they must sift through clues from the past and the present, to find the murderer.
As always, Hammer has written a complex and deeply intriguing mystery. Set against a beautiful background of a wooded valley in New South Wales, and a river with a waterfall, the reader is drawn into the gripping story, reading on to try and guess what the connections are from earlier times, and how they fit into the murder. Nell’s has an emotional journey on being told of the DNA results, and Hammer cleverly brings together the threads about her parents that were started in previous books.
Fans of the Ivan Lucic & Nell Buchanan series will be thrilled with The Valley and will eagerly await the next book from this talented author.
Themes Murder, Detectives, Country life - New South Wales.
Pat Pledger
Over or under? by Pip Harry. Illus. by Hilary Jean Tapper
The beach for many Australians is a place of continuous holiday and the rules about using it wisely are outlined in this seemingly simple tale of dad teaching his daughter to watch each wave and decide whether to swim over it or under it. Many pages are filled with images of the ocean, from the small ripples as they step in, to the deeper parts where she must stand on the ocean floor and learn to dive beneath the waves, to the larger wave which dumps her, causing a mouth load of sea water to startle her.
I love the illustrations giving the feeling that the reader is only a little way away in the ocean, watching Maisie learn to judge each wave and decide how to approach it.
And the text is equally informative, telling the readers how to approach the sea as they venture further away from the shore. Dad is there to help and guide Maisie to an understanding of the strength of the waves coming in. By judging which are the ones to jump over and which to dive under, Maisie is practising water safety, and this is naturally passed on to the readers, giving the adult a chance to reiterate the rules, and discuss beach safety.
Dad is loving, teaching his daughter the basic rules of swimming in the ocean, making sure she is comfortable with the rules of under and over, showing her how to predict the size of the wave coming towards her. When she falters, he is there to rescue her, and happy to let her to keep away from the water for a little while, until it comes to the last day of tier holiday, encouraging her to try again.
Trying again sees her using the skills she has learnt, and she succeeds.
The illustrations take all readers to the beach, reminding them of time they have spent at the beach and revising rules they have learnt in using the beach. I just love the illustrations, giving the reader the impression that they are there with Maisie, the water lapping over her body.
Themes Beach, Water safety, Swimming lessons, Humour, Family.
Fran Knight
The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon
Three sisters living in a town that is dedicated to etiquette schools and Bichon Frise dogs. Three sisters who don’t fit in with their adopted family where all the children are named Lavina, and their names are Gertrude, Eugenia and Dee-Dee. Three sisters who have just been kicked out of the last etiquette school that would take them who receive a mysterious invitation in the form of a letter to a new school that none of them have heard of.
This is the story of the Porch sisters in The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science. Millicent Quibb is an outcast in the town, a legend but not in a good way and a very eccentric teacher and principal.
The girls all love science and are very adept in their field of interest so when the town is threatened by a group of mad scientists, they must embrace what they know and love to save their town, before it is too late.
This book, written by Kate McKinnon, weird Barbie from the Barbie Movie, is an excellent example of how a celebrity can write a great story that will engage a reader. The book has been compared to Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket and while I understand the comparison it isn’t of that calibre, this is only the first book that needs to introduce the characters, set the scene and ensure that the reader wants to see where the sisters end up. McKinnon does this brilliantly through the use of footnotes, diagrams and her characters. Although the story at times seems to labour a point or miss an opportunity to move the story forward, I can see this being shared by readers.
This is definitely a read alone book, as the reader needs to be able to follow the footnotes and diagrams without losing the flow of the text. I would recommend this to students and children who are looking for something different but who like quirky stories with some monsters and madness thrown in.
