Archive | March 2016

A Beginner’s Guide to Bear Spotting

A Beginner's Guide to Bear Spotting

A Beginner’s Guide to Bear Spotting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Beginner’s Guide to Bear Spotting

Michelle Robinson

David Roberts

Bloomsbury, 2016

32pp., hbk., RRP $A22.99

9781408845554

 

If, like the child in the story, you are planning on going on a bear-spotting adventure, then this is definitely the must-have guide to have with you. You mustn’t venture into bear country without knowing the difference between the black bear (ursus americanus) and the brown bear (ursus horribilis, your backpack full of anti-bear gear such as pepper spray and bubble gum, and your trusty teddy for company. And as you are repeatedly told throughout the story, you need to pay attention, focus, take note and heed the advice.  For only with it will you be safe.

Even though the chances of coming across either one or the other is pretty unlikely, nevertheless it can happen and the strategies to be applied vary depending on the species.  Don’t climb a tree if it’s a black bear because it can follow you, whereas a brown one can’t.  Play dead if it’s a brown one, although that might be an invitation to dinner if you’ve confused them because black bears can be a little bit brown and brown bears can be a little bit black. 

This is a heart-warming adventure with beautiful illustrations with exquisite line-work that brings all the characters to life and add lots of humour so the reader can be brave and safe at the same time.

Little children love stories about bears, real or not, and this is another one to add to the collection that will bring delight and pleasure and reinforce the idea that stories and reading them are fun. And the next time they go on a bear hunt they will be well-prepared!

 

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

Dance, Bilby, Dance

Dance, Bilby, Dance

Dance, Bilby, Dance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dance, Bilby, Dance

Tricia Oktober

Ford Street, 2016

32pp., hbk., RRP $A22.95

9781925272130

Baby Bilby would love to dance.  Everything around him seems to do so, even the ants on the swirling leaves and the willy-willies.  Even Bilby’s shadow dances.  Will he be able to?  He’s doing quite well and delighting in the shadows he makes until a big scary shadow looms over him…

On the surface this is a most charming story beautifully illustrated by one of my favourite illustrators, perfect for preschool with its simple text, colour and movement. But it has the potential to be so much more if the reader starts to explore the concepts of movement, wind patterns and shadows and how they change.  The ending also offers scope for discussion.

One of the reasons I love Oktober’s illustrations is her eye for detail and these are no exception.  Bilby is very appealing yet very realistic while the meticulous detail of the contents of the willy-willy contrast perfectly with the ballet shoes on the emus!

Can’t wait to share this with Miss Nearly 5.

No Place Like Home

No Place Like Home

No Place Like Home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Place Like Home

Ronojoy Ghosh

Random House Australia, 2016

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9780857988461

 

George the polar bear is very grumpy.  He never smiles and never talks to anyone.  Not even when fun things like when a butterfly lands on your nose or a kid with a big balloon comes by.  He didn’t even like ice cream.  He didn’t like his home and he didn’t like the city. For George is lost.  This is not home for him.  But where is home?  Is it the jungle?  Is it a mountain?  The desert, perhaps?  The sea? Will George ever find where he completely fits in.

This is a charming story that little ones will love to hear and tell you what they know about polar bears and where they live.  But it will also help them think about our own personal preferences – that some of us like crowds and others, solitude.  That some like the beach and some like the mountains – and it is all about how well we fit together so our differences unite rather than divide us. It’s an opportunity to explore how being out of sync with our world, even temporarily, can affect our emotions and our relationships with others and that perhaps when people seem out of sorts with us we can be empathetic rather than judgemental..

Illustrated by the author, an art director in ‘real life’, the pictures have a touch of quirkiness that will make the children laugh out loud, particularly the last one.  They are the central part of the story and encourage the listener to join in to tell you exactly why that particular place is not home for George, thus having an active role in telling the story which is so critical to the development of early literacy skills. 

Delightful.

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

Emergency Echo

Emergency Echo

Emergency Echo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emergency Echo

George Ivanoff

Penguin Random House. 2016

163pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9780857988782

It started as just another game of backyard cricket with her best friend Ben, but the pain in Alice’s tummy isn’t because she has been eating roo meat.  No matter how she tries to ignore it, it soon becomes obvious that something is seriously wrong and when Grandad and Ben finally get her to the local medical centre the news is not good.  Alice has acute appendicitis and needs immediate surgery.  But in remote Mount Magnet, WA, that’s not easy. The nearest facility with the capability is in Perth and the nearest plane from the Royal Flying Doctor service is at least 40 minutes away in Meekatharra!  And there is a massive storm brewing so there is much playing on Alice’s mind apart from the pain, including the fact that her dad went to hospital not so long ago and did not return.

Because her mum can’t leave two-year-old Lewis (and there isn’t room for two) Alice’s grandfather volunteers to travel with her.  He’s a man that Alice is a bit wary of – even though he lives in the granny flat at the back of their house, Alice sees him as being old and “a bit useless’ particularly since he does little except watch television since the death of his son.  But needs must and as he supports and comforts her throughout her ordeal, she starts to understand him a little better and build a new relationship with him.  In the air the storm hits with a vengeance and both Grandad and Doctor Helen distract Alice from her fear and her pain by telling her stories of their own experiences with the RFDS – the echoes of the past that not only keep her mind occupied but also give the reader some insight into this service which began as the Australian Inland Mission Aerial Medical Service in 1928, the realisation of a dream of the Reverend John Flynn to provide the people of the outback with a “mantle of safety” and made possible by the inventions of the pedal radio by Alfred Traeger 

Emergency Echo is part of a new series about the Royal Flying Doctor Service by George Ivanoff that is perfect for the newly independent reader wanting a good, solid adventure series.  Well-researched and accompanied by information about the Service, the places, the illness (so readers are already informed of what to expect if it befalls them) it is a welcome addition to the quality literature being written for young readers.  Authentic and engaging and different, they will appeal to both boys and girls who will be asking you to get Remote Rescue (already available) and Medical Mission and Fast Flight (coming in May).

There is more information about the books and their origins on George’s website