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Ratbags 4: Take Flight

Oct28
Ratbags 4: Take Flight

Ratbags 4: Take Flight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ratbags 4: Take Flight

Tom Harris

Shiloh Gordon

Puffin, 2023

192pp., graphic novel, RRP $A14.99

9781761340505

Rats, in general, do not have a good reputation for being friendly and kind, and The Ratbags are no exception.  Their goal in life is to make trouble and to look for naughty things to do.  They dream of mayhem and believe rules are for losers.  Except for one – Jigsaw.  He got his name because he does not fit in, like a puzzle piece that won’t squeeze into place no matter how much you twist and turn it. Jigsaw likes both rules and humans so he doesn’t fit in with the other rats and they shun him. 

In their fourth adventure in this series, The ratbags are on holiday on the trash-filled Scum Island, where everything is just how the ratbags like it – terrible! Even cats are kept in line by a high-flying falcon, who puts on a show for the ratbags! But when Cracker is carried away to the falcon’s lair, Jigsaw starts to worry… is the pesky falcon a feathery friend or foe? One thing’s for sure, with the ratbags in town, the holiday is packed with action, danger and VERY bad manners.

In previous reviews I have focused on the popularity of characters and subjects that make adults squirm and their power to appeal to reluctant readers as well as the attraction of a format that is text-light, illustration-heavy but has a quality story that focuses on familiar elements of friendship, standing your ground against peer pressure and being yourself , and this has been proven by a request from a young lad asking if I had the latest one yet. Not known for his affinity for reading, this was a surprise and one I took pleasure in satisfying (as did my contact at Penguin Random House). Who knows where this series might take this newly-independent reader as he explores the wide world of stories in print.

Maybe this will be the way forward for one of your students to…

A Life Song

Oct27
A Life Song

A Life Song

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Life Song

Jane Godwin

Anna Walker

Puffin, 2023

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

9781761047640

When you are born, you make up a song
It doesn’t rhyme, and it isn’t long
A song of everything you hold dear
It’s your own tune, it’s loud and clear

And your whole world is in it…

One of the favourite units my Kindy kids loved to explore was one based on A. A. Milne’s poem, The End. They loved to discover how much they had grown and changed and learned since they had been born and feel the sense of empowerment and excitement of being in charge of what was to come next. 

The End

When I was One,
I had just begun.When I was Two,
I was nearly new.

When I was Three,
I was hardly me.

When I was Four,
I was not much more.

When I was Five,
I was just alive.

But now I am six,
I’m as clever as clever

So I think I’ll be six now
Forever and ever.

This new release is the perfect complement to that showing how the child has grown, building on the song of their life as they mature, learn and do more things, and meet more people, each of whom contributes something to the lyrics, loud or soft. Likened to a tiny stream at birth, it grows stronger and bigger as does the child, meandering this way and that as new people and experiences occur, until it becomes one with the river flowing ever onward.  The key difference between Milne’s poem and this, though, is that the poem focuses on the child exclusively while this has the suggestion that there is much more to the child’s song that their own melody – that it started before they were born, will gather momentum during their lifetime and rather than reaching a crescendo at the end, will continue on afterwards.  So it adds to that reflection and appreciation of where they have come from by speculating and anticipating what might come next.  

One for the collection and toolbox of any teacher working with little ones who need reassurance that they are unique, that there are brighter days coming and that they have much to offer and contribute not only to their song but to the orchestra playing it. 

Walk With Us: Welcome to Our Country

Oct23
Walk With Us: Welcome to Our Country

Walk With Us: Welcome to Our Country

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walk With Us: Welcome to Our Country

Adam Goodes

Ellie Laing

David Hardy

A & U Children’s, 2023

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

9781761065071

When Harvey and his mum go for a walk in their favourite park, they are invited to walk with indigenous Elder Uncle Boris and learn about the wonders of the Cammeraygal (North Sydney) land on which they are treading.  From the healing powers of the leaf of the tologurã (lemon myrtle ), to the wildlife near the waterfall and even seeing a large canoe tree,  mother and son see and learn things that they have passed by many times but have taken for granted.  Harvey has already astonished his mum by reciting the Acknowledgement of Country that he has learned at school, and now both of them develop not only a new insight into the significance of their surroundings but also experience a sense of calm and tranquility as they view the landscape with new eyes and absorb its significance..

Based on a phrase in the final line of the Uluru Statement from the Heart – We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future – this is the fourth in this brilliant series designed to teach both children and adults a little more of the meaning behind those now-familiar words of the Acknowledgement of Country.  Using people and symbols that are important to them (these are explained on the verso page). the authors have crafted a simple but significant story that will encourage young (and not-so) readers to start to look at their surroundings through a different lens.  Who walked this Country before I did?  What did they know about it that I could learn?

As with the previous titles, this starts with a visual glossary of indigenous words for the familiar items featured in the story, and given that October 22-29 marks the inaugural Aboriginal Languages Week in NSW,  it would seem appropriate to compare the words of the Cammeraygal people for things such as fire, snake, wallaby, frog and so forth to the words used by local peoples, perhaps even starting to construct your own visual glossary.

In my opinion, this series is one of the most significant publications available to help our young children understand and appreciate the long-overdue recognition of our First Nations people in schools, so that when they hear a Welcome to Country or participate in an Acknowledgement of Country or even just take a walk through their neighbourhood, they do so with a new knowledge of and respect for all that has gone before.

Listen

Oct12
Listen

Listen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listen

Duncan Smith & Nicole Godwin

Jandamarra Cadd

Wild Dog, 2023

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

9781742036731

Listen, and you will hear the voices of Ancestors.

At a time when there is such an important focus on Australia’s First Nations peoples,  this is a timely release to help students better understand the need for the referendum, where it has come from and what it is based on. 

Accompanied by the stunning artworks of Yorta Yorta man Jandamarra Cadd, each of which has its own story and significance, this is a book that has the minim um of text but the maximum of meaning.  While our students may have some knowledge and awareness of the importance of Country to indigenous people, this book explains the weight behind the acknowledgement of the phrase “elders, past, present and emerging” that is expressed in any Welcome to Country address.

This is a book that should not be shared without also using the teachers’ notes because they provide critical background information…

The Uluru Statement from the Heart
Key elements from the Uluru Statement from the Heart underpins the text … The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to all Australians to walk together towards a better future. It provides a roadmap with three key pillars – Voice, Treaty and Truth.

It explains why and what The Voice is, why it requires a referendum to be put in place, and what it will achieve if the referendum is successful.

But beyond that, it also has a strong element of text-to-self as readers are encouraged to consider the hopes and dreams of the children on the front cover and relate that to their own, while also having them investigate the Country they live on, its indigenous languages and stories. 

 If the referendum is unsuccessful, it is unlikely to be the end of the narrative of the requests and rights of our First Nations people to be recognised, so this book, in conjunction with We are Australians should form the core of a modern indigenous library collection as well as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures strand of the curriculum.

Together, they are a powerful and essential resource on which to base positive change for the future. 

Millie Mak the Maker

Sep26
Millie Mak the Maker

Millie Mak the Maker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Millie Mak the Maker

Alice Pung

Sher Rill Ng

HarperCollins, 2023

288pp., hbk., RRP $A22.99

9781460763773

Life has been pretty tricky lately for nine-year-old Millie Mak. As well as her family moving to a new neighbourhood to be closer to her mother’s parents, she has started a new school and being quiet and somewhat shy, she has found it hard to make friends, not made easier by being Scottish-Chinese with Asian features and flaming red hair.  Things come to a head when she and her Granny find an old dolls house put out on the street for Hard Rubbish Day collection, perfect for them to renovate, but which is also seen by the young sister of one of the mean girls who throws a tantrum when she does not get it.  

But Millie and her grandmother have been revitalising and renewing old stuff  together for a long time and now it’s in Millie’s nature to look for new ways to use old things, turning them into something beautiful and useful.  So when she sees her other Chinese grandmother who lives with them and takes care of the household, including two year old Rosie, making sleeve savers from an old pillowcase, she has an even better idea using her dad’s broken umbrella. She learns even more when she goes to the holiday program at the local community centre – not the expensive Awesome Kids workshops she was hoping for – and meets Veesa and Glee whose mums actually make the popular brand-name clothes that everyone, including those mean girls, are paying so much money for.  Who knew you could make a trendy skirt from some tea towels?

The second story also focuses on making something from almost nothing, as a new girl, Amrita, starts at the school and being Sikh, experiences the same isolation that Millie did.  But the two girls strike up a friendship that not only opens new doors for both of them but has them having the most popular stall at the school fete.

All the familiar themes and feelings of starting a new school are threaded through this story – isolation, bullying, racism, stereotyping – as well as having to grapple with issues at home like the rivalry between her grandmothers and her dad unable to work because of an accident, so it will resonate with many readers but its focus on recycling and upcycling will really appeal to those who love to do the same, particularly those learning to sew – made even moreso because there are clear instructions given for some of the projects at the end of each story as well as some other avenues to explore.  Who knew that fabric could come from animals, minerals and plants and we could be wearing all at the same time?

Both Millie’s family and the situations she and Rita, particularly, face will not only be familiar to those who have walked that path, but there are also lessons to be learned by those on the other side, particularly about making assumptions about how someone might feel or react.   Teaching notes offer other ideas for exploring the issues in greater depth – there is so much but a book review can only be so long.

When a friend recently offered sewing classes for children, she was so overwhelmed with the responses that she had to add extra sessions, and so there are many boys and girls who have an interest in this sort of creativity and this is the ideal book for feeding that interest as well as sparking inspiration for others.  Being one of those who sews every day and knits each night, I read it in one sitting and kept thinking of how I could share it with one of the little ones in Jane’s sewing classes because I know they would love it.  

 Luckily for those budding creators, this is just the first in the series and Children’s Books Daily has an interview with the author to share.

 

 

Just Because

Sep19
Just Because

Just Because

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just Because

Matthew McConaughey

Renée Kurilla

Puffin, 2023

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

9781761343582

Just because I’m in the race,
doesn’t mean I’m fully ready.
Just because I’m shaking,
doesn’t mean that I’m not steady.

Using a series of rhyming couplets accompanying compelling vignettes, this new book could be your mindfulness program for the term as it explores “the contradictions and complexities that exist in each of us” as we try to navigate what we believe and  what we confront, what we expect and what we experience. By focusing on each situation and unpacking it, young readers begin to understand that their world is not black and white, that there are those fifty shades of grey and there are layers to both their feelings and their relationships as they learn about finding common ground and compromise without betraying their own beliefs and needs. 

“Just because I forgive you, doesn’t mean that I still trust.

There’s what you do, there’s what I do, and yours is not my must.”

As our little ones mature, they are able to move beyond their hands-on, here-and-now view of the world and begin to think on a more abstract level where they can see things from the perspective or others, understand cause and effect, consider what-ifs and maybes, be more flexible and able to delve into underlying meanings. This book offers a wide range of readily recognisable situations that offer lots of opportunities to discuss what the words mean and what the child might do in a similar situation as well as beginning to understand metaphorical language. For example, Just because they threw the dart doesn’t mean it stuck not only lends itself to considering when we should take notice of criticism but also whether a dart was physically thrown.  

There are many books that are released with a celebrity’s name on the front cover automatically giving them publicity but then the hype doesn’t live up to the reality, but this one deserves all it gets.  Whether it’s in a family library or the teacher’s toolkit to pull out at opportune moments, it provides possibilities for all sorts of learning as we guide our little ones to be the sorts of adults we want them to be. 

The Concrete Garden

Sep18
The Concrete Garden

The Concrete Garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Concrete Garden

Bob Graham

Walker Books, 2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A27.99

9781529512649

At last, winter is over, lockdown is lifted and the children spill out of the large apartment block ” like sweets from a box”.  Last out is Amanda and she is carrying a large box of chalks because she has an idea. Choosing green first, she draws a large circle with some smaller circles radiating from it – and from there the fun begins… Firstly, Jackson made a dandelion from Amanda’s circle, and then Janet added a mushroom and then the twins added flowers and then…

This is Bob Graham at his best offering the reader so many ideas to explore as the book is read and re-read.

Firstly, there has to be that glorious feeling of being free to connect with others, including those whom you have never met, when isolation has been imposed on you. The reader can hear the shouts of delight of the children and the babble of busyness as they get to be kids again, and imagine that their new and renewed friendships will spread to those of the adults in their lives too, meaning that there will be a greater sense of community in the apartments once inside beckons again.  But what if that isolation isn’t COVID related?  What if there is a child confined to a hospital bed, or isolated by language or being new to the area or… How might the reader reach out to them?

And while many will resonate with living in an apartment building where there is no opportunity to have the sort of gardens that feature in In My Garden , that doesn’t mean the children are oblivious to Mother Nature and the colour and magic and togetherness that she brings.  As so many of the young artists add natural elements to the drawing, there is an unspoken acknowledgement of what is missing from this hemmed-in concrete jungle, perhaps inspiring something more than a transient chalk drawing to be done. And, as with In My Garden, there is much to explore about the connectivity of gardens, real and imagined, in “The picture crossed deserts and mountains and oceans and cities.  It bounced around the world, returning to fill the screens in all the dark rooms over the concrete garden”. 

Others might like to explore why it is the seemingly simple activity of drawing a picture with chalk that brings so much imagination, friendship, co-operation, optimism and joy rather than the more formal, organised, prescriptive activities that seem to be such a part of children’s lives.  They might be let loose with chalk in their playground, or start a chain picture to which everyone contributes in the classroom, or even work together on a physical project to beautify their school or local community.  The possibilities are endless.

This is not only Bob Graham at his best but also the picture book at its best.  The links between text and illustration are woven so tightly together, one can’t stand without the other and each thread of the tapestry offers something to explore and ponder.  Expect to see this one up there in all the awards in the coming year.   

My Especially Weird Week with Tess

Sep17
My Especially Weird Week with Tess

My Especially Weird Week with Tess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Especially Weird Week with Tess

Anna Woltz

Translated by David Colmer

David Dean 

Rock the Boat, 2023

176pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9780861542963

Sam is a deep thinker – his older brother, Jasper, calls hum ‘the professor’ – and since attending the funeral of a schoolfriend’s father recently, many of his thoughts have been centred around death, particularly its impact on those left behind.  And it is his questions about the loneliness of the last dinosaur that leads to a chance meeting with 12-year-old Tess who seems to be on his wavelength and turns a run-of-the-mill holiday on the Dutch island of Texel into a life-changing time for both of them.

Within minutes of the meeting he finds himself learning to waltz in a carpark, offering to bury an old man’s canary and then discovering that Tess, who has never known her father, has found out who he is and has hatched an audacious plan to bring him to the island so she can observe him and decide whether she will disclose her identity. Through the filter-free conversations that kids have when life is still about them and theirs and not impinged by what others might think, they share their thoughts and do things that help them work through Sam’s fear of the loneliness caused by death and Tess’s relationship with her father that is completely credible for any reader who is the same age or who knows how that age group thinks and works. The setting, the situation and the characters are authentic and I binge read it in one session!

 Made into an award-winning Dutch film titled My Extraordinary Summer with Tess ,translated into 13 languages and awarded  The Times Children’s Book of the Week in March 2023, this is a heart-warming story of friendship and compassion for independent readers, even a class read-aloud,  that will envelop the reader like a warm hug.  Loved it in the same way as I loved The Girl who brought Mischief.  

 

 

 

The Gargoyle

Sep14
The Gargoyle

The Gargoyle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gargoyle

Zana Fraillon

Lothian, 2023

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

9780734421241

Forced off his rooftop to make way for a new urban development in a barren cityscape, the old gargoyle packs a battered suitcase and boards a train going who knows where. But he is unseen to all those who are packed on it, except for a child  who has the time and the presence to ponder the gargoyle’s story…

He’s old, this gargoyle. Very old. Older than me. Older than anyone. He looks tired. If I had a seat, I would give it to him.

He shuffles past me and stands near the door and watches the city smushing past.

I think I hear him sigh. An echoey, achy, hollow sort of sigh, like the wind when it gusts down lanes and through tunnels and in and out of the big drains that stretch under the city.

Invisible to all who are so engrossed in what is to come that they don’t see the here and now, except for the ticket collector who forces him off the train when he cannot produce a ticket, the gargoyle is a forlorn sight, testament to the often unnoticed and ignored elderly, disabled and homeless among us.  But he leaves his suitcase behind and when the child, overcome by curiosity and compassion, opens the case he unleashes the gargoyle’s many memories of the city and its inhabitants. When the case crumbles, leaving nothing but a small seed, the child decides to find a place to bring the gargoyle, and the soul of the city, back.

This is a poignant picture book that works on many levels both for younger and older students as they explore it, each visit exposing something different.  For example, on a literal level, the meaning and history of “gargoyles” could be investigated  to build vocabulary and children could be encouraged to not only identify structures in their town that feature them but also learn architecturally related words such as buttress and belfry, perhaps even compare modern and bygone construction styles and methods.   

Others might like to consider what memories are contained in the gargoyle’s case, and if he were a gargoyle from one of their town’s structures, what changes and events might he have seen and packed into that case.

Older readers who can dig deeper into the messages that lie beyond the words might look more at the humanitarian issues that are addressed- the trials and tribulation of ageing and how those who are in their senior years become invisible and often ignored as though they no longer have anything  to contribute; the way buildings and structures are often valued and preserved more than those who constructed them; the destruction of those buildings in the ever-growing need for quick-fix housing; the knowledge and memories of people and places past that could be drawn on to build a better future so the same mistakes are not repeated; society’s attitudes towards and treatment of the homeless… And having examined those issues, consider and plan what might grow from the seed that the boy plants.

Teachers’ notes offer discussion points about these as well as ideas for exploring its language, literary devices and visual literacy – both the author’s and illustrator’s notes add much – but the lingering emotion for the reader is one of empathy and compassion, of a desire to acknowledge and celebrate the legacies of those who have gone before us and consider the legacy that we, ourselves, might leave. 

I do expect to see this among the award winners of the upcoming year. 

The Sideways Orbit of Evie Hart

Sep13
The Sideways Orbit of Evie Hart

The Sideways Orbit of Evie Hart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sideways Orbit of Evie Hart

Samera Kamaleddine

HarperCollins, 2023

288pp., pbk., RRP $A17.99

9781460762653

Evie Hart likes rules and routines. A lot. But as she embarks on her very last year of primary school, it feels like all the rules around her are being broken and the routines are definitely being upset, starting with mum not eating dinner with the family any more. 

Then she discovers her mum, a journalist, is the author of the horoscope page for the local newspaper, and because it has her photo, her friends and their families know too, and they don’t hold back letting Evie know they think her mum writes and tells lies.  To make things worse, she learns her beloved stepdad Lee is moving to Dubbo for at least a year, perhaps splitting the family in two forever! So when Evie’s class starts learning about the Earth’s place in the universe, it makes Evie think about her own place in the world and where she belongs. 

But the more Evie learns about the sky and the stars, guided both by her kind, compassionate and knowledgeable teacher Miss Owen and her mother’s insights, the more she learns that changes in the world can’t always be controlled. And maybe that’s not a bad thing as she starts to make sense of and map out her own life as a more confident person.

Even though the title is The Sideways Orbit… there are many parallels to the lives of the readers that this book will appeal to, and so it will resonate with them as they make that sometimes tricky transition from tween to teen and young adult. While so much of her life so far has focused on the here and now, as she becomes more independent, bigger questions raise their heads – questions whose answers seem bigger and more complex than the universe – and Evie, like her readers, has to learn to navigate these in the context and boundaries of their own lives. And that doesn’t even include puberty!  Straddling the reality of the day-today while contemplating the huge world of what-ifs and what-could-bes that is opening before her, including high school on the horizon, can be overwhelming but there is comfort in knowing that there is a path forward and a way through.  So even if you feel like you’re going sideways in an endless spin, there is hope…

Many who write for and work with very young children talk about helping them understand and navigate “big feelings”. This story helps those who are at a different transition navigate theirs.