Archive | January 2014

A Hare, A Hound and Shy Mousey Brown

Jan13
A Hare, A Hound and Shy Mousey Brown

A Hare, A Hound and Shy Mousey Brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Hare, A Hound and Shy Mousey Brown

Julia Hubery

Jonathan Bentley

Little Hare, 2012

Hbk., 32p., RRP $A24.99

9781921541384

 

It is spring and Hare is full of its energy and promise as she jumps and bounds “wondrously wild and fearlessly free … for the joy of just being she.”  In the meantime, from his hole in the wall, Shy Mousey Brown is watching in awe at Hare’s antics, the victim of unrequited love. But also in the picture is Hound, who Mousey Brown knows is secretly keeping a watch on the hoppity hare with evil on his mind.  While Hare is unaware, Mousey Brown knows exactly what Hound is about but not even his loudest voice is loud enough for Hare to hear.

How will Mousey Brown be able to warn Hare of the clear and present danger? Will Hound catch Hare and eat her?  What plan does Mousey Brown hatch to rescue his beloved [ink-ribboned Hare from certain death?

The language, rhyme and rhythm of this story work very well to create an engaging story reminiscent of the old fable, The Mouse and the Lion. There’s just the right amount of tension to catch your breath and then let it go as the storyline moves to a satisfactory ending.  There are opportunities to join in with the reading and the use of text effects helps the beginning reader to hear and develop expression.  Miss 6 also loved trying to predict how a teeny, tiny mouse might save a hare from a ferocious dog. The solution is just delightful, and nothing like we thought.

Jonathan Bentley’s illustrations are the perfect accompaniment – their cartoon-like style moves the whole book up a notch from a tale for pre-schoolers and the humour, particularly when Mousey Brown puts his plan into action,  is very appealing.

Miss 6 asked if she could keep this one rather than sending it on to her school because she wants to learn to read it to share with Miss 19 months – that means it’s hit the spot perfectly.

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

This entry was posted on January 13, 2014, in Picture Book.

Yoo-hoo Ladybird

Jan12
Yoo-hoo, Ladybird!

Yoo-hoo, Ladybird!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yoo-hoo, Ladybird

Mem Fox

Laura Ljungkvist

Penguin Viking 2013

hbk, RRP $A19.99

9780670077304

“Ladybird loves to hide.  Yoo-hoo, Ladybird! Where are you?” And so begins another Mem Fox classic, which she describes as a Where’s Wally for the very young.  For Ladybird, one of those teeny-tiny red,-with-black-spots creatures that just fascinate little people, has a wonderful time with her friends and is not easy to spot unless you have very keen eyes!  But, it’s OK if you don’t find her because there’s a close-up on the next page to help you.

What is there that’s new to say about Mem Fox and her ability to write deceptively simple books that just appeal to generation after generation? Possum Magic had its 30th anniversary in 2013 and now Miss Nearly 3 won’t sleep without hearing Where is the Green Sheep? first. And here is another winner! 

In Mem’s words, it is  “a typical Mem Fox book for the very young with simple language, predictably wrapped in rhyme and neatly tied with rhythm and repetition”.  Even though it is only 133 words, it took two years to write because it took that long for “every one of those 133 words fell into place, the syllables sang the right tune, the commas settled into their correct position, and the page-turns worked like the puzzle they were meant to be.” (You can read more of what Mem says on her website.)

The illustrations which are absolutely integral to a book of this nature are utterly charming and Ljungkvist has done a perfect job of making the puzzle tricky – but not too tricky – hiding Ladybird in plain sight in familiar places amongst toys and objects that will appeal, but which will also create a lot of discussion!  Would you really find an octopus in your bath? As well as hiding Ladybird, she has cleverly included lots of other repetitive elements in the pictures so this can become a hide-and-seek on a grand scale!

If you were to construct a Who’s Who in Children’s literature, Australian or otherwise, particularly of those who are the leaders of perfect picture books for under-8s, Mem Fox would be at the pinnacle. In my opinion, she is a national treasure and needs to be in every child’s life and library.

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

The Best Kind of Kiss

Jan11
The Best Kind of Kiss

The Best Kind of Kiss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Kind of Kiss

Margaret Allum

Jonathan Bentley

Little Hare Books, 2012

Pbk, RRP $A14.95

9781921894084

There are all sorts of kisses a little girl can have – big kisses, small kisses, pecky kisses, and smoochy, lip-smacky kisses – and they don’t all come from mummy.  In fact, in this cute book for pre-schoolers, they come from the most unlikely sources, all of which underline that delightful innocence of the very young child.  Accompanied by appealing illustrations which are integral to telling the tale, the author has created one of those special stories that I know will become a bedtime favourite. 

Miss 6 loves the rosy-cosy-grandma-kiss but agrees with the choice of the best sort of kiss of all; Miss 16-months just liked snuggling in and listening to the flow and rhythm of the language and looking at the pictures. 

This would be one to put in that special collection you have for parents who are looking for that just-right bedtime book.  Give them this one and they’ll know you know your stuff and come back for more.

Marty’s Nut-Free Party

Jan10
Marty's Nut-free Party

Marty’s Nut-free Party

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marty’s Nut-free Party

Katrina Rae

Leigh Hedstrom

 Wombat Books 2012

Hbk., RRP $A19.95

978-1-921633-36-2

Marty the monkey loved to party – he was always the first to arrive and the last to leave.  He even counted down the sleeps till the next one!  UNTIL… one day, at his cousin’s birthday party he was tempted by a LARGE bowl of peanuts. But as soon as he ate it, things began to happen.  His mouth felt funny, his throat swelled up and that’s all he knew until the next day when he woke up in hospital.  Marty was allergic to peanuts!

So, at the next party he went to, his mummy told him not to have even one peanut – no matter how yummy they looked and who offered them to him.  It was so hard to have fun when everyone else was enjoying eating them.  So he decided to have just one… after all, mum would never know …

Marty had a very tough lesson to learn and his mum had to take some very tough measures to teach him.  He couldn’t go to Lion Luke’s party and he missed Zac the Zebra’s Easter Egg hunt!  And even though he thought he hadn’t eaten one single peanut at Gemma Giraffe’s party, he still ended up in hospital.  Poor Marty.  Would he ever be able to have a party again??  And what about his birthday?  Could he have a party?  Luckily for him, his mum had a brilliant solution and Marty had a party that didn’t land him in hospital!!

Marty’s message is delivered in a most delightful story that helps our youngest students understand why nuts are so often banned from the places they go to.  It also helps those with a nut allergy understand what could happen but there is a solution that means everyone can still have fun!   It is essential reading for all preschool to Year 2 classes so everyone can understand the dangers. There are teaching notes here.

I like that Wombat Books  are prepared to take a risk with the titles they publish and support authors who write about topics that are not necessarily ‘mainstream’.  Sharon McGuinness’ Coming Home deals with depression; this one nut allergies – both more common than we realise and yet so hard to find information about that is at the child’s level.    Both books have important information at the back of them with links to support agencies.  For these reasons alone, regardless of both being excellent stories, these books deserve a place on your shelves.  And check out Wombat’s catalogue to see what else they have that might help your special students understand that they’re not in it on their own.

 

The Queen with the Wobbly Bottom

Jan9
The Queen with the Wobbly Bottom

The Queen with the Wobbly Bottom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Queen with the Wobbly Bottom

Phillip Gwynne

Bruce Whatley

Little Hare, 2012

Hbk, RRP $24.95

9781921714597

Turn on the television news in this year of Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee and you will see a very elegant, beautifully dressed woman; ask a child to draw a picture of a queen and you’ll get someone tall and thin, complete with a cloak and crown – what you won’t get is one with a wobbly bottom!

But that’s the problem of the queen in this hilarious story by Phillip Gwynne which is perfectly illustrated by the master, Bruce Whatley. Despite being beautiful and clever, and being loved throughout the land, whenever the queen looked in the mirror, all she saw when she wiggled her hips was her bottom wobbling like a raspberry jelly! It distressed the queen so much that she posted a notice on the palace wall … To whoever can solve the problem of the royal wobble, Her Majesty, Queen of the Land Offers a thousand gold coins.

Predictably, this brought forth a range of people with a range of solutions which the queen dutifully tried. But whatever other improvements the pills, potions and inventions might have achieved, at the end of it all the queen still had a wobbly bottom. Each failure brought an increase in the reward, and another round of hopeful winners. Even offering her own hand in marriage didn’t bring the answer until a most unlikely person came to the palace … so unlikely that the queen had him thrown straight into the dungeon with all the other pretenders. However, in frustration she weakened and …

This is a funny, quirky tale that quickly made it to the top of Miss 7’s favourites pile. She laughed all the way through, with just the occasional comment, “Perhaps YOU could try that, Grandma”, but it was the ending which delighted her the most. “Ah, just like you and Grandad in reverse,” she said, with a sigh of satisfaction. OUCH! Definitely one for helping children to learn to love themselves regardless and to build self-esteem –even if mine got a bit bruised…

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

Ships in the Field

Jan8
Ships in the Field

Ships in the Field

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ships in the Field

Susanne Gervay

Anna Pignataro

Ford Street Publishing, 2012

Hbk, $26.95

9781921665233

 

This is a very special book written by Susanne Gervay, one of my favourite authors and illustrated by Anna Pignataro, one of my favourite illustrators.  It is a celebration of Australia’s multicultural heritage with both author and illustrator drawing on their family’s history of being post-war European refugees to create a story that demonstrates the amazing resilience and hope of the human spirit regardless of the trials it encounters.  Told through the eyes of a child, it touches on many emotions from the sadness of memories too raw to have many layers to soften them, to the joy and excitement of a new life as a family in a new place, while stopping, momentarily, at the happy spots of what has been and anticipating what is yet to come.      

This is such a magical blend  of words and pictures that there is something most of us will relate to. For me, it’s the phrase ‘ships in the field’. For one with a distinctive Kiwi accent (even after all these years), getting it wrong is something I’m used to although no one has corrected me as beautifully and tactfully as the little girl does to help her father.  

It would be the perfect starter or accompaniment to any investigation of what it means to be Australian, because that is what we all are, and opens the door to enable our students understand that they and their families have a past, a present and a future.

You can read what Susanne has to say about the imagery of dogs in the story here and there are teaching notes here.

 

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

 

Starting School

Jan7
Starting School

Starting School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starting School

Jane Godwin

Anna Walker

Penguin 2013

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

9780670076765

 

Tim. Hannah, Sunita, Joe and Polly are starting school and while each of them is having a unique experience, each experience is that of every other child who makes that big step to independence.  Each double spread focuses on a different aspect – getting ready, meeting the teacher, making friends, finding their way around the school – all those things that loom large in the minds of littlies and which can be really daunting.  But putting a personal face on them somehow makes them more manageable and not such a big deal. From being strangers at the start of the day, each has a new friend and plenty to tell their parents at the end of the day.

Anna Walker’s gentle illustrations, especially those which run along the bottom of the pages, are the perfect accompaniment to a book that every child should experience before they start school.  Apart from anything else, it will help them understand that the BIG problem that they are wrestling with is one that is shared by others and that there is a solution for it.  Even if they follow a beetle at lunchtime and don’t hear the bell, someone will miss them and find them and show them the way to where they should be. 

As this school year winds down and transition visits from preschools begin, this is a perfect book to help the children prepare for this next step in their lives.  Perhaps it could even be a model for the class to start its own book, documenting the adventures and emotions of those first few days.  The children will look back on it twelve months from now and see how far they have come, and perhaps even share it with the class of 2015!

 

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

 

Dandelion

Jan6
Dandelion

Dandelion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dandelion

Calvin Scott Davis and Anthony Ishinjerro

Random House 2013

hbk., RRP$A19.95

9780857981028

Benjamin Brewster did not like school.  Every morning he counted the nine hundred and seventy-two steps that it took him to get there. For The School for the Misguided was a place for ne’er-do-wells and bullies and Benjamin Brewster was in their sights, their fists and their feet. No matter how hard and how often he wished his school would disappear, it never did, and neither did those inside.  Until one day Benjamin picks up a dandelion clock and blows on it… and wishes on the tiny seeds as they drift away. And even though some wishes don’t come true, miracles happen and Benjamin finds a way through.

Bullying is and always has been a major problem in schools – as many as one in six children is bullied each week in Australian schools and at least 20% are subjected to cyber-bullying.  Few families are left untouched.  But in this book, which began life as a computer app in response to the author’s son being bullied, written in rhyming text, there is a message of hope touched with tenderness.  Drawn without a face so that every child could be him, Benjamin takes the reader to a place where creativity and imagination triumph. And while it might not stop the bullies, it is a strategy to make things a little easier. However, beginner readers may find the all-upper-case font a little tricky.

However the quote,

Bullying is for people with no imagination

should be displayed prominently in every school.

There are often queries on teacher librarian networks for resources to accompany particular topics, and, without doubt, those to address bullying have to be the most common.  Here, in this charming book of love and tenderness, is a must-have for you collection.  Brendan Brewster might be the hero of this story but Galvin Scott Jones has stood up to be the hero for his son – the least we can do is be the hero for all the other victims.  Two-thumbs-up but only because I don’t have any more thumbs.

 

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

 

 

 

 

Puppy Playtime 1, 2, 3

Jan5
Puppy Playtime 1, 2, 3

Puppy Playtime 1,2,3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puppy Playtime 1, 2, 3

Celeste Walters

Adele Jaunn

Little Hare , 2013

pbk.,

9781742977164

Billy the Bitzer heads to the park to look for his bone that he has hidden.  But suddenly he finds himself in the company of a lot of other dogs and he gets itchy and twitchy in case someone finds it first.  One is a beagle racing and chasing, 2 is a bulldog romping and stomping… and each time Billy the Bitzer gets more and more concerned.

Written in rhyme and repetitive text which exploits the rhythm and patterns of our language, this is a beautifully illustrated story of ten puppies on a mission – until Billy the Bitzer starts grunting and growling and one little puppy runs home to her mum, then hooting and howling, sending another one off and then another. Miss 2 loved being Billy the Bitzer shaking and quaking, yapping and snapping and joining in the refrain.

As well as the perennial appeal of puppies, this book is perfect for helping the very young child develop numeracy skills. A step on from the more traditional counting book, it is an introduction to addition as each puppy joins the search for the bone, and then subtraction as each goes home, warned off by the indomitable Billy the Bitzer.  This book appeals on so many levels, it deserves its place on your shelves.

 

 

 

 

Colour for Curlews

Jan4

 

Colour for Curlews

Colour for Curlews

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colour for Curlews

Renée Treml

Random House, 2013

hbk., RRP SA19.95

9781742759234

Ebook  978174759234

Two somewhat drab but curious curlews find an artist’s brush and some paint, and run off with yellow, red and blue.  It’s not long before they are no longer drab.  Then Bowerbird gets busy with the blue paint, and Brolga with the red and suddenly this trend has gone viral!  So many colours and so much fun, and off they go to show their friends.  Then along comes the very tired wombat from Renee’s first book and puts his body down for a nap, right where the paints have all merged into a brown puddle.  But those curious curlews that caused him so much grief in that first book come back … and they have paint brushes!!!

Ms Treml seems to have her finger on just what makes a great picture book for younger readers.  Rhythmic, rhyming text, colour, humour, fun, an ending that leaves room for the imagination and some tidbits about the birds is the bonus and could lead to an interesting investigation of why birds have colours, and how there were so many variations from just three tubes of paint.

Living where I do, I see a range of beautifully coloured birds every day – they have certainly dipped into a paint palette as rich as Ms Treml’s imagination!