Archive | January 2014

One Very Tired Wombat

Jan4

 

One Very Tired Wombat

One Very Tired Wombat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Very Tired Wombat

Renée Treml

Random House, 2012

hbk., RRP $A$19.95

9781742755786

Ebook 9781742749013

“1 very tired wombat, settles down to sleep.  The morning is calm and silent; wombat doesn’t hear a peep.”  Until … 2 curious curlews, 3 furtive frogmouths, and a host of other birds come by and disturb the peace.  Until there is one feather too many…

Written and illustrated by an artist with an amazing eye for detail and the ability to be accurate yet quirky at the same time, the unique illustrations are what set this book apart from others about creatures trying to sleep; from others about wombats; and from others that have a counting pattern embedded in them.  The illustrations are “created using a scratchboards covered in white clay. The shape of each animal is then blocked out in black ink and, when this is dry, Renée uses a craft knife to scratch in features such as faces, fur and feathers”.  It’s very much the grown-up version of scratching illustrations into a coloured card covered in thick, black wax crayon.

The result is a unique picture book that works on every level, including offering tidbits of information about all the native birds featured in the story.  Something different for your new year’s book display.

Davy & the Duckling

Jan3
Davy & the Duckling

Davy & the Duckling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Davy & the Duckling

Margaret Wild

Julie Vivas

Penguin/Viking 2013

hbk, RRP $A24.99

9780670075614

When the baby duck first hatched, the first thing it saw was Davy, and a lifelong bond was created.  No matter what Davy did or where he went, there was the duckling, his constant companion.  And Davy was very happy to be its substitute mother, looking after it so well even when it was no longer a duckling. It was there when Davy did his homework, and when his best friend moved away and he needed company.  And when the duck was very old and his quack was croaky, Davy still looked after it.  And a whole new cycle began…

Margaret Wild and Julie Vivas have created the most beautiful picture book about love and caring and enduring friendship. Theirs is an inspired partnership and the book has a textual and graphic richness that only artists at the pinnacle of their professions can produce.  From the front cover to the back there are opportunities to talk about a host of things as you share this book, and it would be worth including the teachers’ notes  with it as a model of the sorts of things parents could do to extend the boundaries of the book and enrich this literature learning experience for their child.  Or hold a parent participation evening and model its possibilities yourself.

After reading this book, Miss 7 wanted to know what else this inspired team have done and so began a new reading journey!

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

Bamboozled

Jan2
Bamboozled

Bamboozled

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bamboozled

David Legge

Scholastic Australia, 1994

0868964877

Scholastic Australia, 2003

9781865045658

Every week, she goes to visit her grandfather, and every week everything is the same…until this week.  Even though they did all the same things, things were very odd.   They played cards, went through the photo albums, did the housework, but all the time there was something not quite right. All day, as they worked in the garden, fed the cat, and had afternoon tea, there was something amiss that niggled and niggled.  What could it be?

This was the first book that went into Stephannie’s Book Box because it is a favourite that she has enjoyed for ages, as each new reading entranced her.  For the story is not in the words, but in the pictures. In fact, the text on its own without the pictures is very plain, although it immediately engages the reader as they try to tell the little girl just what it is that is bothering her.  It would seem that Grandad has become quite eccentric and his house has the most amazing things in it now, starting with the quirky letterbox and the brickwork on the fence and continuing inside.  In fact it’s hard to find anything that’s normal!! And the ending is just delicious and says everything about love being blind!

This is a book for sparking curiosity and asking “what-if” and “why-not” and “what-about”.  There is something new to discover every time it is shared, helping develop that visual acuity that helps a beginner reader start to distinguish individual words and letters in the most engaging way.  It also sparks the imagination because it helps us to think of new ways to use familiar things or do familiar tasks.  Why not have the flower vase double up as a fishbowl?

Even though this is 10 years old now, Booko has it as still available from a number of outlets, so it’s worth tracking down as an essential addition to any library.

A peek inside

A peek inside

Little Piggy’s Got No Moves

Jan1

little_piggy

 

 

 

 

 

Little Piggy’s Got No Moves

Phillip Gwynne & Eliza McCann

Tom Jellett

Little Hare 2013

hbk, RRP $A24.95

9781921894251

Little Piggy has a ticket to the school disco, but he’s somewhat disconsolate because he can’t dance.  “Monkey can do the moonwalk, Snake does the snorkel” but what can a pig do?  And his lack of confidence does not improve when Daddy Piggy and Mummy Piggy tell him “Us piggies, we’ve got no moves.”  And even moreso when Grandma and Grandpa say the same thing.  AND Brother and Sister Piggy!  Reluctantly he goes to the disco and stands on the sidelines looking.  Even when his friends urge him to join in, he’s convinced that “Us piggies, we’ve got no moves.” 

But then something begins to happen … and it’s a very different Little Piggy who goes home!

 Husband and wife team Phillip Gwynne and Eliza McCann have taken a most common situation – the school disco and an inhibition about dancing in public – and turned it into an utterly engaging story, in the way that only the best can do.  This book has all the elements that make the perfect children’s story – there is a storyline that all can relate to, engaging characters, rhythm that moves the text along, a catchphrase that the listeners will love joining in with, and a satisfying ending that gives a warm fuzzy feeling.  All that, and it’s accompanied by vibrant, intriguing pictures that should evoke lots of discussion, particularly those on the double spreads with no text.  And then to top it off, you just have to put on some music to dance to so the children can show THEIR moves!!!

A perfect read-aloud that will tell children that books are best friends and there is a lot of fun to be had in the school library! A foundation to build on.

 

A peek inside...

A peek inside…