Archive | April 4, 2014

Billy Slater Presents Try Time

Apr4
Billy Slater Presents Try TIme

Billy Slater Presents Try TIme

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Billy Slater Presents Try Time
Patrick Loughlin
Nahum Ziersch
Random House, 2014
pbk., 144pp., RRP $12.99
9780857982469

The 2014 rugby league season is gathering momentum and here is a great new series to tempt your rugby league fans into reading as well as playing.  It focuses on the West Hill Ravens, a local team just starting their new season and comprising kids from all backgrounds, demonstrating that this is a game for all. In the team, Josh Brown has the potential to be a star player – he has the speed and the skills of a winger, but he is also cursed with nerves. Every time he steps on the field the butterflies in his tummy take over and when he fails to score an easy try in that first match, he thinks of giving it away altogether. He feels he has let his team down, himself down, and most critically, his grandfather who is football mad and screams encouragement from the sideline each time.

But then, NRL legend Billy Slater turns up at training one day – can he help Josh overcome those nerves?  Written with action-packed descriptions of games, good advice and a likeable lad who many will empathise with this is a book worth promoting and building up anticipation in time for its release date of May 1, 2014.  In the introduction, Slater emphasises that  while playing well is important, it’s more about being part of a team, feeling you belong, having fun and enjoying what you’re doing because that’s when you’re at you’re best.  But, at the same time, understanding that there are times when things won’t go your way and you have to have what it takes to work through that.  It’s about being resilient, forgiving yourself and digging deep to keep going. A strong message indeed from someone who is a hero for so many. And apart from that there are several pages of tips that the reader can think about to improve their own game.

Try Time is the first in this series – Banana Kick will also be published on May 1.  It focuses on Junior Taafuli, nicknamed Cannonball the biggest player in the West Hill Ravens, who thinks he is only valued for his size.  Again Slater steps in to help him learn a life lesson.

While the content alone of these books is likely to make them appealing to younger readers, it is the endorsement by Billy Slater that sets them apart from others of a similar theme, giving them a strength because they show reluctant readers that their heroes do read and write; that reading is a cool, in thing to do and it’s possible to combine football and reading.  Perhaps we should ask the publishers for a poster of Billy reading this title to reinforce that message!

 

 

Lulu Bell (series)

Apr4
Lulu Bell

Lulu Bell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lulu Bell (series)

Belinda Murrell
Serena Geddes
Random House Australia
pbk., 86pp., RRP $A9.95

 

Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn
9781742758756

Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn is the first in a new series by Belinda Murrell for young girls who are verging on being independent readers and looking for a novel which features a young heroine just like them.  Lulu Bell is just eight, the practical one in a family that includes her six-year-old sister Rosie, who loves wearing angel wings and sparkly shoes; her three-year-old brother Gus who always wears his superhero suit; her dad, a busy vet and her mum, an artist- not to mention a menagerie of pets.

It is Rosie’s birthday and everyone is ready for the party.  But just before the guests arrive, disaster strikes as little brother Gus lets a wayward pony into the kitchen.  Suddenly, there is no mermaid birthday cake and it is way too late to get another one from the bakery.  But practical, thoughtful Lulu has a solution as well as a surprise that turns the pony from villain to hero.  And with a guest appearance by King Neptune, Rosie’s day is complete.

 

Lulu Bell and the Fairy Penguin

9781742758787

In this adventure, the Bell family are at the beach when a runaway dog chases a fairy penguin.  Luckily, Lulu can call on the expert help of her father who is a vet, and the encounter inspires a community project designed to help people look out for and look after the penguins. And penguins aren’t her only problem – where is Pickles the cat, due to give birth at any time?

This is a refreshing series of stories about characters the readers can relate to, particularly Lulu as the strong, sensible level-headed lead.  Each story is well-written, based on everyday events that only the most accomplished can turn into an engaging story and accompanied by charming illustrations by Serena Geddes who had six years’ experience with Walt Disney Studios in Sydney before turning to book illustrating. Miss 7 and I read each over the holidays and she is eagerly looking forward to the next instalments – Lulu Bell and the Cubby Fort and Lulu Bell and the Moon Dragon, both coming in August 2013.

Lulu Bell and the Sea Turtle

9780857982018

Lulu Bell and the Circus Pup

9780857981998

These are the two latest additions to the new series by Belinda Murrell for young girls who are verging on being independent readers and looking for a novel which features a young heroine just like them.  Lulu Bell is just eight, the practical one in a family that includes her six-year-old sister Rosie, who loves wearing angel wings and sparkly shoes; her three-year-old brother Gus who always wears his superhero suit; her dad, a busy vet and her mum, an artist- not to mention a menagerie of pets.

Lulu Bell and the Sea Turtle is set on the Dampier Peninsula, which stretches 220 kilometres north of Brome in Western Australia and is based on the adventures that the author’s family had when they were there. This time Lulu’s mother has been invited to visit an Aboriginal community to choose paintings for an art show and so the family accompanies her to this remote place.  From camping out, visiting the famous reef which flows like a waterfall as the tide recedes, making spears in the traditional way and learning to use them, this is a story packed with both adventure and authenticity that is characteristic of Murrell’s writing. 

Lulu Bell and the Circus Pup is set much closer to home and involves all the fun of the circus when Spangles the performing dog goes missing, although Lulu finds out it is not all glamour when she finds her new friend shovelling horse poo! Her willingness to help with the tasks leads to all sorts of new opportunities that will be the envy of many a young lady! 

This is a refreshing series of stories about characters the readers can relate to, particularly Lulu as the strong, sensible level-headed lead.  Each story is well-written, based on everyday events that only the most accomplished can turn into an engaging story and accompanied by charming illustrations by Serena Geddes who had six years’ experience with Walt Disney Studios in Sydney before turning to book illustrating.   Miss 7 has been eyeing these on my to-read pile for a few weeks now, impatiently wanting to get her hands on them since we read the first episodes together last year and Santa left some too.  (Now she can read them for herself!)  Add these to you collection and look out for two new titles in June and you will find that your younger girls will be queuing up for them.

 

Lulu Bell and the Tiger Cub

9780857983015

 

Lulu Bell and the Pyjama Party

9780857983039

There was great excitement at my house recently because Miss 8 came to stay and discovered in my review pile the two latest additions to the new series by Belinda Murrell for young girls who are verging on being independent readers and looking for a novel which features a young heroine just like them.  Lulu Bell is just eight, the practical one in a family that includes her six-year-old sister Rosie, who loves wearing angel wings and sparkly shoes; her three-year-old brother Gus who always wears his superhero suit; her dad, a busy vet and her mum, an artist- not to mention a menagerie of pets. Miss 8 really enjoys this refreshing series of stories about characters she can relate to, particularly Lulu as the strong, sensible level-headed lead, and there were no “just-five-more-minutes?” at bedtime because she was so keen to curl up and read them.

In Lulu Bell and the Tiger Cub, Lulu and her friends go on a class excursion to the zoo.  Given a treasure hunt of questions they need to answer, Lulu and her friends and the reader learn all sorts of unusual facts about the animals, such as the meerkat being able to eat scorpions because they’re immune to the venom.  But it is because the zoo’s vet is one of her dad’s best friends that they have a remarkable experience with Berani the tiger cub and make it a zoo trip to remember. 

In Lulu Bell and the Pyjama Party Lulu has an exciting time as Molly and Sam and Ebony sleep over. But instead of games, snacks, stories and whispering and giggling far into the night, they are needed to help Dad at the vet hospital as he has one of his busiest nights for years. 

Read the review of Lulu Bell and the Christmas Elf 

Based on the author’s own experiences of growing up in a vet hospital, this series has an authenticity that really appeals to its target audience, particularly as that is the age when so many of them dream of living the life themselves.  Each new adventure is greeted warmly by Miss 8, who delights in being able to read them for herself, and I know she has introduced her friends to Lulu Bell because she told me her school’s teacher librarian was wondering when the latest episodes would be available.  She was delighted when I told her that there would be a special Christmas one available in November.   So for a read of the more traditional kind that really speaks to this age group, this series should be on your library’s must-have list.  If it’s already part of your collection, then look for these new titles and tell the students they can find out more at her website.

 

Yirruwa Yirrilikenuma-langwa When We Go Walkabout

Apr4
Yirruwa Yirrilikenuma-langwa When We Go Walkabout

Yirruwa Yirrilikenuma-langwa When We Go Walkabout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yirruwa Yirrilikenuma-langwa When We Go Walkabout

Rhoda Lalara

Alfred Lalara

Allen & Unwin and The Little Big Book Club, 2014

hbk, RRP $A24.99

9781743314562

Yirruwa Yirrilikenuma-langwa, amiyembena yirrirringka yirruwa?
When we go walkabout, what do we see?

The beautiful landscapes are fauna of Groote Eylandt are brought to life in this unique dual-language picture book which introduces very young children to their unique surroundings.  There is the frill-necked lizard – dukwululuwawa – on the big rock; the green frog – dilyaburnda – in the billabong; the wallaby – yiburada – in the scrub and many more right through to the dingarrbiya and the yikurridangwa!! And then back home, after the walkabout is complete, there is someone special – the person who first introduced the author and illustrator to their environment and who inspired the book because they want to be able to share the wonders with their own grandchildren in time.

This is a remarkable book for many reasons…

Apart from the text written in both Anindilyakwa and English – the two-way learning that is the best way for indigenous children to become literate in both English and their mother-tongue – the artworks which are a collaboration between the illustrator Alfred Lalara and his wife Alice Durilla, are an integral part of passing on knowledge embedded in traditional stories and thus a critical part of the book as a whole.  The stories of how Alfred and his wife learned to paint in the traditional style, and Rhoda’s motive for writing When We Go Walkabout make fascinating reading at the end of the book.  Clearly it is one of those rare titles that entertains, informs and persuades at the same time.

The book itself is the first of the Emerging Indigenous Picture Book Mentoring Project a partnership between the Little Big Book Club and Allen & Unwin in which six previously unpublished Indigenous writers and illustrators will have their work showcased in four picture books during 2014.  Each creator has been partnered with a renowned mentor in children’s publishing including Nadia Wheatley, Ken Searle, Nick Bland, Ann James, Bronwyn Bancroft, Boori Monty Pryor and Ali Cobby Eckermann to share ideas, techniques and inspiration for their first published work. The project has been funded by the federal government through the Australia Council and it means that not only will our cohort of children’s writers be enriched but our students will have access to authentic texts that will work towards the understanding and harmony between our cultures that is at the heart of so many of the Australian Curriculum outcomes.

Even though the publishers suggest this is a book for the 0-5 brigade, Miss Nearly 8 and I shared and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It sparked a discussion about how other Australian children speak different languages and how much fun that could be and because we live where we do, we see some of the creatures like wallabies and cockatoos daily, we tried saying the new names we had learned.  It helped that we could listen to Rhoda Lara read it to us .  (There’s a QR code in the back of the book.) We also talked about how the story was written so the language and knowledge could be passed through the generations on Groote Eylandt and what she had learned from her grandmother (me) and what of that she might pass on to her own children.  That was a fascinating insight and showed that getting children to talk about such things is a critical way of helping them understand both their family history and their place in it.

Usually I give my review copies to a local school, but Miss Nearly 8 asked if she could have this one.  She wanted to read it again and think about it some more – and then write a story for her grandchildren!!  The best stories always go beyond the lines, and this has clearly done that.