Archive | November 2016

Big Picture Book Long Ago

Nov6
Big Picture Book of Long Ago

Big Picture Book  Long Ago

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Picture Book  Long Ago

Sam Baer

Wesley Robins

Usborne, 2016

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

9781409598725

Take a city, an English city, and then take a journey back through time and discover how people have lived and worked there over the centuries right back to its Stone Age camp beginnings.  

Interspersed with double-page spreads of how people travelled, what they wore and the structures they built, this is a Richard Scarry-esque picture book loaded with pictures and captions that will fascinate the young reader fascinated with history.  Or it might be the one that sparks an interest as the reader looks for the changes across the centuries and thinks about why they have occurred.

Even though it is very English-oriented, it could also be used as an introduction to compare the histories of Australia and England and examine why much of our life is still tied to that of the “Mother Country”, or comparing the Stone Age camp life with that of our traditional indigenous owners.  

More to this than meets the eye.

Ellyse Perry (series)

Nov5
Ellyse Perry (series)

Ellyse Perry (series)

 

 

 

 

 

Pocket Rocket
9780143781240

Magic Feet
9780143781264

Winning Touch
9780143781288

Double Time
9780143781301

Sherryl Clark with Ellyse Perry

Random House Australia, 2016

145pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

With the Southern Stars and the Women’s Big Bash League now getting greater coverage on prime time, mainstream television, the name of Ellyse Perry is becoming one that is widely known and recognised.  So it is pleasing to see a series of stories that focuses on her sporting career from the choices she had to make at high school through to her current success becoming a part of the literature available to newly independent readers.  While there have been other series of this ilk such as Glenn Maxwell and Billy Slater there have been very few focusing on the prowess of Australia’s female sports stars.  Ellyse who plays both soccer and cricket at the elite level is a wonderful focal point for inspiring young girls to continue their sport after they leave primary school and she shows that with care and good choices, you can do all that you want. Boys will also enjoy reading about one of Australia’s leading lights.

Pocket Rocket and Magic Feet are available now just in time for the Christmas stocking and Winning Touch and Double Time will be available in early January ready for the long January days after the excitement of Christmas is over and our children are looking for something new.

 

 

Usborne Illustrated Traditional Stories

Nov4
Usborne Illustrated Traditional Stories

Usborne Illustrated Traditional Stories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Usborne Illustrated Traditional Stories

Usborne 2016

256pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9781409596721

 

This is a collection of 17 stories from around the world that have been passed on from generation to generation so they are now part of our literature but which don’t fit into the fairytale classification.  Stories like The Boy who Cried Wolf, The Gingerbread Man, Baba Yaga and The Little red Hen sit alongside not-so-well-known ones like Tam Lin and The Fisherman and the Genie/

With lovely illustrations throughout and with a luxury padded hardback cover, this is one of those must-have volumes in your teacher’s toolkit that you can take out and share whenever there is a spare minute or two, continuing the tradition of passing them on to a new generation.  Newly independent readers will also enjoy them as the familiar stories,  larger font and short story format will make them an easy bedtime read.  

This series is filling a niche for younger readers that has been empty for some time .

Gris Grimly’s Tales from the Brothers Grimm

Nov3
Gris Grimly's Tales from the Brothers Grimm

Gris Grimly’s Tales from the Brothers Grimm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gris Grimly’s Tales from the Brothers Grimm

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Margaret Hunt

Gris Grimly

Balzer & Bray, 2016

288pp., hbk., RRP $A14.99

9780062352354

Way back when, fairy tales involving all sorts of terrifying, evil creatures that were all eventually defeated by the powers of good were told to children as a way of exhorting them to make the right choices and stay on the straight and narrow.  

In 1812 German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm began gathering and publishing the tales in a collection that eventually spanned seven volumes.  Right from the beginning there was criticism of their content because even though they were marketed as ‘children’s tales’ they were deemed too gruesome for children and changes were made so that some of the scarier elements were softened, such as making the wicked mothers of Snow White and Hansel and Gretel in stepmothers (an image which modern stepmothers still battle.) Over the years, more and more changes have been made with the myriad of interpretations and reprints until we have the more acceptable versions we have today.

But in this collection Gris Grimly, (an apt name) has faithfully reproduced the original text of forty one tales, some familiar and some not-so, and adorned them with his own inimitable artwork. “The result is a Grimm collection unlike any other, set in a world that is whimsically sinister, darkly vivid, and completely unforgettable.”

This is probably not a collection  that you would pick up and read to a Kindy kid as an introduction to fairy tales or a before-the-bell time-filler but it could be one to give a slightly older child who is craving the horror stories being read by older siblings or peers. It might also be the collection that you share if you are doing a comparison of versions of the same tale and how they have changed or been changed or if you are investigating childhood of different eras and want to look at the literature of the times and the purpose for it.  

Scary for some, sweet for others.

Gwendolyn

Nov2
Gwendolyn

Gwendolyn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gwendolyn

Juliette MacIver

Terri Rose Baynton

ABC Books, 2016

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

9780733335174

In a jungle full of jaguars, monkeys and parrots the last thing you expect to find is a penguin.  But there she is – Gwendolyn, the only penguin in the entire jungle, and she loves it all – the humidity, the glorious. colourful flowers and all the jungle creatures. .  She is such a novelty that she is friends with all the creatures and her positive personality always shines through.  When Jaguar complains that it is too hot, she tells him of the ice and snow in Antarctica; when Monkey complains that the bananas are too squishy she tells him there are no trees in Antarctica let alone banana trees; and when Parrot complains that he cannot find a wife despite his magnificent colours she tells him of the black and white colour scheme of Antarctica.  

Even though all this wise advice makes her friends feel good, it starts to make Gwendolyn yearn for her natural home, a place she has never been to.  And so off she goes on a long, arduous journey eventually arriving exhausted but happy to be there and to meet other penguins and to find her own identity.  There is much fun to be had sliding and diving but…

This is a clever story that explores the concepts of being different, being positive and making the most of things written in a context that will appeal to young readers – although their adult helpers might have to be quick off the mark when the child inevitably asks, “How did she get to be in the jungle? ”  Her constant encouragement to have her friends look on the bright side  could become a refrain for the children when things get a bit tough for them as they ask themselves, “What would Gwendolyn do?” and having sought a solution, move on.  Building the foundations of resilience.

Baynton’s illustrations are clear and detailed and there is much to discover in them as the book is shared while her portrayal of Gwendolyn is endearing.  Young children might like to follow these instructions  to draw Gwendolyn and then use collage or other techniques to place her in either her jungle home or her Antarctic one.  

Classic Nursery Rhymes

Nov1
Classic Nursery Rhymes

Classic Nursery Rhymes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classic Nursery Rhymes

L. Edna Walter

Lucy E. Broadwood

Dorothy M. Wheeler

Bloomsbury, 2016

104pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9781472932389

Even though it’s 2016, almost 2017, there is something about a superbly crafted , beautifully bound book of traditional nursery rhymes that tugs at the heartstrings and takes older adults back to their childhood.  And even though it’s 2016, almost 2017 they are rhymes that are still taught to our little ones today – some new but most very familiar.  They are part of the traditions that we hand on from generation to generation regardless of the numbers on a calendar.

Published to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the original, it is illustrated using the original watercolour-and-ink illustrations of Dorothy M. Wheeler who also did the original illustrations for many of Enid Blyton’s books.  With her eye for detail, and a soft pastel palette the illustrations bring the rhymes to life showing life at the time she knew it when the rhymes were learned at Nanny’s knee as joyful little ditties and no one delved too far into their origins and meaning.  Each is featured on a double page spread, the full rhyme on one page and a full-colour illustration surrounded by exquisite line work on the other.  To complete the package the music for each is included at the back of the book, just ready for little fingers to play.

This would make a great gift for anyone with a new baby in the offing – the perfect foundation for their first library that will become a treasured heirloom.