Archive | October 2022

A Dinosaur A Day

A Dinosaur A Day

A Dinosaur A Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Dinosaur A Day

Miranda Smith

Jenny Wren et al

Farshore, 2022

234pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9780755501793

Triceratops, brontosaurus, stegosaurus and of course, tyrannosaurus rex – all names that the youngest child will tell you if you ask them to name some dinosaurs.  But what if they could explore a new dinosaur for every day of the year, and still just be touching on the diversity of these fascinating creatures that roamed the planet for more than 160 million years?

This new collection about these creatures that continue to build wonder and wonderment, is more than your usual anthology because it offers the young reader an introduction to a new dinosaur every day of the year, including important information about the time period it existed, where it lived, who its relatives were, what it ate and the usual weight and length.  With each month organised by categories such as size, diet, speed, weaponry and so on, it offers many new names to spruik and readers will have fun discovering which one is featured on their own birthday – I share mine with Qantassaurus (named after the airline) a speedy, two metre biped of the early Cretaceous period that dined on the plants of the Flat Rocks fossil site near Inverloch (Strzelecki Ranges) on the southern Victorian coast about 150 km south-east of Melbourne (co-incidentally one of my favourite spots in Australia!). And just like the readers of this book will be, I was inspired to find out more , increasing both my knowledge and my reading skills.  My husband, on the other hand, is associated with the masiakasaurus of Africa… 

So as well as expanding the child’s knowledge of these creatures which includes explanations of how they came to be and why they disappeared, it is easy to see how this is one of those books that will lead to further and deeper reading making it a most valuable addition to the section of the collection that never loses its appeal.  

Nice Garry (series)

Nice Garry (series)

Nice Garry (series)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice Garry (series)

Bowled Over 

9781460761342

In A Spin

9781460761359

Michael Wagner, Nathan Lyon

David Williams

HarperCollins, 2022

192pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

On the eve of the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, this is a new series featuring renowned spin bowler Nathan Lyon that is going to appeal to young cricket loving readers. While Lyon himself will be in the commentary box this year (although he is determined to be good enough again to make it into the Australian T20 side), nevertheless the comments of “Nice, Garry” will be heard on the cricket pitch in other formats as the season wears on.

Inspired by the talent and passion Australian Test cricketing great Nathan Lyon has for the game, nicknamed Garry after AFL star Garry Lyon, this is the story of an ordinary kid with an extraordinary gift, but the talented 10-year-old discovers that sometimes gifts like his can present new, unexpected challenges that have to be faced.  

Following in the format of other sports series which focus on leading lights in a variety of codes, readers not only learn about their heroes and tips and tricks of the games they play, but also what it takes to be both a leader and a team member and that sometimes being really good at a particular thing is not always enough.  There are responsibilities that come with the rewards.

As well as being one to hand to the aspiring young cricketers, it is also one to hand to the reluctant reader who has to read it and decide whether it is a series worth purchasing for the library’s collection.  Among all the other series available, what will make this one stand out and appeal to many, making it a worthwhile investment?  

 

Willa and Woof 2: Birthday Business

Willa and Woof 2: Birthday Business

Willa and Woof 2: Birthday Business

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Willa and Woof 2: Birthday Business

Jacqueline Harvey

Puffin, 2022

128pp., pbk., RRP $A 12.99

9781761043321

Willa’s best old-age-friend Frank hates birthdays, but that’s not going to stop her from throwing him the greatest surprise party ever!

Willa plunges headlong into party planning and things immediately start to go wrong. Why don’t older people look forward to and celebrate birthdays as enthusiastically as the young?  She’ll need all her problem-solving skills (with the help of Tae, her best same-age friend, and her trusty sidekick Woof) to save the celebration!

Can Willa pull off the surprise?

This is the second in this new series from popular Jacqueline Harvey, with the third, Grandparents for Hire due in January, ensuring young readers do not have to wait long between reads for the next episode to whet their appetite.  As with the first, it is created for younger readers who are consolidating their skills and need quality writing, interesting characters and relatable plots, supported by short chapters, a larger font and illustrations.  

In my review of the first one, Mimi is MissingI suggested offering it to a reluctant reader and asking them to read it and assess whether it will be worth buying the additions that follow, and so this could be the consolidation read – is the series living up to expectations?  To extend their thinking, you could invite them to think about what more they learned about the characters in this new story and have them build a summary of characters such as this, so others can get to know them and follow the relationships…

This could then become part of a bigger display called Select-A-Series created by students summarising their own favourite series to persuade others to extend their reading horizons, as well as giving real purpose and context for reading as they become more critical readers, encouraged to pause and think about what they are reading rather than skimming the pages and looking for what’s next.   To add depth it could become part of a poll to find the most popular series for the year, making and building on the display for the entire year ensuring student-centred learning and participation.  

Federal Minister for Education Jason Clare is currently spruiking a proposal for providing teachers with lesson plans, returning to a cookie-cutter approach that focuses on the subject rather than the student, so this could be a way of providing something that meets curriculum outcomes but in a highly personalised way, 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Very First Encyclopedia

The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Very First Encyclopedia

The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Very First Encyclopedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Very First Encyclopedia

DK, 2022

32pp., hbk., RRP $A39.99

9780241586426

Even though families may no longer invest hundreds of dollars into impressive looking encyclopedia sets when their children are little, nevertheless it is handy to have a general reference book that can give deeper information to answer their interminable questions in language they can understand than any click-and-collect site.  And if that book features a well-loved book character like the Very Hungry Caterpillar, so much the better because they learn as much about the power of print as they do about the topic they seek.  

They learn that this is a resource they can go to time and time again and it is always there; that they have the power to navigate it and read it for themselves when they are ready; and that what they see remains constant with no distracting eye candy trying to sell them something or push a point of view. 

Each chapter focuses on a different theme, with a new topic every time you turn the page. Bite-size chunks of information are complemented by captivating illustrations by the World of Eric Carle, eye-catching photography, and simple how-it-works diagrams, while pull-out images and facts provide extra nuggets of interest. Young learners can find out all about light and sound, the planets in the Solar System, how plants grow, and much, much more in this one-of-a-kind introduction to subjects that they are interested in, offering enough information to satisfy their immediate curiosity, which is the purpose of encyclopedias, and providing the springboard for them to explore further if they wish.  

This would be the perfect gift that will far outlive almost any of the towel sets and nappy caddies and so forth that are usually given to new mothers, and will have a much more profound influence on the child.  One to treasure and to keep. 

 

Digging Up Dad And Other Hopeful (And Funny) Stories

Digging Up Dad

Digging Up Dad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digging Up Dad

And Other Hopeful (And Funny) Stories

Morris Gleitzman

Puffin, 2022

256pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781760890940

Over 30 years ago, Morris Gleitzman was so overtaken by an idea for a story that he says came from nowhere that by the time the afternoon was up he had the outline completed and the journey of Two Weeks with the Queen had begun. Not only was it life-changing for Morris, but it had a profound effect on children’s literature at the time for while there were many authors writing wonderful stories for young readers, this one was contemporary, featured characters and situations that resonated with its audience, and his way with words appealed to boys who were on the cusp of being able to read but turning away from it as a leisure time activity.  

As well as a host of other novels, his iconic Once  and Toad series, Boy Overboard and Girl Underground, and his collaborations with Paul Jennings, Gleitzman has also written anthologies of short stories including Snot Chocolate , Pizza Cake , Give Peas a Chance, and Funny Stories and Other Funny Stories Digging up Dad is the latest addition to that collection and once again, readers are treated to short stories that are contemporary, realistic, real-life incidents that focus on children helping adults to be their best selves.  The title story is particularly poignant as Rose battles the problem of having to leave their rented house – the only home she has ever known – and leave her dad behind because his ashes are scattered in the garden. 

Gleitzman says he enjoys writing short stories. “You get to play with enjoyable and interesting and sometimes silly ideas that are not quite big enough for a longer work. Perhaps ‘not quite big enough’ isn’t the right way of saying it. Perhaps ‘not quite sensible and believable enough’ is closer. Some short stories grow out of very big ideas, but when you’re only asking readers to hang in for a few pages you can present those ideas in a slightly more exaggerated and comedic way. In a way that, if stretched over a couple of hundred pages, might well have readers thinking, hang on, that’s not very believable and not even that funny any more.”

And so are they perfect for readers who need a break from intense novels, often analysed until there is no enjoyment left, or who just want a short interlude from life while they re-gather their thoughts.  Teachers also love them because they’re perfect for filling in those final few minutes and with Gleitzman’s work, you know you are presenting quality literature that is likely to build a taste for his other works.  

There is a reason that books by Morris Gleitzman did not stay on the shelves and there was always a long reserves list;  why he won the Young Australian Readers’ Award in 2002 for Boy Overboard among many other awards over time; and why, 20 years on, he is still writing for kids and entertaining and delighting them.  If your students haven’t met him yet, then now is the time to ensure they do. 

 

 

Quickly Slowly Day

Quickly Slowly Day

Quickly Slowly Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quickly Slowly Day

Martin Baynton

Rob Foote

Little Steps, 2022

32pp., pbk., RRP $A16.95

9781922678515

Slowly up the steep steps, quickly down the slide

Slowly count to twenty, quickly try to hide.

The passage of time is one of the most abstract and difficult concepts for little children to understand, particularly when some things seem to pass quickly while others drag on and on. So this rhyming story featuring Baby Bear and his Mama introduces them to the vocabulary of ‘quickly’ and ‘slowly’ by sharing a day and showing the difference between the two terms.  Not only will young children relate to the activities, but they could also have fun classifying which of their own activities would be in the ‘quickly’ column and which in the ‘slowly’. This could be extended to embrace means of transport or animal movement, all the while consolidating and extending vocabulary in an interactive way.

This is another story evolving from The Book Hungry Bears television show in which the main characters share picture books, hungry to learn all they can from those they settle down to share together. With so much screen-based interaction for our littlies, taking the time to share a story and discuss it with them, is critical so they learn about the constancy of print and the potential that the stories offer, and particularly that they can return to them time and time again and even build their own stories.  

Slowly choose a book, slowly read the pages,

Slowly share the words, Let’s make this last for ages.

 

You are Loved

You are Loved

You are Loved

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are Loved

Liv Downing

Mel Matthews

Albert Street, 2022

36pp., board book., RRP $A24.99

9781760878146

You are loved when you win the race.
You are loved when you don’t.
You are loved when you brush your teeth.
You are loved when you won’t.

You are loved all the days and nights,
in sunshine and in rain.
And if you forget, put your hand on your heart
and feel the love again.

This board book with clever, colourful cutouts affirms and reassures young children that they are loved, no matter what. In  conversations with the grown-ups in their lives they can learn that even though their behaviour is sometimes frustrating, nevertheless the person they are is still loved and treasured. 

If children grow up thinking themselves unworthy of love, then the seeds of poor mental health are sown from the get-go and because so many little ones blame themselves for parental discord this is a message that sadly, many need to hear and adults need to remind themselves of.  The connections we make with those who are embedded in our lives are critical for physical and emotional health and the more we can offer our little ones this reassurance, the better.  

How We Came to Be: Surprising Sea Creatures

How We Came to Be: Surprising Sea Creatures

How We Came to Be: Surprising Sea Creatures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How We Came to Be: Surprising Sea Creatures

Sami Bayly

Lothian Children’s, 2022

32pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9780734421364

Just as Earth’s atmosphere has five major zones –  troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere – so do it’s oceans-sunlight, twilight, midnight, the abyss, and the trenches – and within each live very different creatures, each adapted to the particular light, depth and temperature of the water they live in.  

“Evolution is the process of a living thing changing over millions of years to survive better in their environment and ensure their species continues” and in this stunning book by Sami Bayly, known to many of our younger readers as the creator of The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly AnimalsThe Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals and The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature, we are taken on a voyage far below the sparkling surface to discover what lives there and why they are the way they are. 

In her special diving suit Sami takes the reader to the various layers, acting as a narrator interacting with the inhabitants in speech-bubble conversations while short fact boxes are scattered like bubbles to explain various phenomena that she encounters – sadly, including plastic bags in the very depths  of the darkness. 

In the first few weeks of this year, I reviewed a number of books  that focused on the origins of this planet and those that share it, and this is another to add to that collection.  With such an emphasis on environment and sustainability in our everyday lives,  if we are to have any hope of children growing up with a desire to protect what they have then they need to understand it and how it works – what they can’t see as well as what they can. Sami Bayly has made a significant contribution to both that collection and to that knowledge, and this is no exception – it’s a fascinating read even if the underwater world is not your scene.

(A category search of this blog for ‘environment and sustainability” will offer many suggestions to grow their knowledge).

 

 

Busy Betty

Busy Betty

Busy Betty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy Betty

Reese Witherspoon

Xindi Yan

Puffin, 2022

40pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9781761047480

Busy Betty has always been busy . . . even when she was just a baby!

When Betty gives Frank  the dog a big hug, she realizes he needs a bath, PRONTO! Her best friend, Mae, is coming over, and Betty can’t have the smelliest dog in the whole world! But giving Frank a bath is harder than she thought and just when everything seems impossible, with Mae’s help, Betty learns she can accomplish anything with perseverance, teamwork, and one great idea.

As a reviewer for children’s reading, I’m always wary of stories by those whose names are well-known for things other than writing stories for children – so often it is the name selling the book, rather than the quality of the story.  So it was a pleasant surprise to read a story that stands by itself and which will appeal to those who tend to get distracted easily.  Betty’s mind is always busy, with one thought leading to another and her actions following so that nothing ever gets done, or if it does, it isn’t done well.  In a time of instant gratification with the expectation that everything will be available in the flick of a click; when children’s lives seem to be so organised and busy and to sit and daydream or wonder or imagine is seen as time-wasting, this is a timely reminder that we need to learn to slow down and literally smell the roses.  To focus on one thing and enjoy the process as well as the product.  To focus to finish and enjoy the doing as much as the done.  To make and take the time to enjoy this story that moves along at break-neck speed and think about what it (and Betty) are telling us.  

Time to put the mindfulness techniques into play, breathe and enjoy. 

Frankie Stein

Frankie Stein

Frankie Stein

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frankie Stein

Kylie Covark

Shane McG

Ford Street, 2022

32pp., pbk.,  RRP $A16.95

9781922696120

Frankie Stein loves doing science experiments while her teddy watches on. She wishes she could chat with him … she’s sure he’s a bear with scientific flair!

But when she mixes up a formula that works, and Bear comes alive, he is not the friendly, cuddly companion she is expecting! Now it’s a race to fix him before everything is destroyed.

With strong links to the original novel by Mary Shelley, this is a junior rhyming version with an underlying theme of being careful what you wish for.  Like the original, it is the scientist not the monster with the familiar name, and the teachers’ notes explain the amazing link between Mary Shelley and Ada Lovelace and why October 12 is set aside to celebrate the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) (and the date chosen to publish this review.)

The teaching notes also focus on assisting our younger readers to think about what scientists  do, science in their lives, and offer some simple science that they can practise that is much safer than creating a monster bear.  The story could start discussions about the reality of monsters in general. Could Frankie Stein really make a potion to bring her bear to life, regardless of how clever she is?  Or it may also inspire more advanced readers to seek out a junior version of the original novel while others might like to investigate the meaning of the original’s subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. It could also start discussions about the reality of monsters in general. Could Frankie Stein really make a potion to bring her bear to life, regardless of how clever she is? Whichever path is taken, it offers an introduction to one of the enduring characters in literature that children will hear of as their reading journeys continue.

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