Archive | February 2023

The Odd Fish

Feb8
The Odd Fish

The Odd Fish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Odd Fish

Naomi Jones

James Jones 

Farshore, 2022

32pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

 9780755504428

When Little Fish and her family encounter an odd new fish bobbing along on its own, they embark on an exciting journey to reunite it with its family. But young readers will immediately see what Little Fish cannot – that Odd Fish is a plastic bottle and just an infinitesimal piece of the millions of tonnes of plastic that find their way into waterways and oceans each year and which have also entangled Octopus and given Turtle a tummy ache because they can’t tell the difference either. 

The issue of everlasting plastic objects in our oceans is becoming one of the hottest environmental problems both for the planet and the curriculum, so this story which draws direct connections between action and consequence for young readers is important in bringing it down to a level that they can understand and appreciate.  And thus they can be empowered to do something, no matter how small that might seem.  

Created as a consequence of the authors watching Blue Planet II  with their young family, as well as building awareness of what might happen if we throw that bottle in the water it offers suggestions for ways that even they can do their little bit, even if it’s just collecting their soft drink bottles and taking them to the recycling centre, perhaps even taking advantage of the Container Deposit Scheme. 

Apart from building awareness of the global implications of the environmental issue, this would also be a good text for examining the authors’ purpose for writing and how the text has been created to spread a particular message to a particular audience…

Bears Don’t Cry!

Feb7
Bears Don't Cry!

Bears Don’t Cry!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bears Don’t Cry!

Emma Chichester Clark

HarperCollins, 2023

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

 9780008491833

George is no ordinary bear. He lives with a little girl called Clementine and her mother, who have taught him to read! There was nothing he liked more than to sit in the garden and read once he’d helped out around the house because, next to reading, being useful was his favourite thing to do.

One day, when George finishes his book early and knows it will be a long time before Clementine and her mother return home, he decides to go the library by himself. At first it’s exciting to stroll along the sunny street. But poor George’s trip soon ends in disaster because not everyone can cope with seeing a large brown bear walking down the street, and, to make things worse, his library book is ruined. Do bears really cry? Can anyone help George to feel better when his feelings are hurt?

This is a heart-warming story for young readers who probably wouldn’t blink if they saw a bear walking down the street and they certainly wouldn’t carry on like the townspeople.  But it is also a timely reminder that some of the things that we say and do can hurt other’s feelings, even if that is not our intention, and so we need to think before we speak or act and be sensitive to the feelings of those around us.  For little ones who are so egocentric this is something they have to learn and so this, apart from being just a grand read-together, is a great discussion starter. 

Rocks, Fossils and Formations

Feb6
Rocks, Fossils and Formations

Rocks, Fossils and Formations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rocks, Fossils and Formations

Thomas R. H. Woolrych

Anna Madeleine Raupach

CSIRO Publishing, 2023

120pp., pbk., RRP $A29.99

9781486310968 

Travel the road between Cooma and Jindabyne in the NSW Snowy Mountains and you will see the most amazing rock formations that are as old as the planet itself.  Go to New Zealand’s South Island and visit the boulders scattered along Moeraki Beach.  Go anywhere in the world and you will discover the most amazing rocks and formations that spark questions such as how old they might be, how did they get there, why are they that colour, shape, texture and could they contain some unknown mineral or fossil treasure?

Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand

Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand

This new publication from CSIRO Publishing is an introduction to geoscience, which uses clues in rocks and the landscape to tell the story of the Earth. It’s a story so old and so fascinating that it’s almost hard to believe – except that the evidence can be seen all around us! It takes readers on a 4.6-billion-year-long time travel adventure to explore rocks, minerals and fossils, meet ancient plants and animals, and discover how the continent of Australia was created!

Beginning with an explanation of what geoscience is, it then navigates a 4.6 billion year history beginning with when the planet was a ball of molten magma exploring the geological timeline , enabling the independent reader who wants more than an introduction or overview be “in the driver’s seat of a time machine” so that there is a better understanding of the continent and its surrounding oceans that support our lives and lifestyles. Big-picture questions are addressed such as 

  • Has our continent always been the way it is today?
  • What is the size and shape of our continent and the surrounding sea floor? What is our continent made of?
  • How old is our continent and when did the different parts of it begin to form? What are the clues that tells us thee things?
  • Why do we live where we live? Why is this town or city here?
  • Does the way that Earth works make it safe to live here?

While it is more for the upper primary/ secondary student, with its accessible text, photographs and diagrams, it is one that will appeal to any reader who has an interest in this subject, perhaps a stepping stone for all those who are deeply inspired by the reign of the dinosaurs and want to know so much more than just the habits and habitats of those creatures and delve into even bigger secrets. Who knows what new careers might be launched! 

 

Easy Peasy

Feb5
Easy Peasy

Easy Peasy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy Peasy

Ky Garvey

Amy Calautti

EK Books, 2023

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

9781922539441 

When her dad gives her a pair of shiny, sparkly red roller skates for her birthday, Ruby is thrilled and can’t wait to try them out because she thinks roller-skating will be easy-peasy.  She rejects her dad’s offers of help even though she spends a lot of time wibbling and wobbling and crashing.  Luckily, she has all her safety gear on so her injuries are minimal although her pride is hurt and that night, instead of taking the skates to bed she throws them in the cupboard. Will she abandon them altogether, or will she be prepared to take her dad’s offer of help?

This is a story of resilience and perseverance as well as accepting that we can’t all be good at everything we try immediately.  That some things take instruction and practise and we need to be willing to put in the effort needed if we are to move forward and master the skill.  Sadly, some of our students have never experienced failure and so haven’t learned Ruby’s lessons yet, so this is a worthwhile discussion starter particularly as a new school year begins.  Growing and learning involves embracing new challenges and working at them one step at a time to maser them, understanding that mistakes are just opportunities to learn and develop.  Ruby can leave her new skates in the cupboard and never try again, or maybe she can have another go and discover a whole new world of friends and adventures. 

 

 

Pow Pow Pig 4: Loch Ness Adventure

Feb4
Pow Pow Pig 4: Loch Ness Adventure

Pow Pow Pig 4: Loch Ness Adventure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pow Pow Pig 4: Loch Ness Adventure

Anh Do

Peter Cheong

A&U Children’s,  202

224pp., pbk., RRP $A15.99

9781761068867

It is the year 2050 and the world is in trouble. In 2030 the rich animals of the world voted to stop helping the poor and as they became richer, forever seeking bigger and better while discarding their unwanted things instead of sharing them, creating a huge amount of waste.  And then the fighting started.

But all is not lost and Piccolo Pig (aka Pow Pow Pig) , inspired by his parents’ role model has yearned to join CHOC (Creatures Helping Other Creatures) to help make the world a better place through small acts of kindness. So as soon as he was old enough he joined, and now, after three years of training it’s Graduation Day. But he and his friends Danielle Duck (aka King Fu Duck), Chelsea Chicken (aka Cha Cha Chicken) and Barry the Goat (aka Barry the Goat) are not in the A Team but the Z Team.  So they are the last to be picked when it comes to world-saving missions,

So when a call comes in and they are the only ones left, it is up to them to save the situation.  Although they live in 2050, they have time machine that allows them to travel back in time but sometimes it doesn’t work as it should.

In this , the fourth in this series from the ever-popular Anh Do, the team has to retrieve their special camera from the monster that swallowed it and find themselves in Scotland in 1845.

More for younger independent readers as it has all the attributes required to support their transition to novels including a larger font, a light-handed layout and many illustrations, But, as with his other series embedded in the thoroughly modern characters, action, adventure and humour, there is an underlying message that gives the story more than just fleeting entertainment value. By making the heroes creatures often associated with being underdogs and having them as the Z Team , readers can learn that success can take many forms, that not all battles are won with might and power – a tea towel and a broom can be very effective when used cleverly – and that the desire to do well has to come from within. They can also visit other time periods in an exciting adventure, providing a gentle step into the concept of history and offering an insight into life in those times that is much more fun that facts and figures.

Anh Do is a prolific storyteller, and one of our most popular currently, and those who enjoyed the first two will be thrilled there is now another with more promised. Young readers will be delighted that there is a new one available to ease them into the new school year. 

Colonial Settlement: France vs Britain

Feb3
Colonial Settlement: France vs Britain

Colonial Settlement: France vs Britain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colonial Settlement: France vs Britain

What If History of Australia (series)

Craig Cormick

Cheri Hughes

Big Sky, 2022

190pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9781922615763

As the dust begins to settle on the media coverage of the controversy over the date, events and perceptions of Australia Day, as the debate and  vote on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice  referendum  gathers momentum, it will flare up again and again. 

But had Captain Cook not landed here in 1770 and claimed this land for the British, would it have been left untouched by all except the First Nations people until now? What if Captain Cook’s ship sank when it hit the Great Barrier Reef in 1770? And what if the French settled Australia first? And what if King Louis 16th and Napoleon both ended up here, fighting over who was the rightful ruler in exile? And then the British arrived…

This is a new series (the second focuses on the gold rush) that looks at Australia’s history through a different lens, posing those alternative questions that we encourage students to ask as they delve deeper into common topics and start to form their own opinions.  As well as posing the questions, it also explores the possible answers such as what if John Batman’s treaty with the indigenous peoples of what is now Melbourne was legitimate and other treaties were initiated because of it. What if La Perouse had beaten the First Fleet into Port Jackson, would the aristocrats fleeing the French Revolution have settled here, including King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

While it is intended as a humorous look at times past, nevertheless it provides a lot of information not usually found in more traditional historical texts, and its value in encouraging our students to pose alternative questions and consider what might occur if there were a different outcome has value across all branches of the curriculum.  If we are to encourage them to be creative and critical learners  then they must have access to model texts that do this.  While it is more for those who are mentally mature enough to put themselves in the shoes of others and consider different points of view, it definitely has a place in both the primary and secondary school libraries. 

 

Friday Barnes: Last Chance

Feb2
Friday Barnes: Last Chance

Friday Barnes: Last Chance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Barnes: Last Chance

R. A. Spratt

Puffin, 2023

288pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9780143779247

Friday Barnes is the daughter of two highly-intelligent, eccentric physicists who are so disconnected from her upbringing that they called her Friday even though she was born on a Thursday.  She did have four siblings, all much older than her being born during the four-and-a-half years their mother had allocated for the task.  Friday was not scheduled and her birth was fitted in around a lecture her mother had to give in Switzerland.  Eleven years later, Friday had largely raised herself and she was happy with that.  Her greatest wish was to be unnoticed because you could do so much more that way like eating a whole block of chocolate at once without it being taken off you.    Unfortunately, it also means that you do not develop very good social skills particularly if you spend your time reading scientific tomes and educating yourself beyond the realms of anything a school could offer.

However, as well as the non-fiction her parents library consisted of, Friday had a penchant for detective novels because “being a detective allowed a person a licence to behave very eccentrically indeed” and she had honed her powers of observation and logical thought over the years.  But the time has now come for Friday to go to high school and given her parents haven’t even realised she is no longer in preschool, it was up to her to sort it.  She would have preferred not to go at all because she saw it as being all about “bullying, dodge ball and having to find a date for the prom” but the government was insistent that she do.  She tried to compromise by applying for university and passed the exam to study medicine but was knocked back on her age. 

So rejecting the idea of the Foreign Legion, the Peace Corps and being smuggled out of the country by people traffickers, after helping her ex-cop, private investigator Uncle Bernie solve a case she finds herself with the means to send herself to Highcrest Academy the best and most expensive boarding school in the whole country.  Her intention is to stay under the radar, do what she has to do and leave.  But things do not work out that way.  Right from the start, her nondescript self-imposed uniform of brown cardigans, grey t-shirts and blue jeans makes her stand out among the fashion parade that is the elite, wealthy students who also attend and being knocked down in the carpark on the first day doesn’t help either. Nor does being the brightest student in the entire school, being labelled “scholarship girl” by the school bully and being unable to help herself being able to point out the flaws and inaccuracies in the conversation and presentations of others. Antagonising the handsome, previously-smartest student Ian Wainscott adds to her woes, particularly when her roommate, the not-so-bright Melanie insists there is a romance blooming, something that Friday scoffs at. But their paths have already been inextricably interwoven…

Now, Friday, Melanie and Ian are Paris and they are discovering that the art scene is a hot-bed of crime as they investigate a mystery surrounding the Mona Lisa. Is the painting hanging in The Louvre a fake? And where is the original?

This is the 11th in this series  that was first published in 2014 and which quickly became a favourite among those looking for a story that had some meat to it with a heroine they could relate to, including Ms Then-8. Since then Friday’s adventures and escapades have garnered a wide and increasing audience, including Ms Now 16 who will be thrilled to get this one despite being eight years older.  But as well as the established fan base, this is such a timeless and quality series  the beginning of the school year is the perfect time to introduce it to a new generation of independent readers who not only have 10 others to fill their reading calendar but also another episode to look forward to in 2024.  Even if they read nothing else this year, this is a solid foundation for the future. 

Pollination

Feb1
Pollination

Pollination

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pollination – How Does My Garden Grow?

Chris Cheng

Danny Snell

CSIRO Publishing, 2023

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

9781486313235

When you live high up in an apartment in the city, it can be easy to take things like your food and clothing for granted, but take a trip to your grandparents in the suburbs and your eyes can be opened and your thinking changed entirely!

For even though young city kids might now know that bees are important, in this intriguing book they learn not only of the bees’ critical role in the survival of the planet as they flit from flower to flower, but also all the other pollinators who carry the precious gold dust – appropriate that it is gold, in the scheme of things – from plant to plant, not only providing food for humans but also for their own kind so that the cycle can continue on.  So, just as pollination itself is essential to the survival of the world’s ecosystems, so it is essential that we protect the pollinators.  As the child learns, something as simple as placing a bright-coloured flower in a pot on a balcony can contribute.

Linked to the Science strand of the Australian Curriculum, particularly the Biological Sciences understanding that “Living things grow, change and have offspring similar to themselves ” as well as being used in conjunction with Bee Detectives,  Plantastic,The Butterfly and the Ants     and Wonderful Wasps, this is an excellent foundation for helping our youngest readers understand a concept that many adults wouldn’t believe they could even pronounce!

Extra notes and some suggestions at the end of the story offer further information as well as some ideas for the best plants to put in a “Pollinators Paradise” if the school were to go down the path of creating a special, year-round garden to attract and protect the local pollinators.  Imagine the investigations that would spark…