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Alexander’s Outing

Jun16
Alexander's Outing

Alexander’s Outing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alexander’s Outing

Pamela Allen

Puffin, 2025

30pp., board book., RRP $A14.99

9781761355134

When Alexander’s mother decided to take her little tribe of ducklings on an adventure across the city because she was bored, she told them to ‘Stay close, take care.”  But Alexander did not stay close and he did not take care. He straggled behind with his head in the air – and disappeared down a deep dark hole.

How on earth will they get him out?

Thirty years ago, Kiwi author Pamela Allen first offered this title for young readers to love and laugh at, and ponder over how they would rescue Alexander.  And now it is time for them to share that delight and puzzle with their own children as it is re-issued in sturdy board book format.  With its endearing characters, and a subtle message about staying close to mum, today’s littlies will get just as much joy from it as the language rolls off the tongue and they suggest wonderful ways that they would use to save Alexander from his predicament.  

There is a reason that this and others like Mr Archimedes’ Bath (1980), Who Sank the Boat? (1982) and all her other books including , of course, the intrepid Mr McGee  have endured for over 40 years and can be counted as classics.  So many of today’s readers are readers because they were introduced to the magic of story through Allen’s works, and now is the time and opportunity to pay that forward to the next generation. 

The Travelling Bookshop: Mim and the Mother Muddle

Jun7
The Travelling Bookshop: Mim and the Mother Muddle

The Travelling Bookshop: Mim and the Mother Muddle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Travelling Bookshop: Mim and the Mother Muddle

Katrina Nannestad

Cheryl Orsini

ABC Books, 2025

240pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9780733343124

Imagine being a young girl travelling the world in an old wooden caravan pulled by a horse that decides where they will go and which seems to have magical powers that mean borders and mountains and oceans are no barriers.  And that caravan is full of books, because it, too, has a magic that means that it is like a Tardis with so much more on the inside than appears on the outside. 

That is the life of 10-year-old Miriam-Rose Cohen (who prefers Mim), her father and little brother Nat, Coco the cockatoo and Flossy the horse.  Led by Flossy’s instinct, they travel to wherever they are needed, wherever there is a child in need of a book to make their world right again because “the line between books and real life is not as clear as people suppose.”

In this, the sixth in this series, Mim has arrived in n Salzburg — the city of Mozart and mountains, gardens and castles, Sacher torte and sausages, new people, new matches and new magic . But more importantly, it is where her mum is recovering from a nasty bump on the head.  But when they spot her in the crowd, she doesn’t remember them at all! How will they help her recover their memory and be a family again?  Can their usual practice of healing people by giving them the right book at the right time work when it’s so personal?  

This is the ideal series for young independent readers to engross themselves in as they follow Mim’s adventures and perhaps even wish they were her.  Is it the final though?  Or are there more detours as they make their way back to Vienna?  It is an ideal collection to show that you really can “Book an Adventure’ through stories, not just through rising along with Mim through Europe but also because it can lead to other series like  Pages & Co which is for slightly older, more confident readers, and which, itself, could lead them to a new author with a new series, Losing the Plot.  Or maybe just to the other brilliant tales of this wonderful author. Whichever path is followed, they are guaranteed many hours of being oblivious to the world. 

Frog, Log and Dave Almost Save the Day

May14
Frog, Log and Dave Almost Save the Day

Frog, Log and Dave Almost Save the Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frog, Log and Dave Almost Save the Day

Trent Jamieson

Brent Wilson

Penguin, 2025

168pp., graphic novel, RRP $A18.99

9781761347061

Frog is a speed fiend, D.I.Y. mechanic and the Queen of Guitar Shredding.  Log is strong and silent, hates termites and sings, while Dave is friendly and loyal, can fetch anything and is known as the King of Bass Slapping. Together they form a group called The Tricycles who are driven from gig to gig in a can they call Excalivan  by their one fan, Jeremy, a pigeon.

 But when they lose their instruments to a lightning strike in a storm, they have to become delivery drivers in order to earn some money to replace them, and their first job is for Count Evil von Evil who bears a serious grudge against Town Hall because he was fired by them.  While the town is trying to gain the award for the ‘most pollution-free city in the world’, the Count is plotting revenge with his Pollutobomb and wants FLD Deliveries to take the ticking parcel to its destination.  Needless to say, The Tricycles find themselves having to try to persuade the Count not to explode his bomb. But given the title includes “almost” there is no guarantee they will be successful.

This is another modern graphic novel that moves along at a fast clip with all the energy, chaos, humour and surprises that young readers like embedded in both the text and the illustrations, yet still relying on the familiar themes of friendship, being accepted and caring for the environment that keep the characters anchored to the here-and -now and enabling the reader to feel connected to them. It doesn’t matter that the heroes are not humans – all the tropes of the classic good versus evil theme are there, but in a very modern scenario, setting and format.  

The second in this series for younger independent readers, A Brush with Evil, will be released in September, and there is an insightful interview with the Brisbane-based creators here. 

Another way to get young readers to book an adventure.

How to Sail to Somewhere

May9
How to Sail to Somewhere

How to Sail to Somewhere

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Sail to Somewhere

Ashleigh Barton

Lothian, 2025

276pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9780734423627 

Beatrice Glass – Bea – lives in the tiny fishing village of Willow that is sleepy all year until the summertime, when the tourists flock in and most of the locals leave. Bea’s parents are among the few who stay but she seldom sees them because they always seem to be at work, and so Bea has to fill in the long days by herself. Usually she doesn’t mind because summer is also when Bea’s favourite person in the entire world, her uncle Byron, comes to stay, full of fun and ideas for good times..

On their last day together the previous summer, Byron had given Bea an intriguing antique book containing a map of Somewhere, a mysterious island off the coast, and promised that next summer they’d sail to Somewhere together for their best adventure yet.  That was last year. Now summer has arrived, but Byron hasn’t. And now it looks like he never will.

Lonely and missing Byron, Bea teams up with a girl from her school – one who seems to be so popular and surrounded by stories that Bea has never dreamed of their being friends – but it turns out that both the book and Somewhere have particular significance for Arabella as well.  Will they be able to get to the mysterious star-shaped island to satisfy their own quests and solve the mysteries?

Written for independent readers who are able to manage some twists and turns in a plot, this is an ideal entry into the mystery genre as Bea and Arabella forge a new friendship based on their common goal of finding a loved one, and try to work out why Somewhere is the shared link in both their stories as they piece together the parts of the jigsaw they each have to uncover the answers to their questions. With relatable characters, each with a personal reason for getting to Somewhere that is set in the here-and-now, the reader will enjoy trying to unravel the clues that Byron has left along with Bea and Arabella and their growing friendship and deepening knowledge of who they, themselves, are, as each faces and feels their personal loss, will also resonate.  

So while this is another new story to go with this year’s CBCA Book Week theme of Book an Adventure, it is also one about acknowledging ,accepting  and accommodating some of those big feelings that, sadly, many children face and finding a way to move forward.

 

 

Something Terrible (series)

May7
Something Terrible (series)

Something Terrible (series)

Something Terrible (series)

Tim Tie-Your-Shoelaces

9781760658564

Becky Brush-Your-Hair

9781760658410

Wanda Wear-Your-Glasses

9781760659035

Sally Barton

Christopher Nielsen

Walker Books, 2025

96pp., pbk, RRP $A15.99

At first glance, it would seem that Rufus Street is like any other – ordinary families doing ordinary things with nothing to make it really stand out.  Except – the kids who live there seem to have rather strange names!  Tim Tie-Your-Shoelaces, Becky Brush-Your-Hair and Wanda Wear-your-Glasses are just three of them, and who knows who lives behind the doors of the other houses.  Those aren’t exactly the names on their birth certificates though – it’s just they are heard so often, followed by the phrase ” or something TERRIBLE will happen!’, that people think that’s the child’s real name.

The kids themselves, don’t seem to be too bothered about that “something terrible” happening -until it does and they, and their neighbours get dragged into some sticky situations.  Like when Tim Tie-Your-Shoelaces doesn’t and finds himself falling down a manhole into the sewers below the street.  And he has dragged kindly Mr Wilbanks with him, and they have to face the most disgusting things to find their way out again.  Or Becky who doesn’t brush her hair and it knit-knots and twist-twirls as she walks along, until birds decide it is the ideal nesting place.  And we can only imagine what happens to Wanda Wear-Your-Glasses because that’s not published till August.

Of all the series published for young, emerging readers every now and then one stands out and you know it is going to be a favourite.  To my mind, this is one of those.  Ordinary, relatable kids, the type of action that dares adults to read it aloud, humour and clever, appealing physical design all make for an engaging read that is going to draw in even the most reluctant reader, particularly if they are given the job of reading one and deciding whether the rest of the series will be worth purchasing!

And of course, kids could also be invited to think about what their name would be – mine would probably be Barbara Bite-your-Tongue – and then creating their own story about the Something Terrible that might happen to them…

 

 

 

 

Down the Plot Hole

Apr19
Down the Plot Hole

Down the Plot Hole

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Down the Plot Hole

Annaleise Byrd

Walker Books, 2025

192pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781760659059

Imagine if you preferred to be playing any sport in the world on a Saturday afternoon instead of having to stop indoors to practise your reading.  Especially with a kid you have nothing in common with.  Or, on the other hand, you enjoy reading but you’ve been assigned the task of helping someone with theirs, someone with whom you have nothing in common and who wants to be anywhere else instead. 

And then, suddenly, one of the characters leaps from the pages of the book and you are dragged into it and a wild adventure….

That’s the situation for Basil Beedon and Terry Clegg, who are neighbours but the street they live in is the only thing they have in common.  But since Basil’s dad and Terry’s nan got talking and it transpires that Terry will be kicked off the football team if his schoolwork doesn’t improve. Basil has been assigned to helping him with his reading. Every. Single. Saturday. 

Because boys of that age who don’t like reading prefer a bit of action and gore, Basil chooses some of the original versions of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, but neither is prepared for what happens next…

Last time, they found themselves plunged into the fairytale world, where everyone was losing the plot. This time, words – well, chickens – are disappearing! Realising their fairytale friends are in danger of being sucked into oblivion by plot holes, the boys don’t hesitate before diving back into the Grimm world to warn them. It’s up to Basil and Terry to find out what’s going on and how to stop the plot holes from destroying everything … including their way home.

Once again, the author has crafted a fractured fairytale that not only engages Basil and Terry, but also the independent reader who is just discovering the fantasy adventure genre, and still prefers to keep a fingerhold on what they know before immersing themselves in a completely unfamiliar world with unfamiliar characters, situations and magic. With its clever wordplay and humour, and narrated by Basil as the reluctant tutor so the reader feels an integral part of the adventure because they have access to Basil’s thoughts, feelings, actions and responses, with appropriate promotion this is a series that may well capture both the quest for adventure and the fun of reading as it did for Terry.

Perhaps offer the first one to a reluctant reader to ‘test-drive’ to see if this new addition and any subsequent titles should be added to the collection.  Maybe even set a challenge to discover the original titles that feature in the stories, provide access to them so they can read the originals rather than the more common sanitised versions for young children, and see where it goes, and what learning emerges that goes beyond the stories. Who were Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm and why did they write such grisly stories?  After all, the CBCA Book Week theme is Book an Adventure… 

24 Hours Under the Ocean

Mar16
24 Hours Under the Ocean

24 Hours Under the Ocean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24 Hours Under the Ocean

Lan Cook

Laurent Kling

Usborne, 2025

64pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9781805315988

In this new release from Usborne, readers are invited to “join two scientists as they climb inside a hi-tech submersible and descend into the darkest depths of the Pacific Ocean. Meet strange-looking creatures thousands of miles below the surface and explore alien landscapes. Discover how experiments are performed at the bottom of the ocean, what happens after a whale dies, and what makes extremophiles so extreme>”

But while there have been any number of fiction and non fiction books that have taken the reader to the depths of the ocean to see what exists where the sun doesn’t shine and it is a world of perpetual darkness, this one is written for slightly older readers combining a graphic novel format that follows the journey of Jun and Syl as they join the crew of the RV Abyss, a newly-refitted submarine that has the capability to go deeper than any other with double-page spreads of information about what they discover.  

It reaches out to a slightly older audience with its information using a format that will appeal more readily giving a whole new slant to narrative non fiction, as well as being perfect for booking an adventure, as would the others in this series. 

Einstein: The Case of the Polar Poachers

Jan12
Einstein: The Case of the Polar Poachers

Einstein: The Case of the Polar Poachers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Einstein: The Case of the Polar Poachers

Iona Rangeley

David Tazzyman

HarperCollins, 2024

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

9780008476076

It was a cold December day in London “where the days end early and forget to start on time” when the Stewart family decided to spend the afternoon at London Zoo and six-year-old Arthur and nine-year-old first connected with Einstein and Arthur tells him, “And you, Mr Penguin, must come and stay with us whenever you like.  Penguins are always very welcome at our house.”  So they are very surprised when Mr Penguin actually turns up on their doorstep that evening, with a rucksack labelled ‘Einstein’ on its back…

But what is a fairy penguin from Sydney, Australia doing in London in the first place?  

In the first adventure in this series, Arthur and Imogen reluctantly send Einstein back to Australia, even though it means they may never see him again, but in the second, he returns to London and once again connects with the children.  Now in the third, and perhaps the final, there is another mystery to solve as penguins start disappearing from the South Sandwich Islands, and the children are convinced that there is foul play involved, rather than natural forces. Even though Imogen believes that now she is in Year 7 playing detective is too babyish for her, nevertheless she decides that this is an important issue and decides to help Arthur uncover what is really behind the disappearances -and discovers a lot more than she bargained for. 

Best read in order because of the reappearance of previous characters whose backgrounds are assumed to be known, and references to those previous mysteries, this is a series for independent readers who like to solve mysteries and see themselves in the role of the main characters.  

As with the original, it also offers opportunities to think about the ethics of keeping animals in captivity, the huge illegal wildlife trade and why it is so profitable, estimated to be worth billions of dollars., as well as its impact on the future of some species.  

MOOKi vs The Terrible Toys

Jan10
MOOKi vs The Terrible Toys

MOOKi vs The Terrible Toys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOOKi vs The Terrible Toys

Scotty James

Steve Worland & Dave Atze

Penguin, 2024

176pp., pbk., RRP $A15.99

9781761347429

As Mooki the alien does a backflip out of his spaceship to greet his friend Cindy and her dog Ralph as he returns from his Moon home, he spots a sign advertising a gigantic toy called Cog. After Cindy explains what a toy is, they head to the toy shop to see if they can find Cog only to find it closed.  But, suddenly the door opens, and because it is “not breaking and entering if the door opens for you”. they go inside.  

But it is not as easy to find Cog as they expect, particularly as they are pursued through the store by a gang of clowns intent on stealing Ralph.  And if the clowns aren’t scary enough, there are drones stealing toys and taking them to the top floor?  What is going on there?  And will Mooki’s curiosity lead them to deeper trouble or will they escape?

What appears to be a simple story with just a few lines on each page and an abundance of monochromatic illustrations, is actually an intriguing adventure for newly independent readers bridging the gap between basal readers and novels, and which has strong themes of friendship, loyalty, and being both brave and resilient.  While the concept of toys coming to life when adults disappear is not new, the idea that they may actually be mean and nasty puts a new spin on the way children usually view them and suddenly the appeal of being loose in a toy store after hours with no adults is turned on its head! However, they will understand the need to rescue Ralph, whose nervous wees at inopportune moments add the humour for the age group, and so they will want to keep reading to discover if he is saved.  

Some will recognise Scotty James as being Australia’s leading snowboarder and he has revealed that his childhood nickname was Mooki and that the challenges in the stories – the first in the series is Mooki vs The Big Scary  – represent the sorts of things he has had to face and overcome on his own way to the top, with Mooki himself being a symbol to always dream big, reach for the moon, take advantage of opportunities and faces obstacles head on. 

The final page clearly demonstrates there is more in this series to come and young readers are going to be looking forward to them.  

 

Pablo and Splash: Frozen in Time

Jan9
Pablo and Splash: Frozen in Time

Pablo and Splash: Frozen in Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pablo and Splash: Frozen in Time

Sheena Dempsey

Bloomsbury, 2024

240pp., graphic novel, RRP $A17.99

9781526662804

Pablo and Splash are two penguins, and even though they are very different in that Pablo loves his icy home and Splash is sick of the cold, they both agree that a holiday would be a good thing.  But it’s tricky when you live at the bottom of the planet in Antarctica and warm places are too far to swim and without wings, you can’t fly.

But Antarctica means there are scientists nearby and surely they have a solution…  And that’s how they discover Professor O’Brain and her Timebender machine who sent them to the sunny beach they craved but they found themselves sharing it with dinosaurs.  In this second episode of the series, they decide to visit Professor O’Brain again to see if she has mended the machine, but both are determined that they will not end up in some weird destination this time, especially as this time they know where the secret hole takes them.  

However, instead of finding her in her lab as they expect, they discover the time machine has misbehaved again and this time it is the professor, herself, who has been stranded in the Ice Age.  Clearly, Pablo and Splash must help her  and so the brave penguin buddies set out on a rescue mission – destination 68,000 years ago! When a Neanderthal man accidentally wanders into their time machine, it’s not just the professor who is stuck in the wrong time period. But luckily a scientific breakthrough for Pablo and Splash’s endlessly upbeat approach to life’s challenges helps save the day!

Graphic novels, time travel and familiar, appealing creatures on a rescue mission are the right ingredients for a story that will engage young readers and with its bright, full-colour illustrations that carry the story along with just speech bubbles as text there will be many who could be enticed to pick up a novel-length book for the first time. 

As with the first one, it’s an opportunity for the reader to think of where the next adventure might take place, who or what Pablo and Splash might encounter and perhaps research and write their own story.  Perfect for the CBCA Book Week 2025 theme of Book an Adventure.