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Silver Linings

Dec1
Silver Linings

Silver Linings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silver Linings

Katrina Nannestad

ABC Books, 2023

304pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9780733342257

Rural New South Wales in 1952 – a new monarch is about to be crowned and for five-year-old Nettie Sweeney life is almost perfect.  She has a dad, three big sisters, a farm full of cows and a cat called Mittens, can read and write and even does spelling with Second Class because she is so clever.  But Nettie longs for a mother.  Her own passed away when she was born (leaving her with all sorts of misconceptions about babies and storks) and she would love to have one who has a gentle touch, sparkles in her eyes and lots of love and hugs to give.  But instead she has cranky Aunty Edith who is quick with her hands and even quicker with her tongue as she clings to the old ways.  

When Dad marries Alice, all Nettie’s dreams come true and the Sweeney home overflows with laughter, love and a new philosophy of looking for the silver linings in everything rather than the dark clouds.  When her baby brother. Billy, is born he becomes  the light of Nettie’s life and her world is perfect.  Until it isn’t…

Those who are familiar with five-year-olds, and even those who aren’t , will laugh out loud all through the beginning of this book as we see life through the unfiltered lens of Nettie and her doll Fancy Nancy.  And they will empathise with the unsophisticated five-year-old who has to handle the family tragedy in her own way because she just isn’t mature enough to know of any other. Her naivety endears her from the beginning and her resilience and courage as events play out inspire. While the big issues of PTSD, loss and depression that are confronted could be anywhere, anytime,  by placing them in the early 50s Nannestad distances them enough from the reader’s here and now for them to be acknowledged but not necessarily absorbed. And for those of us old enough to know better, how will we ever think of Queen Elizabeth II as anything but “the mongoose of the British Umpire” again? 

It’s a rare author who can write a story for young children in a way that has adult readers turning page after page because there has to be a solution, and Nannestad is one of those.  As with The Girl who brought Mischief, this one had me reading past my bedtime because I was so enamoured of Nettie and needed to know there was a happy ending.     

This is one for independent readers who like real-life stories (it is based on family happenings) and if you are preparing a list of books for Christmas stockings, this should be on it.         

Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth

Sep15
Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth

Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth

Anna Fienberg

A & U Children’s, 2023

384pp., pbk., RRP $A17.99

9781760296988

Frances is in a new house in a new neighbourhood and going to a new school, but no amount of new can make her forget the old, sad secret dragging at her heart. Not the pictures of bacteria that she draws with painstaking precision, not even Picasso, the puppy with the long soft ears and the cute black circle like a target on his bottom. With her father overseas in Pakistan writing about terrible diseases and her mother in mourning, they are both out of reach to Frances and she carries her grief and guilt alone. 

But then she meets Kit, the tall, quiet boy with the two-coloured eyes, who seems as alone as she is, as he seeks refuge in the school library to draw each lunch break. . Kit is a real artist. His coloured pencils fill page after page of exercise books. He sees wonder in the rocks and ferns and sky, although Frances soon detects  Kit has worries of his own.

But when secrets are spilled, Frances’s life turns grey and drab. Not even Picasso’s wet nose can brighten her up. Frances and Kit will need to face the truth of their pasts to find colour in their world again. After all, don’t the most brilliant sunsets need a cloudy sky? 

While their stories may be different, many readers will relate to this new novel by Anna Fienberg as they too, will have been the new kid in town with all the uncertainty and upheaval that that will bring, although few would be carrying the guilt of believing they are responsible for their younger brother’s death. In subtle, gentle ways, the author draws together a diversity of characters each experiencing and expressing grief in different ways and how shared interests, nature and a cheeky puppy can bring about a healing not thought possible.
More suited for upper primary students, this is a story that offers reassurance and hope that there is is way through the darkness we experience, even if the light  is not yet visible.  You never know when it will glimmer and brighten or the direction that will come from. 

Why Worry Wally?

Aug14
Why Worry Wally?

Why Worry Wally?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Worry Wally?

Rick Foster

Jackie Case

Rick Foster, 2019

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.95

9780646810966

As soon as Wally wakes up in the morning, his mind starts working overtime about all the things that might go wrong that day from eating too much breakfast to monkeys falling from the trees.  He is a perpetual worrier,  getting so anxious and uptight about what might happen that he is unable to enjoy what does.

Children’s anxiety is a growing mental health issue and is in fact, becoming such an issue that it is at last getting the recognition it requires. So much so, that, since its inception in 1991, the phone counselling service Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) has responded to 8. 5oo ooo contacts from kids who just need someone to listen.  And while there have been a number of picture books written and shared to help children manage their anxiety, this one offers suggestions such as eating healthy food and having fun as well as encouraging positive self-talk as a pathway forward.  As well, the author has developed an incursion to complement a school’s well-being program aimed at those up to Year 4 that helps children understand that everyone feels worries and concerns at some time and there are strategies they can learn to help them manage them, even when they become overwhelming, particularly being   able to start a conversation with a trusted adult. 

With its soft-palette graphics and rhyming text, Wally’s predicament may well resonate with a number of students but the positive and inspiring message that offers acknowledgement of the issues rather than their dismissal, and encourages them to look for help rather than feeling they have to go it alone, they are also offered hope.  While there was a strong focus on kids’ well0being after their isolation during the lockdowns of the pandemic, as life returns to normal, we cannot let this concern diminish.  So any stories and programs that shine a spotlight on the problem that might help just one kid make a positive difference to their lives or build awareness in the adults around them are an essential part of any mindfulness programs and library collections. 

The Lucky Shack

Jul22
The Lucky Shack

The Lucky Shack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lucky Shack

Apsana Baldovino

Jennifer Falkner

Working Title, 2023

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

9781922033154

Having grown up in a harbour town at the very south of the South Island of New Zealand, where the next stop is literally Antarctica, and my childhood days were bordered by either daylight fading or the tide turning, it is neither secret nor surprise that my favourite place to be is by the sea.  Or that I escape there whenever I can, particularly to the more remote places. But remoteness is becoming a luxury as grand McMansions swallow all those little beach shacks that used to be the escape for city-dwellers, although every now and then you see one tucked in amongst its imposing neighbours.  Yet even though the land value puts it out of reach of the bank balance of mere teachers and teacher librarians, nevertheless, we can dream and think about the stories it must have to tell as generations have passed through it, usually since the time at the end of World War II when many were constructed as safe havens for returning soldiers.

In this beautifully illustrated debut title for both author and illustrator, one little shack tells its story. Perched on the shore it watches the boats on the water and the colours of the landscape shine and blur throughout the days and seasons, lovingly cared for by the old fisherman. But dark, monochromatic times come as it slips into loneliness and abandonment as he no longer visits, until one day there is a new glimmer of hope…

As well as being a completely original concept, this a story of  the timelessness of the sea and the seasons, of the cycle and circle of life and of enduring hope for a better future.  Because even at its darkest moments, when it is starting to crumble and fall into the sea,  the little shack believes that all is not lost and indeed, the ending shows that not only can it be restored but its future is assured.  A bit like a person, really.

By telling the story from the perspective of the shack itself, rather than an observant narrator, the reader becomes invested in its tale, feeling its joy when the fisherman brings it to life with warm fires and music, its desolation as it is battered by the elements,  its happiness when a new owner comes and then its delight when children come too.  So even though, on the surface, this would seem like a story for young readers, older readers can explore the concepts of perspective and personification and the impact of those on both the writing and the reading experience.  Teaching notes explore these concepts really well, and readers might even like to try their hand at telling their own story of a tree passing through the seasons from the tree’s perspective, with groups of four each taking a particular season.  As this winter seems endless with its fog and frosts (at least here in the mountains) it is the new buds appearing that offer hope that the world will turn – but, then, is that the same in tropical regions?  Perhaps there is the opportunity for a whole integrated STEM unit! 

The Missing Piece

Sep26
The Missing Piece

The Missing Piece

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Missing Piece

Jordan Stephens

Beth Suzanna

Bloomsbury, 2022

92pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781526618139

Sunny loves jigsaw puzzles – the bigger the better. When she completes one, she gets a warm, happy honeybee buzz and it’s a feeling she chases time after time, constantly looking for another puzzle to complete, like a drug addict seeking another fix.  One day, her Gran gives her a ONE-THOUSAND-PIECE puzzle. Piece after piece, all by herself, she puts together the picture, until … DISASTER! The final piece is missing. Sunny may be small, but she is very determined –and when Gran says that the puzzle had been lent to the family next door,  Sunny she sets off to find the missing piece but finds so much more in the meantime. 

Many educators predicted that children returning to school after COVID-19 lockdowns and isolation would face a range of well-being issues from missing the critical socialisation aspects that are the core of the school experience, and principals and teachers around the world are indeed, reporting anxiety, depression and changed behaviours.  Experts, such as those of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute have examined the phenomenon and, in conjunction with state education authorities , have identified and put in place a range of strategies to help children relearn the skills and attitudes necessary to cope with getting along with other children in groups that are more than just family members. 

So while this may seem like just another story about a child learning that they are more than they imagined, that their self-worth is not dependent on their being able to excel at one thing, and their self-esteem being shattered if they “fail”,  at this time it could have a vital role to play as we each and all try to support those who have not come through the past three years as resiliently as we would have liked.  Although Sunny’s isolation from her neighbourhood friends is unexplained, it is immaterial – it is her courage to knock on doors to find that vital piece, a goal larger than anything that may have prevented her from reaching out before, that drives her and she is able to rediscover much she had lost.   

While sharing stories such as this is just one part of the healing process, nevertheless it can be helpful particularly if followed by a discussion about why her Gran did what she did, why Sunny might not have seen her friends or been willing to play with them and so on – all addressing individual’s concerns but at arm’s length so no one feels exposed but they can feel comforted and perhaps more confident. 

Tarni’s Chance

Sep19
Tarni’s Chance

Tarni’s Chance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tarni’s Chance

Paul Collins

Jules Ober

Ford Street, 2022

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.95

9781922696052

When Tarni’s mum says goodbye, all the colour and joy of life seem to go with her. Tarni retreats into her bubble. Her world became smaller and the air seemed thinner. But then Chance steps in . . .

As much as the text in this narrative of family breakdown, self-doubt and anxiety echoes the feelings of loss and loneliness that so many readers will have felt, it is the illustrations that make it so special.  Beginning in deep shades of grey as her parents argue, with the only colour being Tarni and her guitar, her bubble of music, a monochromatic scheme that continues as Tarni comes to grip with her loss, finding solace only in solo activities like drawing and reading, gradually being consumed by the grey of her grief.  Using handmade miniatures set against black and white photography, the reader is drawn deeper into Tarni’s world, but then Tarni spots a stray, ragged dog, seemingly as lost as she is, and there is a ray of hope.  Brief though it is, it shows both the reader and Tarni that there is still a glimmer of colour in the world, and when the dog returns the grey gradually disappears. 

While this is not the first book to use colour to depict mood and emotion in this way, and the use of miniatures and photography was a feature of the 2020 CBCA shortlisted The Good Son, nevertheless it is a powerful representation that those who have passed through the grey of grief will relate to, and those who are still in it will be buoyed by the prospect that colour still exists and step by step they will find it. 

 

The Lost Whale

Jun15
The Lost Whale

The Lost Whale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lost Whale

Hannah Gold

Levi Pinfold

HarperCollins, 2022

320pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9780008412944

Rio is lost – both physically and emotionally.  

He has been sent from London to Los Angeles to stay with his grandmother while his mother is in hospital trying to recover from her chronic mental illness. But the tiny, quiet seaside town of Ocean Grove is so different from busy London; and so is his grandmother’s house – so much bigger than their tiny city flat, especially when he is to sleep in his mother’s childhood bedroom.

As if that weren’t enough, not only does he scarcely know his grandmother who is all shiny jumpsuits, sharp elbows and hard angles and whose hugs are not the deep, warm snuggly type he is used to, but he believes that if he had just tried harder and done more he could have prevented his mother’s downward slide into the psychiatric hospital.  At first,  Rio shuts everyone and everything out, unable to do anything but think about his mother and fears for her safety if he is not there.  After all, he’s been her carer for most of his 11 years. He is consumed by guilt if he relaxes or has fun, or even feels at peace. He is fixated of fixing here, despite being so far away, and when he discovers her childhood sketches of a grey whale named White Beak he hatches a plan that will surely save her, one made even more possible when he at last makes a friend in Marina who is passionate about the whales that migrate past Ocean Beach each year and whose dad happens to own a whale-watching business.  

After his own incredible encounter with White Beak, Rio is even more determined but then the reports of her being sighted as she journey s south to the lagoons of Mexico stop. Rio is determined to find her  because White Beak and his mother become one and the same person in his mind, and he and Marina hatch an audacious plan…

As with Gold’s debut novel, The Last Bear  this is a story  that stays in the mind long after the final page has been turned, and as with that story, it is a journey of discovery for the child as much as the focus animal. Rio is so used to being the grown-up, the responsible one, that he has to learn to forge relationships with his grandmother, Marina and her father and to be able to trust others to have his mother’s interests at heart, accepting that he can’t fix everything by himself. But the parallel story about the life and times of the world’s whales, whatever species, and the perils they face as their habitat is threatened is equally important.  It could easily have been set in coastal New South Wales about the humpback highway.  

This is one for independent readers who are seeking a well-written story that has substance and authenticity, but it would also make an excellent class read-aloud.  

 

The Bravest Word

Jun14
The Bravest Word

The Bravest Word

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bravest Word

Kate Foster

Walker Books, 2022

240pp., pbk., RRP $A17.99

9781760654719

Last year Matt did really well at school, loved being a star football player, hanging out with his friends Kai and Ted and playing jungle Warfare, while avoiding bully-boy Joseph. But this year things are very different – and it’s much more than the changes that being at high school bring. 

Instead of enjoying football, he has a panic attack when he steps on the field; he avoids Kai and Ted; he’s not paying attention in class or doing his homework – in fact, he feels like he is so worthless that he is ruining the lives of those around him, including his loving parents and is beginning to wonder whether he should really be here at all. He is always tired and wanting to sleep and the tears come all the time, especially when he doesn’t want them…

While his mother dismisses his issues as “growing pains”, his father has a suspicion that there is something deeper going on and he takes Matt on a walk to see if Matt will open up.  But before he gets the chance, they hear a whimper in the bushes and discover a severely neglected and abused dog tied to a tree.  Together they release it and take it to a vet where Matt promises Cliff, whom he has named after his recently passed, dearly loved grandfather, that life will get better. But is that a promise he can keep when he is in such a dark place and his mother has said no to having a dog so many times before… And when it all boils down, who helps whom the most?

While this is a story probably more suited to the upper end of the target audience of this blog, nevertheless it is a poignant, compelling story for both teachers and parents as it gives such an insight into childhood anxiety and depression demonstrating that these are real illnesses for our kids, and also for the students themselves, because there will be some who will see themselves in Matt and who may, through him, build the courage to utter that bravest word.  Although the story is written very positively, the characters are very real and there were times when I was close to tears as I read. Why is there still such a stigma attached to having a mental illness but not-so when it’s a physical illness?  Why is it OK to take medication long-term to have a healthy heart but not to have a healthy brain?

However, shared as a classroom read-aloud in conjunction with the teachers’ notes  and other authoritative resources,  this could have a positive outcome for someone, especially when suicide is the leading cause of death in Australians aged 15-24 and “for every youth suicide, there are 100 to 200 more attempts.”  At the very least it will raise awareness and understanding and even if the sick child doesn’t or can’t open up, one of their classmates might trigger a conversation.

Kate Foster is also the author of Paws, in which she drew on her own son’s experience to give us a look into the world of the autistic child and this book is every bit as eye-opening as that.  If we are to acknowledge and recognise the struggles that some of those we know are experiencing, then this is a must-read in my opinion.  

 

A Blue Kind of Day

Apr12
A Blue Kind of Day

A Blue Kind of Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Blue Kind of Day

Rachel Tomlinson

Tori-Jay Morley

Puffin, 2022

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

 9781761046384

Coen is having a blue day.  Not one where all he wants is his blue clothes, blue food and blue toys.  But s slumping, sniffling, sighing, sobbing kind of day. A day where the only safe place to be is curled up in a blanket cocoon and so that’s what he does.

His family thinks they know how to cheer him up. His dad wants to go outside and play,  his mum tells her funniest joke, and his little sister shares her favourite teddy. Nothing helps. But one by one, they quieten and begin to listen. After some time, space, and reassurance, Coen is able to show them what he needs. And being aware, smart parents they give it to him…

Childhood depression is more and more on the radar and particularly following the enforced isolation of the last two years, so this is a timely book that helps parents understand that this is something more than just feeling sad and disappointed that can be shaken off with distraction. Tomlinson, a registered psychologist, follows the story with notes about how to alert parents to the condition, that  it has physiological symptoms and how they can support their child through an episode. In her dedication, Tomlinson says, “To all the children finding their way through big feelings: I see you. You’ve got this.”  And often, just that acknowledgement for the child’s feelings is enough and that like Coen, they begin to believe that they will come through to the other side and tomorrow will be brighter. To know that you know and you have faith in their ability to cope and continue is a huge step in the healing process.

 Sometimes we suggest parents casually leave a particular book lying around in the hope that their child will read it – this is one that the child might like to leave out for the parent.