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Hazel’s Treehouse

Jan11
Hazel's Treehouse

Hazel’s Treehouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hazel’s Treehouse

Zanni Louise

Judy Watson

Walker Books, 2024

16099., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9781760657222

Imagine if you were a little girl,  nine years old, as long as your bunk bed and as kind as a marshmallow, and you lived in a treehouse in the bush with your friends Walter the wombat, who loves to clean but can have an attitude issue Tiny the honey possum, who is so small she travels in your pocket; Odette the pademelon, who is constantly bouncing; and Poky, an echidna who alters colours and shades depending on Hazel’s emotions.  What adventures might you have?

For this is the story (or stories) of Hazel who is just such a girl,  and this is a collection of short-ish stories that recount their lives together whether it’s staying in bed all day on a Sunday because Wombat doesn’t want to get up or searching for rainbows on rainy days or celebrating a special day even if you don’t know why it’s special.  

Whether read alone or read aloud, these are gentle stories about ordinary things but made extraordinary by the characters, each of whom has their special quirks and charm.  But despite these differences, each story is woven with the threads of friendship, collaboration, and being in touch with your emotions while  embracing and navigating the ups and downs of everyday life, including starting school for the first time which makes the final chapter very relevant for this time of year.

.Judy Watson’s detailed drawings really bring the stories to life offering adventures in themselves and invite the young reader to use their own imagination to put themselves in Hazel’s position and make up their own story.  What will she tell her friends when she comes back from that first day? 

 

Mitchell Starc – The Incredible True Story

Jan5
Mitchell Starc - The Incredible True Story

Mitchell Starc – The Incredible True Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mitchell Starc – The Incredible True Story

Clive Griffith

Carl Pearce

Farshore, 2024

144pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9780008608903

As record crowds flock to the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch the final test between Australia and India which will determine the winner of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, fast bowler Mitchell Starc has once again been a star and with his fitness and ability to play dominating sports news for days, his popularity is very apparent.  So a new release in this series of Amazing Cricket Stars  is just the thing to keep young aspirants interested in something beyond the game on screen.  

From his announcement that he was going to play cricket for Australia to his family at the age of 6, the easily-read story tracks Starc’s journey to being one of Australia’s foremost fast bowlers, so much so that there would be few who didn’t know his name.  But not only does it tell the story of the hours and hour of practice and training that went before his debut in the Australian team against New Zealand in 2011, it also shows that anyone can achieve their dream – you don’t have to be from the rich suburbs of a capital city to make it through the ranks to the elite. 

While a new generation of players such as Sam Konstas might be more flamboyant and attracting attention, Starc’s dedication and determination demonstrate the essential elements that underpin any true champion’s success and so not only does this book tell the story of a modern-day hero but reinforces those basic values of hard work, tenacity and patience – the real world it is not a click-and-it-happens place – and for that alone , it has a place in the collection. 

If one of Starc’s young fans were to rise to similar heights in 20 years time, what would their biography say about their early days?  Maybe this story becomes the start of theirs.

When Santa Got Stuck in a Gum Tree

Dec16

 

 

 

When Santa Got Stuck in a Gum Tree

When Santa Got Stuck in a Gum Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Santa Got Stuck in a Gum Tree

Jackie Hosking

Nathaniel Eckstrom

Walker Books, 2024

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

9781760657406

There is a popular children’s song that begins…

When Santa got stuck up the chimney,
He began to shout.
You girls and boys, won’t get any toys,
If you don’t pull me out.

But what happens when Santa gets stuck in a gum tree?

He flew too low, and Ho! Ho! Ho! got snagged on the branch of a tree.

While the reindeer and sleigh land safely, there aren’t any children to help out so how is he going to be rescued? Luckily, it’s not long before a group of familiar Australian animals gather to help, and each has a go but it proves a task too hard.  Bilby is too small, as was Wombat, but what about Emu?  While Cockatoo flies off to fetch him, Koala is sure he can can help because he can climb but the tree is tall and there are gum leaves to eat…  Even Kangaroo can’t jump high enough…

Is Santa destined to stay stuck forever – or does Owl have a suggestion?

With its clever rhyming text and hilarious illustrations,  this is a uniquely Australian story that is going to appeal to all ages, especially if they are invited to suggest solutions to Santa’s problem or speculate on how the children will feel if there is nothing special under the tree in the morning because Santa is still stuck in the tree!

While our young ones are quite prepared to accept Christmas in its northern hemisphere guise of snow and ice, hot meals and stories around a blazing fire, and even Santa dressed in a warm furry suit (it does get cold at night despite the daytime temperature),  stories that depict the Australian situation are always welcome and this one is one of the best – right up there with All I want for Christmas is Rain and Christmas Always Comes. 

In the meantime, for you earworm pleasure… You’re welcome.

 

The Brightest Christmas Star

Dec4

 

 

 

The Brightest Christmas Star

The Brightest Christmas Star

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Brightest Christmas Star

Laura Motherway

Deb Hudson

Lothian Children’s, 2024

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

9780734423085 

Regardless of where you live, one of the universal symbols of Christmas is the star whether it is portrayed as a cardboard cutout or sparkly Christmas lights. Because stars are sky-beings, they can look down and see all sorts of things in all sorts of places, and so it is with this one as it rises in the night sky on Christmas Eve and peers down on the Australian landscape as families make their last minute preparations for The Big Day.

Whether it’s a game of beach cricket as dusk draws in, sitting on a pile of hay bales specially decorated for the occasion, singing carols in the street or any one of the myriad of other activities Australian families are involved in, this is a refreshing look at summertime Christmas that little ones will relate to as they recognise familiar scenes.  It’s an opportunity for them to share the special things their family does, the traditions handed down to them and which they will continue with their own children, as well as learning about how others might do things differently.  And as night finally falls over the continent, the star continues to shine brightly because it has a particularly special job to do to as it lights the way for a special visitor.

Described as “a heartwarming, contemporary lullaby for little ones”. this is a story in rhyme that celebrates the season with the strong thread of spending time with family and friends tying all the activities together, no matter what they might be. 

Howzat Pat! (series)

Nov14
Howzat Pat! (series)

Howzat Pat! (series)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Howzat Pat! (series)

Dare to Bowl

9781460764688

Mission Wildlife Rescue

9781460764695

Pat Cummins & Dave Hartley

Serena Geddes

Harper Collins, 2024

192pp., pbk., RRP $A15.99

I’m Pat Cummins and I love playing cricket. I love it so much that I sleep with my bat!

With another summer of cricket starting to warm up, this is a timely new series for young independent readers with a love for the game and for whom current Australian captain, Pat Cummins, is an idol.  Beginning with the news that his family is moving from the coast to the mountains, and Pat experiencing all those concerns and anxieties about fitting into somewhere new, teaming up with the wrong crowd and having to make tough choices, there are themes that will resonate with many. And because this is semi-autobiographical in places, many readers will realise that he came from an ordinary family like theirs and so they, too, can have dreams and make them come true.

Integrated into the stories are things like his pre-game rituals, letters from his mum and sisters when he first became captain of his local junior team,  and other incidents and adventures that have an aura of authenticity as having been real events even if they have been altered to fit the narrative.  So while the story is told in the first-person, there is a sense of Pat’s personal involvement in its creation rather than just being an overseer as some similar series seem to have. 

Cummins is the second-youngest of five and so there are strong themes of family throughout the books, but as he finds “his tribe” including Prav and Beth among others who have a similar passion for the game, and strong bonds are forged, the importance of friendships and the support they can give us, emerges encouraging the reader to understand that we are not alone and are at our best with others around us.

Teachers’ notes help to explore these more fully, as well as other activities such as creating a Cricket Hall of Fame that will allow those for whom the sport is also a passion to show leadership, but they also explore other aspects of the stories such as Beth’s indigenous heritage, civics issues  and setting and achieving goals,  so that this becomes more than just another sports-oriented series, making it one for a range of readers.

Sports heroes come and go, somewhat like the seasons, but there is a sense that long after Pat Cummins the current cricket captain has moved on, this will be one series that maintains its relevance and appeal as a story for cricket lovers. 

The Boab Tree

Nov6
The Boab Tree

The Boab Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Boab Tree

Helen Milroy

Fremantle Press, 2024

40pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781760994631

In the desert-like lands of northern Australia stands a huge family of boab trees, witnesses to the scaping and shaping of the land as generations survived and thrived in conditions ideal for them and those that followed as their flowers bloomed, the nuts formed, fell to the ground and a new generation began.  But at the precise moment one little nut fell, an eagle flew beneath it and instead of landing on the ground, it became wedged in the bird’s feathers and carried for hours before it finally rolled off over a forest of very different trees, taller than it had ever seen.

Tumbling through the branches it finally landed in a soft pile of leaves covering the earth, but even though it was safe, nothing was familiar,  There were birds but they looked different and sang a different language, the trees around looked down in disdain, and Boab felt lost and alone.  How was it to survive in this alien place so different from all that was familiar and without the support of those who knew its story and all that it needed to become a grown-up as Nature intended?

Written by the Western Australia 2021 Australian of the Year and descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara Region, this is a story of many layers that is more than a tale about the boab nut and its eventual return home because of the friendships it forms with the hopping mice and their growing interdependence.  Not only does it echo Aesop’s fable of The Lion and the Mouse   and all that can be learned from that, but Boab’s feelings will also resonate with anyone who has been uprooted and finds themselves trying to find their way in a new and unfamiliar place. Most significantly though, is the dedication to “all our Stolen Children” that will take this to a new audience of older readers who are learning about that period in Australia’s history and who, through the personification on Boab, can begin to understand the loss and bewilderment that the children felt and how, deep in their DNA, they knew their real home was elsewhere and there was a need to return. 

While the comprehensive teachers’ notes examine vocabulary, science and the mice’s message that ‘We are all important’, for me it is that clarification of connection to Country that so many non-Indigenous people find hard to comprehend and which is such a prominent part of school life now, that is important.  Using the displacement of the boab nut and its inherent and intrinsic instinct to survive as an allegory, puts those feelings into a context that can be more readily understood. The power of that connection underpinning and driving the resilience and determination to return to their roots, to that which has sustained endless generations over thousands of years, now has an almost tangible setting that they can relate to, acknowledge and appreciate.

With strong, vibrant illustrations this is one that needs to be promoted, particularly to those for whom this period of history is in their curriculum and even moreso, to those who still believe that picture books are for the very young who are not yet independent readers. 

We’re Hopping Around Australia

Nov5
We're Hopping Around Australia

We’re Hopping Around Australia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re Hopping Around Australia

Martha Mumford

Ag Jatkowska

Bloomsbury, 2024

24pp., hbk., RRP $A17.99

9781526675668

We’re hopping around Australia.
Come and join the fun!

The Bunnies are back in a new interactive adventure for our youngest readers, this time discovering some of Australia’s most well-known icons like kangaroos. koalas. crocodiles and fairy bread!  Little ones will adore lifting the flaps as they try to find all the things mentioned in the fast-paced rhyming text and hidden in the bright, engaging illustrations whether they are in the bush searching for some of our unique wildlife or donning scuba gear to explore the coral reefs.

But then, just as the adventure seems like it could last forever, there is something dangerous lurking in the coral and it’s time to get out of there.

Few things engage our little ones in stories as much as familiar characters doing and seeing familiar things, text that flows along because of its specially-chosen rhyme and rhythm and predictability,  illustrations that capture both the eye and the imagination,  and the opportunity to be actively engaged in the tale either through lifting flaps to find hidden treasures or mimicking movements – and this, like its predecessors, has all of those.  This is one that can be shared and talked about as familiar things are identified, and then read and read again independently because of all those features, as well encouraging suggestions for other things the Bunnies might see or do in the local neighbourhood.  Perhaps they could listen for kookaburras, wonder at the whales or try a taste of Vegemite!   

It’s ideal for the Christmas stocking of kids here as well as those who might like to be here one day. 

Are We There Yet? 20th Anniversary Edition

Nov4
Are We There Yet? 20th Anniversary Edition

Are We There Yet? 20th Anniversary Edition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are We There Yet?  20th Anniversary Edition

Alison Lester

Puffin, 2024

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

9781761620416

The year I turned eight, Mum and Dad took us on a trip around Australia. Luke, Billy and I missed school for the whole winter term….

So begins the story of Grace and her family as they begin a journey around Australia in a fold-out camper van – a journey  that began a little west of Melbourne, took them to all sorts of places as they explored the coast, the bush and the outback, and which became an instant classic when it was first published 20 years ago because it opened up this country to children who didn’t know much of what was beyond their immediate environment.  

Along with Possum Magic, this was a story that could be used to initiate so many lessons and learnings about the diverse landscapes, lives, and livelihoods in the days when the internet was not as accessible and affordable to all – for many dial-up connections  for the family computer were all they had, and the first iPhone was three years in the future.  While television was a staple, travelogues were not the choice of little ones so here was a story that featured a relatable family taking off on an adventure that was told with engaging characters, story-telling and illustrations and the familiar refrain of, “Are we there yet?”  Grace’s journey was tracked on large wall maps and young readers would delight in declaring that they were familiar with a particular place and relating their adventures.  

Now, in a different gold-foiled livery and a different world, parents can share this story that delighted them with their own children and plan and plot their own journeys as many take to the roads post-pandemic, particularly as taking children out of formal schooling is not as drop-jaw now.  

And it hasn’t lost its relevance for the classroom as students could explore their own neighbourhood and identify the places, people and events that make it a unique attraction for visitors even if they take them for granted, or they could set up a challenge based on the family’s adventures for others to identify significant places around Australia based on clues such as this on from Backpack Bear, (an online quiz about Australia and Australians that I developed over 20 years ago and which is still available for free), encouraging a variety of research and presentation skills.  

I am at the top of a mountain, first climbed by a European in 1840 and named by Polish explorer Count Paul Edmund Strzelecki. He named it after one of his country’s heroes because he thought it looked like his tomb. While it stands in Ngarigo land, it is yet to be given an official indigenous name although Kunama Namadgi has been proposed.

The climb to the top was quite easy – a 6.5 kilometre walk along a raised walkway after I got off the chairlift from Thredbo and a short stop at Australia’s highest public toilet at Rawson’s Pass. The walkway protects the fragile alpine environment.

The summit is 2228 metres above sea level, making it Australia’s highest mainland mountain and from it I can see other mountains of the Main Range of the Great Dividing Range, including Mt Townsend which is the second highest mountain, Mt Carruthers and Mt Twynam. They are all part of a national park which shares the name of this mountain.

If you wish to follow in my footsteps, you need to come here between November and April, although if you are skier you can come during the winter..

Where am I?

Because it is a classic and so well-known, winning many awards, including being selected as a key focus book for the National Year of Reading 2012, there is a plethora of resources available online to support other activities including this one from Reading Australia. Our world may be smaller and different from that of Grace and her family, because although the book is 20 years old and its foundations began 10 years before that, it is still as relevant and refreshing now as it was then.  And I can hear parents saying, “I remember this” as they see it on shop shelves and pick it up to share with their own little ones and make more memories. 

Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains

Nov2
Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains

Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains

Melissa Greenwood

ABC Books, 2024

24pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9780733343025

The juluum (mountain) watches over us as we walk proudly on Country.
Me, Jinda, Miimi and Gami take note of all the subtle changes in nature
as we walk up, up the rocky path towards the peaks…

As the mountains and their ancestors watch over them, the family under the guidance of Aunty make their way through the oft-trodden pathways to the mountain peaks for the corroboree acknowledging and respecting the land and it inhabitants  as they go.  It is Spring and there is fresh, green growth on the trees (jaliigirrin). birds are singing, and the bandicoots (duura), kangaroos (nunguu), koalas (dunggiirr),  snakes (dungguuny) and goannas (wirriiga) are calling, moving and mating while the bindarray (river) rises and falls with the snow melt, threading through the land connecting everything and bringing life to all.

And as they walk barefoot through the landscape, the children learn its stories, how it was made and how to walk it respectfully and pay homage to those who have gone before and those who will come after.

Much as I love the ocean and its endless motion soothes my soul, my home now is in Australia’s mountains, and, while so different from the mountains of my homeland in the south of New Zealand’s South Island, there is nothing quite like the silence, solitude  and  size of this land, such as is spread before me as I write this.  I can see much of what is described in the story – all except the river although the Murrumbidgee is only 200 metres at the bottom of the valley – and while we are not blessed with duura or dunggiirr we do have kangaroos, wallabies, possums, echidnas, wombats aplenty and the most amazing parade of native birdlife.  For now it is the season of the crimson rosella and the magpie, but soon it will be the cockatoos, galahs, gang gangs and kookaburras as the new Spring growth turns to flowers and seeds as the warmth spreads.  

So while Giinagay Gaagal, Hello Ocean took me back to my roots of growing up on the seashore of Bluff, this one brings me into the here and now revitalising the senses that drew me here originally. 

As with its predecessor, the text is woven together by stunning artwork that tells its own story and the full text is included in both English and Gumbaynggir in the final pages, adding to the resources for preserving and revitalising First Nations languages.  But most significantly, as again they thank the land for its protection and it awaits their return, there is that inner feeling of being in the moment, taking note of surroundings and what is going on in them, seeing through eyes not a camera lens and being connected that gives meaning to the now-familiar Acknowledgement of Country so that it more than a collection of words, encouraging readers to see with new eyes and listen with new ears.   

Shirin and Amir and the Dragon Smoke

Oct20
Shirin and Amir and the Dragon Smoke

Shirin and Amir and the Dragon Smoke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shirin and Amir and the Dragon Smoke

Liz Drummond & Jemima Shafei-Ongu

Magie Khameneh

Little Steps, 2024

32pp., hbk., RRP $A21.99

9781922833532

Shirin and Amir know everyone in their densely-packed neighbourhood but their favourite thing is to hurry home from school to play in the park and have wondrous adventures. But when bushfire smoke drifts across from a nearby fire they are forced to stay inside for days on end, bored and miserable. Until Shirin’s imagination takes over and suddenly what is unhealthy bushfire smoke becomes dragon smoke complete with a dragon that has to be smited…

While, on the surface, this is a light-hearted story about kids making the most of a bad situation, it is both the back story and its message that are critical, particularly as bushfire season starts again. Written after the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfire season which impacted so many in so many ways (and continues to do so), it is designed to not only warn people of the dangers of inhaling bushfire smoke – after weeks of it and evacuating twice, we vowed we would never take our fresh mountain air for granted again – as well as provide something for those culturally and linguistically diverse communities who are unfamiliar with this annual threat in Australia. Scientific and creative teams from the ANU in Canberra have worked together to produce this story which includes information on the smoke, its hazards, protecting yourself and seeking help if you’re scared and it has also been translated into Persian, Arabic and Turkish. 

“We wanted to make a picture book about bushfire smoke, not the flames, as there didn’t appear to be any children’s books on this topic,” co-author Liz Drummond, and NCEPH Communication Officer, said. “It was important not to scare the children, so I decided to focus on fun imaginative play.” Thus, she asked herself what game would Bluey and Bingo play and from that grew the ideas of dragon smoke, masks that are helmets and an asthma puffer that is a magic flute, which, accompanied by eye-catching, detailed illustrations will appeal to young readers who are likely to share the message with their parents, as much as parents will share the message with them.  Such is the power of picture books. 

More on the story of its creation can be found here while teaching resources which include information about the hazards of smoke are also available. .

Many schools are set to receive free copies of this book – be aware that it is not just one to shove on the shelves but it has a critical message that needs to be shared.