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Unicornia (series)

Feb20
Unicornia (series)

Unicornia (series)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unicornia (series)

Learning to Fly

9781529519860

A Magical Birthday

9781529520002

Ana Punset

Diana Vicedo

Walker Books, 2025

128pp., pbk., RRP $A12.99

Imagine going to live in a new town, one tucked so far away at the edge of the map that most people don’t even see it, let alone know about it – a town where buses have wings not wheels, magic is mundane and the sky is full of colourful unicorns gallivanting through the clouds.  That’s Claudia’s new life because her parents have moved to open a new magic food shop, but while it might seem idyllic to some there are some hazards like learning to make potions at her new school, the Unicornia Academy of Magic,  without blowing everyone up and mastering unicorn riding in time for an assessment in two days.  Birthdays at the Enchanted Falls theme park might sound fun but things can go very wrong…

Printed on pastel pages that echo the colour of the cover and with many illustrations in the same theme, this is a new series for newly independent readers who are in love with unicorns and all the magic and fantasy they portray.  Told by Claudia, the stories echo everyday events with her two new friends Pippa and Sara but with that sprinkle of glitter dust that glams them up, although even in a place like Unicornia, reality can intrude.

With at least two more in the series coming in June 2025- The Cupcake Contest and The Dance Show – this is a series that brings together the things that young readers are familiar with like having to make new friends, start a new school, learn new things, and navigate unfamiliar situations even if that means having to face your fears, using both text and graphics to make it accessible to its intended audience and support them as they read. It’s something new to entice that next group of emerging independent readers to keep reading, as they dabble in the new realm of novels and series, and there is even a website to find more information and activities. . 

How To Draw a Dragon

Oct10
How To Draw a Dragon

How To Draw a Dragon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How To Draw a Dragon

Kate Talbot

Albert Street, 2024

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

9781761180606

Everybody knows what a dragon looks like.
Don’t they?
Dragons have wings.
Dragons breathe fire.

Especially they breathe fire!

On the surface this is a lively conversation between a father and child as they lie on the floor together and Dad draws a dragon. But it does not look like the little one’s mental image of what a dragon should be like and so the story is carried along via their exchange as they make various versions and changes and then let their imaginations really go wild. Until a third party intervenes… 

Dragons appear in so many storybooks for young readers that each will probably have a mental image of what they look like and so a simple activity would be to have them draw their version of one before reading the story, and then compare their drawings after sharing the book. As well as starting conversations about the similarities and differences, and making comparisons of the role dragons take in the stories they have read (‘text-to-text’ for the curriculum buffs – start with There is No Dragon in this Story; search this blog for “dragon” for many more or this blog post from A Mighty Girl) there could also be those who want to compare dragons of different cultures because the children of Asian origin will likely have a different perspective from those of the child in the story, and it will be more than just its physical looks, so lots of opportunities to compare and contrast and present findings.. And then there are the offshoots like the Komodo dragon and the weedy sea-dragon both appearing in the story and blurring the image even further.

But, delve a little deeper and it opens up all sorts of possibilities like the concept of stereotypes and the validity of the judgements we make based on what we imagine someone or somebody being or doing.  Do all dragons have wings? Do they all breathe fire? Do all scientists wear white coats? Do all kings wear crowns?

It can also offer scope to investigate perception and perspective – how what we see is based on what we already know and believe.  Depending on the age of those you are working with, share The King’s Breakfast, a poem by A. A. Milne; the initial description of the giant moving down the street in Roald Dahl’s The BFG; or the first meeting between Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. Then have them draw the scene they see in their head, without reference to other illustrations, and once complete, share their images.  Why, when given exactly the same information, is every drawing so different? What did they already know/believe that influenced their pictures?  It has been my experience that this is an activity that will generate a lot of learning whether done with Year 1 or Year 6 and beyond.

Different interpretations of Bilbo Baggins meeting Gandalf

Different interpretations of Bilbo Baggins meeting Gandalf

The publisher’s blurb says this is one that is “perfect to share with children who love drawing … or having opinions.” but, using humour in the illustrations and presenting the story entirely in dialogue with each speaker identified by a particular font echoing the voice of an opinionated child who is adamant that they are right and which we can all hear, Talbot has created a story that  it has the potential to be so much more. 

 

Dragon Guest Handbook

Sep27
Dragon Guest Handbook

Dragon Guest Handbook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dragon Guest Handbook

Jeanette Stampone

Novia Heroanto

Wombat Books, 2024

32pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9781761111686

Imagine… you’re lying in bed when a dragon taps on the window.  It’s friendly and has just come for a visit, but how do you greet it, make it feel welcome and entertain it while it stays with you – particularly when you don’t understand its language and it doesn’t understand yours?

Don’t worry.  In this whimsical step-by-step guide all the protocols of greeting the dragon, introducing it to your family, taking it out in public and even the bedtime routine are set out in a logical, easy-to-follow sequence so you can be prepared for when it happens to you.  

This is an imaginative and original storyline that is ideal for helping young readers develop their concepts about print as they learn to read the pictures at the same time as the words, for while the text offers straightforward instructions such as, “Introduce your dragon to the family”, the action, often hilarious, happens in the illustrations,  carrying the whole along and compelling the reader to turn the page to see what happens next.  

Long ago, in a class faraway, I introduced my Year 3 students to persuasive writing by getting them to imagine that a dragon had landed in the playground and they had to persuade the principal that it should be allowed to stay.  How much fun would this book be if the audience were asked to think of an ordinary situation in their own day and work out the procedures and etiquette so that a dragon could manage it?  If someone doesn’t speak the same language as you, how do you communicate?  If you can’t use your voice to communicate, can you use your body?  Is there some body language that is universal?  What are some of the things we can do to make someone new feel welcome?  Does your family have special traditions or food that are shared?  Conversely, help them develop their social awareness skills by identifying the signs and signals that someone doesn’t want our company right now.

So much scope to explore, making this one suitable for more than just the very young. 

We all smile in the same language!

We all smile in the same language!

The Daredevil Princess (series)

Aug22
The Daredevil Princess (series)

The Daredevil Princess (series)

The Daredevil Princess (series)

Golden Unicorn

9781761340437

Goblin King

9781761340451

Fire Dragon

9781761340468

Grumpy Giant

9781761340475

Belinda Murrell

Rebecca Crane

Puffin, 2024

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

Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Mathilda Amalia Charlotte Adelaide Rose – known to all as Tillie except for Mr Grimm the pompous stickler-for-manners royal steward – lived a relaxed life with her parents, Queen Cordelia who ruled the queendom of Blumenfeld, King Edwin her absent-minded inventor father and Prince Oskar, her younger brother, a would-be, swashbuckling knight. 

When she discovers that the royal roses are being eaten by a sassy unicorn called Honey Blossom, they form a friendship that has seen them encounter goblins, dragons and, in the latest, a grumpy giant disturbed from his sleep helping to solve problems, soothe feelings and keep the peace while still remaining compassionate tempered with a bit of her own  feistiness and independence.

Belinda Murrell who gave a previous wave of newly independent readers the wonderful Lulu Bell series, has created a new collection for the next generation of young girls who are consolidating their skills, this time building on that recurring dream of being a princess, but being bold and brave and independent and encouraged to do so despite the presence of Mr Grimm and Miss Prim. With all the supports that these emerging readers need including short chapters, larger font, and a few strategic illustrations, this series is one that will have wide appeal, not the least because there is no long wait between episodes. 

For those who are viewing the current CBCA Book Week theme of Reading is Magic through a fantasy lens, this is an ideal introduction to that genre with its traditional fantasy characters  maybe even encouraging them to imagine themselves as Princess Tillie and create their own adventure with someone or something from the imaginary world or perhaps developing a visual glossary of them to be shared with others venturing into that realm.  Research, reading for purpose, creating information… reading is, indeed, magic.  

 

Lights Out, Little Dragon!

Jun22
Lights Out, Little Dragon!

Lights Out, Little Dragon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lights Out, Little Dragon!

Debra Tidball

Rae Tan

HarperCollins, 2024

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

9781460763421

My little dragon is so tired, but he won’t go to sleep.

What can I do?

The theme of getting a little one to go to bed and to sleep is common in books for our youngest readers, but what sets this one apart is the role reversal of the main character and that the reader is invited to become actively involved in the story by helping the little girl to persuade Little Dragon that is is bedtime and that means settling down.  

Rather than counting sheep, Dragon wants to play with them and they’re exhausted so the reader is asked to trace a path for them to escape; they get to use their big-people’s voice to tell him to go to bed; and help out with counteracting all the strategies that Little Dragon uses – strategies that they, themselves, will be familiar with.  They help find Dragon’s lost dinosaur; blow away the loud-thought clouds that keep him awake; tickle his tummy;  groan at his antics in the bathroom; even turn the light on and off… Sometimes, trying to put a little one to bed can be exhausting.

While the child will engage with L:ittle Dragon’s antics and relate to the little girl’s situation and language because they, themselves, will have heard it before, the adult sharing the story with them will enjoy the subtle humour as they discuss what Little Dragon might try next and how the little girl might deal with it. Fun and engaging.

Dragons of Hallow (series)

Jun15
Dragons of Hallow (series)

Dragons of Hallow (series)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dragons of Hallow (series)

Spellhound

9781761180057

Fledgewitch

9781761067365

A & U Children’s, 2024

352pp., pbk., RRP $A17.99

The first in this series begins… There are Three Great Secrets in Hallow, a country that loves secrets almost as much as it loves green jellybabies. No, I’m not going to tell you anything more about them. I am a loyal citizen of Hallow, and would never betray—
Oh, you have jellybabies?
Green ones?
Well, I suppose I could tell you a little more.
Come closer. Open your ears and your heart, and pass the green jellybabies.
I will tell you a story about an enormous magical pup, a child Queen and a very small minch-wiggin with the unfortunate title of Destroyer-of-Dragons…

And continues with a tale of “falsehoods, fortitude and friendship” about how a minch-wiggin, a Queen, and a rather large magical pup need to find the dragon that has turned their worlds upside-down-even if it means revealing all they want to keep hidden…

Two years later in Fledgewitch, life has moved on and Queen Rose is now twelve, and ruling Hallow with the Regent, Uncle Edwin and this story centres on ten-year-old Brim taken by Count Zaccar and Countess Xantha  to the School for the Prevention of Witches  because are the three Laws of Quill, carved in stone outside every town hall, and learnt by every schoolchild:
There shall be No Witches.
There shall be No Dragons.
There shall be NO SECRETS.

But Brim, despite having feathers sprouting from her elbows, and being the only one who can remember Snort, the Horned Glob, doesn’t believe she is a witch, one to be feared and outcast because of their dangerous, evil ways.

And so the story unfolds in a tale deeply rooted with themes of family, faith, loyalty and courage with engaging characters who display all those traits that we expect as they are pitted against dastardly, devious villains.  With its length, its seemingly unrelated stories  as well as the twists and turns in the plot, and the opportunity to put clues together if they are picked up, this is a series for fantasy-loving independent readers looking for something to sustain them over long winter nights, best read in order and best to read the first to establish the characters and their history and relationships – although these may not be what they seem.  

For those who want to know more about the author and how the series came to life, read this Q&A. 

 

 

Dragon Towers

Mar6
Dragon Towers

Dragon Towers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dragon Towers

Pip Bird

David O’Connell

Farshore, 2024

160pp., pbk., RRP $A15.99

9780008641863

Ten-year-old Theo LOVES dragons. In fact, he is obsessed by them and he knows every dragon type, has every dragon book there is and has even made his own Dragon Rider jacket. So when he gets his letter inviting him to dragon school it’s a dream come true.

At Dragon Towers every child is paired with their very own dragon best friend, and every dragon has their own special magic power, from fire-breathing to going invisible and even making slime. Theo can’t wait to find out what type of dragon he has. But when he meets his dragon Wanda she doesn’t seem to have any powers at all…

A recent query about books about dragons for a young reader obsessed with dragons revealed that this is a much sought-after topic, particularly among boys in middle primary who are perhaps imagining themselves as the hero that Theo dreams of being at the beginning of the story before he is rudely awakened by his mother. Complete with all the fantastic creatures that one would expect to encounter as well as the adventures and quests as the young students aspire to be First Riders like the famous Ada and Faust, this is one for those transitioning to longer novels but still needing some of the supports of stepping stones.

With the next episode, The Ghostly Surprise, not due until late September this could be one to give to your dragon fanatics to decide whether it is a series worth collecting for the library.  As well as feeding their interest, they will have a reason for reading. 

 

The Secret Lives of Dragons

Jan24
The Secret Lives of Dragons

The Secret Lives of Dragons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Secret Lives of Dragons

Prof Zoya Agnis

Alexander Utkin

Flying Eye, 2023

64pp., pbk., RRP $A24.99

99781838741174

“Deep in the cold mountains of a distant land, there was once a magnificent kingdom of dragons. The songs of dragon families echoed across its peaks, and priceless treasures were hoarded in its caves. But what happened to this kingdom?” 

From stories like The Paper Bag Princess to the drama of Smaug’s arrival in the opening scenes of The Hobbit, both before and beyond, dragons have been a common entry to the world of fantasy for our young readers, sparking the imagination to go on wondrous adventures. For some, just being engrossed in the particular story is enough, but for others, there is a desire to know more and for them, this book is the answer.

It contains everything a curious mind wants to know to become an expert Drackenosopher just like the esteemed author, Zoya Agnis.  Through clever illustrations and readily accessible text, they can learn to identify the different dragon families, name the most fearsome dragon slayers, the bravest of Drackenosophy scholars and everything else there is to know about the beautiful dragons that we share our planet with.

About 20 years ago, there was another series of books like this (this series also includes The Secret Lives of Mermaids  and The Secret Lives of Unicorns) and it became the perfect vehicle for transitioning young readers into the world of non fiction as we took a topic they were fascinated by and started exploring information books.  In fact they came up with the slogan, Fiction = Imagination; Non Fiction = Information, something I have used in many instances since then. This would serve the same purpose. 

Whenever I make a storybook cushion or a journal or author kit featuring a dragon, I know I will only have it for a short time, such is the popularity of these fantastic beasts. Adults and children snap them up immediately, such is the fascination with and popularity of this creature.  So this is the perfect book to be the centrepiece of a display and promotion featuring fantasy promising to take readers on magical adventures as well as for The Year of the Dragon. A must-have if you have fantasy lovers amongst your readers. 

Three Tasks for a Dragon

Dec3
Three Tasks for a Dragon

Three Tasks for a Dragon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Tasks for a Dragon

Eoin Colfer

P. J. Lynch

Walker Books, 2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A32.99

9781529505825

After his father’s ‘accidental’ death at sea, his stepmother Queen Nimh and stepbrother Prince Delbayne invoke ancient Lagin law that only those who can summon the mysterious wolfhounds can become king, and Prince Lir is to be banished from his beloved homeland forever. The prince is a scholar not a warrior and acquiesces to his fate, but in an apparent act of generosity, Prince Delbayne pleads his stepbrother’s case and it is agreed that if Prince Lir can complete an ancient quest he will be able to return. 

Thus Prince Lir finds himself on a mission to rescue a young maiden being held captive by the dragon Lasvarg on his island, not realising that it is all part of a devious, malicious plan and dark magic concocted by his not-so-nice brother to ensure that Lir never returns to assume his place on the throne… But then, Delbayne does not realise that brains can overcome brawn… 

Created by two who have each been the Irish children’s laureate, this is a story reminiscent of the quests of old, drawing the reader into the fantasy of kings and queens and dragons and maidens needing to be rescued  with its twists and turns in the plot while its superb illustrations bring times gone by to life.  You can almost envisage this as a Lord of the Rings-esque movie, and while it has the traditional good versus evil as its underlying theme, because Prince Lir keeps his father’s words “The trick to it… is to work with what is around you,” it has a refreshing new perspective because rather than trying to trick the dragon and kill it to save Cethlenn, Lir uses his brains to cure the dragon’s ailments caused by the mould in his damp cave, mend his broken wing, and restore his fire-breathing powers,

, forming a partnership that eventually outwits and outlasts Nimh, Delbayne and even Lagin itself..

This is an illustrated novella that would make an ideal introduction to this genre as a read-aloud merging the traditional elements and feel of the classic quest with more modern themes.  

 

Our Family Dragon: A Lunar New Year Story

Nov28
Our Family Dragon: A Lunar New Year Story

Our Family Dragon: A Lunar New Year Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Family Dragon: A Lunar New Year Story

Rebecca Lim

Cai Tse

Albert Street Books, 2023

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

9781761180637

Starting on  February 10, 2024 will be the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar, and the family, like so many around the world, are making all the traditional preparations ready for this special celebration.  The house is clean so all the bad luck is outside with the rubbish, special foods have been cooked, and so much else has been done as the anticipation of the dragon’s arrival reaches fever point. 

The advent of the Lunar New Year is celebrated not just in Asia but around the globe as people from many nationalities honour the traditions and customs of their heritage and this new picture book is the perfect introduction to this time as its sense of expectation and energy builds through both words and pictures. As both a classroom teacher and teacher librarian, this was always one of the richest festivals to draw on, not just because of all the teaching and display opportunities that it offered but also because it touched so many children and their families. Then, as well as exploring all the possibilities that that topic offers, it can be extended into a broader investigation of how and when New Year is celebrated by the school’s families.

Many of our students will be starting the new school year with the excitement of such an important occasion looming, and this is a great way to share that joy as well as acknowledging their culture. 

 

A Chinese New Year display

A Chinese New Year display