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Peppa Pig: My Peppa Adventure

Mar21
Peppa Pig: My Peppa Adventure

Peppa Pig: My Peppa Adventure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peppa Pig: My Peppa Adventure

Peppa Pig

Ladybird, 2022

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

9780241543498

Although formal reading instruction usually doesn’t begin until a child starts “big school”, so much of the rate of success and achievement is dependent on the groundwork that has gone before.  Mem Fox has said, ” If every parent -and every adult caring for a child – read aloud a minimum of three stories a day to the children in their lives, we could probably wipe out illiteracy in one generation!” 

But this new Peppa Pig adventure offers an even greater opportunity for our littlest readers to start developing those early reading behaviours that are crucial to underpinning reading development because it requires the child to create their own story. This is a choose-your-own adventure for the very young.   

Starting with a page of pictures of possible destinations, the child chooses where in the world they want to travel – to the jungle, the ocean, the desert, the city or even outer space – and then on succeeding pages they use the picture cues to decide which of Peppa’s family and friends they will take with them; their clothing; their lunchtime menu; how they will travel and so on, building an entire adventure as they turn the pages. There are musical instruments to play, shops to visit, parties to attend – and each is the child’s choice,  And when they return home safely, they can go back to the start and map out another adventure to tell!  The power of print over the fleeting screen! 

While listening to stories and building the pictures in their imagination is vital, having the scaffolding to build your own story with your favourite character is brilliant – there are so many skills involved and learning that takes place, not to mention the empowerment of being the author and making the decisions that this is, IMO, a must-have in the library of any beginning reader.  In all my years of reading and reviewing, showing and sharing books with little ones, books that are interactive with lift-the-flaps and other devices, I don’t recall one in this choose-your-own format for this age group.  Love it! 

 

 

The Boy with Flowers in His Hair

Mar18
The Boy with Flowers in His Hair

The Boy with Flowers in His Hair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Boy with Flowers in His Hair

Jarvis

Walker, 2022

32pp., hbk., RRP $A27.99

 9781406392517

David has flowers in his hair and that’s just fine with all the other kids in the class, particularly his best friend. But when the bright, pretty petals start to fall off and David just has spiky twigs, things changed.  David was quiet, he didn’t want to play and he started to wear a hat. He never wore hats.  And when he took it off and reveled that he was twiggy, spiky and brittle, the other kids didn’t want to play with him either.  Until his best friend had an idea…

This is a touching story about what being a best friend really means – being there when your mate is at their most vulnerable, whether that be through illness or any other hardship that might strike.  The clichéed “thick and thin” that few are fortunate to experience, but when they do it means a lifelong bond that is remembered forever. Even though having flowers growing out of your head might be noticeable in the adult world, it is totally accepted as natural by the children who haven’t yet learned about adult perceptions or prejudices. But whether it’s because they’ve heard parental whispers or it just takes them a while to adjust to David’s new look, their attitudes and behaviour changes when he does, leaving him even more vulnerable than he would have been just dealing with its cause. Thank goodness for his best friend who supports him regardless.

While the story itself deals with David’s hair, which, while being the thing we often notice first about a person yet which is really the easiest thing to change, it could apply to any situation where the child feels isolated or marginalised and so, in the hands of a sensitive adult, it can help little ones share their own stories – perhaps illness, divorce, financial hardship, whatever – while helping to build compassion and empathy amongst their mates as they understand that their friend is still the same inside,  

Sensitively written and illustrated, this is one for the mindfulness collection that deserves to be shared and discussed and valued for its bravery/rarity in touching on a delicate subject in such a tactful way. I could use the other cliché, “Ask me how I know” but all I will say is that I have been David, and hopefully I’ve also been his best friend. 

Little Owl’s New Friend

Mar18
Little Owl's New Friend

Little Owl’s New Friend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Owl’s New Friend

Debi Gliori

Alison Brown

Bloomsbury, 2022

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

9781526628282

Little Owl is back in another story for littlies but this time instead of waiting anxiously for a new sibling; being concerned about starting preschool  or looking for any reason not to stop his game and have a bath , or trying to avoid going to bed. Little Owl is introduced to a new friend in the middle of his game with Hedge.  But this new friend talks so much and tries so hard, that Little Owl doesn’t want to be friends until… 

Over the last few years, Little Owl has become a favourite with our youngest readers as his adventures and concerns mirror their own so closely, and this new one is no exception.  They will all remember a time when a third party to a game becomes a third wheel.   And as always, wise Mummy Owl is there to help without intruding and taking over., knowing that Little Owl has to work these things out for himself. Alison Brown’s illustrations capture the author’s text perfectly making the characters very endearing while having enough detail for the young reader to work out what’s happening even if they can’t manage all the words yet. 

A series worth collecting for your little ones. 

 

When You’re Older

Mar16
When You're Older

When You’re Older

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When You’re Older

Sofie Laguna

Judy Watson

A & U Children’s, 2022

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

9781760291341

Baby brother, I can’t wait until you’re older.
Just imagine the adventures that lie ahead…

As he watches his baby brother sleep, the little boy begins to dream with his eyes open as he imagines the adventures that the two will have together “when you’re older’.  From riding their bikes through a jungle whose branches are festooned with snakes to being marooned in Arctic wastes, they will have the most magnificent adventures together… each bigger and better and more daring than the last. And each having them side by side through thick and thin. 

Laguna’s words are brought to life by exquisite illustrations that carry the reader along on the tide of the boy’s dreams, sparking dreams of their own, until we return, grounded, by the final page.  This is a celebration of the bonds between brothers that will resonate with all who have a brother or who have wished for one. Perfect for this year’s CBCA Book Week theme. 

 

 

Go Home, Cat!

Mar8
Go Home, Cat!

Go Home, Cat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go Home, Cat!

Sonya Hartnett

Lucia Masciullo

Puffin, 2022

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

9781760899493

When Nicholas finds a silver coin while he is playing in the garden, his first thoughts are that he can buy his favourite liquorice with it. So he sets off for the shops – the reader can follow his journey on the map on the endpages – only to discover that his beloved cat is following him.  No matter how often he says ,”Go home, Cat,” the cat keeps following. He crosses the road carefully but just as he pushes open the sweet shop door, he sees Cat stuck in the middle of the road, a very dangerous place to be…

Celebrating nothing more than the love and bond between a boy and his pet, this is a heart-warming, almost old-fashioned story that harks back to an era that perhaps many of its target audience are unfamiliar with.  For who among them can remember when there were little sweet shops in the main street, their windows filled with all sorts of delights and the anticipation of what to choose on the rare occasion there was money to spare, being as exciting as the purchase itself?  OH&S inspectors would be down like a ton of jaffas on such a place now, but this story took me back to Mary Gray’s lolly shop (and her fabulous fudge) in the Whitcombe & Tomb’s arcade in my childhood Christchurch, aided and abetted by Masciullo’s artistry which takes us back to a different time! How did we survive being offered handmade lollies in jars and trays, carefully scooped into white paper bags, sealed with a twist? Definitely dreaming with eyes open, here!

A companion story to Come Down, Cat, this is a nostalgic trip down memory lane that needs to be shared between grandparent and grandchild. 

 

Don’t Forget

Mar6
Don't Forget

Don’t Forget

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t Forget

Jane Godwin

Anna Walker

Puffin, 2021

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

9781761040955

Sometimes being a kid can be overwhelming – there are so many things to remember to do, to say, to be… Particularly with all the busyness and chaos in the lives of our children, these days.  

Don’t forget to make your bed, and wear socks that fit your feet.

Don’t forget to brush your teeth, and don’t forget your homework!

In this charming book for young readers, acknowledged in the CBCA Picture Book of the Year Notables , little ones are reminded that as well as all that actual stuff, in the whirlwind of the day it is easy to forget the other things that are just as important…

Don’t forget to wonder, to be brave, to share.

Don’t forget to imagine, and to feel the touch of each season

For while we have to do that ordinary, everyday stuff, it is the long-term, intangible things that create memories, build dreams and shape us as we grow.  While celebrating the joy of childhood, Godwin has carefully chosen events that will resonate widely but all the while it is the connections with nature, the  being with and  caring for others that are the most enduring – the things that cause us to wonder, to imagine, to share and to reflect that are both the building blocks and the stepping stones.

Alongside Godwin’s superficially simple text are Anna Walker’s exquisite illustrations which bring both them and the child’s life to life.  The reader becomes part of the neighbourhood, rather than an observer, again reinforcing that connectedness on which families and communities are built. As we move out of such a long period of enforced isolation, books like this which celebrate the simple, that literally remind us to smell the roses, that ground us in the here-and-now rather than the what’s-next and the what-might-be that will help us realise that which really matters.  It’s not about the extravaganza birthday party that was missed but the community street party that was shared by all. 

And for those who want to explore the concepts further, there is a unit of work available through PETAA but for members only.

Some Dinosaurs Are Small

Mar6
Some Dinosaurs Are Small

Some Dinosaurs Are Small

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Dinosaurs Are Small

Charlotte Voake

Walker, 2022

32pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781406394207

Some dinosaurs are small with tiny teeth for munching leaves, and some dinosaurs are BIG with  pointy teeth for munching  OTHER dinosaurs!  Some dinosaurs need to RUN! But some dinosaurs have a secret weapon…

In pure pantomime spirit, children will want to cry out, “He’s behind you!” and they will hold their breath until the outcome is revealed – and then they will LOL!  This is a joyous story for little ones who like dinosaurs and who can no doubt, tell you the names of those featured in it.  But as well as being entertaining with its delightful twist, it also explores opposites like  big and small, fast and slow, carnivore and herbivore that will add to the child’s knowledge. There is also the need to look closely at the pictures to understand its ending, reinforcing the integration between text and picture in a subtle way.

Sheer delight that reinforces the value of a simple story told well, and, being in print, one that can be revisited time and again, even reading it for yourself.  

 

What Snail Knows

Mar3
What Snail Knows

What Snail Knows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Snail Knows

Kathryn Apel

Mandy Foot

UQP, 2022

232pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9780702265464

“It’s just you and me, Lucy. We don’t need nobody else.” 

How many times had Lucy heard that as Dad packed up their old brown car again, and they moved to yet another caravan park and, for Lucy, a new school? It seems that since her mum died, she and her dad have been constantly on the move from place to place, school to school and if the memories themselves weren’t enough, there were the reminders at school where teachers asked students to make Mother’s Day cards or draw their family tree.  Lucy sees them as just a seed of a family, but desperately wishes there were branches like other families.   

So when she discovers Snail carrying his home on his back, a home he can tuck himself inside whenever things get tough, it seems like the ideal pet for her and so he joins them in his special box in the caravan.  And just as Snail becomes more used to his surroundings, gains confidence and tentatively comes out of his shell, so does Lucy.  Even though there are the usual adjustments to make as she starts yet another new school, gradually she starts to fit in and make friends as together the students investigate how they can help each other, their families and their communities under the sensitive and caring Miss Darling.  Does it really just have to be Lucy and her dad keeping themselves to themselves, or is there room for others as well?

This is a most poignant verse novel for young independent readers that will resonate with so many – Lucys who are the new kid, yet again, and who have already learned to build the defensive walls to protect themselves; teachers who have had new students start this year and who will have a host of reasons for starting a new school but will have “new kid” syndrome in common;  and students who are comfortable in their established friendship groups and are wary of how the dynamics will change if someone new enters…  And each will take something different away after having read it.

Written in the present tense from Lucy’s perspective each poem raises all sorts of issues that can be explored to help students understand the various perspectives and themes, while each blends into the next to build a potent story of loneliness, friendship, acceptance, and building and connecting with community. How can we each reach out to the new kid, our classmates, our families and those in the broader circle, particularly the lonely and the vulnerable, to build communities again, particularly after the isolation of the last two years?  Even without cane toads to conquer, could this rain and these floods on the East Coast, in fact, have a silver lining?

 

A Good Place

Mar2
A Good Place

A Good Place

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Good Place

Lucy Cousins

Walker, 2022 

40pp., hbk., RRP $A25.99 

9781529501254

Bee, Beetle, Ladybird and Dragonfly are each looking for a new home.  They each want something different – Bee wants some beautiful flowers;  Beetle some dead wood; Ladybird some leaves and Dragonfly is looking for a pond – but just when they think they have found what they want, it proves to be not-so-perfect after all.  And then Butterfly comes to the rescue…

 A story for our youngest readers, with illustrations that look like their own, this is one that will appeal as it introduces them to the concept of each creature having different needs – it’s not a one-size-fits-all world.  It also alerts them to the diversity they will find in their own gardens, perhaps even encouraging them to plant one even if it’s just a pot on the balcony. But as well as the diversity, there is also the opportunity to look at the similarities of the four friends – the first illustration clearly shows the common characteristics of insects – perhaps starting them on their first investigation into the classification of the world’s creatures in general, and minibeasts in particular. 

Bright, colourful and engaging, for all its seeming simplicity, Cousins demonstrates that we can learn from picture books if we delve more deeply..

What Is An Election?

Mar1
What Is An Election?

What Is An Election?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Is An Election?

Caryn Jenner

DK, 2020

48pp., hbk., RRP $A12.99

9780241439920

So far this year, in my little part of the planet, we have had both local government elections and a state by-election, and a federal election looms within the next three months,  So local young readers have been bombarded with advertising and so forth with vocabulary like ‘party’, ‘candidate’, ‘vote’ and ‘polling booth’. But do they understand what an ‘election‘ is?

This book, part of the DK FindOut series, provides a simple but comprehensive explanation of where and how democracy began and how it has developed over the years and just what happens when people are required to exercise their vote every so often.  Beginning with a close-to-home scenario of school elections for class president, it moves beyond to national elections and while the photographs are predominantly from the US, it does embrace the procedures in other parts of the world.

Because this is a levelled reader, ostensibly for ‘beginning readers”, the explanations are clear yet comprehensive giving the young person who at least has an awareness of the process being undertaken an insight into what actually happens. Therefore, IMO, the target audience would be those who might be involved in class elections who know that it is more than a popularity contest. Rather than an individual read, its importance lies as an introduction to that which will dominate our news bulletins in coming months shared and discussed by the class teacher, so students begin to understand what is meant by “Let’s have a vote” and the concepts of ‘majority rules’ and living with the consequences of the choices, 

As we mature we begin to realise what a precious thing a vote is, and the need to exercise our rights in an informed manner. This book begins our students’ understanding of that privilege.