Leilong the brontosaurus is a very good school bus, and the children are all ready and waiting as he goes from building to building to collect them. But being a brontosaurus in a modern city of cars and buses and trucks and people can have its drawbacks and Leilong finds himself banned and confined to the school gymnasium. He is so upset that he cries and cries… and finds himself a new career!!
Young readers first met Leilong when he took them to library storytime and they will be happy that he returns in another adventure. What if Leilong arrived at their school? What uses could he have? Have them write letters to the principal to persuade them that Leilong should stay…
A Christmas tradition, all round this land, from the city to the country, from the bush to the sand, in a shiny red truck instead of a sleigh, Santa sets out on his jolly old way.
Seeing Santa arrive in the community of a fire truck is not only a common site for our children, but is perhaps more familiar than his arrival on a sleigh, and given the events of recent summers, this is a wonderful tribute to all the firies who keep us safe, their families and their supporters. But hopefully their fire trucks are more reliable than this old one which keeps conking out as Santa makes his way around the town. But with the familiar Aussie ingenuity, the children get it going again until, on its very last stop, it stops altogether, never to go again. What are the townsfolk going to do???
But in recognition of the way everyone – neighbours and friends, firies, park rangers, teachers, nurses and the kids themselves – have pulled together to keep the old one going, Santa has one last gift for the town…
Written to the rhythm of the Clement C. Moore poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, this is a story that will not only resonate with our children but also be appreciated by the adults who share it with them. For regardless of recent memories of Christmas, it is sure to touch something deep down and inspire a resolve to touch base with those childhood memories and make Christmas extra-special for the children this year, especially as restrictions ease. The illustrations are as lively as the text and should spark conversations about those Christmas customs that are uniquely Australian.
‘Let’s go on a submarine And cruise beneath the sea. Discovering strange creatures Who swim so fast and free.’
This is a new addition to the Let’s Go series, this one taking our youngest readers under the ocean on a yellow submarine to discover some of the wonders that are usually hidden beneath the waves.
The series focuses on two children enjoying rides on a variety of transport. Familiar topics, catchy rhymes and colourful illustrations not only make for an enjoyable read that they will be able to retell themselves endlessly, but also promote what can be expected from story books. It also helps build vocabulary as not all will be familiar with farm life or riding a train or a ferry, and those like this that take them under the sea or travelling in space on a rocket introduce them to otherwise out-of-reach worlds. Thus, when they encounter other books with those sorts of settings, they are able to bring their existing knowledge to the page, predict what they will see and what might happen so the story makes sense, as well as being in a better position to get their mouth ready for unknown words.
We should never underestimate the role that these sorts of readers have in our children’s literacy as they develop those early concepts about print, and by using sturdy, durable board books we can start that process earlier and earlier. This is just one of a number of series from this publisher that is bringing quality stories to our youngest readers ensuring they develop those vital concepts about print that must be in place long before they embark on trying to master the skills if they are to make connections between what’s in their brain and what’s on the page.
In the meantime, the adults who share this with their little ones will enjoy the memories of that other yellow submarine that it brings back, rather than the current controversy of they said, we said…
Long ago when people were allowed to travel where and when they wanted, Monkey decided to take a holiday. First to be packed was his new camera and then everything else he was sure he would need. Two days in a plane, a long boat ride and a lot of stairs saw him arrive in a city that seemed to grow straight out of the sea! He was in Venice in Italy.
Almost as soon as he steps pout to explore the city, he meets Clarabella, a friendly cat who offers to show Monkey the sights of the city and they spend the day taking photos of all the iconic places. But when Monkey drops his camera and it falls into a disappearing gondola, he discovers that there are more important things in his life…
This is a unique book and it is going to appeal to a broad audience, not just those who are familiar with Venice or who have dreams to go there.
Most striking are the illustrative techniques. Monkey and his friends are soft toys, lovingly knitted by the author’s mother who has also provided the patterns on Monkey’s website, and they are pictured against stunning photographic images of Venice. After being given Monkey as a gift and sharing photos of him with her partner Matt Ottley while they were separated because of work. the author realised that soft toys are a universal language among adults and children, particularly given the number that have their own Instagram accounts, and that this could be a unique way for readers to travel .when circumstances (not just COVID-19 restrictions) prevented it. Monkey’s adventures were born.
Monkey’s adventures reminded me of the fun we had with hosting exchange teddies back in the early days of the Internet when we could share their adventures in almost real time using the early digital cameras and creating webpages using raw html code. The places those toys could take us once people learned why we were photographing them against particular backdrops! And what our students learned about the world and their place in it, the friendships made – Monkey and Clarabella epitomise those.
Enriching the experience enormously, partner/composer/illustrator Matt Ottley (winner of the 2021 CBCA Picture Book of the Year ) has composed a soundtrack to accompany the book so that all its nuances are experienced in full sensory mode. There are two tracks – one to accompany the child holding the book and listening to it being read to them; the other a more extended version to take the whole experience into the world of those with visual disabilities who may have braille for the words but nothing for the pictures. The extended narration and music enable them to ‘see’ the whole thing. These are included with the book as a CD but for those without the equipment, it can be downloaded.
And there are more of Monkey’s adventures to be released in 2022.
This is going to be a stand-out read-aloud and read-alone in your collection because it is that wonderful combination of story and illustrations with characters and situations that its audience will relate to and all the added extras will make Monkey and his friends their friends too.
No matter how sophisticated travel gets with electric cars, sleek yachts and even spacecraft, there is still a fascination with the old-fashioned steam train. And for little ones, riding on model trains can be a highlight they remember for ever.
Still a talking point, 10 years on…
So this delightful story about a family birthday at a miniature railway park will be as timeless as its topic, particularly as the clever vocabulary choice means the rhyme and rhythm echoes that iconic clickety clack of wheels over train tracks.
Red, blue and green,
yellow and black.
Here come the trains!
Clickety-clack.
Written and illustrated by the illustrator of some of my favourite stories including the irrepressible Eve of the outback, this is one that little readers will love and demand over and over as they take themselves off on their own train adventure and plan their own party. There’s a map of the track on the endpages so they can see where the children go from the station under the trees, around the old shack, passing the pond, over the bridge… and, of course, through the tunnel. Finally, there’s the birthday cake – what shape will it be?
In 1908 British author brought children the story of Mole, Rat and Badger and their efforts to reform the friendly but conceited and mischievous Mr Toad of Toad Hall who is fascinated by the latest fads, particularly motorcars. But Toad is not the best of drivers and after many mishaps, finds himself in prison for 20 years for stealing a car. Even though he eventually escapes, during his absence his magnificent Toad Hall has been overtaken by weasels and stoats, and it becomes a battle to get it back.
Now, over 100 years on, it has been interpreted in graphic novel format to appeal to a new generation of readers, offering them an introduction to this classic story which has delighted so many before. This is the latest in this series which includes The Wizard of Oz and The Three Musketeers which opens up a new world of literature from past generations, inspiring independent readers to seek out the original versions. It is fast-paced and funny and has all the ingredients that have enabled it to endure for so long.
You can’t take an elephant on a bus and you shouldn’t put a monkey in a shopping trolley or take a tiger on a train ride. Because if you do, they will cause havoc and this delightful rhyming story explores the hazards they create. In fact there is a problem with every mode of transport for these exotic creatures except…
This is a fun-filled story that will have even the gloomiest child laughing out loud and wanting to suggest new ideas. If you can’t ask a whale to ride a bike, then what would work – or not? With quirky illustrations that are as funny as the text and a rich vocabulary that has been carefully crafted – the pig’s trotters totter – this is a surefire winner for young readers who are learning about the fun to be had in stories.
This new series of books created for our very youngest readers reflects a new approach that has been emerging in hoard books recently – that of real stories that engage, entertain and even educate our littlies as, at last, the importance of having quality stories for this age group is recognised. There has been so much research into how critical reading to the very young from birth released, that those who create for this age are now providing more than one-word concept books and the understanding about how print and stories work combined with actually holding the book for themselves is doing so much for early literacy development. Young readers are demanding stories that relate to them, have context and meaning that is familiar and a physical product that requires input from them rather than being passive recipients,
So kudos to the publishers for recognising that our youngest generation need and deserve quality stories that are as entertaining as any screen device placed in front of them.
This particular series focuses on two children enjoying rides on a variety of transport. Familiar topics, catchy rhymes and colourful illustrations not only make for an enjoyable read that they will be able to retell themselves endlessly, but also promote what can be expected from story books.
During this pandemic the world seems to have shrunk as nightly news bulletins bring the tales of heartache from the world’s major cities into our lounge rooms. Even though we can no longer visit the cities that are becoming household names even to our younger readers, we can join Penguin on this adventure as he journeys around the world getting involved in the activities they have to offer.
Cities visited include San Francisco, Mexico City, Chicago, Toronto, New York, Washington DC, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Dublin, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Rome, Madrid, Cairo, Istanbul, Cape Town, Dubai, Mumbai, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and Auckland and the reader is invited to spot Penguin on the pages.
With the information provided in speech bubble chunks, this is an engaging book that will interest and intrigue all budding young jetsetters – who may actually be able to travel by the time they grow up!
The road from Darwin to Alice Springs is almost 1500 km long and travels through some of Australia’s most scenic but inhospitable country. Getting freight between the two centres can be arduous and hazardous even for the huge road trains that make the trip regularly.
This story about Roma the road train’s first journey takes young readers through that outback country showing off not only the countryside but also the life of the driver who makes it, one typical of the men and women who do it frequently as they earn their living. Driver and truck become one as the journey unfolds, the driver attuned to every nuance of the motor, every sensation felt through the steering wheel and then every night time sound as he curls up in the bunk behind the cab.
If you have young students, boys or girls, who have a hankering to be a truckie, or are just wanting to demonstrate another different lifestyle found in this vast country, then the road train drivers, the distances they travel, the country they travel through and the sort of freight they carry offer that.
