Review: The Epically Awesome Odyssey, as told by Nanny Piggins

The Epically Awesome Odyssey, as told by Nanny Piggins is an hilarious and illuminating introduction to Greek mythology for children.

When the school bus driver mentions the word ‘odyssey’, Nanny Piggins finds herself explaining the origin of the word, a brave and clever female pig called Odysseus.

Over many days, the Green children, Derrick, Michael and Samantha, hear the account of The Odyssey as written down by Homer and retold by Nanny Piggins in a series of episodes.

Each episode introduces readers to a key event or character in The Odyssey. Readers will meet the Cyclops, giants, along with Scylla the terrifying six-headed giant lizard. They will travel with Odysseus and her men through deadly whirlpools, wild storms, and past the bewitching Sirens.

Review: Hill End Gold

With a glint of gold fever in his eye and gold lust running through his veins, since he was 18, Alfie Wilson’s dad decides to sell their Bathurst family farm and head to the goldfields at Hill End, where the latest gold strikes have been reported.

Alfie and his younger brother are immediately swept up by their father’s optimistic enthusiasm and firmly believe their father’s motto, ‘Fortune favours the bold’ will inevitably lead them to become the Wealthy Wilsons. Their mother and older sister are far more cautious and prefer the safety and security they have on their farm, even though it may not be so profitable. But as a family they begin their journey to Hill End to claim their stake purchased by their father at a gold mine near where big finds have been unearthed.

Review: The Not So Quiet Life of Marcel Marceau

Like most people I opened The Not so Quiet Life of Marcel Marceau knowing very little about the man beyond the typical mime gags. After reading, I was actually disappointed in myself that I had never learned more, for Marcel Marceau was a truly exceptional human being. From fleeing his home in Strasburg as a child and watching friends and family being marched off to concentration camps, to joining the French Resistance and being instrumental in saving countless lives. This was all before becoming a world famous performer who was still touring the world, well into his 80’s.

Review: The Dust Bowl, 1935: I Survived series

My introduction to the work of John Steinbeck was watching the movie adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath aged around 11/12 and thereafter, reading my father’s copy of the book plus all his other Steinbecks, including my all-time favourite book Of Mice and Men, also set in this period (what a writer that man was!). Both these books underlined the gravity of both the Depression and the Dust Bowl as well as the desperation of the poor, especially the farming people.

Now, Lauren Tarshis, chooses the same scenario for her 25th I Survived historical novel, bringing this terrible and desperate period of American history to a young audience. While it is true the Great Depression affected many around the world and created unimaginable hardships, those in America and Canada affected by the Dust Bowl had double the misfortune. 

Review: A House Divided

A House Divided by Clare Hallifax, is the second book in the Our History series, and an entertaining and informative window into history. 

It covers a year in Juliet’s life and the year is 1975. Colour television was introduced in Australia, flared jeans were fashionable, and the landmark National Library of Australia building opened. It was also a time of political upheaval. 

1975 brings lots of changes for Juliet, her family, and the whole country. 

Juliet lives with her parents and grandmother, and has an older sister at university interstate. Her dad works in a quite senior position in the federal government. 

She's entering her final year of primary school, and is expected to complete a year-long, individual project, one that she needs to choose for herself. 

Juliet decides to compare her life growing up in the seventies, with her Gran’s at the end of the First World War and afterwards.

Review: Mega! Australia’s Megafauna

Did you know that evidence suggests that Australia’s First Nations people lived alongside megafauna for thousands of years? Doesn’t that just blow your mind? This and other facts are explored in Mega! Australia’s Megafauna, created by Laura Holloway and Liz Duthie.

Holloway’s playful writing style creates vivid, memorable facts about the mega animals that existed in Australia between 2.5 million and 11,700 years ago. Think massive echidnas, platypuses and kangaroos. My current favourite animal is Australia’s longest snake ever, the Bluff Downs Giant Python which was 10m long.

Review: False versus Facts

In a world where misinformation is rife, False versus Facts is an excellent reminder that we should look for the evidence behind statements to understand what’s factual and what’s false. 

This book is packed with facts and myths. Do you know which is which?

From facts about the earth, humans and science, to animals, history and food, False versus Facts puts the spotlight on information and confirms what’s real and what’s not. 

False versus Facts is carefully designed with succinct information, bright ‘fact’ and ‘false’ embellishments, and simple, stylised illustrations.

Review: Don't Let Them Leave

Sometimes a title alone is enough to draw you to a book. Pair that with a somewhat ominous cover showing a shadowy house in the middle of a stormy sea, an author who can get readers laughing in one book and quivering in the next and a killer logline, and you just can’t help but be hooked.

And that’s before you even read the prologue!

After their parents are killed in a car accident, Charlotte and her younger siblings, Jack and Emily, find themselves on a train to Cornwall – a place they’ve never been – to live with a grandmother they never knew they had.

Right from the start, there's something off about the solicitor, Mr Frankelweiss. And from that point on, nothing seems to add up.

Sunday Shelfie - The Flower Garden

Happy #sundayshelfie day! It is my pleasure to welcome Claire Saxby and Lucia Masciullo. 
This week we are celebrating their special new picture book The Flower Garden - A Changi Secret.

A gorgeously illustrated historical picture book about the women and children of the Changi POW camp.

I have a secret – we have a secret –
in this place where secrets are not allowed.

The children in the Changi camp are working on a surprise for Mrs Ennis' birthday. They scavenge for scraps of fabric in every colour, and hide in cornered shadows to stitch flowers. But they must keep their surprise a secret, not just from Mrs Ennis, but from their black-booted captors …

Written by Claire Saxby
Illustrated by Lucinda Masciullo 
Published by Walker Books Australia 

Visit Picture Book Book Club @picturebookbc on Instagram.

Review: A Light on the Rocks

The SS Admella was shipwrecked off the coast of South Australia in1859. 

It is one of the worst disasters in Australian maritime history.

Building on the facts of this disaster, Helen Edwards presents two brilliant stories, a  century apart,  in two voices and alternate chapters.

Daisy is fourteen years old at the beginning of August 1859, when she travels on the SS Admella.

She is studying her much-loved Botany, intending that to become her future. 

With her parents and little sister Marigold, the family plans a journey to Melbourne by ship.

Daisy is initially reluctant to board another ship as her journey from England to Australia at three years old, was a terrible experience which remains a beacon of fear in her mind.

Review: Up, Up and Away: The History of Aviation

Those interested in the history, mythology and legends surrounding aviation will be impressed by this publication; this journey through aviation. 

 Presented in immense detail, the contents will delight and fascinate both children and older people. 

Stunning front, end papers depict the sizes of the flying machines, featured together with their length and wingspan, beginning from the largest to the smallest.

Review: Powerful Like A Dragon

A dragon is proud, strong, kind. Be powerful like a dragon.

Words that bolster and build incentive to never give up. Never give in. Especially to the ravages and horrors of war. 

One would think that stories centred around this theme would be a thing of the past and yet, the plight of refugees displaced by senseless conflicts remains a global concern to this day.

Powerful Like a Dragon is a compelling piece of storytelling based on award-winning author, Christopher Cheng’s real-life family history. Caught in the grips of invasion in the midst of World War II, many of Cheng’s extended family made the life-saving decision to flee their homeland in Hong Kong and seek refuge in China.

Review: The Stuff That Stuff Is Made Of

The Stuff that Stuff is made of - Things we make with Plants, is an extraordinary book full of valuable and surprising information about plants and their incredible contribution to humanity.

The cover illustrations draw readers into a beautiful world full of wonder and knowledge. 

The artwork by Raxenne Maniquiz and Jiatong Liu, is stunning. So is their innovative design and use of colour. 

Review: The Legend of Jessie Hickman

Who was Jessie Hickman?

The end pages give a clue to all that she became. 

Once again, Mark Greenwood's trademark sharp and detailed prose, surprises. 

Jessie’s life is laid out in entertaining words and actions that match her countless abilities. 

She was a legend; feisty and fearless. A girl who travelled in a bush circus from an early age and learnt many skills. She got to be known as the Amazing Miss Jessie! 

Her earliest feat was to walk the tightrope before she was ten. 

Review: The Village Beyond the Mist

It is holiday time for Lina. She is not going to her usual destination, but somewhere different, where her father sends her. 

She is headed for Misty Valley, also known as Absurd Avenue. 

She discovers the reason for this name is due to the unusual occurrences that continuously take place, and the oddest people that come and go in this place. 

It turns out to be exactly what her father called it. Different! 

She ends up at Picotto Hall, owned by the elderly and crusty, Pippity Picotto. A strange and mysterious boarding house where the boarders earn their keep in one form or another. 

Lina is allocated The Clown Room, with the most perfect surroundings and her own bathroom. 

Review: Britannica All New Children's Encyclopedia: What We Know & What We Don't

Britannica All New Children's Encyclopedia: What We Know & What We Don't is divided into eight chapters and packed with facts and figures.

Did you know that more than 99.9% of species that have ever existed are not extinct?

Have you ever heard of a quark (part of a proton)?  

This is the perfect browsable encyclopedia, presented with numerous diagrams, timelines, illustrations, and infographics that give it significant visual appeal.

It covers a broad range of subjects, from the endless skies of the universe, and the wonder of the earth, to the human body, ancient history, and the potential of new and emerging technology.

Review: Reach For The Sky

Stories that quietly set your soul soaring are not always abundant. 

To relay a tale based on true life with the perfect balance of sensitivity and fact without sinking into a mire of sentimentality requires a deft narrative voice and strong will, attributes Singaporean author, Evelyn Sue Wong has in spades.

Reach For the Sky records the story of her father and his big sky dream; to fly. 

I am not unfamiliar with notions of ‘dreaming big and flying high’, being well acquainted with a plucky little pigeon (aka Pippa) with similar aspirations. The major difference between Robert Shun Wong and afore mentioned pigeon however is that one has wings and one had to build his own. And build them, he does.

Review: The Pull of the Moon

Coralie, an intelligent and outspoken teenager on the cusp of early adolescence. 

She lives with her parents on the ghostly and remote Christmas Island. 

Located in the Indian Ocean, the area is famous for its red crab migration and the small and threatened bat species, the pipistrelle.

It is also known for its countless arrivals of boat people.

Mum is a bat specialist, currently researching the disappearance of these tiny bats from the previously over-populated area. 

She is dedicated to her work and due to this, her family takes second place in her life, which includes lengthy absences from home. 

These absences have psychological consequences for Coralie, and her dad who runs a small diving business for tourists. 

Guest Post: Aaron Uscilla on Equipping Kids with Critical Lenses: A Look at the Sayings We Use

We all do it. We pepper our conversations with little nuggets of wisdom, those common sayings passed down through generations. 

Curiosity killed the cat, we might warn a too inquisitive child. Or, Blood is thicker than water, we say to emphasize family loyalty. 

These phrases are catchy, memorable, and roll off the tongue so easily. They seem to wrap up big ideas in neat little packages.

But what if these familiar lines are only part of the story? What if the wisdom we think we are sharing is, well, a bit incomplete? 

Review: Mavis The Little Plane Spotter

This picture book is an absolute gem. Opening it is like stepping into a gorgeous moment of history. 

I was instantly entranced by the end-papers with their hand-drawn memorabilia, the silhouettes of friendly and enemy planes and many other interesting tid bits.

Then, I turned the page and was gobsmacked to learn that both author Angela Toniolo and illustrator Shannon Melvillle, are the direct descendants of women who performed as enemy plane spotters during the second world war. 

I got goosebumps on my goosebumps, and the story hadn’t even begun!