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.
It's very definitely a sweet and engaging read and, a word I
use very deliberately for books of this ilk - wholesome. It's that feel-good,
warm-fuzzy uplifting narrative to which young readers always respond with
alacrity. Actually, it puts me in mind of some of our great middle-grade
authors such as the wonderful Robin Klein and Morris Gleitzman.
We've likely all known a kid like Wren, or maybe even been that kid ourselves. He's the outsider. The one who's friendless and never seems to fit in anywhere. He's quiet and his anxiety often causes him to be tongue-tied. His mum is caring and loving but, as a single mother lacking any support from the ex-husband, she's always super busy and very tired, working two part-time jobs. His older brother works too.
Maisy Hayes feels like the background character of her life. Never the prettiest, the smartest, or the coolest in the room. Never with the newest phone, most expensive shoes, or designer bag. Her special treat only ever came in the form of a dollar slushie from the mall.
Maisy faces a situation no teen, let alone adult, wants to encounter. The Hayes family is deep in financial trouble, struggling to make ends meet.
With Maisy’s absent father lurking in the back of her mind, she is determined to make a future for herself. She’s not sure what yet — though she is positive she wants anything but a life like her mum's.
She dreams of having enough money not to live paycheck to paycheck. To buy things without thinking of the cost.
Just when
Lottie thought life might be going back to normal, everything goes wrong again!
All the things that could possibly go wrong in a tween girls’ life, do go wrong in this book. And it’s a hoot.
Written in diary form, with literal stick figure pictures and a tween
vernacular to die for, the book’s main character Lottie Brooks is the type of
kid that every tween or teen who reads this book wants to be like. Or at the
very least, wants to have as a BFF.
Lottie is flawed and a little bit slow to catch on to things that her squad know instantly.
She’s naïve and funny, clever and endearing, unashamedly herself,
and embarrassed at things that other kids don’t give a rip about.
Which pretty much sums up this extraordinary picture book. With no preamble, the Giant’s story begins, at the ending, with a premise that could easily reflect a reoccurring dilemma for many creators; a stymie of creative flow.
When the picture book
maker, with a strong resemblance to the author himself, experiences this impasse,
his trusty pencil inexplicably springs to life.
The
wee stub shows him her life’s journey from germinating seed to grand dame of
her forest kingdom. We are taken through life cycle after life cycle. From a
sapling’s view point to that of a towering giant’s, residence to a whole
eco-system of invertebrates, animals and birds. It is a wondrous and all-encompassing
experience to stand before this giant and gaze skyward at her unfathomable brilliance,
so strong, so assured, so steadfast.
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.
Readers
often wonder where story ideas come from. They come from many places, but
rarely from as deep a place as Gilbert’s Cake.
As author Emily Mir explains, ‘Our first baby, Gilbert, was
stillborn in 2010. Two years later, we welcomed Gilbert’s twin siblings. As
young children, the twins wanted a party, complete with balloons and a cake, to
mark Gilbert's birthday. It was painful at first, but an annual tradition
began. Gilbert’s Cake is the story of our story.’
After working with families who have experienced miscarriage and stillbirth, Emily was inspired to share her family’s story of love, loss . . . and pelicans.
Emily is both a counsellor and a bereaved
mother, and hopes her story sparks joy and love as well as evoking holistic ways
of healing in the face of loss and trauma.
Moving further down on the path through beautiful bent and twisted trees, they follow their normal route to the place where the blackbird sings.
They look everywhere for the bird, but he can’t be found.
They come across it lying under the dark, curving tree trunks on the yellow ground.
So much life pulses around them, but the bird is still.
They move closer.
They assume it must be sleeping. They stand still and quiet, just looking. Waiting for it to awaken.
‘A heartwarming and relatable story exploring change, following your instincts and finding your voice in a loud world.’
Fifth grader Martha Mayfield has a cooler than cool Grandma who, like other very cool women, goes by just one name. Stella. She also has a shy but crazily talented-at-dressmaking mum, and a gothic, European-soccer-loving sister.
And Martha herself? Well, Martha has good ideas. Great
ideas. Tremendous ideas. But, she’s also known as the apple that didn’t fall
far from the tree in that she inherited her mums shyness.
Dad and I
find an injured koala on our property …
Dad says
keeping koalas safe will be a big job.
I need a
plan and help from some friends …’
There is so
much to digest and reflect upon in this book – for everyone, not just picture
book aged readers.