It shares a message of hope for anyone who feels alone, out of place or misunderstood.
Right from when Sketch was born, there was something different about him, both in looks and actions.
In his home town, which is neat and picture perfect, and everything and everyone have their place, Sketch just doesn’t seem to fit in.
Ariana’s Aunt Grace is getting married.
She wants everything to be perfect - and blue.
Additional responsibilities come with the role of flower girl.
Ariana must keep an eye on the wedding cake with its blue icing that matches the colour of the wedding dress.
The thrift shop is pulsing with excitement. There is so much to consider, including how they will transport the cake to the park where the wedding will be held.
Decision-making frequently includes family members, sometimes their diverse group of friends as well.
Between is a beautiful offering, recognised and described by Scribble
founder and publisher Miriam Rosenbloom thus:
‘It’s a
book about difference – but also about empathy, care, the instinct to connect,
and the ongoing impact that people have on our lives…
A reminder that beautiful things are still being made with time, heart and intention.’
A cricket
and a cabbage moth are living their short lives, doing their daily things, and
we the reader are invited into the spaces between them. And also, into their
separate worlds and realities, which ultimately collide.
This book
is poetry, texture, warmth and heaven all in one. The wording is sparse and
definitive. Deliberate, yet expansive.
And the
hand-rendered illustrations are extraordinary. Each page brings a new artistic
sensibility. A limited colour palette and balance between tight and loose, spatter
and stroke, softness and texture, definition and shadow, strength and vulnerability
– all contribute to the wonder and delight of this book.
It is absolutely
one to become lost in and pore over, whatever your age.
I can see
it being the perfect gift for all. For a student setting off into the wider
world, a grandparent creating space with less things and more time, a small
child with their insatiable curiosity and love of wonder.
Quite
simply, it’s sublime.
His trainer, a friend of Granpa’s, has been called away to a family emergency. A temporary carer is needed until he recovers from an operation.
Stella overhears the conversation and having longed for a dog of her own, convinces Grandpa that she and her best friend Millie, will be happy to take care of Fergus.
The girls decide that this will be their Project of Choice theme, one of the many which their class has been allocated to research.
Being the Project of Choice means they must take Fergus to school with them to allow him to assimilate to all the social skills he needs to know, such as being with other people and animals, birds and sounds. Above all, to obey commands and be toilet trained.
Gareth is a fashion designer who designs and makes wonderful creations for animals of all kinds.
He's so famous his clients travel from afar to be dressed in his unique outfits.
One such client is an upper class possum who wants a fabulous dress to give her daughter to wear at her birthday party.
Gareth is inspired and delivers something amazing.
For it is
this father’s undying love that has borne magic, mystery and wonder in
abundance with the birth of picture book, Tiny Dancer.
‘Tiny Dancer
is about making each moment count and living life to the full.’
A tortoise may live for over one hundred years. An olive tree, up to five thousand. But a mayfly lives for just one day.
Like many of Gleitzman’s tales, Childish is a collision of inane and razor-sharp intellect, resulting in an invitation to think deeper and go further.
Arkie and Dot are phenomenal kid heroes. Arkie is from the bush. Dot is city minded and part of her family’s dumpling dynasty located within the city burbs.
With
things going sour in the bush, Arkie is jettisoned to live with Nan in the city
until his parents can sell the family farm and join him.
Armed
with typical Aussie bush stoicism, Arkie’s straightforward integrity matches
Dot’s can-do, uncompromising disposition and grit beautifully. This is a merry
match despite its infancy and one that is a delight to follow as the friends try
their best shake local council and the utility companies into action.
This
is the noteworthy phrase in Peter Carnavas’ latest multi awarded middle grade
novel, Leo and Ralph. It sums up a multitude of wisdoms and ironically my
theory that the more brilliant the writing, the more difficult it is to
articulate an appraisal of it.
Carnavas has created another one of those conundrums for me as this story is suffused with so many fine and memorable moving moments, I hardly know where to begin.
Leo and Ralph possess a little more clarity. They both know exactly how it all
started. With a white balloon, a shift in time and space, a shimmer of imagination
and the realisation of a wish come true.
Ralph’s arrival is less perturbing for Leo than one might imagine for despite his alien appearance and raspy voice, his penchant for play matches Leo’s own.
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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?
There’s Mr
Delagatti who collects seeds, Annika who plays the violin, and even Esmerelda
the chicken, who likes worms for breakfast!
But then, things change for Rosie.
A large company with noisy, powerful machines takes over the precious little garden and builds a towering skyscraper in its place. Where will the friends go?
These are the elements of the holy trinity that a great story begins with and, I’m delighted to say, qualities Carla Salmon has nailed in her debut YA novel, We Saw What You Started.
Nightmares
don’t need passports … lines
like this set up a delicious air of intrigue and uncomfortable concern. What is
it exactly that US teen, Otto is fleeing from? How does it influence his
assimilation into his new Aussie coastal home in Red Sands and how will his
past implicate his future?
Salmon
deftly sows seeds of secrecy, while plunging the reader headfirst into a dire
and dangerous situation; an unchecked bushfire. Now, any Aussie worth their
salt knows this is not the sort of calamity to mess around with and yet as we
dive deeper into this story, the threat of fire occurs, again and again.
She was in year one during Covid times, which was difficult because doing things like holding hands (which was the only thing that made her feel safe) was discouraged. Despite this, teachers were putting themselves at risk to care for our kids, and in Evie’s case, they took her by her little hand anyway.
Authors Dani Vee and James Layton, and illustrator Ruth-Mary Smith, have created a fabulous picture book that depicts the wonders and challenges of a young child with ADHD.
As My Supercharged ADHD Brain says, 'all brains are amazing', and in this book the creators have drawn on lived experience to help explain just how amazing ADHD brains are.
My Supercharged ADHD Brain encourages understanding, and will quite likely prompt further thinking or discussion of situations and experiences.
But if you think this is the also the end of the story, think again. Because brave, daring Neville actually goes on to do all sorts of clever things inside the whale, and as the title of the book suggests, he will also quite possibly escape!
An hilarious, absurd and laugh-out-loud picture book from beloved creater Sean
E Avery (Frank’s Red Hat among others), this work will have people of
all sizes and shapes giggling with glee.
And those whose wish has included a visit to the pet shop, will undoubtedly have wanted theirs to be the cutest, cuddliest critter that they’ve ever slapped eyes on.
And so … what actually happens when the pet you get, is a fish?
If it’s
wet, it isn’t a pet!
You can
play with a puppy and snuggle a bunny,
but as much
as you wish, you can’t pat a fish.