Review: Alphabet City Melbourne

Look up, look down, look all around
The Alphabet’s all over town
It’s hidden in the scenery
The letters of the A-B-C!

Are you ready to take an alphabetical tour of Melbourne with your child? From ‘A’ found in the form of the sculpture ‘Vault’ by Ron Robertson-Swann to ‘Z’ in the girders of the Swann Street Rail Bridge in Richmond, artist and photographer Maree Coote takes us on a journey around the sights of Melbourne in this wonderful board book.

Review: Matilda Saves Santa Claus

While out on Christmas Eve trying to find the perfect Christmas tree, Matilda Mouse stumbles across Santa and his sleigh. They are stuck in tangled vines and without help, they won’t be able to deliver the sleigh full of Christmas gifts.

Can one small mouse save Christmas?

Matilda Saves Santa Claus is a familiar Christmas tale of selflessly helping others written by Australian author Alex Field and illustrated by Sophie Norsa. Perfect for Christmas Eve reading with young children, the sweet illustrations and simple story capture the sense of anticipation leading up to Santa’s arrival and the importance of doing what we can to help others.

Review: Mirror

Meet two boys and two families from different parts of the world – one from Sydney, Australia and the other Morocco in North Africa. Their lives are very different, but they also have things in common. Explore the pages to see how their lives mirror each other.

After a brief introduction, Jeannie Baker’s beautifully intricate collage artworks wordlessly share the story of a day in the life of each boy. The clever book design allows readers to move through each boy’s story simultaneously. This mirror-like effect makes the differences and similarities even more pronounced for young readers as they turn each page.

Review: Rules of Summer

I was a little bit excited about this book. Okay ... a lot excited. And when it arrived, the cover entranced me, as is the Masterful Tan Way. 

Heart thumping, I sat to carefully turn each precious page. Glorious endpapers, fabulous title page, brilliant opening double page spread with not a shred of text -- only two young boys (one big, one small) whispering in a superbly-rendered, desolate, almost-post-Apocalyptic street.

Heart thumping visual brilliance.

Books as Gifts, or How to Choose the Right Book for the Right Person

Here at Kids' Book Review, we think books are the perfect gift for any occasion. KBR's Consultant Librarian Sarah Steed shares her thoughts on choosing the right book for family and friends on your gift list.

Books are fantastic gifts for family and friends, even if they are not booklovers. Why? Firstly, because they are a gift that can be given to someone of any age. Secondly, because there is enormous choice. Thirdly, they last forever. And finally, because they are likely to be shared and enjoyed by more than just the recipient, thus extending the benefits of the gift-giving.

While gift vouchers are good sometimes, and allow gift recipients to have a ‘choose your own adventure’, they’re not all that personal. So, when it’s Christmas or birthday time, and you want to give a book as a gift, what approach should you take? How do you get started, or choose the perfect title?

Keeping in mind there’s no failsafe method, and there’s always the chance a book gift won’t hit the mark, here are a few tips based on my own experience of gift-giving and recommending books.

Review: Just One of Those Days

A girl and her father plan a fun Saturday together, but things don’t go quite the way they expect. Despite their best intentions, it is ‘just one of those days’ – things go missing, bossy children ruin a visit to the park, the weather doesn’t co-operate and things are generally just not as happy as they would like.

Just when they think that they should return home, the disappointing day turns into an evening that delights them with a wonderful surprise and an unexpected new friend, reminding both the young girl and readers that sometimes happy moments can come along when we least expect them.

eBooks: The Latest from Ink Robin--Jerry's Day Out and A Rabbit's Tale

The masterful creators from Ink Robin have been busy little bees, with two new picture book apps to delight your tots (and perhaps even yourself!).

The first is Jerry's Day Out--a photographic journey around New York City. Yes, NYC-addicts, here is your chance to do some armchair travel around this stunning city, with a series of fantastic images that showcase the city at its everyday best, from the front stoops of Brownstones to a mega aerial shot featuring the Empire State Building.

Review: Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction

The cover of this book couldn't more wonderfully depict the interior landscape--one of magical interpretation and imagination-fostering. Written by the author of The Steampunk Bible, writers (or readers) of fantasy and its related sub-genre, will openly drool over Wonderbook's content and the possibility it enables.

This lucidly visual guide to writing imaginative fiction uses original drawings, maps, renderings and exercises to inspire written work beyond the perceived constraints of the alphabet.

12 Curly Questions with author Phillip Gwynne

Photo credit: Anne-Cecile Esteve

1. Can you tell us something hardly anyone knows about you?
Tricky, because I’m pretty open about stuff, especially when I drink red wine. Okay here we go – when I was about ten I stole a book from a library. That book was ‘Catcher In The Rye’.

2. Do you have a nickname?
Gwynnie!  My seven siblings and I were at my mother’s eightieth birthday and somebody said ‘Gwynnie?’ Eight heads swiveled around – ‘Yes?’

I like people calling me Gwynnie, but they have to earn it – you can’t meet me on day and then next day start calling me that!

3. What is your greatest fear?
Single line spacing! Seriously, if I ever get a document that has single line spacing, I freak out and immediately have to change it to 1.5 spacing. I’m not that keen on confined spaces either – the worst night of my night was when some English friends(?) took me caving and I spent several hours crawling through tunnels that had a diameter less than mine. (Editors note: True to his word, Phillip submitted his answers to our questions in 1.5 spacing, but the post automatically formats to single line spacing when we publish it. Sorry Phillip.)

4. Can you describe your writing style for us in ten words?
Sparse.

Review: Lazy Daisy, Busy Lizzie

A lazy cow, a fancy pig, a busy chook and a cranky dog. The animals on this farm have some issues, but that’s okay. They all sleep well and they seem happy enough (well, except for Frankie the cranky dog).

Lazy Daisy, Busy Lizzie is a wonderful read-out-loud farm story with a twist. Children will be giggling at the strange antics of the farm animals and the rhyming text offers lots of potential for dramatic delivery. Our family favourite is the pig called Nancy, who doesn’t like mud because she’s too fancy. We read her introduction with an upper class tone that has us laughing every time.

Review: There, There

Sam McBratney's iconic Guess How Much I Love You conglomerate must be a hard act to follow. Sad to say, it was therefore with a little skepticism that I opened There, There, hoping against all hope it could in any way compete with the GHMILY steamroller.

Could this new book stand alone from GHMILY's simple, pure message of love that's sold multi-millions of copies around the world?

Happily--yes.

Review: I Spy Pets

Love a cut-out/pop-up book, me--and guess what? So do tots. Let's face it--they're fun!

In I Spy Pets, little fingers will be immediately drawn to the big cut-out circle on the front cover, right over the puppy dog's eye. This circular cut-out is repeated throughout the book, revealing a little glimpse of the feathery, furry or scaly animal beneath.

As kids turn the page, they are treated to some simple text--I spy with my little eye ... something with shiny scales. As the holey page is turned, the animal is revealed, with--hey presto!--the open circle completing the picture on the verso page.

Author Interview: Deborah Kelly

Kids’ Book Review is delighted to welcome author Deborah Kelly to discuss her thoughts on writing. Deborah’s debut picture book, The Bouncing Ball, was published by Random House in October 2013.

Congratulations on publishing your first picture book. Can you tell us what inspired the story of The Bouncing Ball?

Thank you!

The Bouncing Ball was inspired by my son. We were at the park and Oban was scratching about in the dirt. He uncovered a small hi-bounce ball. Immediately the line came into my head: ‘A small boy found a small ball’.

I began to wonder where the ball had come from, where it might go next. I also liked the idea that playing ball is something that almost all kids everywhere, have in common.

You mention on your website that you have been writing stories since you were quite young. What inspired you to take the step of sending one of your stories to a publisher?

Yes, I still have poetry that I wrote as a child, and a series of picture books I wrote when I was seven. I am thrilled to see that my six-year-old daughter is now beginning to write books of her own, too!

I have always felt compelled to write, be it in the form of journals, poetry or stories for children.

Wanting to share these stories with a wider audience, giving them a voice I suppose, was what compelled me to seek publication.

Review: 100 Things

100 Things is the first Masayuki Sebe book I discovered, and it’s heaps of fun. A little reminiscent of Richard Scarry’s books, this is an activity book filled with things to count and find.

With colourful and quirky illustrations, 100 Things should keep young children occupied for a long time. How many brown mice can be found on the first double page spread? Can you find the ladybird who has followed the moles underground? Is there a rabbit hiding amongst the sheep? How many elephants are awake and how many are asleep? What other animals have infiltrated the pictures?

Review: H is for Hummus

A is for apple and B is for butterfly. Yawn.

An ABC book for parents? Yes, please! I have a serious alphabet book addiction (I know, it's become a problem), and this fun (and funny) small format creation is just the ticket to tickle my F-is-for-funny B-is-for-bone.

A clear play on the Modern Parent phenomenon (A-is-for-au pair and Q-is-for-quinoa) this is a brilliant take on the hip, groovy and even controversial sides to being a contemporary mum or dad (C is variously for carrot sticks, Calpol and controlled crying).

Review: Hard Luck (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

Greg Hefley feels his luck is all bad. His friend Rowley has found a girlfriend and has no time for him anymore. This happening colours everything that follows. But who is going to be his friend now and how does he find a new one?

His search for answers takes an interesting path, for Greg uses the strangest problem-solving techniques. When he discovers something which he believes will give him the answers he’s looking for, nothing works out the way he expects.