Review: There's Not One

There is never one dog, no no. There are lots. And there's never just one baked bean. There are (at the very least) about a zillion. And when it comes to colour--well, it's unlimited. AND it's everywhere.

The wonderful thing about children is that they inherently know and see the world in ways much bigger than adults. An irony, because they are so physically small.

In this bright book about the expanses of the world and the unlimited nature of life and understanding, kids will fall in and feel so comfortable. As though they are home.

Review: First Snow

Life firsts are just the loveliest thing. When our children grow, we celebrate them in special books with pretty covers, and we chirp about them to all and sundry.

In this gorgeous book, we meet a toddler who experiences her first snowfall. Woken at night, she slips on her boots, coat, scarf and hat (she's a dexterous little possum!) and wanders out into the darkened night and joins her puppies to experience the wonder of snow.

Review: Marcel

Marcel. He's adorable. He lives in New York with his human. Dedicated New Yorkers, the pair love to trot off Downtown on their daily walk to enjoy the sights and the sounds that make this city so special.

Along the way, they stop of for a bagel, nip into a day spa for some pampering, and then enjoy the cool tunes of a jazz trio under the arch at Washington Square.

Review: A New York Year

A New York Year is now added to the outstanding series Twelve Months in the Life. Again five children from diverse cultures share their experiences through the seasons. Fabian is born in Puerto Rico.  Madison’s forbearers came from Ireland. Sofia’s Nonna came from Italy, Alexander’s Jewish ancestors came from Germany, and Jayla is African-American.

January is the coldest time of the year in New York. The children showcase their everyday indoor and outdoor activities, food, and preferences in sport. Each month follows with its own specific celebrations which include culturally specific foods, rituals, and customs. Special events like Inaugural Day, St Patrick’s Day Parade, Flag Day, Rosh Hashanah, Presidents’ birthdays, Chinese New Year, cultural days, and sporting activities are opportunities for kids to have fun.

Review: Wild Animals of the North

Sigh.

That is all.

But seriously--sigh. Thank you, Dieter Braun and Flying Eye Books, for creating such heart-thumping pleasure in this absolutely stunning book.

Covering animals of the Northern Hemisphere, across three regions--North America, Europe and Asia--we are taken deep into forests, dropped onto mountain tops, plunged into streams, flung high into the sky and even dunked in the ocean to meet all manner of creatures, from orcas to buffalo.

Event: The Environment Award for Children's Literature 2016

A wonderful afternoon was spent, at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, on the 40th Anniversary of the Wilderness Society, celebrating the Environment Award for Children’s Literature 2016.

Combining both the love of children’s literature and the love of nature, The Wilderness Society's annual Environment Award for Children’s Literature (EACL) promotes books that help grow kids' love for nature.

The award recognises some of the highest quality children's books in the country, and the shortlist is frequently used as a guide for parents and teachers wanting to foster a love of wild places and wildlife in young Australians, and to encourage a sense of responsibility for our natural world.

Last year’s winner and one of this year’s judges, Wendy Orr, gave an inspirational address. Being Father’s Day, Wendy recalled her own father constantly picking up rubbish wherever he went. Not only were her parents good role models in encouraging due respect and protection of the environment, but Wendy went on to say they also instilled in her a love for nature and the environment, which has been a powerful force in her writing.

Wendy said the “judging was hard, but the reading was an absolute delight”, as this year’s shortlisted books “inspire us to find out more about nature, cause us to act and to love it with honest respect.”

And the winners of this year’s Environment Award for Children’s Literature are….drum roll please…..

Non-fiction

Atmospheric by Carole Wilkinson

Picture Fiction

Seagull by Danny Snell

Once I Heard a Little Wombat by Renee Treml

Fiction

The River and the Book by Alison Croggon

10 Quirky Questions with Wai Chim

A funny side note for KBR Readers – I actually voluntarily wrote these questions for the team to use in 2014…it seems that my kindness and generosity has come back to bite me firmly on the bottom.

1. What's your hidden talent?
I have about six different handwriting types. Unfortunately, I didn’t discover this hidden talent until I had finished school and couldn’t use it for useful things like writing my own excuse notes.

2. Who is your favourite literary villain and why?
You can’t go past the delicious evilness of Harry Potter’s Dolores Umbridge. I think she is so much more sinister than Voldemort or even the likes Hannibal Lecter. Also a big fan of Cruela de Vil (mostly thanks to the catchy song!)

3. You're hosting a literary dinner party, which five authors would you invite? (alive or dead)
(I wrote this question! Why did I write this question? Authors who have thus far answered this question, I’m so sorry!)

Okay, my list is Virginia Woolf, Stephen King, George R R Martin, Maya Angelou and Neil Gaiman. If we had time for a game of charades, that would be awesome.

4. Which literary invention do you wish was real?
Talking animals.

Review: Mr Chicken Arriva a Roma

Hello, My Chicken! You're back! And this time you're living la dolce vita in Roma.

I mean, it had to be Rome. We simply had to see Mr Chicken on a Vespa, and Leigh Hobbs does not disappoint.

At the start of this travelling tale, we learn that Mr C has always dreamed of life in Ancient Rome, even as a baby. Now all grown, he's keen as pasta to visit his childhood dream and see these ancient sites for himself.

When Mr Chicken arrives in Rome (all incognito), he's met by his guide Federica. 'Buongiorno, Signor Pollo,' she says, and they set off for the day.

On that Vespa.

#LoveOzYA September Update with Cath Crowley

To support the #LoveOzYA initiative, each month Kids' Book Review will ask an Australian YA author to share their favourite Australian young adult titles - what they are reading, what they've read and what books are on their TBR pile. We'll also include a list of Australian author YA new releases for the month. Our guest author for September is Cath Crowley, author of the Gracie Faltrain series, Graffiti Moon and the newly released Words in Deep Blue.

What are you currently reading?
I’m a huge re-reader. If I love a book I visit it over and over. I’m currently re-reading The Astrologer’s Daughter by Rebecca Lim, and reading We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.

What are your recent OzYA favourites?
I loved Emily Gale’s The Other Side of Summer and Kirsty Eager’s Summer Skin. I’ve just finished reading Osamah Sami’s Good Muslim Boy, which is hilarious and sad and a brilliant read. Loved too Randa-Abdel Fattah’s When Michael Met Mina and Fiona Wood’s Cloudwish (huge fan of Wildlife and Six Impossible Things).

Guest Post: Wai Chim on the Awesomeness of the Human Condition

Kids' Book Review is delighted to welcome children's author Wai Chim to discuss the inspiration for her latest book, Freedom Swimmer (Allen & Unwin). It's fitting to share this post on Father's Day, as the character of Ming is based on the experiences of Wai's own father.

I was super proud (read, relieved) when I finally finished that first draft of Freedom Swimmer. The epic tale based on my father’s experiences growing up, not to mention the countless hours of research and examination finally had a shape. I had characters that I loved, historical points to anchor them to and all-in-all I felt I had a fairly believable story of why two boys would risk everything for a better life and the promise of freedom. Why a village boy like my father would take that chance and why a formerly loyal Red Guard would abandon the beliefs he held and make the swim.

I told my father about this and I could hear him smile over the phone. ‘You know it’s funny. With the Red Guards, they pretty much all left.’

I stopped. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, the first year, they sent a bunch of Red Guards for re-education, and within twelve months more than half of them had gone to Hong Kong. The second year, another group came and they lost another majority. They stopped sending them the third year,’ he said with amusement.

Review: Fox and Goldfish

Fox and Goldfish is another glorious production by Book Island. There are only twenty five words of text in this book. Some at the beginning and the rest at the end. The rest of the story is told in pictures. The theme here is facing the loss of a pet, but it definitely relates to the loss of any loved one.

Fox wants to create memories to draw on when his friend leaves him. He also wants Goldfish to share the world with him before he goes. They spend time at the sea and experience a sense of freedom and togetherness.  A long road trip on a motor bike through wild country is followed by the serenity of the sight of a snow-capped mountain. They hike through tall, dark forests, dance in the rain, and watch the rainbow colour the sky.

10 Quirky Questions with James O'Loghlin

1. What's your hidden talent?
I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue. No skill involved, I just can.

2. Who is your favourite literary villain and why?
I love being surprised by an unexpected plot twist, so my favourite villains are the ones I never suspected of being villains until they are revealed at the end. I won’t give examples because it might ruin a story for someone reading this. Also, the smarter the villain, the better the story.

3. You're hosting a literary dinner party, which five authors would you invite? (alive or dead)
Mark Watson, George R.R. Martin, Edward Whittemore, Irvine Welsh and Suzanne Collins

4. Which literary invention do you wish was real?
I’d love a magic wand.

5. What are five words that describe your writing process?
Keep not stopping until finished.

Review: Give & Take

This immensely clever book is a highly interactive board book for tots that will keep little fingers as busy as little minds. You'll almost literally see the cogs whirring in sweet baby heads as they work through the pages of this book.

Beginning with a red disc, kids are encouraged to pluck out the red 'ball' and use it on the very next page, slotting it into place.

The third page then encourages them to break apart a square to find two triangles. Turn the page--and there is are some clever new spots to slot in those triangles.

Guest Post: Love Letters with Cath Crowley

Kids' Book Review is delighted to welcome Cath Crowley to discuss the inspiration for her latest YA novel Words in Deep Blue. Thanks to Cath for sharing her thoughts on the beauty and significant of letters, notes and the traces of ourselves we leave behind in books.

Shy in high school, I wrote an anonymous love letter to a boy. He was on the swim team; water-carved and wanted desperately by at least ten other people. I gave the letter to a friend who gave the letter to another friend, and so on it passed, my identity protected, until it reached him.

I didn’t expect a reply – I had thought only as far as the sending and reading. He did write, though. His letter, on an aerogramme, delivered back the way it had come – from friend to friend –until his light blue writing arriving in my hands. I can’t see the letter as it was that day – crisply folded and licked with spit. I see the letter how it has become, ink faded, paper folded and unfolded to frailty, read and re-read.

There’s something seductive about handwriting - the arc of a letter on a page – the curve of a person’s y, the kick of their e’s. It’s seductive whether it’s a love letter, or a letter from a friend, or the word of a stranger, scribbled in a book. I remember finding, in my old copy of Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire, a line drawn around Hart Crane’s quote, ‘And so it was I entered the broken world’. There was more to that line, I was certain, than a student circling on the instruction of a teacher. Hart Crane’s broken world had meant something to that stranger, and the importance was dug into the pages with that circle.

Review: Gus's Garage

I just love Gus. He's such a resourceful fellow. His garage is jammed with all manner of recycled delights that could come in handy for something.

When Rico the rhino arrives on his moped, he can barely fit on the tiny little seat. Not a problem--hey presto! Gus attaches an old armchair and Rico is one happy rhino with a comfy bottom.

When Gina giraffe drives up in her convertible with a rather chilly neck, Gus can absolutely sold her problem. And what of Miss P the penguin whose retro car lacks the air conditioning she so requires? No problemo! There's use in an old pink fridge, yet.

Review: Words in Deep Blue

Just like every other book Cath Crowley has written, I couldn’t just read Words in Deep Blue. I had to inhale it. Everything was put on hold until I’d consumed the last word. Then I mourned that it finished too soon. That’s the way with books by Cath Crowley.

Words in Deep Blue is full of letters and love and grief and death. It is funny and heart-wrenching and flows like water. If you loved The Fault in our Stars, you have to read Words in Deep Blue but not because it is the same: it’s because the characters won’t let you go — even the dead ones. I needed to know how the living would work their way out of the shittiest of situations. Or not.