Review: Ban This Book

Ban This Book is a powerful, gripping and brilliant middle grade novel about a shy girl’s quest to get her favourite book unbanned from her school’s library shelves.

Amy Anne Ollinger is the girl who never speaks up. She’s a rule follower, a book worm, a library lover. But when the school board bans her favourite library book, Amy Anne starts to question why someone else gets to decide that she shouldn’t read a book.

When Amy Anne discovers more books are being banned (for being too rude, or encouraging bad behaviour or being too scary) she sets out to find and read every banned book she can find. 

Other students want in, so the Banned Book Library Locker is born and Amy Anne becomes a secret librarian and school champion of everyone’s right to read what they want.

12 Curly Questions with author Claire Saxby

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.

I can whistle very loudly. It’s a ‘can I have your attention whistle’ rather than a ‘that’s a lovely tune’ whistle. I can silence a room!

2. What is your nickname? 

I don’t really have one, although Claire-Bear is probably the closest. My father once called me Clarence … but only once!

3. What is your greatest fear?

I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about fear, it can be so overwhelming and crippling. I will say that as I age, I give even less room to fear. I’ve started pushing through it and it’s amazing how often the fear was worse than the reality.

Review: Bim Bam Boom

Bim Bam Boom is a delightful board book for toddlers that shows how fun-filled learning sounds can be for children simply by using the contents of the kitchen cupboard. This is the English edition of the book by the highly successful Swedish author/illustrator, Frederic Stehr.

Free, uninhibited, naughty toddler behaviour is perfectly depicted on every page with baby birds as the characters. The expressions on their faces speak volumes. The illustrations show more than the story the text tells.

Review: Knowledge Encyclopedia Human Body!

Another stunning reference book from the geniuses at DK. This book packs so much detailed information in that there isn’t a question about the human body the kids can come up with that it can’t answer.

The amazing graphics really make this book stand out. It has detailed representations of bones, muscles, teeth, organs and blood vessels. It even has fascinating visual representations of microscopic inner structures such as neurons, stem cells and glomeruli.

The layout is perfectly balanced between text and graphics, with plenty of short, easy to digest facts making the book seem less dense, despite the wealth of information it contains.

Review: Wilder Country

If you love dystopian narratives with nail-biting life-and-death situations, then Mark Smith's Wilder Country is for you.

Finn's journey from loner to friend and protector in Road to Winter continues, but even more is at stake in Wilder Country. Rosie is dead, her baby has been stolen by the Wilders and Finn and Kas have vowed to get her back.

When the winter freeze clears, marauders make every step away from home a risk, but there's no option if they want to save Rosie's baby from a life of slavery.

I loved the familiarity of coast-line and bush-walking scenes, but that was nothing compared to the gut-wrenching dilemmas Finn, a naturally gentle guy, faces in order to protect the ones he cares about.

Review: Tarin of the Mammoths: Clan of Wolves (book 2)

Book two in the Tarin of the Mammoths series begins exactly where book one left us.

Tarin, Luuka and Kaija are fleeing from ruthless Boar Clan, Kaija is badly injured, and Tarin fears he has failed his clan by losing most of the offering he was meant to deliver to the Earth Mother.

Fate shines on the trio when a stranger from Kaija’s past finds them. The Esi, an ancient and misunderstood people, provide them shelter and heal their wounds. And as a harsh winter sets in, the Esi provides safety for the three friends and an opportunity to learn, grow and become clan. 

But Kaija has a secret. A secret that could destroy Tarin’s plans to take what’s left of the offering to the Earth Mother once winter has passed. And when the secret comes out, their friendship will be tested.

Review: The Hawk of the Castle: A Story of Medieval Falconry

To address the countless qualities of this stunning book is to first call attention to the magnificent illustrations/artwork of the greatly talented and versatile Bagram Ibatouille. 

You may recognize his name from the brilliant and unforgettable The Matchbox Diary, Crossing, or other works. Looking at the pages is like examining art in a gallery where beauty leaves you breathless; where your eyes are never filled with what they see. So you look on.

Meet the Illustrator: Sharon Clark

Describe your illustration style in ten words or less. 

Versatile with bright colour and expressive line.

What items are an essential part of your creative space? 

Space, time and a cup of tea.  Lovely paper with a selection of brushes, water-colour, ink and gouache.

Do you have a favourite artistic medium?

As an Illustrator, I love gouache and watercolour.

Review: Finn and Puss

I've always had a soft spot for stories about children finding friends in pets.

Here, a lonely boy meets a lost cat and the two become good friends.

But this is a tale with a conscience and, when Finn discovers that someone is looking for the lost cat, he is torn between his love for Puss and doing the right thing.

Review: Dinosaur A to Z

Do you know a dinosaur enthusiast? If you do, you need to get this book.

Dinosaur A to Z is a fantastic non-fiction and super kid-friendly book filled with amazing facts about 100 dinosaurs from around the world.

Author Dustin Growick has made the book so accessible for kids. There’s a ‘how this book works’ page to help kids explore the information, colour codes and picture keys, a ‘dino file’ with quick facts, an index and a glossary.

There are facts galore about dinosaur features, eating habits, habitats and behaviour, but there are three awesome and unique bits of information that I think make this book stand out.

Review: The Wonderling: Songcatcher

At the Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures the part animal-part human Groundlings, are controlled and forced to ‘serve and suffer’. 

Miss Carbunkle, the hairless, vicious owner of the Home with a penchant for tiered wigs, forbids any pleasure, particularly singing and music. She has a magic cane, and an agenda of her own for which she would go to any lengths, to see realized.

One-eared, Number Thirteen is the only Groundling without a name.  An innocent half fox, half boy, and small in stature, he was abandoned soon after birth at the Home. A small key wrapped in a scrap of blanket is the only evidence of his past life. When he saves the wingless bird Trinket from bullies, she names him Arthur, after the brave and legendary King. Empathy is felt immediately for these specific characters.

12 Curly Questions with author Simon Mitchell

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you. 

I used to have a pet axolotl named Jaws.

2. What is your nickname? 

Would you believe me if I told you it’s ‘Mr Awesome’?

3. What is your greatest fear? 

It used to be spiders, but I’ve recently developed a certain fondness for the hairy little blighters. So now it’s probably finding myself without wifi access.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words. 

Fast-paced, funny, action-packed, quirky, heartfelt.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer. 

Funny, meticulous, imaginative, concise, gross (sometimes).

Review: Dr Karl's Little Book of Space

Dr Karl introduces himself immediately on opening the book, answering a questionnaire beneath a ‘Who Am I’ banner. 

He then invites the reader to fill in details about themselves in a similar questionnaire.  This feels like inviting someone into a warm space to sit in your favourite chair.

Dr Karl’s brilliant mind shares facts about the Solar System, explains why stars twinkle, and how to count them (if it’s possible). 

He challenges the reader to write poems at intervals using his list of easy words to use, and gives hints on how to design and make your own rocket.

Review: Koala Bare

Koalas are most definitely not bears!

Koala Bare's central character is first seeen in a toy store where he tells us just that, most emphatically.

He's a bit of a cranky koala, really. Frustrated at the world thinking he is a koala bear, when he's just a koala. No bear about it.

Young Koala explains his way through a variety of characteristics which are attributed to bears of assorted types, and tells us how he is different.

Review: It's OK to feel the way you do

Here is the follow up to Josh Langley's fabulous book Being You is Enough. I have an eight year old daughter, who is socially a bit awkward and a reluctant reader.  She gobbled up Being You is Enough, took it to school to share with her class, cuddled it in bed, and read it multiple times. So I was really keen to get my hands on It's OK to feel the way you do--I was not disappointed.  My daughter instantly recognised the format of the book, grabbed it and immediately began to read.  

Review: Drawn Onward

Drawn Onward is a fascinating and beautiful picture book for older readers about hope and hopelessness and how one can turn into the other.

It starts with a sad looking long-eared creature with no face. He’s shadowy and gloomy and he holds a small bundle in his hands. 

As you turn the pages, the bundle grows and the accompanying text explores doom and despair, making statements about the world being dark and dismal.

I imagine lots of kids feel this way sometimes — that nothing around them is good and they are powerless to change it. Many have likely felt the weight of a growing invisible bundle on their shoulders, growing bigger and bigger and weighing them down with sorrow.