Hound the Detective- 2020
Moose the Pilot- 2021 Kimberly Andrews Penguin Random House New Zealand Two delightful books by the award winning author/illustrator Kimberly Andrews. Hound the Detective is a fun-filled mystery. Readers are taken for a ride as Hound follows the clues to understand why things are going missing in his village. His mission arrives via letter and he must use his super sleuthing skills to solve the case. The narrative is told through rhyming reflections in the Hound’s notebook, letters and speech bubbles. Along with engaging font and detailed pictures, readers are also encouraged to search for hidden caterpillars on each page. Moose the Pilot follows a circular narrative and once again readers will enjoy the intricate details found within the pictures and the opportunity to search for hidden butterflies throughout the book. The story is told through rhyme and appears on Moose’s clipboard. Additional text in the form of speech through the radio speaker informs us of the jobs Moose must go to next. Clues and hints encourage the reader to make predictions as they discover the details of Moose’s interactions with his customers. Kimberly Andrews’ most recognised book, Puffin the Architect, won the Russell Clark Award for Illustration as well as the NZ Booklovers Best Children’s Book Award in 2019. It is no accident then, that the very same puffin character appears in both Moose the Pilot and Hound the Detective books. Multiple reads are a must for both of these books. With complex pictures, clues and rhymes, readers will discover new delights on every occasion. Both books were well received by my Year two and Year three students.
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The Dictionary of Lost Words
Pip Williams Affirm Press 2020 “Few words have as many variants as love” Pg 332. I love this book. Set in the era of the Women’s Suffrage Movement (late 1800s to early 1900s) and World War One, the reader follows the life of a curious girl named Esme. Motherless and emotionally bonded to the scriptorium where her father works, Esme develops a fascination for words and their meanings. It is here that Esme’s father along with other men record words and their definitions for the first edition of The Oxford English Dictionary. As Esme grows in age and knowledge, she begins to discover that not all words are created equal and there is a significant gap in the representation of women’s words. It becomes her secret mission to collect these unwritten and invalidated words with a developing understanding that they are just as valuable as those recorded in the dictionary- as are the people who use them. This book evoked within me an array of emotions, beginning with intrigue as to how a young girls’ fascination for words could be woven into such a strong story. There was surprise that it wasn’t until midway through the book before I realised that it was a tale about women’s rights. Sorrow rendered me close to tears as Williams wrote so eloquently about loss. And then there was envy towards Williams’ ability to tell a unique story in such a captivating way. The Dictionary of Lost Words is a fictional story set in true history. Many of the characters were real people who indeed did contribute to The Oxford English Dictionary, however, the fictional Esme allowed Pip Williams to bring to light her concern at the unjustness of a dictionary over-represented by males. This is Williams’ debut novel, and what an incredible story it is. Rebel Without a Clause. Losing the linguistic plot…
By Sue Butler Pan Macmillan Australia 2020 Attention word nerds, here is a book for you. Formerly a Macquarie Dictionary Editor, Sue Butler’s ruminations on the way that Australian English language has evolved and transformed is humorous and insightful. From metaphors, clichés and prefixes gone awry, she takes us on a leisurely journey to understand why people say the things they do and what they really mean. A favourite of mine is the discussion around the word inflammable. Does this mean that it will or will not burst into flames? Too serious to get wrong, a new word has now been invented to ensure understanding: ‘nonflammmable’. For someone like me, who gets all manner of sayings wrong, this was a treasure to read. Northern Lights is the first of a trilogy written for young adults; now established as a best seller for adults. It has also been made into a major T.V. series. His Dark Materials is speculative fiction set in an unsettling parallel reality where every human has a daemon. To lose one’s daemon is like losing a limb: disfiguring and disturbing. Daemons are like a physical manifestation of a human’s soul and the two are inseparable in mind and body.
Lyra, the main character, is a child who is raised by scholars in a prestigious college. She does not know who her parents are and her daemon hasn’t yet taken a permanent form. This means that it can change between animal forms ranging from moths to wildcats. Because of this, Lyra is a prime kidnapping candidate for the Gobblers who are stealing children to perform all manner of experiments on the young humans and their immature daemons. Lyra is fierce, brave and determined. She embarks on a treacherous journey, leading adults, witches and armoured bears in search of the missing children and the mystery behind their disappearances. Along the way, she also learns the truth of her parents. Northern Lights earned Pullman the Carnegie Medal in 1995 along with other accolades for the trilogy. Through the series, he expertly weaves fantasy, history and reality in a way that will have readers questioning whether some of his concepts are based on unexplored truths. With his detailed world building, this is a saga for a reader with stamina and an open mind ready to indulge in a ‘what if?’ version of reality. Jane Eyre
By Charlotte Bronte Rearsby, Leicester : WF Howes, 2013 Bolinda/Audible audio Read by Juliet Stevenson “Reader, I married him.” What a sentence! Of all the flourished and flowery language throughout the story, I let out a laugh of satisfaction on reading these four words. For this was why I was still reading. I needed to know. And there it was in plain English. Jane Eyre is a classic that I had neglected to read until now. Many more still sit on my ‘to read’ list but I am glad I dived into this one in 2021. It was long, I must say that. I began with it as an audio book but could not find the solitary time to listen and get through it. So I borrowed it from the library. The only copy available was ‘Large Print’ and my eyes were grateful (however the weight of the book was sacrificed due to the additional pages needed). So for those of you who feel the need to catch up on some classics as I do, I would recommend Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. A story of love, life and morality, it is an easy saga to read (discounting the word count!). Carly Mills- Pioneer Girl
Big Sky Publishing Jane Smith Book 2 Emergency! (2020) Book 3 Superstar (2021) Carly Mills knows a thing about corsets despite being an independent tween in the 21st century. Both she and her best friend Dora have magical shawls that can transport them back to a time when things were much different for women and girls. This series of books highlight brave, influential Australian women who speak up for their beliefs even when it is difficult to do so. Carly and her friend Dora learn about significant historical events as well as life skills in determination and grit. In book 2 ‘Emergency’, Carly and Dora meet Lilian Cooper, Queensland’s first female doctor. Despite facing their own challenge of starting boarding school, the girls discover many people before them have navigated significant challenges. Cooper is strong and opinionated. She doesn’t let naysayers stop her when it comes to getting a degree or when she knows that helping the war effort is the right thing to do. In book 3 ‘Superstar’, the girls are on a choir trip to Melbourne. Mean girl Simone, a return character from book 2, continues to hassle Carly and Dora on everything from their voices to their appearance. In a satisfying twist, Simone is accidentally brought in on the time travel and also gets to experience the true struggles of a female performer in the late 1800s. For this story, the girls are privileged to meet Emily Mitchell before she becomes the famous opera singer that we all know as Dame Nellie Melba. After a range of interactions at different times in the singer’s life, the three girls come to understand when it is important to stand up and speak up for what one believes in. Jane Smith has written a series of books that offer fabulous history lessons about significant female trailblazers. Having books shortlisted and long listed for ABIA and CBCA, Smith knows how to write both fiction and non-fiction for a young audience. The engaging and humorous books include history notes, as well as a fictional interview with the significant female from each story. Although perfect for a new independent reader (around Year 2 or Year 3), these books can be enjoyed by a range of proficiencies. Home Fires
Fiona Lowe Published by Bolinda/HarperCollins Audio Read by Rebecca Macauley Audiobooks are best listened to when walking. They’re pretty good when driving too, but especially great when walking. Today I walked the ‘long block’ around my neighbourhood so I could finish Home Fires. I had to know how it ended. Fiona Lowe has a way with characters. In Home Fires, she writes from four unique points of view. Each one believable and each one relatable. I was brought to tears on more than one occasion as I learned about each woman’s personal struggle after fires ripped through their home town of Myrtle. The story is set two years post fires with added perspective through the use of flashbacks. Four women’s stories are told and each woman shows enviable strength in the face of tragedy. Julie, a community leader and well established CWA member is mourning the loss of her son Hugo and her best friend Heather. She doesn’t think that her husband or daughter could take any more bad news and so she keeps the newly discovered lump in her breast a secret. The fires devastated the town on the day of Claire’s wedding. Instead of the memorable day she had planned, it became the anniversary of her parent’s death. Now she doesn’t think she can face having children of her own. She worries that if she tells her fiancé Matt, he will leave her. Sophie is trying to keep her family from sinking. They lost their newly built dream home and are now living out of a shed with the cost of rebuilding blown far from their budget. Her husband has lost his job. He won’t talk to her, let alone touch her and her dreams of being a stay-at-home mum seem completely out of reach. Bec, a poster wife for the well-known building company tries to support her severely burnt husband who is lauded for being a hero on the day of the fires. Nobody knows how controlling and possessive he really is, and Bec works hard to keep up appearances. The women form a sub-branch of the CWA in an effort to rebuild the town and ‘Put Myrtle on the map’. What begins as a way to escape their domestic worries becomes a blossoming friendship filled with support and love. Together, they help each other to overcome the obstacles that the fires created. This is a must read (or listen to) novel. The Power of Positive Pranking
Nat Amoore Puffin Books 2020 Green Peas rule number 3 ‘Pranks for the greater good’. Meet Zeke, Cookie and Casey, the three young activists who know how to get people’s attention. Casey, the ring leader of the secret Green Peas group, is a spunky, intelligent (and sometimes sarcastic) go-getter. Nothing will stop her from standing up for what she believes in. That includes the loss of her mother and the hereditary Ostosclerosis that has left her grandfather deaf and her father partially deaf. With her tech savvy, Ninja like sidekick Zeke, and her artistic, uber-cool friend Cookie, the three create pranks that will demand adults’ attention when polite talking will not. The story begins with a series of different alarms all pinging and singing at the same time during school assembly. The grand finale is a dropdown sign that reads ‘Wake up! Dinosaurs thought they had time too. Save our planet now.’ The team take on an even bigger audience when the Mayor comes to visit, ready to announce her plans to move Watterson into the future. Then things take a serious turn when they discover that the mayor is planning to tear down Brennan Park. Casey will not let the park that her mother loved, that her mother fought for, be taken away and replaced by concrete apartments. So, the Green Peas come up with a prank that will trump all pranks. Nat Amoore received accolades for her number 1 Bestselling Debut Aussie Children’s Fiction in 2019 before releasing The Power of Positive Pranking in 2020. Amoore’s tale of friendship, love, passion and diversity illustrates to readers that difference is in fact normal and the environment is a big concern for many kids. Through her story, she illustrates how passion can give children the power they need to make sustainable changes to our planet. A fabulous and fun read for Year five and up! When she was good
Michael Robotham 2020 Hachette Australia ‘Jimmy put a hand on my shoulder and said “If there’s anything you ever need…”. I need something from him now: answers. Why was his silver shadow parked at a country house where Eugene Green and Terry Boland were photographed together? How did he know that Angel Face was at a children’s home in Nottingham? And who, if anyone, did he tell?’ No one should know Evie’s true identify. Cyrus thinks she is safe in Longford Childrens home but Evie knows better. When her best friend is murdered in the room next door, she takes matters of protection into her own hands and vanishes. Again. Meanwhile, Cyrus is trying to make sense of the subtle connections between three very different men: the prominent socialite, Jimmy Verbic, the man who helped Cyrus through the darkest time in his life both financially and mentally; the convicted and later murdered paedophile Eugene Green; and suspected captor of Angel Face, Terry Boland. A photograph of the three men together may hold the clue, however, somebody is doing everything that they can to prevent Cyrus from solving the mystery. And Evie won’t tell. Michael Robotham has written a gripping sequel to Good Girl Bad Girl with just as much mystery, action and intrigue. He continues in the mixed point of view, sharing the narration between Cyrus and Evie with an authentic voice for both. Despite the disturbing nature of crimes referred to in the text, Robotham is able to quickly and concisely give the information without lingering long on the graphic details. This makes the book palatable for even the faint hearted. When she was good won Michael Robotham the CWA Gold Dagger and is an international bestseller. Best you go out and read it too. Unlocking the Universe- Everything you need to travel through space and time
Stephen & Lucy Hawking Penguin Random House UK 2020 Have you ever wondered how the universe began? ‘Unlocking the Universe’ is a non-fiction text by Lucy and Stephen Hawking, written with the purpose of answering this question and more. Intentioned to support the scientific theories presented in ‘George’s Secret Key to the Universe’ series, it is a compilation of fascinating scientific theories by scientists from around the world. Stephen Hawking, famous theoretical physicist, wrote the international bestseller ‘A Brief History of Time’ followed by a number of other adult essays and books that addressed questions about the universe and our world. His daughter, Lucy Hawking is a journalist, novelist and science educator. The book is a large, beautifully presented text with a colourful centre insert of photos and images depicting elements of the cosmos. Despite the weightiness of the book, the font is large and well-spaced with easy to navigate headings and sub-headings. It is structured in seven parts including topics such as ‘Exploring the universe’, ‘Dark Matters’ and ‘Time Travel’. Within each part are essays by professors and mini biographies of famous scientists such as Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei. The publishers have recommended a target audience of 8 to 100 year olds and the design of the book certainly looks appealing for a younger audience. Aside from the embedded photos, it is a black and white text. Fact boxes, diagrams and comical pictures break up the heavy subject matter. The authors try to make the language accessible to a younger audience, however, there is a still a great deal of technical scientific language that will lose a non-committed reader. As an adult with little physics knowledge myself, I found the text difficult to digest at times, however, the short chapters and intriguing subheadings ensured that I continued to persevere. I would recommend this text for children 8 and older who have a passion for learning about space, non-fiction texts and considerable reading stamina. For adults, if you are a beginner to the theories of the universe like myself, perhaps this is a more appropriate book to one of Stephen Hawking’s more advanced texts! Review published in Practical Literacy The Early and Primary Years (PLEPY) Volume 25 |
What's this about?As a lover of books and a teacher, I read widely. Here you will find book reviews of many genres including picture story, middle grade fiction, graphic novels, women's fiction, short story anthologies, non-fiction and anything else that takes my fancy. Archives
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