Another book in the Little Wombat series, (Swim, Little Wombat swim!) by Charles Fuge Little Wombat’s Easter Surprise is a lovely story to read aloud for young children just before Easter. Little Wombat is having fun collecting Easter eggs when he spots somebody rushing past, someone with great big ears and long bouncy legs, a long nose and tail. He thinks that it is Rabbit in disguise. A pull on the tail and the nose of the little creature prove that they are not false – in fact it is Bilby who has been looking for Easter eggs too. Then Rabbit comes along, and the three little animals compare what they can do. Bilbies have long noses for sniffing things out, both Rabbit and Bilby have long legs for jumping high, but it is Little Wombat who is the best digger of all. The three friends decide to camp out for an Easter party and invite Koala along too, all enjoying singing and munching Easter eggs.
As well as being a very attractive book with bright colours and very engaging animals, youngsters will enjoy learning about the differences between Bilby, Rabbit and Little Wombat. They could find out about the Bilby being a symbol for Easter in Australia and may even find they are given a chocolate Easter Bilby instead of an Easter Rabbit. The value of friendship and sharing is also emphasised but not in a didactic way, as Bilby, who has a very large basket of eggs, puts some into her friends’ burrows as a surprise.
An engaging story, Little Wombat’s Easter Surprise is sure to become a favourite Easter story for families and in the classroom.
Themes Australian animals, Bilby, Rabbit, Wombat, Koala, Easter, Eggs, Sharing.
Pat Pledger
Peppa Pig : Peppa loves Easter
Ladybird, 2021. ISBN: 9780241476406. (Age:3-5)
These Peppa Pig picture books hit on all the themes most beloved by young ones: Christmas, birthdays, mermaids, dinosaurs and Easter! They are much longer than the Peppa Pig board book series so are perfectly suited to the upper age group of Peppa fans. In Peppa Loves Easter Miss Rabbit has planned an Easter Eggs-travaganza for all the playgroup children. The eggs-travagana isn't an egg hunt and it isn't a bonnet competition, but an activity trail. The children follow the signs to all the creative stations, including cupcake decorating and Easter card making. Finally they arrive at the end of the trail with a basket full of their creations. What's the surprise in the giant egg? It's Miss Rabbit of course!
This would make a perfect Easter gift for little Peppa enthusiasts, especially those who love all the fun and excitement of Easter. The glittery front cover and the colourful easter bonnets worn by the children will entice and engage again and again. The story cleverly takes the focus off chocolate and the often competitive egg hunt and will hopefully inspire some creative and collaborative Easter endeavours or traditions in the form of making bonnets and cards and decorating egg cups.
Themes Easter.
Nicole Nelson
The Easter rush by Alexandra Yap
Little Steps, 2021. ISBN: 9781922358257. (Age:3+) Recommended.
This delightful story will entertain younger children with its Easter theme and clever references to the now all too familiar use of technology. Easter Bunny is finding it very hard to cope with the stress of getting everything organised for his delivery of eggs all over the world on Easter Sunday. He has so much to do and cannot go out to play when his friends ask him. He has Post-it notes with reminders, a map on the wall with his route planned out and ready to be programmed into his GPS as well as lists of allergies he needs to check. Unfortunately, his technology breaks down and that leaves him feeling absolutely shattered. His three loyal friends, Henrique the Hare, Brooklyn the Badger and Marianna the Mole are worried about him and all pitch in to help. They work together to make sure Easter deliveries happen on time all over the world.
Valery Vell’s beautiful illustrations especially the expressions on the faces of the characters add to the endearing nature of this enjoyable story.
Bluey: Easter is a colourful and appealing spin - off book from the award-winning and popular preschool show about Bluey, a blue heeler pup, and her family which airs on ABC KIDS. In this story Bluey and Bingo are waiting for Easter Bunny but worried they will be forgotten as they were last year. Their parents adamantly tell them Easter Bunny will deliver some eggs but Bingo is not convinced. On waking Easter morning there are no eggs inside their Easter pouches but there is a box and a letter. This leads Bluey and Bingo on a very long and at times frustrating hunt for clues that need to be solved in order to move on to the next step to find their Easter treats.
Children who love Bluey will enjoy this story as they will be hoping Bluey and Bingo are rewarded for their effort in solving some quite tricky clues.
Themes Easter, Bluey, Bingo, Egg Hunt, Family.
Kathryn Beilby
Duckling runs away by Margaret Wild. Illus. by Vivienne To
Allen & Unwin, 2023. ISBN: 9781761065804. (Age:3+) Recommended.
After a serious squabble with his mother, duckling runs away, determined never to return. Several animals that she sees on her run offer her a spot in their game. The chicks are playing hopscotch and invite her to hop with them, the magpies are playing hide and seek and offer to help her hide, the kittens are swinging and want her to swing with them. But each time she repeats that she cannot join them as she is running away.
By now the listening audience will have joined in with the repeated refrain, 'I’m running away' and wait for its next appearance with anticipation.
The piglets are paddling in the stream and ask her to join in, the lambs are playing leapfrog, the bunnies are skipping rope. But nothing sways the determined duckling and readers will see that the images are losing colour as the sun sets. The darkness makes her stop and think about why she is running away.
When an owl asks her if she is lost, she makes up her mind to return home, after all, she knows exactly where she should be. And she returns, seeing all the animals she passed in her rage, nestled comfortably with their mothers for the night. And she finds her own mother and tells her how sorry she is and that she loves her and these feelings are reciprocated as the pair snuggles in for the night.
A sweet tale of being where you are supposed to be, of home being the one place where unconditional love is offered no matter who or what you are or what has happened. This reassuring text will remind readers that home is the best place to be, that it is unconditional, uncritical and loving. I love the highlighted words used by each set of animals as they swing, hop, paddle and skip, each one reflecting the activity they are involved in. I love the words used to show each animal as it snuggles, squashes, nestles and cuddles up to its mother. These words are all highly emblematic of love and comfort, of being together without rancour.
The soft edged illustrations reveal each of the animals on the farm, and children will love seeing them and imagining the play that they're involved with. Promoting outdoor activity, this book will be eagerly sought after as a read aloud, joining in, with its predictive text and lovely words. The illustrations will ignite children’s interest in the outdoors, looking out for all the detail shown in and around the farm and the woods. A small hint of caution is given as the night draws in and the presence of an owl looking for its dinner intrudes on the duckling’s journey.
The story of the Gallipoli Campaign resonates with Australian and New Zealanders because of the recognition of the incredible fortitude of the ANZAC soldiers in the face of insurmountable odds against them. In this story by the inimitable Jackie French, the account of the withdrawal of troops is fictionalised to bring understanding and empathy for the individuals who were still there in December 2015. There is nothing easy or comfortable about this story, because it is based on the oral history of those who were there, but Jackie French has imbued the history with humanity and compassion as she enables us to see the conflict through the eyes of 16-year-old ‘Nipper’. With his gently naïve, but courageous attitude, he relates the tragedy of Gallipoli with the Aussie laconic acceptance of the awful situation of a conflict that was being fought in dreadful circumstances. The withdrawal from Gallipoli Cove needed to be secret and quiet to protect the last soldiers, minimising the potential for casualties from the Turks’ gunfire. Miraculously the retreat was glorious in its success.
Jackie French has an amazing capacity to write about history with real heart. This is an awesome piece of historical fiction written for younger readers. The subject matter is confronting. War, described with raw and horrific detail, is not easy for young readers to consume. Although this book is Children’s fiction, I would not recommend it for those under 11, but its audience could stretch to those much older. As an adult reader I found it a compelling journey and was incredibly impressed at French’s ability to paint the picture of the horrors of war without brutal detail of injuries. However, the stench and mud, rats, cold and food miseries were laid bare in her descriptions and she was able to find some lighter moments amid the squalor. Death is present, and bodies are part of the setting, but there is a gentleness in the way this aspect of the story is conveyed. The Postscript section of the book explains her sources, some of the factual detail that was included in the story and Jackie French’s own reflections on how difficult it was to write about this part of Australian history and honour those who fought and died in the Gallipoli conflict. This is certainly a great book, and it will move readers with compassion. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes World War 1, Gallipoli campaign, courage, resilience, sacrifice.
Carolyn Hull
The garden at the end of the world by Cassy Polimeni & Briony Stewart
University of Queensland Press, 2023. ISBN: 9780702265693. (Age:5+) Highly recommended.
This beautifully written and illustrated picture book takes Isla and her mother on a journey to the Global Seed Vault in Norway. Isla has discovered a rare seed pod in the forest near their home and while she would like to keep it, her botanist mother tells her about the Global Seed Vault which is in Spitsbergen on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, located between Norway and the North Pole.
Together they undertake the journey by plane, ski and on foot. The weather is freezing, the days are dark and the snow falls. They witness the Northern Lights and see inside the enormous vault. Kept there are seeds that future generations will be able to grow if varieties become extinct, more diversity is needed, as well as learn about the past. Included are Kangaroo Grass seeds from Australia, maize from Mexico, chickpeas from India and even soybeans from Nigeria. Isla happily leaves her seeds there, knowing that there ‘will always be a garden at the end of the world.’ At the end of the story is further important information on the Global Seed Vault.
The striking illustrations by Briony Stewart, perfectly complement the words of the author, Cassy Polimeni. The gorgeous endpapers featuring a variety of plants reflect the message in this story that nature needs to be protected. A wonderful book that will hopefully encourage discussion and further research about this important topic. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes Norway, Global Seed Vault, Family, Endangered Plants, Preservation, Protection.
Kathryn Beilby
Say freeze by Miranda Birthisel and Rebel Challenger
An old adage about the wind changing, is given a bright and breezy reimagining in this funny tale of the lengths Josie goes to make people laugh. ‘If the wind changes, that face will stick’ is one incarnation of the warning given by adults when a child makes a scowling face. Josie is a prankster, one the teacher, Miss Place, can do without and on photo day Josie pulls the biggest face she can conjure to make the class laugh and so spoil the photograph. Miss Pronounce gives her the warning, but to no avail, and when the wind does change, faces of both students and teachers are set.
Readers will laugh out loud at the rhyming text, full of puns on the teachers’ names, drawing out lots of fun in predicting rhyming words and words that go with the particular teacher.
The catastrophic storm whips iron from roofs, turns the clouds black, sends some teachers up the trees, while others hide beneath a table. But all have had their faces frozen into the grimaces caused by Josie’s prank. Miss Hap’s tongue is hanging from her mouth, Miss Fortune is very out of sorts thinking about her imminent wedding and needing to be able to speak. Miss Fit send them all back to their classrooms, but Miss Pronounce looks like a hermit crab and Mr Meaner blows up the science lab, Miss Diagnose the school nurse is busy in the sick bay but their new headmaster is appallingly distorted.
Readers will heartily enjoy the reimagining of the adage and think of a few more lines to add with other ingenious teachers’ names. They will enjoy the hilarious illustrations, giving range to a wide variety of scowling faces, and very frustrated teachers. The very witty twist in the tale with cause gales of laughter as they can see the possibilities of an evening with the oddly faced teachers.
Themes Humour, Read aloud, School, Weather.
Fran Knight
Animal factopia! Follow the trail of 400 beastly facts by Julie Beer
Britannica Books, 2023. ISBN: 9781913750732. (Age:7+) Highly recommended.
Welcome to the fourth book in the FACTopia! series, Animal FACTopia. This book allows the reader to follow the trail of 400 amazing beastly facts, about animals from all over the world; all shapes and sizes, and all linked in some way to the next. This is a book full of surprising and humourous titbits of information that will entertain any reader.
This colourfully presented book begins with a contents page with connecting dots to each new engaging topic. The first striking image presented combines a drawing of a balance scale across a double page with a photograph of a newborn female African elephant on one side balanced with 28 newborn babies. This then leads to further information about elephants and snorting which then leads to other sounds made by animals.
The clever connections throughout the book are enhanced by the wonderful drawings and stunning photographs. Readers are also given the opportunity to move away from the broken lines to turn to noted page numbers about other interconnected topics. There is a detailed index at the end plus information about the FACTtopians as well as a sources page and picture credits. The FACTopia! Series is a worthy addition to all home, school and public libraries.
Themes Animal Facts, Knowledge, Humour.
Kathryn Beilby
The forgotten song: Saving the Regent Honeyeater by Coral Vass. Illus. by Jess Racklyett
The critically endangered Regent Honeyeater is the focus of this new book by two very well-known creatives, Coral Vass and Jess Racklyett. This striking 20-24cm long, black and yellow bird, is native to parts of Eastern Australia but in 2022 it was estimated that there may be only 350-400 left.
The decline of Regent Honeyeater numbers is due in part to loss of habitat and urban sprawl but more significantly, it is the loss of older males of the species who can no longer pass on the mating call to younger males. Without the ability to attract a mate, numbers are declining and are cause for great concern.
This stunningly illustrated story begins with the sounds of songs from many birds but as the bush is decimated by developers, many birds vanish. A young male Regent must begin a search for his song. Along his journey he hears the songs of other species, the fiarbirds, rosellas and currawongs, and wonders if any are his song. Sadly, he cannot make their sounds but eventually he recognises the sound of a ‘sweet song’ from a nesting box and is able to finally sing his song and attract a mate.
The glorious full-page illustrations are a clever mixture of vibrant paint with collaged photographs, articles and paintings from over 100 years ago in order to show how the environment has changed over time. In the final pages are facts, a map, a valuable timeline, glossary and a note from the artiest and image credits. A very engaging book.
A strong sturdy little book suited to fit into small hands with a solid cover, this book shows many Australian birds in their differing environments. Helen, a descendent of the Palyful people of the Pilbara, uses a playful rhyming techniques to tell her readers about the birds, the text introducing a highlighted word in larger font in each line. In this way readers will gain some understanding of the habits of some of the birds. A wren pops out of its nest, a budgerigar rolls in the dew, a rosella cleans her feathers in a puddle, and so on. Each bird is distinctively illustrated, its surrounds made clear with minimal images.
Each double page has the text on one side with a visual treat facing it. The brightly designed motifs form a colourful background to the image of each bird. So kids will also get to know a king parrot, black cockatoo, eagle, cassowary, brolga, emu and lorikeet. Each stunning background reprises a style of artwork that is seen before in Helen Miloroy’s growing volume of work. More can be found out about Helen and her work at Fremantle Press website, or Magabala website.
Children will recall her books from Fremantle Press about Backyard bugs, Backyard beasties and birds, as well as those from Magabala Press presenting stories about Willy-willy wagtail and cockatoo wars.
The endpapers reprise the birds shown through the book, and the last page of the text asks the readers to see how many birds they can find. A great way to end the reading of this attractive little book.
Allen & Unwin, 2023. ISBN: 9781761180286. (Age:3+) Highly recommended.
Reading the author’s poignant story at the end of the book sets the tone for this wonderful tale of generations being together despite a gap in their ability to verbally communicate.
The child and her grandfather spend a lot of quiet time together. Not having a common language, they communicate thorough sound, smells and feelings, sight, touch and taste. They read to each other, knowing the other person can only understand a little of what is being read, they walk in the garden, watering the pots and flowers, looking at the bugs they find, wondering at the birds in the trees, splash through the waves, ride a bike, laugh and play, woof and howl like a dog, cook their favourite food and play on the beach.
All the wonderful times spent with grandparents is portrayed in this lovely warm book, showing the love that exists between children and their grandparents, even though there is no common language.
They communicate through the things they do together, watching each other, being together, sitting on Seeya’s shoulders or his knees, hugging him, burying him with sand, sometimes making a mess together, but always with the two together. It may be a quiet time but it is a time of love and companionship and this wonderful feeling shines thorough on each page.
Children will love reading this book, seeing time spent with a grandfather, comparing this with their own grandparents and the time spent with them: looking a the obstacles that may be in place keeping them apart, wondering how to overcome these impediments. Children will love seeing what the grandfather and his granddaughter do together, comparing it with their own activities, adding to the things they may be planning to do on the weekend.
The soft pencil illustrations adds a wonderful tone to the book, underscoring the place each person has in the heart of the other, reinforcing the place that they have in each other’s hearts, despite not being able to speak the same language.
There are ways to communicate without language being spoken and this could lead on to discussions about how we communicate without words.
Themes Language, Communication, ASLAN, Body language, Grandfathers, Granddaughters, Family.
Fran Knight
Big cat by Jess Racklyeft
Allen & Unwin, 2023. ISBN: 9781761066580. (Age:3+) Highly recommended.
This endearing parable about accepting change begs to be read aloud often as readers take Catherine to their hearts. A neat, tidy, meticulous seven year old, Catherine is an investigator. She wears her binoculars around her neck, keeps files in colour order, uses her compass to find her way around while humming to herself.
Clues are given in the newspaper cutouts on the pages, talking of an animal heading south. Catherine is alert, the idea like sherbet in her mind, she sleeps that night her curiosity rumbling. The next morning she is determined to hunt the Big Cat. She packs tins of tuna to act as a lure, and sandwiches for herself. She walks around Melbourne, looking for suitable places to leave her lures. Sitting on a park bench eating the last of her sandwiches, her hum falls silent as she spies the Big Cat. She thanks her for the tuna and together they set off to look at the wild places the Big Cat knows about. Catherine is a little unsure about the lawlessness of Big Cat, but her sneakers begin to get muddy, her hum is silent and the compass forgotten as they take roundabout routes to almost everywhere.
When Big Cat leaves she takes something of Catherine with her and while she will always be wild, Catherine has learnt that she can be a little wild as well, and with the Big Cat always in her heart she sleeps soundly.
This marvellous look at how change affects us was given impetus during the lockdown when Racklyeft like others in Melbourne, was restricted to their home and environs. Walking through her neighbourhood, Racklyeft became far more acquainted with the unfamiliar things that surrounded her, and these she brings to the reader with the magical endpapers and images presented as Catherine and Big Cat walk the streets. Keen eyes will spot parks and gardens, sculptures, buildings, laneways, streetscapes and fountains, while perusing the words presented in the endpapers will add another layer of interest to the reading.
The pencil and watercolour illustrations give an impression of Melbourne that is enticing and informative as the newly found friends walk the streets. And I love the detail: look out for the old maps of Melbourne, newspaper articles and cat book ends.
An interview with Racklyeft can be found here, while her website gives more information about her.
This second book of short stories by Adelaide author Stephen Orr contains short fiction loosely connected by their central character ‘the boy’. They range in style from poignant and heartbreaking to absurd and cruel. The majority have deeply troubled main characters, often the overwhelmed ‘boy’, struggling to understand the complicated world of the flawed adults around him, or the man he grows up to become.
The stories span a number of continents and decades. Several are set in WW2 Germany, with the boy suffering the fallout of his father’s nazi connections, and then again trying to comprehend the suffering of his mentally ill uncle. Orr has set others in outback Australia, or on the SA coast.
A number are contemporary; the stream-of-consciousness of an African youth stowaway in an aeroplane wheel-well, and a disgruntled ex-employee contemplating his plan to kidnap his boss’s son.
The majority of the stories involve either death, dementia or mental illness, murder, mass shootings, execution or suicide. In these terrible scenarios Orr casts fathers as sometimes abusive, sometimes caring or introspective, but always flawed, exerting influences that are carried on to subsequent generations, including the bewildered 'boy'.
Although the content of his stories is often deeply disturbing, Orr’s writing is beautifully lyrical, and his descriptions and dialogue are to be savoured and reread. He specialises in the slow reveal, with perfect examples of ‘show don’t tell’, leaving the reader to fill in the gaps and reflect. He portrays ordinary men and boys facing crises far bigger than themselves; not necessarily happy reads, but powerfully thought-provoking ones.
Twitch and his friends become embroiled in a mystery when the eggs from a Peregrine Falcon’s nest are stolen. Because of Twitch’s passion for birds he becomes a suspect in a crime that he was never likely to have committed. Twitch and his fellow Twitchers put on their detective ‘hats’ to solve the crime that defies their understanding. Why would anyone want to end the life of a new generation of rare birds? The local environment is also hosting a fishing competition that involves locals and visitors to the English countryside where Twitch lives. There are many suspects for the team to investigate and many twists and turns that need to be smoothed out before they can solve the mystery of the missing clutch of eggs. Another exciting adventure.
This is book three in the series by M G Leonard, a series beginning with Twitch and then Spark. Every book has a mystery and an investigation and woven within that is the wonderful world of the birding enthusiast in England and particularly the ‘fledgling’ fans … the young environmentalists. The excitement and intrigue have the feel of a Famous Five adventure combined with the environmental focus. Interestingly in this book, the world of the birdwatcher is at odds with the illegal actions of the egg collectors who must carry on their actions in subterfuge and with deceptive ploys. I have now read all three books in the series and every book is worth recommending and introducing young readers to the Twitching community. This is another series that readers aged 9-12 will enjoy for its detective story quality and for the young heroes and heroines who are the central characters, their daring and intelligence will impress readers who discover this series. But scattered through the story are moments of fun and silliness, and also insights into observational science.
