Like it or not, use it or not, social media is an integral of today's life and despite it being illegal for those under 13 to have accounts because the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), which prevents collection and storage of personal information from children under 13 years of age which originated in the US but which is pretty much universal, many of our young students still access sites and apps daily.
For many parents, the world of social media and instant connectivity is not one in which they grew up - it's all happened in the last 20 years - and so helping their children navigate where they never went when they were children can be tricky. Perhaps the recent hacking of Optus and Medicare and the exposure of personal date gathered legitimately can have a silver lining if it alerts parents to the spread of their digital footprint and propels them to start considering what they are sharing, and thus, their children.
For even though way back in 1996 my school had a huge focus on safe surfing of the web and the kids, most of whom did not have access to computers and the internet at home, had the basics drummed into them from the get-go, the issues caused by the use of these instant, anonymous platforms continue to rise as our young people seek attention, fame, and in some cases, notoriety. Who can forget the death of 14 year old Dolly Everett who took her own life because of online bullying?
Thus this book which enables our young readers, even those under the required 13 years, to manage their life, relationships and mental health on social media platforms and empowers them to stay safe online is an important read for all. With the usual engaging layout we associate with Usborne, but in monochrome rather than colour, it offers in-depth coverage of a range of important and difficult issues young people face including body image, appearance-enhancing filters, influencers, sexual content and mental health. It uses recognisable themes rather than platform specifics, making the content relevant long-term, and tips on how to set up accounts safely and best manage privacy and messaging settings. It also addresses the user's online persona, online reputation, and relationships; helps them understand fake news and information and how to handle online bullying, as well as avoiding trolls.
While social media can have a really positive side - many would have been very isolated without during COVID lockdowns - and it would be wonderful if we could instil such a sense of confidence and well-being in the younger generation that they never feel the need for anonymous, meaningless affirmation, nevertheless there is a dark side and users must be aware of the potential for harm as well as good. Once it's out there, it's out of your control.
As well as being an important guide for the kids, it is also really useful for parents themselves as they learn what it is their child needs to know and do, understand and value as what was once just "peer pressure" from your immediate social circle is now a universal phenomenon right there in their hand. It goes hand-in hand with the excellent site and work of the E-Safety Commissioner established by the Australian government which has information for everyone from parents to teachers to kids to women to seniors and even a host of diverse groups who may be targeted or marginalised.
Despite the care we take, every keystroke or finger tap can unknowingly add to our digital footprint, and so the better informed we are the safer we will be. Thus this is one to recommend to parents, to teachers and for yourself if you have responsibility for students or your own children online.
Barbara Braxton
Miss Mary-Kate Martin's guide to monsters: The Trouble with the Two-Headed Hydra by Karen Foxlee
Allen & Unwin, 2022. ISBN: 9781760526634. (Age:6-11) Highly recommended.
Mary-Kate is on her second monster seeking adventure in this delightful series. Her mother, Professor Martin, has been summoned to an archaeological dig on the remote Greek island of Galinios. There is an ancient, tiled floor that needs protection from building expansion by The Kyrios Famous Sardines factory. As soon as they arrive Mary-Kate is aware of things being awry. There are smashed paddle boats in the harbor. They are met by Nikos and receive a letter from his Yiayia who is very concerned that the island’s Two-Headed Hydra is behaving strangely and attacking things.
While her mother works, Mary-Kate is taken on a bicycle tour by Nikos who fills her in on other island problems, including pollution in the sea and dwindling fish catches. They become very suspicious of the glamorous owner of the sardine factory and a group of men called The Legendary Pest Control. Maybe they are behind the island's problems. So Mary-Kate and Nikos bravely try to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Karen Foxlee makes this an entertaining and absorbing read with a nice twist. Mary-Kate is a terrific quirky character with her unique dress style and her glitter pens and notebook. She has many anxieties but overcomes them by making careful plans, having a backpack of useful things and her lucky charms. Her self-talk is always about how to overcome her fears. She grows more intrepid and stronger through the story. Nikos is “the force for good in this world” and Prof Martin is similarly principled and a kind, eccentric parent. There are several villains to dislike who don’t care about the environment, preservation of ancient history or the Hydra. The baddies are a bit menacing but the scary bits are tame and suitable for young readers. Greek language and culture are woven through the story. Freda Chiu’s jacket design, maps and illustrations complement the story well. Year twos and threes should enjoy this as a class read-aloud. It can be read without reading The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm first.
Themes Ancient Monsters, Greek culture, Environmental problems, Bravery.
Jo Marshall
The Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick
Little Brown, 2021. ISBN: 9780356515175. (Age:15+) Highly recommended.
Readers who enjoyed Six of crows by Leigh Bardugo or the adventures in Meg Caddy’s Slipping the noose will fall in love with this series written by Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms writing as M.A. Carrick. Ren is determined to enter the noble House Traementis, with its riches and a comfortable future for her sister Tess and herself. When her mother died, she had been picked up by the evil woman who controlled a gang of children notorious as Fingers. Her brother Sedge was killed, so she and Tess fled the house, relying on their skills and determination to survive. Posing as a long lost relative, Renata, she cons her way into the family. But life in Nadezra is not as glamorous as she had hoped, and she is drawn into the dangerous feuds of the ruling houses. She crosses the paths of Rook, a Robin Hood like character who is fighting for the impoverished people in the city and that of Vargo, a merchant who is trying to claw his way to the top, as well as Grey Serrado who is a city guard.
The world building is dazzling. It is easy to imagine the city of Nadezra, with its mansions, slums and waterways, gangs roaming and rich young men partying in the night. With the help of Tess’s exceptional dressmaking skills, Ren slips into the persona of Renata, dressed in the latest gorgeous fashion and into the home of the Traementis family. Magic is in the air and Ren can use the cards to read patterns and predict what could happen. (Readers who are interested in pattern reading can go to the author’s website to see the pattern of their fate.)
Action and danger faces all the characters, who are all vividly described, making it easy to become engaged in their destinies.
The Mask of Mirrors is a multi-layered, complex fantasy that is very difficult to put down and I cannot wait to read the next in the trilogy, The liar’s knot.
Grub is eating and eating. He is getting bigger and bigger. He knows that a change is about to happen, and wants to know what he will become. He asks a variety of insects that pass him on the floor the forest. A ladybird, cicada, dragonfly amongst others all describe what they were before their current manifestation, so making the reader more curious about Grub.
Gently humorous, each new meeting ends with the repeated lone, ‘so he ate and he ate, and he grew and he grew’.
The background of the forest floor will captivate young readers as they recognise plants and growth amongst the fallen logs and branches. Each insect is given its correct name and the descriptive words coincide with the insect in question. So readers will learn that a dragonfly lives in water as larva, while a cicada was a nymph, a butterfly a caterpillar and the ladybird a small insect with similar markings. Each new page gives a greater understanding of the insect world and the changes that occur when they emerge as adults. Children will be mesmerised by the information put in this book, and use it as a springboard to seek out further facts. They will gasp in awe at what Grub becomes and be fascinated by the fact sheet at the end of the book.
The detailed illustrations of the forest floor invite the reader to take a closer look, while the glorious endpapers show the juvenile stages at the start and the adult stages on the last end pages. Each invites the readers to spot the ones they know and ask questions, using the pages as a quiz, to share their knowledge with their friends.
A stunning addition to the non fiction world for younger readers.
Themes Insects, Change, Non fiction, Forests, Humour.
Little Bat has never stayed up all day before! He always goes to sleep at the end of the night and so he is very curious about how the world looks when he's normally asleep. He's excited to see how everything looks in the sun and so he decides to stay up all day.
It turns out the world is a much different place - it's hot, bright, and noisy and full of new things. Luckily, Rusty the Squirrel is willing to show Little Bat around, even though Little Bat struggles to stay awake. But when these new, fast friends separate at the end of the day, how will they stay in touch when one is usually awake while the other is asleep?
With a distinctive illustrative style that has won him a Caldecott Honor award among others for The Rough Patch, this is a charming story to share with young readers who always want to stretch their bedtime because they think that something magical happens to the world after dark. And it does - for all sorts of creatures who have slept during the day emerge when the sun disappears and the shadows take over. So it's no wonder Little Bat is curious about what happens in the world while he is asleep.
As well as shining a light, so to speak, on the activities we diurnal creatures tend to take for granted, this is also an opportunity for young readers to learn about nocturnal creatures and consider why that is the best time for them to be awake. Why does Little Bat sleep during the day? It can lead to investigations about why we have day and night, the phases of the moon, and even why all creatures need to sleep at some time.
Shinn
opens her high fantasy with a gripping description of travellers stranded as
earthquakes destroy the bridges leading into the city of Corcannon. The magic
that had knit a continent together is breaking apart and threatens the heart of
the land. Among the isolated are Pietro who fears he knows the reason for his
world cracking apart, a soldier named Jayla who is seeking work and a young
child, Aussen, who has a mysterious power. Cody, a courier who can walk the
high cables above the city, comes to the rescue of the stranded people, walking
a tightrope across the deep gorge, enabling a bridge to be spanned over the
dangerous break. In the meantime, back in the wealthy part of the city, Madeleine,
is planning her wedding to Tivol, but wondering if Reese is the person she is
in love with. Then there is the mystery of Villette, a young woman imprisoned
by the high priest, and guarded by Brandon, a young temple soldier.
Told
from multiple viewpoints, Shinn manages to weave together a fascinating story
of diverse characters, who all have a key role to play in trying to save the
city. Each of her protagonists is richly described and it is easy to follow the
story from the differing viewpoints and a twist in the plot might be a surprise
to some readers. Shinn excels in describing emotions and the romances in the
book are low key but will appeal to lovers of romance.
I
am a fan of Sharon Shinn’s books – she always delivers with relatable
characters and events, leaving the reader satisfied with her conclusion. This
will be a book I will re-read when I am seeking a feel-good tale to lift my
spirits. Readers who enjoy Juliet Marillier’s books or the Pern books by Anne McCaffrey
are likely to enjoy The shuddering city.
Themes Fantasy, Romance.
Pat Pledger
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
Hachette, 2022. ISBN: 9781529367225. (Age:15+)
Lovers of lavish Gothic worlds will be sure to pick up this story imbued with romance, wealth, and mystery. Nineteen-year-old Signa first met Death as an infant when everyone died at a party welcoming her into the world. Now, just months away from gaining her inheritance, and after the deaths of a string of grasping guardians, Signa comes to Thorn Grove, the estate of the Hawthornes. Here she hopes to find relatives who will accept her but instead faces mystery and secrets. She discovers that Blythe, the daughter of the house is being poisoned, and believes that Blythe’s mother, Lillian, had died from poisoning as well. Knowing that Death may be able to help her, she uses belladonna to summon him, asking for his help in solving the mysteries of Thorn Grove.
Signa’s desire to be a proper young lady and enter society soon clashes with her independent spirit as she realises the restrictions that society places on young women. She does not want to be bound by rules that make her uncomfortable and limit her skills and abilities.
Belladonna has all the hallmarks of a gothic mystery, with some supernatural fantasy tossed in as well. Thorn Grove is haunted by the ghost of the woman who claims she has been murdered; there is a dank graveyard, thorny woods, and wild rides at midnight. The attraction that Signa feels for Sylas the handsome groom who had escorted her to the manor and the enigmatic Death who wants her to control her burgeoning powers will thrill romance lovers, while there is enough action to keep the reader immersed in the story. The author has also left an opening at the end of the book for a sequel.
Themes Gothic mystery, Romance, Death, Murder.
Pat Pledger
Milly and the mulberry tree by Vikki Conley and Deb Hudson
EK Books, 2022. ISBN: 9781922539120. (Age:4+) Recommended.
Milly and her Papa planted the mulberry tree on Milly’s birthday. Every year they sat under the tree on her birthday, eating the ripe mulberries. She grew up with that tree, circling her arms around it when young, stretching her arms up to measure herself against its height, watching the silkworms, her friends become cocoons and then leave the casings as moths, watched over by Milly. She adored the feel of the silky cocoons, storing them in her scrapbook. But older, she moved with work, now residing in a different part of the world where she encountered the silky end product of her silkworm friends. She used the memories of her tree to make sketches for garments, ate whole mulberries, celebrated her birthday under a canopy of red lanterns, found some fluttery friends, sipped mulberry leaf tea but none of this felt like home.
The climax of the story of Milly and her wish to be back home will flatten everyone’s heart as she gets her wish to spend her birthday under the mulberry tree. This is a delightful look at the place home has in everyone’s heart and the strings which bind us to that place.
The illustrations to this rhythmic tale are just as impressive, with the mulberry tree hanging over many pages, its large leaves and bright red fruit hanging enticingly in front of your eyes. Old gardens may have a mulberry tree so it is worth seeking one out to acquaint the readers with the sight of these magnificent trees. The life cycle of the silkworm is another story to tells the readers after the book is read and eagle eyes have spotted the moths, cocoons, and caterpillars of the silkworm story. And they will also have need lots of other details while they read.
Themes Mulberry tree, Growing up, Life cycle, Silkworms, Fabric, Japan.
Fran Knight
An odd dog Christmas by Rob Biddulph
HarperCollins, 2021. ISBN: 9780008413354.
It's Christmas and Odd Dog is running out of time to find the perfect present for her pal. But then she steps into a Christmas arcade which looks very promising until she meets a new friend who needs help. Suddenly, instead of shopping for that perfect gift, Odd Dog has the adventure of a lifetime and learns an important lesson about gift-giving at the same time.
Both the rhyming text and the illustrations will engross the young reader in this unusual Christmas story, but the engagement will be heightened because they are challenged to find some interesting items that have been hidden within. And while it might be easy for an eagle-eye to spot five golden rings, what do turtle doves look like, or, indeed, a partridge in a pear tree?
One to keep the little ones intrigued as the anticipation builds...
The latest book in the Aussie STEM Stars series begins with a wonderful description of bustling Mumbai through the eyes of three-year-old Veena Sahajwalla travelling on her father’s Vespa. Veena’s childhood was full of learning and family time spent with her engineering father, medical doctor mother and younger brother. Veena studied hard and loved school especially subjects like Mathematics and was fascinated by the focus on recycling in her city which would stay with her until the present day.
The early assumption was that Veena would become a doctor like her mother, but squeamish from the sight of blood and not a fan of dissecting animals, Veena decided to follow her heart and take up engineering studies. She won a place at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, one of only ten females to 250 male students in her year. It was often a lonely time for Veena especially after two years of study when she was the only female to specialise in metallurgical engineering. After some hard work and overcoming inequality, Veena topped her year and was offered a scholarship to study a Master of Science in Metals and Materials Engineering at the University of British Columbia.
After marrying and moving to Australia, Veena continued with her research into repurposing materials, particularly green steel, as well as establishing the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT). She has been awarded and received multiple accolades for her work both here in Australia and internationally. Veena was a popular judge on the long-running ABC TV series ‘The New Inventors’, has been on the ABC’s Q & A and the ‘War on Waste’, as well as being named 2022 NSW Australian of the Year.
This amazing woman with such an inner drive for questioning, learning and hard work has provided author Julianne Negri with so much story to share with readers. This highly engaging read in the Aussie STEM Stars series will add another dimension to the STEM curriculum. Sneak peek: Veena Sahajwalla on Play School/Australian Story is well worth watching. Teacher notes are coming soon.
Head of Zeus, 2022. ISBN: 9781803281612. (Age:12+) Highly recommended.
The Last Whale written by Chris Vick is a complex and intriguing story spanning three generations. Eco-activitist Abi has been asked to leave her school due to her recent climate change activism and is travelling with her parents and younger sister Tegan to a remote Norwegian island to visit her grandmother.
Abi has “borrowed” an AI device from NewTek where she has had work experience and hopes the remoteness of the island will allow her to develop the capabilities of the AI technology even further. While on the island Abi discovers her great grandfather, thought to have hunted and killed whales, actually recorded whale songs. With her AI device, she is able to interpret the songs and realises that climate change and human activity is killing off the whales. With her AI device, now named Moonlight, they are able to track and record a whale in the present day. The song is haunting and Abi vows to let the world know the danger the world is facing if whales die out.
Fast forward many years, Abi now has a 13-year-old daughter Tonje and together they live on a small island with Moonlight and are completely self-sufficient. Abi is still passionately searching for the last whales and Moonlight has evolved and become more powerful and “human-like”. The final generation brings Tonje, Lars and their daughter Astrid travelling again to go in search of a safer environment as the world’s eco-systems are in a mess. All those years ago, governments did not listen to Abi’s dire warnings and she and her family are seemingly fighting this battle alone.
Author Chris Vick works for a whale and dolphin conservation charity and his previous novel Girl.Boy.Sea was shortlisted for the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal. He readily admits not all facts in the story are 100% correct but is adamant the need to protect our whales and the ecosystem is the key to saving our environment for future generations. This book is an important read for all. While the story is fictious it gives vital and chilling facts about how human negligence and climate change is damaging our fragile ecosystems.
This is a dark modern fairy tale with forests, a menacing witch and chilling photo-realistic black and white illustrations by Levi Pinfold. The story takes place over five days and begins from Hex’s point of view. Hex (Hector) goes into the woods with his best friend Tommo. They are followed by a young girl called Sascha and once there take turns on a precarious rope swing. Hex throws a stone and Sascha crashes to the ground and seriously breaks her arm. Later Sascha’s siblings, Maria and Jayce, beat Hex up and he runs off and finds himself in an unfamiliar part of the woods, where an old woman called Missus and her huge dog, Leafy, live in a cottage. Missus gives Hex an acorn and tells him if he crushes it, she will take revenge on Maria for him. Missus has said the same thing to Maria and it is Maria who crushes the acorn first.
What happens next is at first quite baffling. The tale is now told from Tommo’s point of view. Hex has been erased from time but it takes time for Tommo to understand that this has happened. Somehow wafts of Hex's existence are still around and Tommo has deja vu. Sascha breaks her arm in similar circumstances to the first incident. Tommo and Maria are approached by a special agent who tells them what Missus and Leafy are truly up to. This takes the story into the world of meddling with time and the realms of science fiction.
This is very thought-provoking story with much to admire. The device of crushing the acorn and the impact this has on changing what happens in time is effective. A.F. Harrold uses language well and the creepiness is palpable. There are many menacing touches throughout and it successfully invokes Hansel and Gretel. And of course, the wonderful illustrations really complement this. The family situations are nuanced and the characters are believable and flawed. The theme of revenge and its consequences occur throughout the story. There is also a theme of how adults fairly treat children. I was reminded of the streaming series Stranger Things and believe this book will be thoroughly appreciated by young readers with mature tastes.
The fascinating journeys of many of the world’s animals are discussed in this appealing and informative new release. Jennifer Cossins, well known author and illustrator of many books including The Book of Curious Birds shortlisted in the 2022 CBCA Eve Pownall Award, has written another wonderful non-fiction book that will engage readers both young and old.
From the introduction which gives a brilliant overview of animal migration to each double page spread full of interesting facts and stunning illustrations, this book will provide the reader with detailed yet easily accessible information. The migrations of birds including the Australian swift parrot, sea creatures like the Christmas Island red crab, insects such as the Australian bogong moth and mammals including the caribou are all presented in a report-style format that includes an opening paragraph, description, distance covered and general facts. Highlighted on each page is one interesting statement written in larger text. Some of these statements mention that the herd of Burchell’s zebras appear to migrate in an almost straight line, the globe skimmer dragonflies can fly over 3000 kilometres without touching land, Andean flamingos can fly at night and can cover as much as 1000 kilometres in a single night’s journey and longfin eels must navigate waterfalls and climb dams, which they conquer with their unique climbing abilities.
At the end of the book is a glossary and list of resources plus a vital note about conservation and climate change including the need for more human care and intervention. This book is a worthwhile resource for all home, schools and public libraries or a perfect gift for those children who love non-fiction.
Ostensibly a plea for the creation of stories, this thoughtful yet playful picture book will encourage many hours of research and inquiry into the variety of written communication over millennia. Each page highlights differing forms of communication as Winston uses hieroglyphics, Canadian Aboriginal Sullavicx, Tibetan script amongst others to augment his text. The text explores the idea of story, of stories being diffused into one, meaning other stories are forgotten. Many stories were written of beautiful sunsets, of places far down in the sea, some stories were full of dogs, but sadly stories have now been reduced to just one story. This one story gobbled all other stories into its belly, denying them a place of their own. But a question arises from within the belly. A question that points out that the one story contains all stories and so asks what the next story will be. A thought indeed.
So it is with language; as one language dominates it is this language that describes, stores, remembers while others are forgotten. Telling stories in one language subverts the history and culture of another group of people, ensuring their place is undermined. Students will be able to understand using an array of long lost languages. How much richer would Australian culture be if Aboriginal languages were still spoken, their stories still heard, their history understood. What more would we know of the ancient Egyptians if we could read and understand and heard the language of the hieroglyphics left behind?
This majestic plea for the power of language and story will provoke discussion amongst the readers, initiate further research and guarantee close inspection of the detail of the illustrations. These are mesmerising as a closer look reveals a variety of written forms of communication, some of which are outlined at the end of the book.
Winston extols the virtues of story, of written language of diversity and in his plea he makes it clear that this diversity needs to be supported and preserved.
In a word where English has become the one language, it is clear that other languages must be spoken so that they do not die out ensuring the speakers of that language do not lose their identity, their culture and their heritage.
The ideas behind the brief text had me thinking for days, regretting my mono language status, and encouraging those around me to keep alive the language other than English in their family.
Themes Language, Story, Diversity, Writing.
Fran Knight
A spindle splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Tor Books, 2022. ISBN: 9781250871244. (Age:15+) Recommended.
Lovers of fairy tales retold are sure to enjoy this retelling of Sleeping Beauty, which was a Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novella (2022), and Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fantasy (2021).
Zinnia Grey has just turned 21 and because she is suffering from a rare disease, may never see the age of 22. Her best friend Charm is determined to give her a memorable birthday, housed in a tower with a spindle, because she has always been invested in the Sleeping Beauty tale. When Zinnia pricks her finger she finds herself in an alternative world with another Sleeping Beauty, Primrose, who wants to escape her fate.
Harrow turns the tale of Sleeping Beauty on its head as Zinnia and Primrose, with the help of a fairy godmother, manage to break their curses, while calling on countless other Sleeping Beauties to assist. Zinnia learns what it is like to be a heroine and save others and her life begins to have meaning.
Harrow concentrates on the strength of women and female friendship, often with laugh out loud moments in her narrative. The blossoming romance between Charm and Primrose is deftly handled.
This was a quick read and is certain to appeal to readers who like fairy tale tropes upset and who have enjoyed books by Laini Taylor, Neil Gaiman and Shannon Hale.
