The Magic of Magnolia Moon is Edwina Wyatt's latest lyrical treasure of a book. In this book we follow the dreamy and tender story of Magnolia Moon who is now a year older than in the previous book, The Secrets of Magnolia Moon, an honour book in the 2020 CBCA Awards. The Secrets of Magnolia Moon was about Magnolia's ninth year.
The Magic of Magnolia Moon sees Magnolia facing up to change in her life at age ten. She is entering year five and wanting to make a good impression. She still has her two good old friends (Imogen May and Casper) although things are changing. Imogen May has moved to a new school and makes a new friend. Magnolia still has quirky Casper as her friend and her world is still a magical construct. At home she feels a little invisible because of her busy parents and demanding baby brother and at school likewise she feels invisible. It is clear though that she is surrounded by love and gentle, unconventional characters - particularly her grandmother. In The Secrets of Magnolia Moon, Magnolia's imagination and fantasising is influenced by the book of Greek myths that her grandmother had given her. In The Magic of Magnolia Moon, her inspiration is drawn from a book of fairy tales. The magic that Magnolia finds is in inanimate objects that become animated in her mind like the grumpy grandfather clock. She finds magic everywhere in nature and of course she is still on regular speaking terms with the moon. When her love of magic is challenged by a disparaging girl at school, she comes to the conclusion that that girl's life was empty and poor without magic.
Magnolia is a joyful soul who puts a positive spin on everything. There is a gentle sensibility about Edwina Wyatt's writing. Multiple layers of wisdom shine from the pages of stories that seem at first glance light and trippy. Magnolia finds that..."It was a kind of magic how the things you really needed found you anyway, without you even knowing it. A quiet sort of magic that happened in between the wanting and getting."(p.111) Through Magnolia, the reader learns that time is important. She takes the time to notice and collect small things and frequently speaks of the relativity of time using analogies like a second being a lifetime if you are a bubble.
Magnolia and her friends play games, make wishes, ask lots of questions and play make believe. It is refreshing to know that books still exist that invite children into a safe and innocent world of wonder. It is increasingly important that children have this style of book read to them as an antidote to the confronting issues with which they are faced today. Edwina Wyatt's books send the message that it is ok as a ten year old to be sweet and playful. You don't have to grow up so fast. You can still hang upside down from a wishing tree with your friends. There are undercurrents in the book that children might want to talk about like the fact that Reuben's parents have split up but the magic spun in this book is positivity.
Wyatt has written another book this year called Tish. It is equally delightful and loved by the children. Those who love the books of Katherine Applegate, Kate Di Camillo and Sara Pennypacker will equally enjoy Katherine Wyatt as a writer.
Themes Friendship, Secrets, Magic in everyday and everything.
Wendy Jeffrey
The illustrated encyclopaedia of peculiar pairs in nature by Sami Bayly
The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature is the third stunning release in The Illustrated Encyclopaedia series, followingThe illustrated encyclopaedia of ugly animals and The illustrated encyclopaedia of dangerous animals by the very talented Australian author/illustrator Sami Bayly. Each of her three books showcase amazing aspects of nature and offer those who read them so much to learn and appreciate. This newest non-fiction gem has a beautifully designed and embossed cover with a yellow spine to complement the rainbow connection of the blue and red spines of the previous books.
The Content pages introduce the peculiar pairs with their names and a grey silhouette of their images. The Introduction page has important information from the author where she introduces the term symbiosis “when different animals or plants share a relationship that mutually benefits them…” However, it is then explained that it is not as straightforward as it appears and the terms mutualism, commensalism and parasitism as well as categories within these terms are introduced. The explanations of these terms are not difficult to comprehend and are well worth sharing and clarifying for the young reader. Each double page spread has one page devoted to the intricate illustration and the second page contains the title, scientific name and pronunciation. Information is segmented under the headings of description, peculiar pair, conservation status, diet, location/habitat and highlighted fun facts.
As the reader engages with the book, they are able to find out some quite astounding facts. For example, the Pinhead Pearlfish and the Leopard Sea Cucumber’s relationship is one based on commensalism. Children will enjoy reading that the Pearlfish is drawn to the smell of the sea cucumber’s rear end, enters the anus and makes themselves at home in the gut! Or that the Green-banded Broodsac and the Amber Snail have a parasitic relationship that involves cycles and poo!
The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature will join its earlier releases in the series as one of the most borrowed and requested books in a classroom, school or public library as it offers the reader so much in terms of visual appeal and incredible information. A wonderful gift for a birthday or Christmas present.
Themes Animals, Nature, Connection, Interdependency, Relationships in Nature.
Kathryn Beilby
Zombies vs the Illuminati by John Larkin
Ford St, 2021. ISBN: 9781925804874. (Age:9+) Highly recommended.
Capitalism and animal cruelty lead to cannabalism on a chicken farm and a zombie virus. The subsequent problem of the Zombie virus jumping to the human species must be solved by a teenager and four pre-teen boys. When a chicken called Nancy decides to escape her cruel conditions the author takes us step-by-step through the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse. Each chapter is prefaced by a tip or a list from “The Moron’s Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse” plus a cool Zombie illustration by Matt Lin.
Nicholas Baumgartner is the central character, striking fear into his teachers at St Trevor of the Stones Grammar School for some time prior to the Apocalypse. From the tree house in his back yard, Nichol-ass, as his friends and readers know him, summons his friends using their pre-arranged SMS code for a Zombie Apocalypse. His friends don’t show immediately, and Nichol-ass fears the worst. He hears the moans of Zombies and the cries of their victims long before Josh, Callum, Phoebe Rose and Leonardo Dog Vinci show up – hotly pursued by ladder climbing zombies. Escaping via the zip line, they find their fellow nerd, VeeJay, in the sewer system and their quest/road-trip to save the world begins.
Leonardo Da Vinci, having inhabited a dog’s body, inducts the nerds into the illuminati. He has a plan to give the Prime Minister the antidote to the Zombie virus. The lads don’t really have any weapons of note, except a sack full of doorknobs Josh grabbed along the way. Phoebe Rose offers her car to transport them the 600 miles by road to the Prime Minister. Can they trust Leonardo Dog Vinci or does he have other intentions?
John Larkin’s foray into a younger market is a lot of fun. As with his YA realistic fiction, he can unveil a story well enough to suspend our disbelief in zombies. There are references to exploding heads and eating brains but no graphic descriptions. Highly recommended.
This cleverly presented book is reminiscent of Jim Henson’s “Muppets” books. The creator Cat Rabbit is a textile artist who has created each of the characters and props using hand-stitched felt and fur. The story is about Bear who would like some real friends. She especially would like to be friends with Koala and Lamb so she draws up a plan. The first few things she tries do not quite work out, so she gives up and goes back to drawing on her own. However, Koala and Lamb see her drawing and ask to join in. They then find lots of things to do all together and in pairs, activities such as bike-riding, playing the recorder, karaoke and baking. Bear eventually learns a valuable lesson about friendship.
Young readers will love the smaller minor characters who also grace the pages and always have a humorous comment. The fine detail in the felt characters will encourage children to return to this book time and time again. How to Make Friends: A Bear's Guide will be a welcome resource in the classroom for teachers who are helping their students negotiate the tricky friendship road.
Themes Animals, Friendship, Textiles.
Kathryn Beilby
Horrible Harriet and the terrible tantrum by Leigh Hobbs
Allen & Unwin, 2021. ISBN: 9781760878221. (Age:3+) Highly recommended.
Horrible Harriet (2003) was followed by Hooray for Horrible Harriet (2008) and Horrible Harriet’s inheritance, each firmly securing a place for this wonderful creation in the panorama of hilarious characters. Harriet has panache: she is boisterous and funny, ‘an amalgam of various bad girls’ Hobbs taught in schools, but also elicits our sympathy beneath the laughter she evokes. Her antics are wonderfully captured in pen and ink illustrations, coloured with gouache and acrylic paint, making a face to be reckoned with, a force that cannot stop.
In this new offering Harriet keeps her tantrum caged while she tries hard to be nice: she smiles a lot, takes flowers to others, is kind to her classmates and opens doors. Her smile is awesome, people are understandably perplexed. Her tantrum is itching to be released and one day it escapes. Harriet finds it in the classroom, sitting nicely in the front of the room. It puts on a show, playing tricks and doing daring deeds that the others watch in awe. Harriet is not amused and grabs it throwing it up into the air where it becomes attached to the ceiling. Harriet is back at centre stage and does tricks with the tantrum until they both fall to the ground. The teacher congratulates Harriet and the pair goes to bed that night with quite different thoughts. The tantrum sleeps, it can’t wait until tomorrow when it can go back to school and Harriet is so excited she cannot sleep.
What might happen? Probably not what you expect.
A very funny look at tempers and tantrums will elicit fun and games from the readers. They will recognise some of the behaviour shown by both Harriet and her temper, and laugh with her as she tries to control it, gasping at the lengths to which the temper goes to upset Harriet’s aim of being good. Beneath the humour lies a plea for our sympathy as Harriet tries her best to be good and cage her temper tantrum.
Themes Temper, Humour, Behaviour.
Fran Knight
Noni the pony counts to a million by Alison Lester
Allen & Unwin, 2021. ISBN: 9781760524395. (Age:1+) Highly recommended.
Noni the pony returns in another glorious adventure following Noni the pony, Noni the pony rescues a joey and Noni the Pony goes to the beach. This time she has lots of fun counting, and so will young children who count along with her. Starting off with Noni standing under one tree, she gradually collects friends, hens, cows, wallabies, wood swallow and fat puppies until she gets to ten ladybirds. Then there are dozens of spots on her friend Helga the horse and hundreds of dots on Harry the horse, not to forget the thousands of cars on the highway and millions of stars in the sky at night.
The gentle rhyming couplets and the rhythm of the narrative makes this an excellent read aloud. The illustrations are gorgeous, each additional character having happy faces. I loved the picture of the five wallaby pals who come hip-hopping along, with the cat sprawled on Noni’s back. The countryside, from the sea to the highway is coloured in muted shades of green and blue, and flowers, bees and butterflies will enhance the reader.
This is a wonderful book that will have readers chanting along with the story, poring over the illustrations all the while learning how to count.
Themes Counting, Ponies, Animals.
Pat Pledger
Signs and wonders Dispatches from a time of beauty and loss by Delia Falconer
In ancient times augers would look for omens of the future. Falconer in her daily observations and in her gathering of news and research recognises the signs and the wonders that reveal the changes in the planet, the signifiers that spell the end of the world as we know it: massive plastic pollution in the oceans, species extinction, climate tipping points, signs in plain view that we prefer to ignore.
Rather than a scientific examination this is a collection of the thoughts and experiences of an observant individual wondering how we can continue to live in this changing world. Chapters move from thoughts about coal, fire, and coronavirus, in a poetic but easy to read style.
Themes Essays, Climate change.
Helen Eddy
World-whizzing facts by Emily Grossman. Illus. by Alice Bowsher
World-whizzing Facts: Awesome Earth Questions Answered has been written by Dr Emily Grossman, a TV science expert, who answers incredible and important questions about our natural world. Children love finding out the answers to all sorts of questions that adults may not even think about. For example, where would you find the most germs? There are four choices: A. The end of your nose B. A lift button C. Your kitchen table D. A public toilet seat? You will need to read the book to find out! Each question is explained fully before the answer is given. The author cleverly uses humour to encourage the reader and throws in the odd gross fact to keep them engaged, such as the jellyfish excrete their food out of the same hole they take their food in. Each page contains a large amount of small handwritten text that has been placed in chunks with bold, black-lined and grey drawings. There are highlighted key words which are presented in larger lettering. Many environmental issues are discussed and tips for young readers on how to help and make a difference to the pressing issue of the impact of climate change. The contents page is spread over three pages and there is an acknowledgment page at the very back. The author has also included write your own questions pages.
Those children who love facts and learning new knowledge will enjoy this interesting read.
When the boy discovers the moonimal in the toyshop, straight away the boy hugs him tight and because moonimals are made to be hugged tight, they become inseparable. They played together and went everywhere together. But one day the boy trips over in the woods and because he broke his glasses he couldn't see Moonimal lying amongst the leaves.
Convinced the boy will come back for him he lies there for many days and nights until he is discovered by some rabbits, who see him as special because although he looks like them, he has three ears. And so, instead of snuggling in with them he sleeps alone, rather than being hugged tight. The adventures for Moonimal are just beginning ... snatched by a large bird, dropped in the river, discovered by deer... will he ever be found by the boy again?
Debi Gliori has created a charming story for our youngest readers that will resonate with them as the tale of a lost toy is all too familiar. But telling it from the toy's point of view is unique and while there is sadness and even intrigue, it is always tinged with hope through Moonimal's belief that he will be reunited. The illustrations are full of details that not only enrich the text but offer something new to discover each time the story is read - as it will be, over and over.
Barbara Braxton
Julia and the shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave with Tom de Freston
Sometimes a novel is published that resonates with and impacts on the reader. Julia and the Shark is one such novel. Written and illustrated by wife and husband team, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Tom de Freston, this very deep and meaningful book will leave a lasting impression long after it is finished. Julia is a ten-year-old only child who has left Cornwall with her parents and their cat Noodle to spend two months on the remote island of Unst in the Shetland Isles region. Her mother Maura is a brilliant and talented marine biologist with an obsessive personality who dreams of finding the slow-moving Greenland shark for both scientific and personal reasons. Julia’s father Dan has been employed to fix the beacon in the narrow lighthouse which the family temporarily moves into.
From the very onset of the journey the story is fraught with tension between the adults as Dan tries to temper Maura’s compulsive enthusiasm. Julia watches and listens and in the beginning sides mostly with her mother. The longer the family remain on the island the more it becomes obvious that all is not as it seems, and that Dan is the glue holding the family together. Added to this family living with mental illness is the rocky friendship between Julia and her new friend Kin and their relationship with Adrian the island bully. The search for the Greenland shark eventually takes both Maura and Julia on their own dangerous journeys.
This beautiful hardback edition is strikingly illustrated throughout in tones of yellow, grey and black. The ominous presence of the shark hovers throughout the pages and is presented in a myriad of ways. This is truly a stunning read which sensitively and carefully tells a powerful story while gently answering unasked questions about mental illness. Perfect for mature middle grade readers and adults alike.
Bob Graham’s distinctive illustrative style soars across the front cover, ensuring every child who sees the book will recognise it, pick it up, read it themselves or ask someone to read it to them. Older readers and adults will remember the wonderful story of Max (2002), and delight in picking up this new incarnation. My kids (now in their 40’s) could spot a Bob Graham from the bookshop doorway and pestered the bookshop owners for any new Graham books.
Max is told that his superhero mum is pregnant and goes along to see the scan. Questions are asked, answers given about the new addition to the family, one they know already has a mask. But what will she be like? Grandma knits her a cape, Grandpa makes her some soft leather boots, and Max gives her his most believed book. They are proud of her and her achievements, wondering when she will be able to fly. But Maxine questions her costume and the mask, wanting to be more like her peers at school, thinking about what she wants to be. She asks others about their ambitions and what they want to be and gets a variety of responses, she ask her family what they aimed for and hears that they all were happiest being a superhero. But Maxine is not so sure. She convinces her mother to buy her jeans and a t-shirt, her old clothes going to the fete, she finds the boy in the school dress up parade needing one more thing to make his costume complete. She gives him her mask.
And without the mask, she is Maxine, a person who can do exactly what she wants to do.
A loving look at a family, happily welcoming a new child into their midst, expecting her to follow in their footsteps, but being equally at one when she decides to take her own path.
And as with all of his books there are small nods to other themes lurking in the background: peer pressure, grandparents, expectations, career paths, while the illustrations beg for closer inspection, especially the Bruegel like playground at school with its myriad of individual children all doing something quite unique.
And that to me says it all: each child is their own person and should be encouraged to find their own voice in the world, like a person in a Bruegel painting: each is quite different, one from the other. Classroom ideas are available.
The Big Bad Wolf is always late. His many clocks just do not wake him in time to huff and puff the Three Little Pigs’ houses down, or trek after Little Red Riding Hood in the forest on the way to Grandma’s house. So can these fairy tales do without the Big Bad Wolf? The characters are so sick of him being late they try to do without him just to see if they can. But nothing they try seems to work. The dragon should have been able to huff and puff but breathed fire, burning down the houses instead. The characters come to a conclusion that they cannot live without him and try to track him down finding him at ease under a bridge, fishing. But will he come back to do his work in the fairy tales?
This very funny take on the place held in fairy tales by the Big Bad Wolf will have kids reading every word as they see the predicament that would unfold if it wasn’t for the Big Bad Wolf. He has a necessary part to play in the two tales and kids will love the difference this story brings to their knowledge of the fairy stories. The funny illustrations will enthral eager readers as they spot the various characters from fairy tales, and follow their journeys through the book. I loved the clocks on the first two pages and the efforts the characters go to to get the Big Bad Wolf at his post on time.
A great read aloud, this book will have kids engaged as they try to encourage the wolf to make better use of his time.
Themes Wolves, Fairy Tales, Time, Fairy Tale characters, Mixed up Fairy Tales, Read aloud.
Fran Knight
Maria's island by Victoria Hislop. Illus. by Gill Smith
Victoria Hislop brings us a dramatic and moving story set in the same world as her international seller The Island.
Maria’s Island is a story told to us by Maria Petrakis who is one of the children in the original version of The Island. This is the story of her life written for children, which I very much enjoyed reading as an adult. It was a great historical fiction book.
Maria (yiayia, which is grandmother in Greek) shares her family story with her granddaughter Rita, who comes to stays with her every summer on the island of Crete. Rita lives in England and visits her yiayia every year. One summer, Rita’s parents decide to leave her on her own with yiayia for two nights while they explore the other side of Crete. Rita is excited. Rita helps yiayia with some dusting and discovers a stone paperweight with pictures of houses and some photos. One of the photos Rita has never seen before and asks yiayia about it. It is a photo of yiayia’s sister and her parents in a Cretan village called Plaka. Rita did not know her grandmother had a sister and asked her about her and the village she came from.
The next day Yiayia Maria takes Rita on a bus trip to the village Plaka. From here we read an amazing story of Maria’s life and her family in Plaka and the island of Spinalonga, which could be seen across the harbour. Spinalonga was a former leper colony of Greece. We also learn about the ancient and misunderstood disease of leprosy.
Maria’s Island was a great book that explores the themes of stigma and the treatment of people who are different. This was a common practice in years gone by and still is a little today.
Maria’s story is remarkable and very realistic. I do know of a few islands in Greece that were used for people that society in the past wanted to hide them from the rest of the world. As much as this story was sad it was happy too.
Maria’s Island is definitely a book I would be recommending to readers and one I would use as a class novel.
Gill Smith's amazing full–colour illustrations added magic to this story. I felt like I was there as the story was being told. Crete is a beautiful island and Smith’s illustrations captured its beauty and its people. Can’t wait till I can go back there again.
Ten-year-old Ray Grey lives in the magical Weatherlands, high in the sky in the City of Celestia and where the Earth's weather is created. She is surrounded by Weatherlings with astounding weather power at their fingertips The Sun Weatherlings look after the great Sunflower in the sky that provides light and warmth for humans, and there are Snow, Rain and Wind Weatherlings who use their magic to give Earth its weather.. . . but she doesn't have any such magic! However she longs to be just like her friends, Snowden Everfreeze who is the cleverest Show Weatherling in the Sky Academy, Droplett Dewbells who sploshes any one mean to her friends and have adventures like her hero Earth explorer La Blaze Delight.
Then, after a forbidden trip to Earth through when a map in an old book, Ray's life changes forever. She and her friends discover a crystal which unleashes a power that hasn't been seen in the Weatherlands for centuries and she is transformed from Ray Grey into Rainbow Grey! With the help of her best friends and her exploding cloud cat Nim, now all Ray has to do is master those powers, dig deep to find her inner strength so her true colours can shine so she can save the world from a mysterious, powerful enemy who also wants the powers...
Even though this book feels thick with its 304 pages and thus a little daunting, young readers need not be concerned because it is packed with illustrations and other design techniques that break up the text and make it accessible and manageable. Like Monster Hunting for Beginners, the story centres on an ordinary everyday character who could be any one of the readers and her friends who are the sorts of friends everyone wants, giving it an appeal to those who enjoy adventure stories, fantasy and the traditional good versus evil theme. Humour softens the anxious, nail-biting cliff-hangers so it becomes a great read-aloud and with the sequel, Eye of the Storm, due in March 2022, this is a series that will be perfect for a birthday or Christmas gift.
Themes Rainbows, Magic, Storms, Weather.
Barbara Braxton
Luna loves dance by Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers
Luna loves to dance, she practises with her Dad, twirling around, while at Mum’s she loves to leap. When she dances, colours brighten and sound intensifies.
She practises with her class, repeating the words:
Double tap - spin Duck - dive Twirl - leap.
But when Lana comes to the last lines instead of twirling and leaping she trips and falls. She tries again, encouraged by all around her but the same thing happens and she does not pass the exam that morning.
She is distraught, she feels she cannot be a real dancer. But her parents tell her that to be a dancer she must practise. And without realising it, she does: she dances with her grandparents, at the theatre where her family goes to watch a musical, at the carnivals while at her cousin’s birthday party she is asked to dance and puts on a spectacular show, getting to the last line without falling. She is now a real dancer, and the world is full of colour and sounds once again.
Fiona Lumbers’ illustrations reflect the love and support of Luna’s whole family as each is drawn with humour and warm heartedness. They are bright and sunny, full of colour and interest, and children will delight picking out the vast array of detail. I loved the sunny endpapers showing the range of children at the dance school, and kids will particularly love the fold out page, reflecting the brightness of the carnival.
Coelho’s books hum with warmth and closeness, love and compassion. His previous books about Luna include, Luna loves art and Luna loves library day. Joseph Coelho lives in London and is a playwright, poet and performer.
