Category Archives: Themes

Jun10

Me and My Cat by Michael Dahl and Zoe Persico

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mecatcoverMe and My Cat by Michael Dahl and Zoe Persico, picture e-book, 24 pages, expected publication by Capstone Young Readers August 1st 2016.

Cats like to have fun, and kids like to have fun, but sometimes that fun is not always the same! Learn how to have a wonderful friendship with your cat that makes both of you happy.

I liked this cute picture book which contains some great advice for young cat owners. It is a gentle story that explains that while it is great to have fun with your cat, there are some things that your cat would prefer not to do, such as swimming. There is a page at the end of the book that provides specific advice on how to treat your pet cat.

The illustrations are very cute, and appealed to my toddlers. I like it when her cat is sitting on her head while she’s in bed and when they are mountain climbing. The text does not overlay the pictures, and it is clear and easy to read. The language is simple, making it possible for younger readers to enjoy.

Me and My Cat is suitable for toddlers through to lower primary school children. It would make an excellent present for a young child just getting their first cat or kitten.

 

*I obtained this book as a digital copy from Netgalley. I did not receive any other remuneration, and this is an honest review composed entirely of my own opinions.

 

Jun5

My Dog Bigsy by Alison Lester

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mydogbigsycoverMy Dog Bigsy by Alison Lester, hardback picture book, published by Penguin Group in 2015.

Bigsy is an energetic dog that gets up early and runs about the farm visiting all of the animals and making a lot of noise.

My Dog Bigsy is one of my favourite Alison Lester books. It is a delightful and noisy romp about the farm. Bigsy disturbs the cockatoos, Squawk!, chases the sheep, Baa! and says hello to the cat, Flip! Flap! What a loud way to start the day! This is a great story to introduce and have fun with the sounds of different words. My toddlers particularly like it when Bigsy slurps his water and crunches his breakfast.

The illustrations on every page are simple, bold and cute. I like that the background grass and bedspread appear to have been made using some fabric. Bigsy is a pretty cute dog, though Patchy Pig and her piglets are my favourite with their mud splattered tummies.

My Dog Bigsy is suitable for toddlers, preschoolers and lower primary school children. It is best read out loud to make the most of all the sounds that can be heard on the farm.

 

* My Dog Bigsy is shortlisted for the 2016 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year in the Early Childhood Book category.

 

May31

Sleepy Pendoodle by Malachy Doyle and Julie Vivas

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pendoodlecoverSleepy Pendoodle by Malachy Doyle and illustrated by Julie Vivas, paperback picture book, published by Walker Books Ltd in 2002.

A little girl finds a lost and lonely pup one day and takes him home. She feeds him and pets him, but he doesn’t open his eyes, so she goes to to uncle for some advice.

I first came across Sleepy Pendoodle when my eldest child was a toddler. She fell in love with this story and asked for it at the library almost every visit, until I bought a copy so we could read it whenever she liked. It has remained a favourite, and is now well loved by all of my children. It is one of my favourites too, and I have, so far, not tired of reading it aloud.

The story is funny and engaging, with lyrical text, perfect for reading out loud. My kids love the rhymes she says trying to get the pup to open his eyes! I love how she gets it mixed up, it always makes me smile. I think my favourite bit is when she calls the pup “sloppy popwaddle”.

And the illustrations are lovely; bright, vivacious and unforgettable. The pup is so cute and I love the girl’s hair and outfit. My second daughter often asked for ‘Pendoodle hair’ for preschool!

Sleepy Pendoodle is a gorgeous book that should be in every child’s home library. It is wonderful to share with toddlers, preschoolers and primary school children. My fourth grader still gets her dose of Sleepy Pendoodle reading to her younger siblings!

May30

My Dead Bunny by Sigi Cohen and James Foley

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deadbunnycoverMy Dead Bunny by Sigi Cohen and illustrated by James Foley, hardback picture book, published by Walker Books Australia Pty Ltd in 2015.

Brad the Bunny might be dead, but he doesn’t want to leave! A dark zombie picture book, what’s not to love!?

Fun rhyming text complements the wonderful illustrations in My Dead Bunny. The pictures are mostly black and white with green and pink highlights. This works perfectly for the type of story it is. The little worm that pokes out of Brad’s head is orange and so smiley! I liked this touch. In fact, I just really liked Brad. He is adorably freaky, with scary pink eyes pointing off in different directions… just, I don’t want him to wander into my bedroom at night! My favourite picture is where Brad meets his death, it’s so detailed.

The story itself made me laugh. I love the ending. It is the perfect solution! A couple of the rhymes aren’t quite rhymes, but the story still flows. The text is clear and easy to read.

I really enjoy zombie and monster stories and movies, and that has rubbed off on my kids. They have liked films like ‘Frankenweenie’, ‘Paranorman’, and ‘Hotel Transylvania’. So I went ahead and read My Dead Bunny to my preschooler and first grader. They both loved it. My first grader read it again to herself straight away.

Suitable for primary school children, just keep in mind that some kids may be frightened by the zombie bunny. My Dead Bunny is fantastic to share aloud. Try it by torchlight on a dark and stormy night!

 

* My Dead Bunny is shortlisted for the 2016 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year in the Picture Book category.

 

May27

Tovi the Penguin Goes to the Seaside by Janina Rossiter

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Tovi the Penguin - goes to the sea side Cover.inddTovi the Penguin Goes to the Seaside by Janina Rossiter, picture e-book, published in 2016.

Tovi and his two friends have gone to the beach. They set up camp, build sandcastles and swim, but something unexpected happens while they take a nap!

My kids love penguins of all shapes and sizes. They will spend hours watching them at the zoo, and in documentaries, as well as reading about them in both fiction and non-fiction books. So Tovi the Penguin definitely took their fancy!

Tovi the Penguin Goes to the Seaside is a cute story about friendship and fun at the beach. The language is easy to read, and the text is clear. There are little pieces of speech associated with each penguin, aside from the main narration, which we liked.  The story is nice, and I enjoyed reading it aloud to my toddlers.

Bright, simple illustrations adorn every page. Can you spot the ladybird in each picture? I like the sandcastle and the sea creatures that the penguins see when they are snorkelling.

Tovi the Penguin Goes to the Seaside is suitable for toddlers, preschoolers and lower primary school students. It is part of a whole series of Tovi the Penguin stories. We hope to read more about Tovi soon.

 

May26

Orange Animals on the Planet by Baby Professor

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orange animalscoverOrange Animals on the Planet by Baby Professor, children’s non-fiction e-book, published by Speedy Publishing in 2015.

Learn about orange animals all around the globe in this interesting and factual book for children. How many did you already know?

Orange Animals on the Planet is part of the Colorful Animals on the Planet series by Baby Professor. Each book is a discovery of animals of one particular colour.

Each page features a new orange animal with a lovely photograph plus some facts about that animal. A couple of the photos are not as sharp as I expected, but they are still good photos of these wonderfully orange creatures. There are photos on the front cover of a red panda and a goldfish, neither of which are actually included in the book, which I found a little odd. I love red pandas too, so I was a tad disappointed. However, I did learn about some new orange animals, such as the Red River Hog. And I never knew that flamingos came in an orange variety too!

Each fact was a good length for children to absorb. When describing the size of these creatures, most of the facts included metric measurements, and then the Baboon Spider was described in inches. I prefer metric as I am Australian, but either way, it is just best to be consistent throughout.

This is quite a good book for younger children. It is most suited to lower and middle primary school children to read themselves. Younger children can also enjoy this one read to them. I enjoyed Orange Animals on the Planet, and will be looking out for some others in the series.

May25

Deathcat Sally by P.S. Brooks

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Layout 1Deathcat Sally by P.S. Brooks, 387 pages, published by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie in 2015.

After hitting a cat in the road, Sally is also struck down and seriously injured. Still recovering from her injuries several weeks later, her life takes a bizarre turn when the cat she hit appears as an ethereal presence sprouting from her left shoulder. And he talks, a lot. Now Sally can hear other animals too, maybe it’s the effects of the accident and the medication, but it seems terribly real. Things get even worse when she keeps falling asleep straight into a desolate and ruined land where beasts lurk trying to kill her.

This fantasy horror tale was intriguing and difficult to put down. I’ve never read a book where an animal spirit was spliced to a human before, so I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but this was more than I could have hoped for. Interesting, engaging, and it discussed issues such as cruelty to animals and humanity’s misuse of the environment. It was quite dark overall. Tortured animals, trapped souls, anger and hate. It gave me a lot to think about. I’m quite fond of animals, and I would never intentionally hurt one, but this book made me wonder what more I can do to help the animals. All animals are important to the earth, we should remember that more often and make sure to look after the ones we have left.

The pace of the story was quite quick, and I liked the writing style. I also liked the action scenes, especially the one on the platform over the fire pit and in the coliseum. The latter was rather gruesome, definitely fodder for nightmares!  The author used good descriptive language to really pull the reader into No Man’s Land. Picturing such desolation and destruction, and the pain and anger of its inhabitants was terribly depressing. Yet I had to read on because I was so sure Sally and Zachary would find a way to help all of those souls trapped there.

There were so many animal characters I found myself a little confused as to which was which. I had to re-read bits with the animals to try and get them straight, but still didn’t quite manage it. The main characters were very well written and developed. I got to know Sally and Zachary quite well. Zachary was by far my favourite character. He was not impressed to find himself attached to Sally, and he makes sure she knows it. He was loud, rude, and often lewd, yet he had tender moments too. He made me laugh a lot. His total obsession with Malibu the leopard, despite her rebuffs, highlighted his persistence and self-confidence. Such a wonderful character; I will remember him for a long time.

There are a some black and white illustrations scattered through the book, all of which were very good. The images were done by the author, who is very talented. I love his style of illustration.

Due to some of the grisly scenes and themes, Deathcat Sally is more suited to mature readers in high school. It is a great book for adults too.

 

*I received this book as a digital copy from the author, who asked me for an honest review of this book. I did not receive any other remuneration, and the review is composed entirely of my own opinions.

May25

The Flood at the Zoo by Mr. Baker-Hall

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The_Flood_At_The_Zoo_Cover_for_KindleThe Flood at the Zoo by Mr. Baker-Hall and illustrated by Carlos Brito, picture e-book, published by Baker-Hall Group Limited in 2016.

A flood has hit the zoo and the animals must find a way to beat the rising waters. What will happen to them?

I’m not a fan of this book, though I liked it better than Dinner at the Zoo. The text is mostly rhyming with some tongue twister type material. It all felt forced, like it was trying too hard to be silly and funny, but didn’t make it. I really disliked the part with the seahorse, it was annoying. There was some effort made to engage the reader, asking questions that would get the kids involved.  I did like the ending, it was the best bit of the story.

The picture of the ape falling to the ground was funny, though the style of illustration generally didn’t suit me.

The Flood at the Zoo is suitable for lower primary school students. There are also colouring books available in this series.

 

*I received this book as a digital copy from the author, who asked me for an honest review of this book. I did not receive any other remuneration, and the review is composed entirely of my own opinions.

May25

Dinner at the Zoo by Mr. Baker-Hall

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dinneratthezoocoverDinner at the Zoo by Mr. Baker-Hall and illustrated by Carlos Brito, picture e-book, published by Baker-Hall Group Limited in 2016.

Join the zoo animals as they enjoy their dinner. See what the bear, monkeys and big cats are eating tonight.

Overall I didn’t really like this book. It was more a string of related rhymes than a story, and some of it didn’t even make sense. A few of the rhymes were really terrible. I hated the one about the tick and Rick the chick. It was forced, and I don’t really think of ticks and chicks as zoo animals anyway. And why is there a star-nosed mole at the zoo? I also disliked the rhyme with the wolf and rhino. It was nonsense, but not in the good silly and funny way. Not all of the rhymes were bad though, I quite liked the one about the sloth and her milkshake, as well as the cheetahs eating fajitas. If more of them had been like that, the book would have been much more fun!

The illustrations are colourful and bright, but the style wasn’t really for me. I did like the cheetahs and the spotted cats.

Dinner at the Zoo is suitable for lower primary school children. There is a second book in this series, Flood at the Zoo, I will give it a go and see what it’s like. There are also a couple of colouring books availbale.

 

*I received this book as a digital copy from the author, who asked me for an honest review of this book. I did not receive any other remuneration, and the review is composed entirely of my own opinions.

 

May12

Kitty Conquers the Big Bully by KayeC Jones

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Kitty'scoverKitty Conquers the Big Bully by KayeC Jones, picture e-book, 32 pages, published in 2016.

Kitty is having fun playing on her own as a knight when a big bully called Ronnie comes along. He tells her girls can’t be knights and pushes her in the mud. Kitty has an excellent way of overcoming the bully. She picks herself up and imagines all the things that she can become if she wants to, no matter if other people say negative things to her.

This is a delightful and unique book. It screams ‘girl power’ but the main message is good for both girls and boys. Believe in yourself and don’t let the bullies win! Kitty doesn’t retaliate with violence, nor does she stoop to the same level as Ronnie. She is better than that, and stronger. She conquers him in the best way possible, by ignoring his rude and ignorant comments and being herself and knowing that she can achieve whatever she wants.

The story was mostly rhyming, and was good to read aloud, though there were a few words that I had to explain to the kids. I’m not actually sure what a ‘flim-flam’ is myself, or why ladies would need saving from them! The text itself was large, clear and easy to read. Each letter ‘i’ was capped with a little heart where the dot goes. My six year old thought that was pretty neat!

Every page has clear, bright illustrations. I liked that Kitty’s friends, the teddy and bunny, accompany her through each of her ideas of what she could do. Kitty has pretty awesome hair, I especially like it when she is composing music. Ronnie is suitably scary and sour looking!

Kitty Conquers the Big Bully is suitable for preschool and primary school children.

 

*I received this book as a digital copy from the author, who asked me for an honest review of this book. I did not receive any other remuneration, and the review is composed entirely of my own opinions.