Tag Archives: animals

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.

 

May2

Waneta Walrus and her Blue Tutu by Jean Ingellis

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wanetacoverWaneta Walrus and her Blue Tutu by Jean Ingellis, e-book, 27 pages, published by Jean and Vic Publishing in 2015.

Waneta is a Walrus with only one tusk. She is very self conscious about this, and the other walruses tease her. When a small walrus pup finds himself in trouble with a shark in the water, Waneta doesn’t hesitate to go to his aid. Can she beat the shark and save the pup?

The text was bold and clear, and the story was easy to follow. Overall I liked the book. The story itself was told through rhyming language, which  is great to read aloud. Waneta was very brave to take on a shark. I’ve never really thought of walruses as being graceful creatures, so the idea of them moving like a ballerina was a little funny too.

Each page had a simple and bold illustration, which reminded me of making drawings with the paint program on my computer when I was a child. Made me a bit nostalgic actually. These simple illustrations are good for young children. I liked the picture of the walruses sleeping on the beach best.

While the story states that teasing others is wrong, this still had a ring of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to it. The other walruses only liked Waneta after she did something that helped them. It’s good that they stopped bullying her, but it shouldn’t take an act of bravery for the others to be nice to her. I don’t want my kids to learn that they have to do something extraordinary or prove themselves to have others treat them nicely.

We also learn that Waneta has two goals that she is trying to achieve, and it’s great to have goals in life. However, one of her goals is to have two tusks. I didn’t like this goal as it suggested that Waneta wasn’t fine just the way she was. This idea of poor body image was compounded by her embarrassment of the missing tusk, where she covered the gap with her flipper to prevent others seeing it. Also, having a missing tusk is something that Waneta can’t change, so she was always going to fail in her goal. It would have been better to make the goal something that was actually achievable, even if in the end she didn’t manage to do it.

Waneta Walrus and her Blue Tutu is most suitable for lower primary school children. Older reluctant readers may also find this a good read. There are more books coming in this series soon.

 

*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.

Apr29

Big Fat Cows by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

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bigfatcowscoverBig Fat Cows by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, board book, published by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd in 2014.

A hardy board book great for little hands, Big Fat Cows has been a hit with my toddlers (and their sisters, and their dad, and me…). It is funny and silly and reminds me of Where is the Green Sheep?, one of our favourites. The story is ridiculous in the best possible way, and it rhymes, sounding great read aloud. The illustrations are humourous, with plenty to look at and discover without being too overwhelming for the littlies. My kids have enjoyed seeing what each cow is doing, and they very much like the last page! I like the mixed-up cow and the milk carton shaped space ship myself.

Big Fat Cows is most suitable for toddlers and preschoolers, though it really has a much wider appeal. I highly recommend this book to share with your youngsters!

Mar19

Meeting of the Mustangs by Cathy Kennedy

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mustangscoverMeeting of the Mustangs by Cathy Kennedy, e-book novella, published in 2015.

A black colt is born into a band of wild Mustangs. At a young age he learns that life is not easy, and danger lurks around every corner. When he is accidentally separated from his family, he journeys on alone, and lonely in the hope that he will find them again. He encounters dangers, both in nature and at the hand of man, as he grows into a stunning and spirited stallion.

This was a fairly short and easy read. It was different in that it was primarily about the horse and his experiences, interaction with people was just collateral. The first part of the story was a bit slow, but it became more interesting once the horse came into contact with people. He wasn’t with any of the people long enough to get to know the characters very well though. The horse was very determined and mistrustful of people, understandably, he really should have been left in the wild. It made me feel angry that someone would capture a wild horse and then force him into captivity for no reason other than financial gain.

The plot was both realistic and logical. However, the story felt truncated to me, ending abruptly and too soon. I would have liked a little more about the last man that the horse finds, and how their relationship would go on to develop. All of the time spent with people felt too short, though it was probably necessary to fit with the nature of the story and the horse.

Perfect for horse lovers, Meeting of the Mustangs is suitable for middle primary school students and up.

 

*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.