Tag Archives: children’s book

Jul24

What Makes a Baby by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth

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IMG_1168What Makes a Baby by Cory Silverberg and illustrated by Fiona Smyth, non-fiction hardback, published by Seven Stories Press in 2012.

This book is bright, colourful and simple, and suitable for young children who are first becoming curious about where babies come from. It introduces sperm and eggs, and the concept that both are required to create a baby, but it is quite vague about how this actually happens. In fact the whole book is rather vague. It is one of the most abstract non-fiction books I have ever read. However, while it doesn’t present detailed information, it does provide prompts to begin the discussion of this issue in as much detail as a parent thinks is appropriate for their particular child at the time. It also provides opportunities for kids to ask questions. This book could be used to start a discussion that many parents find difficult to conquer.

I read this with my preschooler and second grader. They both thought the illustrations were a bit odd, especially the people that were coloured with blue or green or purple skin. My preschooler said a few times that people are not that colour! They were also amused that the sperm and egg had been given faces and that they perform a special dance together to form a baby. I think this book was actually too abstract for them, and they were quite distracted by the less than life-like pictures. They asked a few questions, but it didn’t develop into a deep conversation about how babies are formed, instead, it left them with a very superficial view of how life develops. We used this book as a first stepping stone onto more detailed texts.

Jul6

King Pig by Nick Bland

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IMG_0509King Pig by Nick Bland, hardback picture book, published by Scholastic Australia in 2013.

King Pig has a kingdom full of sheep that don’t seem to like him, and he doesn’t understand why. He desperately wants them to adore him, but nothing seems to work, and this is the one thing that he can’t command them to do. One night he has an idea, and he wakes up all the sheep to make him some new fancy clothes, but it doesn’t impress the sheep. What can he do to remedy the situation?

In this book we see that being powerful doesn’t automatically make one likable. It is much better to be nice and considerate of others, and being bossy all the time only leads to resentment and discontent. This is a hard lesson for King Pig to learn, and a good message for our children. My kids enjoyed this book, but not quite as much as the other Nick Bland books we have. It wasn’t as funny, though we still liked the story and the illustrations are lovely. I liked the way that the sheep had their wool dyed and removed, while my kids liked it when King Pig used one of the sheep strapped to a wooden handle to clean his castle. This is a good book for preschoolers and kids in lower primary school.

 

* King Pig was an honours book for the 2014 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year in the Picture Book category.

 

Jul3

Don’t Wake the Troll by Ben Kitchin and Ben Redlich

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IMG_0859Don’t Wake the Troll by Ben Kitchin and illustrated by Ben Redlich, paperback picture book, published by Scholastic Australia in 2013.

A group of dwarves make a plan to creep deep into the mountain to steal back their treasure from a giant troll. They wait until the troll is sleeping and down the tunnel they go, they have to be very careful not to wake up the troll. As they tip-toe along, there comes a noise, kerlunk, kerlunk. It is their shields banging into their armour, so they ditch the shields, the noise might wake the troll, and on they sneak. But then there is another noise….

A wonderful and amusing adventure with treasure and a big smelly troll. The story is clever and exciting. I just love the illustrations too! There are some very funny pictures that made both my preschooler and second grader laugh out loud. The dwarves look so funny, especially as they start to leave their armour and weapons behind. The troll is very well drawn, covered in hair with great dirty nails, a big warty nose, and flies surrounding his stench, he is funny, yet a little scary at the same time. My kids really got into this book. My preschooler wanted to make all the sounds as the dwarves move down into the troll’s lair. Don’t Wake the Troll also has a very fitting ending. This is a book to be read and read again, especially with preschoolers and children in lower primary school.

 

Jul3

Horrible Histories: Angry Aztecs by Terry Deary and Martin Brown

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IMG_0855Horrible Histories: Angry Aztecs by Terry Deary and illustrated by Martin Brown, paperback non-fiction novel, 138 pages, first published by Scholastic Ltd. in 1997, this edition published in 2008.

This is a book that tackles the perception of history being boring, and re-invigorates it in a format perfect for children thirsty for knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed this informative look at the Aztecs, how they lived and how they died, including all the nasty bits, such as human sacrifices, violent ball games and dogs for dinner. There was information on the Aztecs’ neighbours, enemies and the Spanish Conquistadors, their diets, priests and marriages.

Angry Aztecs is full of historical facts that were easy to understand, and presented alongside amusing black and white drawings. As well as allowing easier visualisation of parts of the Aztecs’ history, the illustrations included some comics to help elucidate various points being made in the text. There were also engaging quizzes that assisted in consolidating the knowledge acquired throughout the book

A very definitely not boring insight into the peoples of this interesting empire of the Americas, this is a good read for middle and upper primary school children, especially those interested in history or other cultures. It is on my second-grader’s ‘to read’ list, along with many other titles from his fantastic series. Everyone needs some Horrible Histories in their lives!

Jul2

Little Lost Unicorn by Lorna Hussey

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IMG_0832Little Lost Unicorn by Lorna Hussey, hardback picture book, published by Hinkler Books in 2009.

Little Unicorn goes exploring in the forest and gets lost. Some little forest animals befriend him and they have a lovely time playing together until baby rabbit falls into the stream. Little Unicorn must be brave to help baby rabbit.

This is a magical story of friendship and courage with beautiful illustrations on embossed pages. There are unicorns hiding on every page, which my preschooler loved! She spent a lot of time poring over the pages looking for them, and running her hands over the embossing. She is a big fan of unicorns and this is the best unicorn story book we have read so far. It was very engaging for my preschooler, and I enjoyed her enthusiasm for the book. Perfect for every little unicorn lover, this is a great book for sharing with your preschooler, or for lower primary school students.  Personally, I liked this story, and I was very impressed with the lovely illustrations, and ingenuity of the hidden unicorns.

Jul2

Bumface by Morris Gleitzman

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IMG_0856Bumface by Morris Gleitzman, paperback novel, 182 pages, published by Penguin Books in 1998.

Angus is only eleven, but after school he has to look after his brother, Leo, who is five and his baby sister, Imogen. Everyday he picks them up from school and daycare, he gives them dinner, bathes them, puts them to bed, and reads them a story. Every day. His mum is an actress in a famous serial, she never gets in before late, and is happy leaving the parenting to Angus. Each of the kids have a different father, all three of which are in show business and are unreliable, and not really dad material. So Angus has had to grow up fast, but all he really wants to do is act as Bumface the Pirate in the school play.

Angus becomes concerned that his mum might have another baby with number 4. Realising that that would mean another baby for him to look after, Angus sets out to find a way of preventing another pregnancy. While looking for a solution, he meets Rindi, a girl who is only his age, but she is soon to be shipped off to India to marry a man twice her age in an arranged marriage. Angus and Rindi become firm friends, and try to help each other.

Morris Gleitzman is one of my favourite authours from my childhood, and this book doesn’t disappoint. Bumface is well written, entertaining, and deals with some serious issues with humour and compassion. A story about friendship, responsibility and letting kids be kids. Both Angus and Rindi have been asked to act as adults years in advance of the norm in Australia, and this binds them in a special friendship. Rindi comes from a loving  family who think they are doing the right thing by their daughter, while Angus is taken for granted and neglected by his parents. Both of their situations are sad and in a perfect world wouldn’t happen. They should just get to be kids with kid concerns, not kids in such adult predicaments.

Bumface is better for more mature children in middle to upper primary school because the story does spend a lot of time dealing with contraceptives and the prevention of pregnancy. Before reading this book, I think it would be best that children know the facts of life and what contraceptives are for. There is also the theme of children brides. These young brides are expected to have sexual intercourse with their much older husbands, and to provide them with babies at a young age. For most Australian children, it is unthinkable to be married before they have even started high school, and this may require some discussion with an adult. For these reasons I will be holding off on letting my second grader read this book for a little while.

 

Jun30

Horrible Histories: Terrible Trenches by Terry Deary and Martin Brown

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IMG_0831Horrible Histories: Terrible Trenches by Terry Deary and illustrated by Martin Brown, paperback non-fiction, 93 pages, this edition published by Scholastic Australia in 2014.

This book is packed full of facts about living through the First World War, presented in an interesting and engaging fashion. The illustrations are illuminating, and often amusing, while educating young minds as to the life soldiers faced in the trenches. The book was divided into two sections, covering both sides of the war. The first section is about the British soldiers, and the second about the German soldiers. It was nice to have both sides presented without the bias often seen in other history texts.

This was a very appealing non-fiction title suitable for primary age school children. History can often be presented in a bland and boring way to children, but this Horrible Histories book is certainly neither of those. Lots of black and white illustrations and comic scenes entertain and educate, as well as lightening the subject matter, and dispersing the text, making it easier for younger kids to read.

I enjoyed reading this book and learning from it. Reading about the different weapons, the uniforms, food and slang used in the trenches was very interesting and enlightening. My second-grader is also enjoying this book. We will definitely be looking for more Horrible Histories titles to read soon!

Jun29

The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith

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IMG_0794The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith and illustrated by Katz Cowley, boardbook (and CD), first published in the boardbook format by Scholastic New Zealand Limited in 2013.

This is an hilarious tale of a very interesting donkey. He only has three legs, one eye and he likes country music! And as the story progresses, a new quirk is added to the previous ones, making this a donkey like no other.

The illustrations are just as humorous as the story, and a great asset to the book. The donkey really is a very cheeky fellow, and is drawn as such. The Wonky Donkey is a cumulative story, repeating all of the previous attributes before adding the new one. This repetition is fantastic for preschoolers and lower primary school children alike. Older children and adults will also laugh out loud while reading this book! Both my preschooler and my second grader love it, they think it is side-splittingly funny. My preschooler loves to make the Hee Haw sound when we see the donkey on each page. Both of my kids really like the illustration of the donkey releasing such foul gas that it knocks out a bird (he is a stinky-winky as well as a wonky donkey!) Read it aloud, or follow along with the CD, for even greater enjoyment of this very funny story.

 

 

Jun29

Just Tricking by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

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IMG_0830Just Tricking by Andy Griffiths and illustrated by Terry Denton, paperback, 137 pages, first published by Reed Books Australia in 1997, this edition published by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd in 1999 (printed in 2004).

A collection of ten short stories by the wildly popular pair, Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, this book is aimed at making kids laugh. It is no literary masterpiece, but boy did it make my second grader cry with mirth! And she has read it and re-read it, with no less enjoyment each time. We have had parts of this book related to us, through giggles and guffaws, so finally I decided I needed to read this book for myself.

The book is set out like an easy novel, with each chapter containing a separate story about mischief and jokester behaviour. Some of the stories were funny, but a few were just gross, like the slug milkshake. Just Tricking is great for kids who want some comedy in their reading adventures, and especially for those with a penchant for practical jokes. The short story format is good for kids just starting to read novels too. They can have the satisfaction of reading a complete story without it being too overwhelming, while working their way through a novel length book.

On every page, surrounding the text, were numerous pencil drawings, diagrams, advice and short anecdotes. I found these to be quite a distraction, and somewhat annoying, rather than funny, as I assume they were meant to be. My second grader said she mostly ignored the illustrations, just looking at them separate to reading the story. If I had left them to the end of each story, I too would have found them less irritating, though still not all that amusing. I think the book would have been more enjoyable with less illustrations and less additional text in the margins.

There were also a couple of times that I thought the content was a tad inappropriate for my seven year old, but these moments passed over her head with little thought put towards them. There were also a few references to things, such as to the game Mortal Kombat, that she didn’t understand, but these did not diminish her experience of this book. My husband says I’m just being prudish! Perhaps he’s right, but I still think this book would be better for slightly older kids, in middle to upper primary school. My daughter has borrowed some of the other books in this series to read, such as Just Shocking and Just Disgusting, enjoying them with equal enthusiasm. These don’t appeal to me much as an adult, but would I like them if I were a child in primary school? Yes, probably, just as much as my daughter has enjoyed them. She loves Just Tricking, and I can see that it will be read many more times, because this book is perfect for reading for fun.

 

 

Jun28

Elmer and the Rainbow by David McKee

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IMG_0759Elmer and the Rainbow by David McKee, paperback picture book, first published by Andersen Press Ltd. in 2007, this edition published by Andersen Press Ltd. in 2009.

Elmer is a rainbow patchwork elephant living in the jungle with his elephant friends. They are sheltering in a cave during a storm, and Elmer is excited about the possibility of a rainbow emerging once the rain stops. However, when the rain is over, instead of the beautifully coloured rainbow that Elmer imagines, there is a pale arch across the sky. Elmer thinks he could share his own colours with the rainbow. The birds tell him that to restore the colours, he must find the end of the rainbow, so with help from the other animals in the jungle, Elmer goes searching.

This is a nice story about helping and sharing, with the lovable and well known character, Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. My kids are quite fond of Elmer, and this book was no exception. The story is simple, and the text is in a biggish, black, basic typeset, which is easy to read. The illustrations are interesting and unique. I particularly like the expressions on the animals’ faces throughout the story. We enjoyed reading this story together, and my second grader has read it several times on her own since we brought it home. My preschooler likes it when Elmer shares his colours with the rainbow, along with the picture of the rainbow as it would be if it had become patchwork like Elmer. Elmer and the Rainbow is most suitable for lower primary school and preschool children.