From Chow Chow to English Cocker Spaniel

Available October 2016

French Writer and Illustrator

Dorothee de Monfreid

A Day with Dogs

Gecko Press 2016  $34.99hb 64pp

ISBN 978 1 7765 7098 0

Themes: Dogs/ Everyday life/ Seasons/

Nine very unique and appealing dogs take us through a ‘typical’ day in their lives (as though they were human) from getting up in the morning/ showering and bathing/ eating/ going to school/ exploring colours, the alphabet, feelings… All the dogs are (well to me, a passionate dog lover) totally irresistible and it is possible to follow your favourite dog through his day.  Printed on thickened paper this is one of those magic books it is possible to put down in the midst of a small group of three, four and five-year-olds and without any adult intervention (until it is asked for or they want to share something with you) know they will be totally hooked for the next half hour at the very least.   

Preschool up/ Age 4 up 

Winner Joy Cowley Award 2015

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Joy H. Davidson, illustrated by Nikki Slade Robinson

Witch’s Cat Wanted Apply Within

Scholastic Books 2016  $19.00pb 32pp

ISBN 978 1 7754 3372 9

Themes: Cats/ Job interviews/ SPCA/ Witches

This young witch has everything (well almost) – the cauldron, the tall black hat, the spell book, the broomstick, the recipes and to say nothing of a spectacularly slim figure. There is just one thing missing – the perfect witch’s cat. In spite of the job interviews she holds not one seems right until the cauldron spits out the letters  - SPCA and there in a dark corner…. A perfect picture book that tells the story as much by the illustrations as by the words – and is great to read aloud as I have just found out.   

Preschool up/ Age 4 up  

(Note: The Joy Cowley Award is announced the year before the book is published)

A contemporary fairy tale from a Tunisian writer and a Belgian artist

Tunisian Writer and Belgian Illustrator

Laila Koubaa, illustrated by Mattias De Leeuw

Azizi and the Little Blue Bird

Book Island 2015 $17.99hb 28pp

ISBN 978 0 9941 0986 6

Themes: Fear/ Greed/ Justice
Azizi lives in the Land of the Crescent Moon, a place ruled by two despotic leaders who keep order by fear and theft and have a particularly nasty habit of locking up all the country’s beautiful and innocent blue birds. But change is coming and with the help of one farsighted bluebird Azizi is able to bring freedom back to the land. Read into it what you will but it is also a great story just to read aloud without looking for hidden meanings. What makes it outstanding are the illustrations. These have been created by a young (26 years old) Belgian artist whose work has been likened to that of Quentin Blake. The images are clean and white but with a feeling of great dry heat – and you can almost smell the jasmine as you turn the pages. Like nearly all books from this publisher, this is a special example of high quality book production.

Year 2 up/ Age 6 up

Picture Books 6 years and up

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Jacqui Simpson, illustrated by Philip Webb

Ethan the Incredible

Alcora Books 2014   $19.99pb  32pp

ISBN 978 0 4732 8129 8

Themes: Courage/ Dragons/ Princesses/ Stories in rhyme

Chaos reigns in the Kingdom of Forests by the Lollipop Lake because the whole place has been invaded by pesky dragons and the combined efforts of The Royal Family and the collection of Knights cannot get rid of them. Then into the mix rides Ethan on his motorised bright green scooter. He soon has the situation under control and later, at the king’s request, turns his skills to rescuing princesses in distress and any other task that appears.  He is a boy who shows people how to help themselves. It is only at the end of the book when the story has been enjoyed and Philip Webb’s perfect illustrations have been admired that it will be realised this is about the real Ethan –11 year old Ethan Wyman who died of a brain tumour just two years ago and who displayed in his short life all the characteristics shown by Sir Ethan in the story – courage, stickability and an understanding of other people’s feelings and needs.

Google Ethan’s name for more information.

Year 2 up/ Age 6 up

Picture Books - Preschool up

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock  Construction

Walker Books 2014  $29.99hb 32pp

ISBN 978 1 9220 7730 1

Themes: Building/ Onomatopoeic words

Out on the building site the workers in yellow overalls are

thonking and clonking and clapping/ binging and banging and bonging until they raise the roof, switch on the power and fill the rooms with shelves and tables and chairs. What have they built? Why a LIBRARY of course. This is a wonderfully exuberant book both in language and image not only to delight the children who listen and look and join in but those who share it with them.  And like the building that has been constructed, this is a good sturdy book which will stand up to the predicted heavy use it will receive.

Recommended. 

Preschool up/ Age 3 up

Picture Books (available in English and te reo)

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Melinda Szymanik, illustrated by Dominique Ford

The Song of Kauri

Scholastic 2014  $26.99hb   30pp

ISBN 978 1 7754 3228 9

Themes:  Beginnings and endings/ Growth/ Kauri/ New Zealand people

 

While the sun and the earth and the moon know exactly where they are going Kauri simply spreads his branches and welcomes all visitors to the forest – birds/ animals and people -

and just keeps on growing. This is one of those very satisfying books which give licence to read into it what you will and to come away with a totally satisfying experience. The whole beautiful production sings of the kauri – its gold, brown and yellow cover with its embossed koru, the carefully crafted words and the feeling that if you took a deep breath as you turn the pages you would be able to smell the leaf mould of the forest and the heady scent of the kauri gum. 

The book is also available in te reo : Te Waiata o Kauri  ISBN 978 1 7754 3211 1

Preschool up/ Age 4 up

Picture Books

To be published August 2014

Australian Writer and Illustrator

Bob Graham

Vanilla Ice Cream

Walker Books 2014  $27.95hb 38pp

ISBN 978 1 4063 5009 8

Themes: Changes/ New experiences/Freedom/ Human rights/ India/ Sparrows

From the dust of India, a small sparrow flies on to a cargo ship bound for Australia. From the docks it is a short flight to the Café Botanica, set amidst the skyscrapers of a big city where the sparrow meets Edie, a baby in a pushchair.  In a short second or two, the lives of Edie, the sparrow and a large brown dog that is the catalyst, change for ever. What is it about? Children will take what they understand and need from the story and will make up their own from Bob Graham’s, as always, enchanting water colour paintings. Adults will find a story that shows how a wild sparrow's journey from the other side of the world sets in motion a new experience for a very little girl plus something about basic human rights.

Preschool up/ Age 4 up.

Picture Books

French Illustrator

Ronan Badel

The Lazy Friend

Gecko Press  2014  $24.99hb  24pp

ISBN  978 1 9272 7141 4

Themes: Bravery/ Courage/ Determination/ Friendship/ Jungles/ Sloths/ Wordless picture books

The lazy friend of the title is Sloth who remains asleep through the whole drama and yet, he is the cause of it all! When the tree fellers come to the jungle, they cut down a tree on which Sloth is fast asleep and load him on to a truck. Snake, his friend, slithers into action and follows him onto the truck while the other friends wave a sad goodbye. The power of the illustrator, Ronan Badel, is such, that he manages in a few simple lines, to convey abject misery on the faces of Toucan and Frog as they sit on a tree stump, waving. Dramatic adventures follow and then Snake organises the escape and the pair make it back home with Sloth opening one slightly bemused eye on arrival. Stories within stories abound here and there will be more to discover on each opening of the book. Older students may well wonder at the skill of the artist who manages to tell such a story of courage and determination without actually writing one word.

Adults with imagination will have much delight in telling and sharing the saga in their own words.  

Preschool up/ Age 4 up.

Picture Books

French Writer and Illustrator

Dorothée de Monfreid

The Cake

Gecko 2014  $19.99pb 32pp

ISBN  978 1 8775 7945 5 hb

ISBN  978 1 9272 7144 5 pb

Themes: Cooperation/ Group behaviours/ Rebellion/ Responsibility 

Tiger wants to make a cake. A chocolate cake. The four other animals want to make one too but none of them likes chocolate. Tiger is bossy and mean and won’t listen to any other suggestions but rabbit, bear, dog and monkey have their own way in the end. Or do they? Children and adults may put a very different interpretation on the resolution of the story.

Bright colours, speech bubbles and full of situations that will be familiar to all children.    

Preschool up/ Age 4 up

(To be published next month - July 2014) 

Picture Books

NZ Writer & Illustrator (a brother and sister team)

Tania Norfolk, illustrated by Chris Norfolk     Grasshopper’s Week

Craig Potton Publishing 2014 $19.99pn 36 pp

ISBN 978 1 9272 1306 3

Themes: Days of the week/ New Zealand bush/ Repetitive stories

When Grasshopper asks his old friend Tree what day of the week it is, Tree replies not only with the right answer but with some additional information of his own (Wild Wind Day/ Wobble Day/ Song Day). This gives the artist (the writer’s brother) a chance to introduce some small but lively characters from the New Zealand bush and for them all to celebrate together by dancing around the tree. A whimsical story, which would be fun to share with a very young group, preferably in the out of doors.

 

 Preschool up/ Age 4 up

Picture Books

USA Writer & Canadian Illustrator

Lemony Snicket (pseud of Daniel Handler) and Jon Klassen

The Dark

Orchard Books 2014   $19.99pb    40pp

ISBN 978 1 4083 3003 6

Themes: Fear of the dark/ Overcoming fears

There are only two players in this story - a small boy called Laszlo and The Dark. There are no monsters, no creaky doors, no frightening images but Laszlo is afraid of The Dark that seems to lurk around even during the day in cupboards, behind the shower curtain and in the basement. Then one night, Laszlo, resolute in blue pj’s, goes down to the basement. Here The Dark alerts him to something in a squat, magenta coloured chest and – after that, although The Dark goes on living with Laszl, he is never frightened of it again. A brilliant story with equally brilliant illustrations and do Google both the writer and illustrator for more information.

It will, of course, depend on the reader aloud and the conversations it generates for its success with the children.

(In my opinion there is one page that is really not needed (you’ll recognise it when you come to it) where a whole long paragraph is given up to the reasons why we need the dark. It holds up all the drama of the story and you may choose to just leave it out.)

It is also a great story for the children who have never even thought of being afraid of the dark because it is simply a ‘tool’ for dealing with fear – any fear.

Preschool up/ Age 4 up

Picture Books

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Nikki Slade Robinson

Munkle Arvur and the Big Dry

Scholastic 2014  $19.99pb          32pp

ISBN 978 1 7754 3213 5

Themes:  Droughts/ Series/ Sharing of resources/ Water conservation  

In Tikaroo Town (population 350) something bad is happening to the town’s water supply. The taps are drizzling dust; the mayor has no water for his bath and Miss Pettigrew Moore, famed for her prize vege garden, is now growing limpulous leeks. But all is not lost! Munkle Arvur  (eco-hero of Munkle Arvur and the Bod) is in charge of the town water supply and realises at once the source of the problem. It is his old enemy - the Bod so he pulls on his hat, jumps on his bike and sets off to find him.

Nikki Slade Robinson, author and illustrator, must have had so much fun writing and creating the images for this story with its strong links to Dr Seuss. 

Recommended

Year 2 up/ Age 6 up

Picture Books

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Peter Millett, illustrated by Trish Bowles

The ANZAC puppy

Scholastic 2014  $19.99pb          32pp

ISBN 978 1 7754 3097 1

Animals in wartime/ Friendship/ Futility of war/ Loyalty/ Love stories/ Western Front/ World War One

Based on a true happening Peter Millett and Trish Bowles provide the perfect pairing of text and image to tell the story of Freda, a Harlequin Great Dane puppy who went to war. Freda’s original owner, a young girl called Lucy, could not afford to feed her and had put her up for adoption. Sam, a handsome and very young soldier, on his way to the trenches and horrors of World War One, took her in his rucksack to the War Zone. Years went by. Sam became a man, sick of the noise and mud and the death in the trenches. Freda became a loyal and helpful dog and, back in New Zealand, Lucy was becoming a young woman …

Two pages at the end of the book provide the real story of Freda who spent the war as a camp dog for the New Zealand Rifle Brigade based near Birmingham. 

A really good read-aloud for the days leading up to April 25^th  – And just in case you hadn’t caught up with it  - this year marks the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One.

 Year 2 up/ Age 6 up

Picture Book

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Raja Hidzir

Hugo and the Tortoise

Thumbnail Books   2014  $19.99pb    32pp       

ISBN 978 0 4732 6950 0

Themes:         Missing pets/ School projects/ Tortoises

When Hugo finds a friendly tortoise wandering around in the street and there is no sign of his owner, he takes him home. With the help of a sturdy video camera, he decides to involve him in his school project  -  A day in the life of a tortoise.  With a satisfying twist in the plot the reader finds it is the camera that is the catalyst for Hugo (not his real name!) and his original owner being reunited. 

This is an attractively set out book with illustrations I know children will really respond to and it radiates a warm sense of good humour.  

It is available from the publisher and from some bookshops:

Thumbnail Books

PO Box 22077

Khandallah

Wellington 6441

      

Year 1 up/ Age 5 up

Picture Book

 

UK Writer & Illustrator (born in London – Now living in Wellington)

Paul Beavis

Mrs. Mo’s Monster

Gecko Press   2014   $19.99pb         36pp

ISBN 978 1 9272 7101 8

Released in NZ in April 2014. Available for pre-order now.

Themes:         Good manners/ Patience/ Teamwork

I crunch, munch and chew because that’s what monsters do shouts the monster without even a hello as he barges his way into Mrs Mo’s house.  But the monster has met his match in Mrs Mo who very subtly begins to turn his behavior around without him even noticing it. The monster is endearingly ugly.  Mrs Mo, a model of old-fashioned good manners and patience. Together they become a team. This is Paul Beavis’s first picture book and he currently works as a website designer. I feel sure we will hear and see more of him.

The book will be launched here in Wellington in April.

Preschool-Year 2/ Age 3-6

Picture Books - pre school up

NZ Writer & Illustrator

Diana Noonan, illustrated by Robyn Belton

The Teddy Bear’s Promise

Craig Potton Publishing, 2013  $19.99pb  32pp

ISBN 978 1 8775 1779 2

Themes:         Continuity/ Family life/ Growing up/ Patience/ Teddy Bears/ Tradition

Like so many Teddy Bears the one in this story was loved dearly by his owner, a little boy called Max and they did everything together. ‘I will always love you,’ promised the Teddy Bear but Max grew up and the bear found himself in a dusty box stashed away somewhere in grandma’s house. This is basically a story of love within a family and how it endures through the generations.  The illustrations are as one would expect from Robyn Belton – poignant and endearing and Diana Noonan’s text gives many chances for families to talk through the ideas it presents. I did feel a little sorry for the bear though who just had to wait his turn to be loved again.
Preschool up/ Age 4 up

This book was a casualty of my recent move as I had it set aside to review when it was published, I think sometime in November. I have just unearthed it from the bottom of a box with an ormolu clock that was too heavy for me to lift – it took two quite strong people to move it for me and when I found the book I felt it was too charming a presentation not to include even if it has been out for a little while.

 

Picture Books

My policy is to keep reviews on this blog totally secular. However, just sometimes I come across a book that will be of particular interest to Sunday Schools and to some Christian Schools around the country so this is a one-off entry!

NZ Writer and USA Illustrator 

Lenie Nilsen, illustrated by Carolyn Mendoth

The Elephant and the Dove

Stonebridge Publications, USA 2013  $18.95hb unnumbered

ISBN 978 1 9404 7304 8 (hb)

Themes:  Elephants/ Floods/ Hope/ Journeys/ Noah’s Ark/ Survival

Through the eyes of two elephants and a small white dove, first time writer Lenie Nilsen has brought to life the journey of three creatures as they travel toward the Ark, meet with Noah and experience the drama of the Great Flood.  This is a story that will have many spin-offs in activities, creative writing, drama, crafts and oral story telling. The numerous images by American illustrator Carolyn Mendoth have been drawn with great attention to small details.  

For 4 to 8 year olds.

The book may be purchased through Amazon.com, Amazon.UK, and Kindle version from all sites including the new Amazon.com.au, Barnes and Noble or direct from the writer Lenie Nilsen, 14 Sunshine Avenue Paraparaumu.  It is also available through Wheelers Bookshop in Auckland.

Picture Books

NZ Writer & Illustrator

Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Patrick McDonald

A Perfect Chirpy Christmas

Random House 2013  $19.99pb 32pp

ISBN 978 1 7755 3495 2

Themes:  Northern Hemisphere Christmas/ Wishes

Flit is a small, oval shaped bird that longs for a White Christmas with all the trimmings. He sets off from his warm nest in the South to see life in the Northern Hemisphere. And what does he find?  A white Christmas was wonderful. But there was no Christmas more perfect than a Christmas with family and friends.  A gentle and subtly told story with meticulous images by a newcomer to this genre, Patrick McDonald, who was the winner of the 2013 Storylines Gavin Bishop Award for Picture Book Illustration.

Preschool up/ Age 4 up

I took this picture of Kyle and Patrick at the launch at the Children’s Bookshop at Kilbirnie last night.  Kyle told us that Flit’s wishes have a parallel in real life. Some time ago he and his wife wanted to experience the magic of a White Christmas so they left their warm home in Millers Flat and travelled to the Northern Hemisphere. However what met them was not sparkling snow – just cold and damp. This year they will celebrate in the (hopefully) broiling hot sun in Millers Flat, Central Otago.