Goodbye Timmy Failure?

USA Writer & Illustrator Stephan Pastis Timmy Failure- the Book You’re Not Supposed to Have Walker Books 2016  $19.99hb 274pp ISBN 978 1 4063 6976 2                                Themes: Detective work/ Funny stories/ Series  

Although Timmy was meant to be focusing on his school work (a very hard ask for him) he was forced to work from his family garden shed and continue with his detective memoirs amongst the compost and seedlings. Then the memoirs are stolen. The plot? Hard to say really but I am convinced this is the sort of OTT humour that children of around 8 to 10 (and of course older adults like me) really enjoy. After four other Timmy Failure books, the first of which was listed as one of the 100 Children’s Modern Classics by the Sunday Star Times, it reads as though this may be the last in the series of five books but children will happily go back to the beginning again…  

Year 4 up/ Age 8 up  

Fantasy, Conservation and a Ship-in-a-Bottle

Available Now – Launched last Saturday at the Raglan Readers and
Writers’ Festival 2015 

Shortlisted for the 2013 Kobo/NZ Authors E Publishing Prize

 

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Sarah Johnson, illustrated by Deborah Hinde

The Bold Ship Phenomenal

Flat Bed Press PO Box 131 Raglan 3265 2015 $19.99pb 240pp

(Also available from Sarah Johnson at www.sarahjohnson.co.nz or on-line retailers)

ISBN 978 0 4733 1314 2

Themes: Conservation/ Fantasy/ Pigs/ Pirates

Life in Malachi’s house has been dull, dull, dull since his mother died and somehow school (especially science) doesn’t seem much better. Then, down on the seashore Malachi finds a bottle. A bottle with a fully rigged ship inside it smelling of salt and tar and – adventure.  Malachi’s mother had been the sort of person who could ‘find adventure in a supermarket carpark’ but even she would have been surprised at what was about to happen to her son when he stowed away in the back of a truck heading for the Waipoua Forest.  On board the truck is the bottle with the ship on which much activity is taking place as it prepares to sail with its load of cargo and in a corner of the truck tray sits a very clean looking, slightly grumpy pig with compelling and sad eyes. The story sparkles with unexpected events and happenings and yet Malachi remains a typical if rather lonely 11-year-old in whom it is easy to believe. A great read-aloud to boys and girls that could easily be finished in two sessions although you might feel yourself compelled to read it at a sitting as I did.

Year 4 up/ Age 8 up

 

Sarah with a copy of her new book (Photographer not sourced)

Fiction Age 8 up

Winner of the Tom Fitzgibbon Award 

for a previously unpublished writer 2014

NZ Writer and illustrator
Suzanne Main with decorations by Fraser Williamson

How I Alienated My Grandma

Scholastic 2015   $17.00pb  274pp

ISBN 978 1 7754 3306 4

Themes: Extraterrestrial Beings/ Family stories/ First Person Narratives/ Funny stories/ Science fiction stories

Thanks to Suzanne Main for the image

Michael is prone to unfortunate happenings so when at 4.23 in the afternoon, shortly after he arrives home from school, he turns his grandma into an alien, he is not all that surprised. What follows though, and at a tremendous pace, is a great surprise to everyone as Grandma helps mastermind the counter attack to the invasion of earth by Extraterrestrials. Michael and his close friend Elvis are used to keep the plot alive and the story going in a very convincing way.   Winner of the Tom Fitzgibbon Award 2014 this will be greatly enjoyed by readers who like easily read non-stop action, a slightly OTT plot and many laughs.

The book was launched a few days again in Auckland at the Storylines Day by Penny Scown from Scholastic. It will have its Wellington launch by Fleur Beale at the Children’s Bookshop in Kilbirnie on Saturday April 18^th at 4pm.  

Year 4 up/ Age 8 up

Fiction - Readers 8 and up

Available 05/02/2015

USA Writers and Illustrator

James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Laura Park

I Totally Funniest

I Funny series Book Three

Young Arrow 2015  $18.99pb 320pp

ISBN 978 0 0995 9629 5

Themes: Children with disabilities/ Contests/ Wheelchairs

Jamie Grimm lost the use of his toes, his feet and his legs in a car accident which killed the rest of his family and he gets about in a wheelchair. This however, is not going to stop him entering the contest to find The Planet’s Funniest Kid Comic. Like all books by James Patterson the story, plot and characters zip along at a great and irresistible rate with a few poignant comments on the human race in general thrown in. It is easy to read and enhanced by the comic-like illustrations by Laura Park.  

Great for not-so-enthusiastic readers.

Year 4 up/ Age 8 up

Fiction 8 years and up

Dutch Writer and French Illustrator

Toon Tellegen, illustrated by Marc Boutavant

The Day No One Was Angry

Gecko Press 2014 $27.99pb 82pp

ISBN 978 1 9272 7160 5

Themes:  Anger/ Being grumpy/ Short stories

There are twelve short stories here and all may be appreciated by different levels of understanding.  It may be read as simple stories of animals trying to deal with their anger from a mouse to a rhinoceros or by much older people who will think ‘why that’s just how I feel sometimes’. The important thing about the book is not to try to read too much into it – just enjoy it and its magnificent illustrations for what it is – a gentle but subtle look at the nature of human emotions.  

Don’t let this get lost in the picture book boxes – it is definitely a book for the fiction shelves even if it is tall  (perhaps shelve it sideways?)  

Year 4 up/ Age 8 up

Fiction Age 8 and up

Australian Writer

R A Spratt (Rachel)

Friday Barnes Girl Detective

Random House Australia 2014  $19.99pb   247pp

ISBN 978 1 7427 5962 3

Themes: Boarding school stories/ Intellectual parents/ Solitude

When Friday Barnes, a rather lonely and decidedly unusual small girl solves a bank mystery she uses the reward money to send herself to the most exclusive boarding school in the country where there are many more crimes to be solved. And maybe there will be some real friends..

Such is the magic of Rachel Spratt’s writing that she makes even the most over-the-top incidents and experiences totally believable.   This is a beginning of a new series from the author of Nanny Piggins.

Friday Barnes Under Suspicion will be published in January 2015

Year 4 up/ Age 8 up

Fiction Age 8 up

NZ Writer & UK illustrator

Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Tony Ross

Tale of a Tail

Orion 2014  $19.95pb 169pp

ISBN 978 1 4440 1422 8

Themes: Dogs/ Fantasy/ Funny stories/ Magic/ Polish life and culture/ Read aloud stories/ Wishes

With warmth and wit and a large dose of mischief, Margaret Mahy shares with us the story of Tom and Tomasz, boy and man and of Najki a large and happy dog with a magical tail capable of granting wishes. Add the flawless writing of this much-missed and much-appreciated storyteller and the clever drawings of Tony Ross and there is a special book to read and then read again and enjoy even more the second time.

Where, I wonder, has this manuscript been hiding since Margaret died nearly 2 years ago? Are there yet more treasures to be revealed?

Year 4 up/ Age 8 up

Fiction - Age 8 up

Australian Writer

Aleesah Darlison

Ash Rover, Keeper of the Phoenix

Walker Books   2014   $16.99pb         268pp

Book One in the Ash Rover series

ISBN 978 1 9221 7902 9

Themes:         Fantasy/Friendship/ Quests/ Series

Ash Rover and his friends live in poverty so when Ash finds a just-hatched Phoenix and becomes its keeper they are hopeful of a better future. However the Phoenix (a most eloquent bird) brings nothing but disaster and the children are put in real danger. Although the jacket and the environment suggest a possible medieval setting the three main characters speak and behave like today’s 10/11-year-olds  and this helps make the story one which reluctant readers may latch into. The plot unfolds in non-stop action and would make a good read-aloud. Two more books in the series are planned - Ash Rover: Taker of the Kraken & Book 3 Ash Rover: Sentry to the Centaurs. The author says on her website http://www.aleesahdarlison.com/ that she is currently finishing these two stories. Teachers’ notes are also available through this site.

Year 4/ Age 8 up

Not long now until the opening of Writers Week 2014 here in Wellington. There are so many goodies to look forward to (the chance to meet Ulf Stark/ to hear Gavin Bishop deliver the Janet Frame Memorial Lecture/ to hear Eleanor Catton/ book launches and parties...   I will be up and down the Kapiti Coast every day for 7 days - perhaps I need a pied a terre! 
 

Fiction - 8 years and up

To be published February 7^th 2014

NZ Writer & Illustrator

Mary McCallum, illustrated by Annie Hayward

Dappled Annie and the Tigrish

Gecko Press, 2014   $19.99pb 137pp

ISBN 978 1 8775 7991 2

Themes:         Brothers and sisters/ Imagination/ Lighthouses/ Loss/ Out of doors/ Summertime

Annie’s mother has her feet firmly on the ground as she moves about in her safe domestic world during this long hot New Zealand summer. Annie’s father is also down to earth - he is the local lighthouse keeper waiting anxiously for his new assistant to arrive and is away from the house most of the time. The children  (Annie and her younger brother Robbie who is only four) live in a different world. Annie’s is a rich one of the imagination but so vividly painted and involving that the reader is almost convinced by the end that this is the true reality where hedges talk and the tigrish is an ever-present influence. The writer has managed to enter into the mind and feelings of a nine-year-old child so we see a new world through her eyes in lightly etched descriptions and ideas that are never overdone. The book is written in such a way it would be a pleasure to read aloud to an appreciative group. I envy the teacher or librarian, parent or caregiver who has the opportunity.**

Recommended.   

Year 4 up/ Age 8 up

** Now that I have moved and it is the summer holidays I haven’t had the chance to build up a bank of children on whom to try out any new material.

 

Fiction Age 8 up

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Bernice Williams is a teacher from the Wellington area who works with small groups of children in various schools. One of her most enviable jobs (apart from the smallness of the groups) is to talk to  gifted children at Ngaio School about books and book related activities they might like. Sometimes she reads aloud to them and a couple of weeks ago they visited Gecko Press here in Wellington. The group have recently been looking at books by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham including Mysterious Traveller (see earlier entry on this blog) and just last week Cloud Tea Monkeys.

 Here is a review of that book from Alex Lewis age 11 from Ngaio School.

Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham is a book about a girl called Tashi and a group of very helpful monkeys. I really like this book for lots of different reasons. The first of these reasons is that it has very detailed illustrations. In my opinion these make it more interesting. It also pays attention to the tiniest of details, which adds depth to the plot. For example, when it said ”Inside the house her mother coughed, twice.” Just that tiny snippet of information leads to a very big event in the story. My final reason is that it uses an amazing range of captivating language eg. “a light the colour of lemons was soaking into the sky and painting out the stars”. Overall, I think that this book is an amazing story suited for anyone with a craving for a captivating adventure.

I highly recommend it.

UK Writers

Mal Peet and Elspeth Grahame

Cloud Tea Monkeys

Walker Books 2011    $17.99pb  

ISBN 978 1 40633 386 2

Mal and Elspeth will be leaving New Zealand shortly after being here for the whole summer (they are probably escaping just in time). Mal has been teaching in New Zealand at Victoria University at the International Institute of Modern Letters. They will be farewelled at the Children’s Bookshop at Kilbirnie tonight around 6pm after the book launch for Mandy Hager’s latest title – Dear Vincent. All lovers of children’s books are welcome.

Fiction - Age 8 up

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UK Writers and Irish Illustrator

Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham, illustrated by P J Lynch
Mysterious Traveller

Walker Books 2013         $32.99hb           48 pages

ISBN 978 1 4063 3707 5

Book Two of a planned trilogy

Themes: Blindness/ Camels/ Deserts/ Princesses

This satisfying story tells of a desert guide who finds an abandoned baby in the sands of the desert, takes her home and cares for her. Then, as she grows and as he begins to lose his sight, the roles are reversed. Which desert? Where are they? What year is it? None of this matters for this is a powerful story, immaculately written, that takes the reader into a world of the imagination and is peopled with characters about whom we come to care. The illustrations by P J Lynch, who has twice won the Kate Greenaway Medal from the British Library Association, are in subtle desert-like colours of browns and muted blues and reds. How I would love to have a class to share this with as I read it aloud.    

Year 4 up/ Age 8 up (but it could be read to much younger children).