Ratbags: Dummy Spit, the fifth instalment in Tim Harris's popular series, is a delightful blend of standard novel and graphic combined. Enhanced by Shiloh Gordon's engaging illustrations, this is sure to be another success with its audience. Aimed at young readers, this book continues the adventures of Jigsaw and his gang of misfit rats, combining humour, action and another challenging quest that will captivate its audience throughout.
The story begins with the introduction of Blitz, a rambunctious baby rat who, despite his small size, creates enormous chaos. Blitz is a whirlwind of energy, leaving a trail of destruction wherever he goes, and his fearless attitude puts him in direct confrontation with Crackers, the meanest cat in town. As Blitz causes mayhem throughout the town, it falls on Jigsaw and his friends to solve the mystery of where this feisty little rat belongs. The quest to find Blitz's parents takes the gang on a series of comedic adventures filled with unexpected twists and hilarious encounters.
Harris's witty writing keeps the storyline lively and entertaining, while Gordon's black and white cartoon style illustrations add a visual punch; perfectly capturing the antics of Blitz and the expressions of exasperation on Jigsaw and his friends' faces. The blend of short chapters with large font, speech bubbles, cool layout and hilarious illustrations, ensures that the story is accessible and engaging. This is a perfect choice for reluctant readers and young fans of illustrated novels.
Dummy Spit is a delightful addition to the series that will leave readers eagerly awaiting the next adventure in the Ratbags universe. If you love a little bit of fun and adventure, at a fast-past speed, then this novel will undoubtedly meet your entertainment level. Tim Harris and Shiloh Gordon continue to be masters at their craft, and always knows how to keep their readers engaged to the very end.
Themes Humour, Adventure, Friendship, Problem solving, Teamwork, Family.
With a story that celebrates what happens on each day of the week, younger readers will enjoy reading along with the reader, predicting the words that might be used, and looking closely at the illustrations to see what they can find.
A colour filled board book just the right size to fit into little hands, the book will have immediate appeal to those newly exposed to reading.
They will be reminded of the days of the week as each animal has something unusual happening on the day. Goanna wakes on Monday feeling cold and is warmed by his Dad. On Thursday Little Quoll is feeling angry, but Sister is there to help him feel calm. Each day is linked to an emotional state of the younger animal. Each time a member of the family has a response which makes him feel better.
The book nods to members of the family and their closeness and ability to be there for the younger child. It recognises the importance of the family and its members to the feeling of well-being of the young. But apart from some wonderfully warm feelings, Dreise introduces a number of Australian animals which may not have appeared in many Australian picture books. He presents a goanna, a sugar glider, a turtle, a quoll, a frilled lizard, a butterfly and a fruit bat, each drawn using memorable Aboriginal motifs.
Award winning Gregg Dreise, a member of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi people of south-west Queensland and north-west New South Wales, produces lovely warm books, filled with luminous illustrations that draw the eye. His Silly birds (2014) is a wonderfully funny tale and will always remain one of my favourites. And there are many more.
For more information about Gregg and his week, see the fabulous website which again is very different, telling readers what Gregg loves.
Themes Aboriginal story, Australian animals, Family, Relationships, Feelings.
Fran Knight
For 60,000 years by Marlee Jade Silva. Illus. by Rhys Paddick
Thriving and surviving for 60,000 years is an impressive number by any standard, and Gamilaroi and Dunghutti woman, Marlee Silva presents her community and its continuous ties to the land we call Australia. With strength and endurance, they survived. When the ghosts arrived two hundred years ago, they saw the land as a treasure trove, not as the beautiful land revered by the ancestors. They took the land, the plants, the soil. They took language, song, and the children. All of this did little to keep these people down, instead they came straight up again, rising to the top. They are in the classrooms, the boardrooms, on the football field and running tracks. They are seen on stage and in art galleries and on the screen. They have survived.
A wonderful acclamation of the survival of the First Nations, reading this book will encourage younger readers to embrace the people as they see them in all sorts of places. No longer kept in the background, they are seen everywhere. Each sentence will provoke questions and discussion. Why was the land taken, how was it taken, where were they living, why was the language stolen, amongst others. A myriad of questions will be asked by the astute reader and listener, providing a basis of understanding of how these people were treated.
But now strong and proud, they will be here for another 60,000 years.
Illustrations by Yamatji man, Rhys Paddick mark every tribulation mentioned in the text. Through Rhys’ eyes, we see the arrival of the ghosts and their appropriation of the land, their subjugation, the stolen generations.
And he makes it clear that today Aboriginal people are standing tall, taking their place in every facet of society, strengthening their First Nations community, as we see images of recognisable people, which again will encourage involvement from the listeners, offering suggestions about who some of the images are and recall the events which mark them out as worthy of note.
Themes Aboriginal history, First Nations, Australian history, Colonization.
The Girl in Question is the sequel set one year after Sharpe’s The Girls I’ve Been and although it is possible to read as a standalone, readers will then have to infer much of the important backstory.
Having finished high school, Nora is heading into the Californian forest for several weeks of a summer backpacking/camping trip with her girlfriend Iris, ex-boyfriend Wes and his girlfriend Amanda. Within moments they are testing their survival skills in more ways than one, as her criminal step-father Raymond sends henchmen to track her down and take a hostage to extract retribution for her violent acts that were the basis of The Girls I’ve Been.
Nora has led a series of double lives ever since her con-artist mother recruited her into a life of conning and deceit as a young child, and the extent of the deceptions become apparent as she opens up to her friends in her found family. Told from the friends’ three points of view, The Girl in Question also contains flashbacks from weeks and years earlier that add to the multilayered story-line. Relationships and aliases become quite complex as more of Nora’s previous life and connections come to light.
Although the main characters have good intentions and display courage and team-work in an effort to right past wrongs, their moral compass is often questionable. They routinely keep secrets from each other and the motive of a carrying out a revenge killing drives the plot as Nora in particular seeks vengeance on her abusers. This is a fast-paced YA thriller, with ongoing violence and assault described in some detail, and additional reference to emotional and physical abuse. While this is integral to the plot, given the characters’ personalities and motivations, it makes the book more suitable for a mature reader.
Themes Abduction, Adventure, Found family, Revenge, Thriller.
Margaret Crohn
Millie Mak the Mender by Alice Pung and Sher Rilling
Millie Mak the Mender is the second book in this gentle and delightful series about Millie Mak, a shy and reserved child who has a gift for sewing. In the first story we learn more about Millie’s mum who works in an Aged Care Home. One day Millie visits the home and finds it challenging dealing with the different needs of the elderly people in the home. She continues to return to the home and begins to relax, show more understanding and feel comfortable being with the residents. Millie decides to make them each an amazing hat out of recycled materials and they are an instant hit. She asks her friends Rita and Veesa to help create more and they do a wonderful job.
Meanwhile Millie’s unpleasant classmate Geri copies the idea for the hats for the aged care home with an unsuccessful campaign that results in another classmate, Shanelle, standing up for Millie. Millie and Shanelle form an uneasy friendship. However Shanelle is dealing with her own troubles and the Millie, Rita and Veesa help her and her family out. The four girls end up calling themselves and their sewing group, the Fru-Gals.
The second story deals with the recognition Millie and her friends receive for their recycled sewing but it does not quite go according to plan. Millie makes her younger sister a play outfit that is noticed at a wedding by a fashion blogger who takes photos and wants to learn more about Millie and what she does. Rita and Veesa are keen for Millie to explore the opportunity offered by the blogger but Millie is reluctant. When this leads to an appearance on a television show for all four Fru-Gals, it does not end as expected with friendships between the girls in trouble. Will Millie be able to mend things this time?
These stories have an important message about reusing items and creating new and different things. The important role both sets of grandparents play in Millie’s life and how she adapts to different cultural expectations is not always easy but Millie strives to make it work. At the end of each story are detailed instructions for making items from the story. Illustrations throughout add an extra layer to the narrative.
The retelling of this familiar story is based on the 2008 CBCA Notable Picture Book Purinina: A Devil’s Tale written and illustrated by Christina Booth. Set on the island of Tasmania, this enchanting story tells of the life of Purinina and her family. From birth, through her growing years and to her adult life, the beautifully written prose shares the natural life cycle and the dangers faced by the endangered Tasmanian devil.
Born in a deep dark cave nestled in a valley, pink-skinned Purinina and her brothers, safe and warm in their mother’s pouch, suckle milk and begin to grow. Gradually black and white fur covers their bodies and they find their way out of the pouch into the cave environment. Purinina learns to growl, snarl, snort and scream. She still eats food her mother finds and plays and tussles with her bothers. Sadly, one night her mother does not return with food and in the morning when the young ones find her, she is still. The devils must learn to fend for themselves but not before they realise there is a new danger they must face in the arrival of humans. Life does go on for Purinina and she too becomes a mother.
The striking full-page illustrations vary between light and warm colours to a dark and almost menacing colour palette. The use of movement and descriptive words, bold letters and the careful placement of phrases add to the overall engagement and flow of the story. In the final pages the Devilish Details section is a valuable addition as is the glossary. This is wonderful story to share with children and to learn new interesting facts about this much-maligned Australian animal. Teacher's notes are available.
Themes Tasmanian devils, Endangered species, Habitat, Tasmania, Australia, Life Cycles, Survival, Human Danger.
Kathryn Beilby
My dog Bruiser swallowed a scooter by Karen McKinley. Illus. by Francesca Quatraro
Little Steps, 2024. ISBN: 9781922833280. (Age:3+)
Children will laugh out loud as Bruiser chomps on some very odd things around Grandpa’s farm. The children are there on a holiday and when playing in the vegetable patch Bruiser pounces on the scooter and swallows it down.
The audience will all swallow in unison at the thought of such a large metallic object going down their throats. Daisy and her brother try an ingenious array of things to make him give up the scooter.
Told in bouncy rhyming stanzas, the verse rolls along, easy enough for younger readers to latch on to the rhyming schemes and remember some of the lines quickly. They will enjoy predicting the rhyming words and offer some of their own.
But the story of how to rid Bruiser of the scooter keeps going, causing the readers to laugh out loud. Huge illustrations cover each set of double pages, giving a sweeping view of the farm and its rolling hills where the children are staying.
They try rolling Bruiser down the hill to dislodge the scooter to no avail. But when they arrive at the bottom of the hill, the dog next door jumps through the stone wall, scaring them all, causing the scooter to dislodge from Bruiser’s throat. So, all is well on grandpa’s farm, except Bruiser is now chewing on a comb.
Next day the children go home, watching Bruiser dig up an old smelly gum boot.
A funny look at staying at grandpa’s farm will agree with the readers as they work out what to do about Bruiser. The story reinforces strong family values and relationships, the fun of having a dog within the family and the role of grandparents within the family.
The illustrations carry the story forwards and will intrigue young children as they show lots of detail about life on a farm.
Themes Grandparents, Farm life, Family, Dogs.
Fran Knight
Brain is (not) always right by Scott Stuart
Scholastic, 2023. ISBN: 9781761204685. (Age:3+)
Heart loves chocolate and playing hide and seek and fashion, whereas Brain loves lists and broccoli but especially he loves being right. When the two are together, Heart would love to do lots of things, but Brain always vetoes his choices. One day Heart sees something he really wants and does not ask Brain about it. Brain rails and rails against his choice, and Heart hardly has the heart to answer. But every time they pass the music studio, Heart feels sad and his heart is rent, and their home is silent. Their lives become less and less. One day when Brain passes the music studio, he stops and asks what would happen if they failed, would people laugh at them, and what would happen if they made a mistake. Brain is scared, but Heart encourages him to try it out. They go inside and play, Brain is not good, but Heart becomes better and better, his heart coming back together.
Together the two ask each other what they would like to do, and now they do things together aware of each other’s wants. And they each have a voice in their relationship.
A lovely tale of overcoming divisions between friends, the story shows that friends should give and take, and listen to each other’s opinions.
Lovely bright illustrations splash across each page, with the heart and brain shown in their forms with little stick arms and legs, giving a seemingly simpler vision of the main protagonists. Emotions are carried through the upturn of a lip or eyebrow, eyes closed or wide open. Children will be in no doubt about how each is thinking, and happily give their opinions about what each should do.
The endpapers show the beginning of the tale with blank music sheets, and by the end it is filled with music which is a lovely parallel for the story of two coming together, listening to each other’s opinions.
Marley and her friends are on the doorstep of independence and College life, but first they have to survive the last days of High School. As Seniors there are lots of end of school year events and activities, but there are also lots of unauthorised pranks. A wealthy young student, Rhett, has ‘inherited’ his family’s entitled attitude and sets dares and tasks for his classmates to complete. He is virtually blackmailing them to complete the dare, or he will release the dirt he has accumulated on them. An accident leads to Marley’s friendship group feeling compelled to lie and hide truth, because they are afraid of the consequences. The web of lies leads to fractures in their relationships and twisted complexities as they attempt to escape being found out. Can Marley survive the last days before school ends or will truth catch up with them?
This is a USA High School drama with twists and turns. The moral choices that are made are distressing and lack wisdom, but the twisted nature of some of the characters reveals that evil hides just below the surface. This is a story that teens will enjoy reading, because the tension keeps building. Every character seems to fall apart slowly and there are relatable examples of regrettable decisions made that have long term consequences. The twist for one of the characters is unexpected and readers will be surprised. I am not sure that everything in the story is believable, but this example of the thriller genre has all the features of a book that will be peer-to-peer recommended. Recommended for readers aged 14+, who love thrillers and teen realistic fiction.
Themes Thriller, Murder, Conspiracy, USA - school, Friendship, Trust.
Carolyn Hull
Fabulous frogs by Katrina Germein. Illus. by Suzanne Houghton
Children’s non-fiction picture book duo, author Katrina Germein and illustrator Suzanne Houghton who wrote the delightful book Wonderful Wasps, have once again combined to present another engaging factual book, Fabulous Frogs. Written in skilfully constructed rhyme, this book will captivate and amaze readers as they learn all about a variety of Australian frogs. With a striking front cover displaying some rather appealing frogs, readers will be immediately drawn to this book. The detailed endpapers showcase 18 different frogs, numbered and named, in various colours, shapes and sizes, that are featured throughout this entertaining book.
Cleverly commencing with two questions, Do you have a favourite, fabulous frog? A fine fascinating, Australian frog? provides a perfect learning moment for children to share what they already know about frogs. These questions are followed by many remarkable and unique facts about Australian frogs. For example, frogs eat frogs that are smaller in size, or that the male Pouched frog has pouches on his legs where the tadpoles turn into frogs. The glorious full colour illustrations accompanying the text provide added impact and the ability for the readers to visualise and differentiate between each frog.
Fabulous Frogs also raises important environmental issues that children will be able to understand and appreciate:
Frogs need fresh water to drink through their skin. So, make sure your rubbish goes into a bin. Litter that falls into gutters and drains flows into waterways after the rains. Avoid using chemicals out in your yard. They hurt froggy skin, which makes breathing too hard.
Educators in the early and middle grade years are often looking for accessible texts to teach their students research and report writing skills. Fabulous Frogs would be an excellent resource to support these concepts as there is the opportunity to find key words, learn about life cycles, descriptions, habitats, predators and diet. There are further fascinating facts in the final pages, an extensive glossary and a valuable guide to creating a frog-friendly garden.
The Dark Wives is the 11th addition to the familiar Book and TV Vera Stanhope series. As always Ann Cleeves’ wonderful writing had me compulsively reading to the end - and not guessing who dunnit! A young man’s body is found outside Rosebank, a home for troubled teens. Josh has been working at the home and didn’t show up the previous night. A fourteen-year-old girl, Chloe Spence, has also disappeared from the home. Chloe’s parents have died and she has refused to live with her grandparents and Vera knows she must find her. Is she connected to the murder? With Joe and new team member Rosie Bell, Vera is soon involved following clues to Chloe’s where-abouts. When another body is found near the Three Dark Wives monument in the Northumberland countryside and it is connected to Josh’s murder and Chloe’s disappearance, dark secrets begin to emerge and Vera and her team are in a race to uncover the identity of the murderer.
This is a well plotted mystery and shows Vera in a new light. She is grieving and is trying to be more sensitive to the needs of her team. She has a new DC, Rosie who is a city girl but is keen to get on the right side of Vera, who does keep her thoughts about the case from her team. This frustrating for Joe and Rosie, but Vera’s experience and intuition comes to the fore with a surprising conclusion to the book that I didn’t see coming. It was good to see the quiet Charlie play a pivotal role in the expose of the villain. The background of how children end up in care homes, the lack of funding for social workers and private industry trying to make a profit adds another dimension to the story.
I really enjoy the Vera Stanhope books and look forward to more books in the series. They are easy to read, have in-depth backgrounds and familiar characters, a wonderful combination for lovers of mysteries.
Themes Murder, Children's homes.
Pat Pledger
All you took from me by Lisa Kenway
Transit Lounge, 2024. ISBN: 9781923023123. (Age:Adult - Young adult)
When Dr Clare Carpenter wakes up from a coma in hospital where she works, she can’t remember what happened, but she can sense the menace of a big man with a backpack in the corridor approaching her room. She manages to alert the staff but the man is gone and they don’t believe her. It seems she has been in a serious car accident a month ago that killed her husband, Ray, and that she has a brain injury resulting in retrograde amnesia. When two detectives come to interview her about the single vehicle crash in the Blue Mountains, they question her about why her husband was wearing chain mail at the time of the crash and about his membership of the Megin Medieval Fight Club. Unable to help them, due to her memory loss, Clare is nevertheless sure there is something they are not telling her. She needs to find out what really happened and why there is someone after her. Isolated from her Jehovah’s Witness family and with few friends, Clare is determined to get back to her work as an anesthetist and to do this she must convince a psychologist that she is fit to practice. She must also deal with the mounting threats from someone about something she can’t remember. When hypnotism starts to reveal some uncomfortable memories, Clare decides on a course of action using anasthetic drugs to access her memories and then to track down those who can confirm what happened. The author is a writer and anesthetist and uses her professional knowledge to lend authenticity to the experiments the main character does to retrieve her memories. What I found truly terrifying in this thriller was that the protagonist was able to experiment on patients undergoing surgery under her care and that a staff member with mental health issues could still have free access to drugs and threaten staff at her workplace. It is hard to like such a reckless and self-centered character and ultimately I didn’t care who did what and why.
Themes Psychological thriller, Memory.
Sue Speck
Bobtail’s friend: From the desert to the sea by Rhonda Collard-Spratt and Jacki Ferro
Balharda the bobcat feels pretty with her necklace of wildflowers. But the Bidi-bidi butterflies laugh at her and call her names. The bobcat desperately wants a friend.
Hearing of her grandchildren’s bullying, Aunty Rhonda wrote this story of Balharda going from the desert to the sea in her search for friends. She finds that words can harm people, but eventually finds friends. Using Yamatji-Noongar words throughout the story, will prompt all readers to think about what these words may mean in the context, and they are able to turn to the last page to find the meaning.
Bobtail’s Friend is Book 2 in the Spirit of the Dreaming series. Yamatji-Noongar artist, storyteller and Stolen Generations survivor Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt shares her wonderful illustrative technique, filling the pages with vibrant eye popping images, sure to attract closer looks at the details of Yamatji Country and words from the Wajarri and Nhanda languages of Western Australia. Aunty Rhonda teaches working together through her story of the journey that Balharda takes, and inspire us all to be proud of the skin we are in.
Aunty Rhonda was inspired to write the book after hearing of her grandchildren’s bullying. She takes the tale of the bobcat to show that everyone is different and reconciliation means working together, just as she has with non indigenous writer and friend, Jacki Ferro. The editor has included a number of pages at the end of the book to further inform readers. Apart from a glossary of Yamatji-Noongar words, there is a map of Western Australia, pointing out where this area is, a page about the authors, words again from Aunty Rhoda telling us how to behave, particularly aimed at students in the classroom, and a song about the story from the two authors for children to sing.
A fabulous book to be read and discussed, to be sung and mapped, it is blatant in its teaching to young children, asking for friendship, recognition and reconciliation as the way we can work together.
Allen & Unwin, 2022. ISBN: 9781761067846. (Age:8+) Highly recommended.
Runt is a small brown haired dog of mixed ancestry who one day finds his forever owner, an unusual young girl called Annie. She sits by herself at lunchtime at her small school in Upson Downs, and beings to feed the stray dog. Runt has lived for a year or so, stealing food where he can, hounded by the local policemen. Annie and Runt bond totally with each other and he is taken in by her family. Annie finds that Runt obeys her every command, and is good at herding the small flock of sheep her family still owns, especially after they stray onto the well grassed farm next door, the owner ever vigilant in using the law to undermine the family.
The local big wig, Earl Robert-Barron lives in a mansion above the town, and has dammed the water supply, resulting in terrible water shortages, made even more devastating with a three year drought. This has precipitated the town’s decline, with many moving out and the once prosperous farms now dustbowls.
Her wonderful family, parents Brian and Susie, Doris (Grandma) and Max (brother), is struggling to survive, so when Annie gets the chance to enter Runt in the local show’s dog competition, she takes $20 from her mother’s takings at her cake stall, and enters. But one major problem still exists, Runt will not perform in front of an audience, he only has eyes for Annie. So the judge clears the arena and Runt wins, Fergus Fink coming second. Annie goes on to triumph at the Australia wide championships, winning an entry into Krumpets, the world championship held in London. This has a first prize of half a million dollars, which will pay off the farm’s overdraft on the overdraft. They are all keen for Annie to go, but it means her dog needs to perform with people watching. The family tries all sorts of unusual dog whisperers, but the last resort is to see the recluse, Bernadette Box, and she offers Annie some sage advice while the family works together to find a solution.
Annie is a memorable character, wearing her grandfather’s tool belt filled with useful bits and pieces which she loves to use to mend things that need fixing.
All sorts of obstacles lie in the way of the family getting to London, but everyone pitches in, Brian selling his amazing grafted rose, Max performing a dangerous stunt, Doris setting up a kissing booth and Susie selling pies. And again, obstacles are put in their way in London, but all turns out well in the end.
From the bestselling author of Jasper Jones and Honeybee, Runt won 2023 CBCA Book of the Year for Younger Readers.
'You don't have to carry the weight of the world in your tool belt.'
Runt is a heart-warming and very funny tale which exemplifies kindness and friendship, while hurdles, hoops, and see-saws are put in place to serve as impediments to the dog’s competitions, as well as the family’s survival.
I listened to the story after borrowing it from Libraries SA, using LIBBY.
An interview with Craig Silvey can be found here. And a film of the book will be on screens in 2024.
Themes Family, Drought, Small towns, Farms, Dogs, Competition, London.
Fran Knight
My dad thinks he's a scream by Katrina Germein. Illus. by Tom Jellett
Katrina Germein and Tom Jellett have once again provided another humorous and entertaining book to add the ever-growing ‘My dad..’ collection. This series is very popular in school libraries with children who love ‘Dad jokes’, with this latest edition all about Halloween and Dad’s attempt to be funny.
As the family prepare for trick or treating, Dad, dressed as a ghost, has already started on the jokes. To his wife who is a mummy, he says '…you look rotten. Perhaps you should sit in the living room?' To the narrator, his son, he says, 'You used to be small but now…you gruesome?' The jokes are flying fast and furiously on this Halloween evening. As the family walk past the cemetery, dad comes out with some very amusing puns:
'Look!...The dead centre of town. People are dying just to get in. They are so dead-icated! It’s a great place for stories, so many plots.'
Throughout this engaging book, the jokes dad comes up with will keep young readers guessing. They are witty and clever and his son, who has probably heard more jokes than he needs to, repeatedly says 'My dad thinks he’s a scream.'
This close family has a great time out together on Halloween and the bold and bright illustrations add so much to the enjoyment of the text. The colourful images on the endpapers will delight children with many sweet favourites such as lolly teeth, chocolate freckles and lolly snakes appearing amongst them.
A perfect book for families to share with Father’s Day and Halloween coming up.
