This delightful and engaging story about the life of Dr Maddy McAllister, currently Senior Curator of maritime archaeology at Queensland Museum, will provide readers with a snapshot of the passion for diving and shipwrecks that Maddy showed from an early age.
Maddy had always loved the ocean and spent her early years swimming, fishing and holidaying around water. Her beloved grandfather was instrumental in fostering this love and his storytelling about events related to both the sea and land encouraged Maddy to explore deeply in her areas of interest: ancient history, archaeology and the ocean.
As a child, Maddy and her sister Ally moved around with their parents due to work commitments. Maddy learnt to accept the changes that occurred, make friends, develop a love of horses and horse riding, but the pull of the ocean was always there. It was the place Maddy felt calm and at peace. After finally settling down in Busselton Western Australia near to her grandparents, Maddy attains her SCUBA diver’s certificate, learns about two teenagers in 1876 who saved many survivors of a shipwreck and decides that archaeology is to be her tertiary focus. After studying hard Maddy is accepted into a Bachelor of Archaeology at Flinders University SA. She defers for a year and works as a tour guide around Geographe Bay where she learns about the marine environment. Maddy’s fascination with shipwrecks continues to grow and her expertise and study in the area is now well recognised all over the world.
Maddy McAllister’s story sends a strong message to young readers that to achieve success and enjoyment in your chosen field is to persevere and continually strive to learn more. Her love for her work, the marine environment, and the all-important shipwrecks, resonates throughout this absorbing story.
The full range of how books fit into a baby’s life from waking in the morning to going to bed at night is presented in this charming book with rhyming lines form Katrina Germein and wonderfully soft illustrations by Cheryl Orsini. The result is a family oriented story with the baby at its heart modelling the ways books fit into the everyday. On waking the baby needs a book to start the day, then it reads books in the car, visiting its grandparents where books again are shared. Then mum and the baby play and tumble about. Funny stories are shared, and books are read in the pusher and on the tram. At the end of a very busy day the baby has a cuddle and a book, a yawn then snuggles down to sleep.
A range of books is read; pop up books, large books filled with colour, board books and baby soft material books.
German shows soundly that books have a place in all aspects of a child’s life, with humour and verse to get her message across. I love the first three words of each pair of rhyming lines, as she uses the phrase ‘baby book’ with another word describing something about the baby. Repetition and alliteration are used with great effect, and complimented by Orsini’s soft illustrations adding a level of humour to the book.
This is a lovely book to read and share, and will be enjoyed by all ages.
Alan and Heather Winterbottom are country GP’s who have worked together for 40 years and are preparing for their retirement. They both, however, have very different ideas of what an idyllic retirement looks like. Alan is looking forward to developing his green thumb, while Heather dreams of exploring the Greek Islands. Heather makes the bold decision to set out on her own, seeking her own adventures, away from home, away from her marriage.
We all dream of retirement, but is it something we are truly prepared for?‘Later’ isn’t a guarantee, and Heather knows this only too well with the death of her friend Esme.
Full of stunning descriptions of Greece, the beautiful islands, swimming in the ocean, sumptuous food and wine, the laid-back lifestyle and historical sightseeing, this is a beautifully written story about Heather fulfilling a promise she made to her dear friend Esme, finding herself along the way, albeit with some hilarious mishaps. Heather is such a highly relatable character, she has a sense of adventure and humor that endears the reader, as she discovers more about herself and her relationship to Alan that she could ever have had during their long medical career and marriage.One of the warmest and funniest stories I have read in a long time.
Themes Retirement, Change, Aged, Greece.
Ruth Tipping
The daredevil princess and the golden unicorn by Belinda Murrell
‘Bold and brave, clever and curious, daring and determined’ are what Princess Mathilda, better known as Tillie, hopes to be. She lives a very happy life with her mother Queen Cordelia, her inventive father, King Edwin and her younger brother Prince Oskar. Also constant in her life are her beloved dachshunds, Mitzi and Fritzi, Miss Prim the royal nanny and Mr Grimm, the royal steward, who is forever catching Tillie doing the unexpected.
There has been a mysterious theft of royal roses which were for the upcoming Summer Harvest Festival and the castle is on high alert. Tillie is determined to solve the mystery and bravely leaves the castle at night to search for the thief. What she discovers is truly magical and once it is all sorted out the Summer Festival does go ahead better than ever, and Honey Blossom becomes a member of the royal household.
The Daredevil Princess and the Golden Unicorn is the first story of a series by well-known author Belinda Murrell. This engaging tale is a wonderful introduction to chapter books for younger readers or would be an excellent story to be read aloud by an adult. There are delightful illustrations by Rebecca Crane strategically placed throughout, as well as the use of onomatopoeia to emphasise parts of the story. The second book The Daredevil Princess and the Goblin King is to be released simultaneously with the first and the third book, The Daredevil Princess and the Fire Dragon is on its way.
Once again bold and brave Princess Mathilda, preferably known as Tillie, is on an exciting adventure. The farms surrounding the castle are under attack from goblins from the Wild Forest. Queen Cordelia is trying her hardest to find a solution but it may take some clever thinking on the part of Tillie and her companions to help solve the problem.
As a Princess, Tillie must learn deportment and to control her temper. However, both these actions do not come easily to her. She would much rather be helping her father King Edwin with his latest invention. This time he has elevated Mr Grimm who is not happy. The potion used for the elevation does not quite work as expected, so Tilly is given it for her own use.
With Mitzi and Fritzi, and Honey Blossom who is now a permanent member of the Royal family, Tillie discovers a secret doorway in the castle. As a way to escape Mr Grimm, they choose to enter the doorway, follow the passage and end up at Apple Tree Creek farm. There they meet Lukas who accuses them of great mischief. It turns out though, it is some rather rambunctious goblins who are trashing everything and need to be stopped. Fortunately some clever thinking by Tillie, and the magic potion created by King Edwin, save the farmhouse and the farm from destruction.
The Daredevil Princess and the Goblin King is an exciting fast-paced adventure that will be enjoyed by younger readers. The third book in this new series The Daredevil Princess and the Fire Dragon is due to be released soon.
Gavin Friday, a singer/songwriter, is friends with Bono from the band U2, and together they have collaborated on a modern retelling of Peter and the Wolf, written by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. Told in graphic novel format, this version is sure to be a hit with children with its punk rock hero Peter who has a mohawk hairdo and is dressed in a black singlet and tight black jeans. Peter is mourning the death of his mother and his grandfather tells him not to go into the woods as there is a wolf roaming around. But Peter is a determined young boy and armed with a sling shot, a make-believe wolf and a lasso goes into the woods to capture the creature.
The black and white illustrations are compelling. Readers will need to take notice of details to work out some of what is happening. For example, they will learn what happened to Peter’s mother by examining the page which has photographs of her and will be able to work out why Peter is so unhappy and why he is living with his grandfather.
Gavin introduces the book as Gavin Flyday, a winged Master of Ceremonies and tells readers that he will pop in and out of the book and they need to keep an eye out for him. He is on the page where he introduces the characters in the book and pops up at other crucial moments and I found myself revisiting the book to try and find him. In the final pages, the reader learns that the collaboration was in aid of Irish Hospice Foundation and that Gavin hopes ‘that this version of Peter and the Wolf becomes a balm for any child dealing with loss.’
Readers may wish to see the animated film, official movie trailer here and there are many versions of the music and words of the original to be found on YouTube.
Themes Grief, Wolves.
Pat Pledger
Tayta’s Secret Ingredient by Amal Abou-Eid. Illus. by Cara King
For the Harmony Day celebration at school this year, Billy is excited to bring one of his Tayta’s (grandmother) special treats. Tayta is happy to make kaak, a Lebanese biscuit with a very special ingredient. Billy watches as Tayta takes all sorts of strange ingredients from her pantry and wonders which one is the special one. He asks Tayta why she does not use a recipe is and this is her response:
My fingers know what the food should feel like. My eyes know what the food for should look like. My nose knows what it should smell like.
While Tayta is preparing the dough, Billy is searching high and low for the secret ingredient but he cannot find it. He helps roll out the dough and makes biscuits shaped firstly like little logs and then joined together to make rings. Tayta finally tells Billy what her secret ingredient is and he realises it is very special. When Billy is asked for the recipe at school he knows that he cannot share it as it will always be missing the secret ingredient.
This warm and engaging story is perfect for Harmony Day as it presents a delightful multicultural experience of both school and home. The watercolour illustrations gently reflect the text and children who have experienced baking with a grandparent will particularly find the images of Billy and Tayta in the kitchen very appealing. A wonderful story to read aloud on Harmony Day.
Brighton, 1950. Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is investigating the murder of a young woman, who was cut in three. It is reminiscent of a magic trick called the Zig Zag Girl invented by Max Mephisto. Both Edgar and Max had worked together during the war as part of a unit called the Magic Men and when Max finds out that he knows the girl, he decides to help investigate the murder. Then there is another murder, based on another trick and it looks as if their time in the Magic Men unit may play a part.
Although a fan of Elly Griffiths books, especially the Ruth Galloway Investigation series, I was initially reluctant to read a book about magic tricks, but once started, Griffiths’ plotting, descriptions and great characters, had me hooked. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader fully engaged and the denouement was a surprise to me. I was fascinated by the way she brought in magic tricks and murder and the setting of Brighton was interesting, with her author’s note about her connection to her grandfather’s role in vaudeville enhancing the story. The story of the Magic Men unit and their effects to trick the enemy with illusions also added to the uniqueness of Griffiths’ story background.
While this edition was first published in 2015, it is still in print because any mystery by Elly Griffiths is worth reading!
A gloriously full colour graphic novel, Pablo and Splash visually strike us as Laurel & Hardy archetypes. Taller and slim, Pablo is clearly not the risk-taker. His pragmatism is offset by the rotund Splash, slowly freezing in their penguin colony in Antartica, and set on a tropical holiday from Pablo’s 'paradise of plenty'.
Dreaming of mocktails rather than their usual diet of krill, the text furnishes puns and playful word inventions involving their staple - krill. Holiday planning is stymied by the inevitable barriers of distance and transport. After deciding that the scientist population of Antartica hold the key, they amble in that general direction and are not disappointed. Like Alice’s slide down a rabbit hole, they come face-to-face with Dr Brain and her time/space machine, Timebender.
When Dr Brain’s back is turned, a glitch sends the penguins hurtling dangerously close to the sun before landing back in the Cretaceous period. Hungry and constantly in danger, the ‘Holiday’ is starting to lose its appeal – even for Splash.
Beautifully illustrated, the mixture of frame layouts from full page to five frames a page, depicts the friends inventing ways to fix Timebender at the very last second. Dr Brain is not cross and has more inventions to show them. The graphic design of words like ‘Holiday’ very cleverly supplies the tone of voice Splash uses, without needing to understand 'Penguish'. The duo return to see the penguin huddle unchanged and realize that you can only rely on yourself in the end. The stressful holiday soon necessitates a real holiday for Pablo, and we understand this is a formula for a series.
Engaging end pages reward with activities and fun facts about evolution, geography and animal behaviour. The dinosaur glossary informs us about the Quetzalcoatlus and other dinosaurs encountered at the Cretaceous holiday destination. Sheena Dempsey has debuted as an author/illustrator with a deceptively silly romp about time-travelling penguins. Not to be mistaken for a first chapter book, readers of all ages will be drawn in by Splash's optimism and Dempsey’s comic timing and warm, bright graphics.
Themes Graphic Novels, Adventure, Holidays, Penguins, Time travel, Antarctica.
Deborah Robins
Isaac Turner investigates: The clockwork conspiracy by Sam Sedgman
Diggory and his son Isaac Turner, climb the clock tower to make daylight saving adjustments and carry out maintenance. Thoughts of a looming parliamentary debate regarding the decimization of time into law, preoccupy the world’s leading horologist as he and Issaac work to adjust Big Ben. Neither are aware they are being watched by the forces of both good and evil.
Diggory instructs Isaac to wind the clockwork and ascends to make final adjustments – only to disappear. But from the roof of the Palace of Parliament where Solomon Bassala, the speaker of the House resides, his daughter Hattie is also watching. She saw Diggory kidnapped. Hattie is a burgeoning rooftopper and urban explorer and introduces Isaac to her extreme hobby of urbexing.
Isaac and Hattie team up to solve the mystery using codes and clues left by Diggory, starting with the broken face of his disgarded watch – 8 mins, 34 seconds, Feb 20. Learning that Diggory is a member of an international society of TimeKeepers, the stakes are much higher for mankind than the disappearance of one man. The pair decode each clue and on Feb 20, we meet the remaining international members of Diggory’s secret society - Penny, Amire, Luc, Naoko and Gloria.
Readers will be privy to Uncle Sol’s political world but also a sub-plot involving the Timekeepers, whose mission involves worldwide stability. Keeping step with Isaac and Hattie’s investigation is the relentless and increasingly frustrated Pascal, under pressure from a criminal 'mastermind' and a sinister conspiracy at the centre of government. Pascal has snatched many of the Timekeepers, including Diggory, but what he seeks is in Isaac’s possession and the duo’s quest becomes ever more dangerous. Can the children save lives and even time itself?
Whilst not as explicit as Lemony Snicket’s, Series of Unfortunate Events, the expository digressions, where characters instruct readers in horology, atomic clocks or the workings of parliament; are firmly factual and add another layer to what is an unapologetic rollicking adventure.
Sam Sedgman is the successful co-author of the multiple award-winning Adventures on Trains series but the new Isaac Turner Investigates series ignites with his first solo novel, The Clockwork Conspiracy.
Themes Adventure, Speculative, Mystery.
Deborah Robins
As bright as a rainbow: A book about gender and being yourself by Romy Ash and Blue Jaryn
Working Title Press, 2024. ISBN: 9781922033062. (Age:4+)
Just as the sea is not only one form of blue, or even just blue, so people are not just male or frame. The sea can be azure or pink, or can be yellow to green and not only blue. The three characters who walk, skip, and run across the pages, are non gender specific, and so raise the questions in younger readers about gender diversity. In a non threatening way the analogy to the sea is charming, allowing children to make a connection between the sea having a range of colours and the three characters in the book having a range of genders.
Subtitled A book about gender and being diverse, the book aims to introduce younger children to gender diversity. It does so without being overbearing, as some books trying hard to be educative and entertaining at the same time, so this book may be a book that kids will read together.
They will see the analogy between the gender diverse and the different hues in the sea, able to differentiate between those who see themselves simply as boys or girls, and those that do not call themselves one or the other and in so doing see that it matters not a jot who they are as long as they are themselves.
Bright illustration adorn the pages as the three children are shown sharing and being involved in a range of activities, all of which can be done by every child.
Themes Gender diversity, Equality, Inclusivity.
Fran Knight
System collapse by Martha Wells
Tor Books, 2023. ISBN: 9781250339362. (Age:Adult - Senior secondary) Recommended.
Another full-length novel in the Murderbot Diaries series and following directly on from the events in Network Effect, will thrill fans who have enjoyed the witty SecUnit who loves to watch entertainment channels and who solves murders. The Barish-Estranza Corporation has sent rescue ships to a planet in peril, but it looks as if the corporation means to enslave the colonists as a work force, regardless of their feelings. The humans from Preservation and ART’s crew want to protect the colony, but something is wrong with Murderbot who must figure it out before the Corporation takes over.
System Collapse continues this award-winning series in style, (Fugitive Telemetry won the 2020 Nebula Award), with Murderbot suffering from trauma from the events in Network effect. Wells describes mental health issues through the eyes of the SecUnit, who is experiencing flashbacks and emotions that often appear with the text reading ‘[redacted].’ There are lighter moments with Murderbot’s signature snarky comments, and the underhand operations of a major corporation are explored, raising ethical questions for the reader.
System Collapse is not a stand-alone read. Readers familiar with the series may want to reacquaint themselves with Network effect before reading this novel and those new to the series would be best to start with the first in the series, All systems red. A fabulous science fiction series!
After thoroughly enjoying The Agency for Scandal by Laura Wood, I decided to find and read some of her other books. Under a dancing star is another recommended book, combining romance and history as well as alluding to Much Ado About Nothing. It is 1930’s England and Bea is stifled by the expectations of her parents and the society that they move in. She is expected make a good marriage and be a dutiful spouse and daughter. However, Bea is fascinated by nature and prefers to study insects and plants. Then her parents decide to send her to Italy to stay with her uncle in the hope that she will settle down. When she arrives, she finds a fascinating new world with a group of young artists living in the villa, and when she is challenged to have a summer romance with handsome Ben, sparks begin to fly.
The novel is divided into five sections, each headed with a quote from Much Ado about Nothing, and the reader is gradually brought into the heady world of bohemian society and watch Bea emerge from the restrictions that have been placed on her in England. She is highly intelligent and the witty repartee between Ben and her is a delight to read. Wood describes her historical background with a light hand but it is sufficient to intrigue with the references to Mussolini, Fascist Italy and the conflict in Spain and make me want to learn more about this period of history. Her descriptions of life in an Italian villa and especially her references to the wonderful places in Florence like the Uffizi and the Natural History Museum will have readers wanting to visit Italy.
Under a dancing star will delight readers who enjoy romance and captivating main characters. It is very entertaining, and many readers like me, may want to continue reading other books by Wood or if looking for romance, try books by Eva Ibbotson like The secret countess (previously published as A countess below stairs).
In verse form the ingredients of how to make a friend are given. The book supports the positive things that friends do, aiming to inspire children to be the best friend they can be while recognising what a true friend does for them.
Their third collaboration after The Love that Grew and Nice and Slow, author Sarah Ayoub and illustrator Mimi Purnell use text in verse alongside illustrations to further stress the ideas of being a friend and what it involves. All the positive aspects of friendship are mentioned: giving and receiving, sharing, the importance of being there when we are needed, being inspirational, while the positive aspects of our society are shown in the illustrations: diversity, inclusivity and acceptance. It does not baulk at the truth because life is not always positive. A lot of issues are touched upon in the book through its text and illustrations, but the overall message of respect is most importantly promoted.
The illustrations reveal more than the text can offer in words, and children will see many of the aspects of friendship revealed in the images. Details will be spotted, role models copied and above all, the positive aspects of being a friend displayed for all to see.
Themes Friendship, Family, Acceptance, Diversity.
Fran Knight
Astronomy for curious kids by Giles Sparrow. Illus. by Nik Neves
For young readers who love all things space-related, this wonderful new release from CSIRO Publishing will certainly provide hours of engaging reading. The striking black cover complete with four glossy-coloured images plus smaller graphics will draw readers to this highly accessible and beautifully illustrated book full of diagrams, drawings, tables and snippets of information in ‘Out of Curiosity’ boxes. The contents page lists a Welcome to Astronomy plus six chapters with distinct headings and sub-headings, as well as a glossary and index.
The welcome page clearly states that some of the ‘big’ questions may be answered by this book but there is still so much that is unknown about astronomy and astronomers are forever learning and theorizing. The first chapter gives some valuable information for how to be an astronomer including three ‘Golden Rules’: wait for darkness, avoid light pollution and beware of ripples caused by weather. The second chapter gives an important insight into early stargazers with Australian First Peoples cultures recording comets and meteors as well as having theories about solar and lunar eclipses. This chapter also shares information about Copernicus and Galileo as well as other important astronomers including Henrietta Swan Leavitt who in 1908 discovered a special type of star with regular changes in brightness if the star is brighter. This meant that astronomers could better chart the distance of stars.
The vast and varied information found in this book will enthral budding astronomers. Detailed facts about planets, galaxies, dark matter, the Big Bang theory, explorers on the moon - the list is too long to mention. A fabulous resource for home, school or public library.
