The Lonely Lunch Club

The Lonely Lunch Club by Maddy Mara and Laura Stitzel (Affirm Press) PB ISBN 9781923419308

This chapter book is from the creators of Your Kids Next Read, an Australian online community of over 38,000 families that meets on Facebook.

 In seven chapters, it tells how Benji goes to the oval with his lunchbox and a football. He does this every day, but on one Monday, he doesn’t play football. Instead, he goes to an old, wobbly bench. There he meets Alice, who has come to see Mabel, who ‘gets lonely sometimes.’

In a very unlikely scenario, Mabel is a spider that lives under the bench and that Alice has befriended. The next day, Mabel and Benji go to the bench, but find a small boy, Felix, under it. The three of them form ‘The Lonely Lunch Club’ and work to save the bench from being demolished (it is, after all, Mabel’s home).

The main thrust of the book is that a group of school friends come together to decorate the spider's bench.

The positives of this book are that the language is simple, the typeface is large, and there are only a few sentences per page. Chapters are very short. There are black-and-white illustrations on each page.

The main negative is that it is so unlikely that children will befriend a spider and go to such lengths to improve its home. The other negative is the book’s poor-quality pages.

I Love to Draw

I Love to Draw by Dale Baker (Big Sky Publishing), RRP $24.99 Picture Book ISBN 9-781923-514263

Reviewed by Susan Hancy

Do you have a budding young artist in the family? Or a child who loves to scribble? Perhaps even you would like some sneaky drawing tips to impress the kids? 

I Love to Draw combines the concept of a “how to draw …” [fill in the blank] instructional guide with a picture book story. Told in verse, the reader is introduced to the possibilities of what could be created when you tap into your imagination. Young minds are challenged – is that an elephant or an upside-down swan? How has the head of a cow become a seal and then transformed into a penguin? Then it’s time for the reader to pick up their own pencil and grab some paper. Follow along, and with a few simple steps, you’ll be impressed with what you can also create!

This is an enjoyable book for kids ages 4 to 7. Even though the verse's rhythm is inconsistent in places, the concept is strong, and the illustrations carry the book to a successful conclusion. 

Buzz Words Competition

Buzz Words Competition

Children’s author Roz Moriarty has kindly donated two copies of her picture book (Beach Song with Samantha Campbell) as prizes in a subscriber-only competition.

To win a copy, please send an original title for a very funny chapter book to dibates@outlook.com and include your postal address. Mark the subject heading as Chapter Book Title and include your postal address. The winners will be announced in the next issue of Buzz Words, 15 March.

Are You the Easter Bunny?

Are You the Easter Bunny? by Janeen Brian, illustrated by Lucinda Gifford (Angus & Robertson) HB ISBN 9781460765494

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Bilbies, which not many know, are one of Australia’s most important and endangered animals. 

In this joyful picture book, an Australian author and illustrator show the animal in its natural habitat, the desert.

Numerous children's books have been written about the Easter bilby, but this picture book, ideal for readers aged 4 to 7, turns that idea on its head. This bilby replies to a small red bird that asks if it’s the Easter bunny. It explains its world: how it digs holes that shelter it from the heat, how it listens, sniffs, and feels for its food, how it uses its’ whiskery sniffer-snout’  to find seeds and grubs, and how it uses its ‘tall pink straight ups’ (its ears) to listen.

Ideal for carers and teachers to read aloud, this text in strong, rhyming verse, uses rich language such as ‘four scritcher-scratchers’ and 'a long, slim bottom wriggler’ which will surely elicit giggles from young children.

The illustrations make good use of white space and reds and greys, showing the bilby in its environment.

By the book’s end, the reader will be assured that a bilby is not an Easter ‘bunny’, but an animal that is Australian. It concludes with the words, ‘I’m a bilby, hip hooray! But I think it’s grand to help the lands. And I hope I’m here to stay.

Ghost Detectives: Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost

Exciting News! author Jeanette Stampone, illustrator Jasmine Berry and publisher Dianne Bates are thrilled to share that Ghost Detectives: Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost is being re-released this March. This means more opportunities to buy this spook-tastic junior fiction book. Hooray!

Nine-year-old Terry Fide dreams of being the next great ghost detective like his dad. But there's one problem. Terry Fide is terrified of anything remotely scary (except his ghost-dog, Bones).

 When Terry's dad is called to work in Sydney, Terry is left to deal with a spook causing havoc at the bakery. He is joined by Bones and two friends. Max, an avid clue-collect and Avery, an inventor. Will they solve the mystery? Will Terry ever become a real ghost detective? 

A fun, spooky junior fiction book for emerging readers. The first of three in the Ghost Detective series.  

Illustrated by @jasmineberry and published by @aboutkidsbooks.

Available online at Dymocks, Sanity, Booktopia or Amazon. Or ask at your local bookshop.

#rerelease #ghostdetectives #juniorfiction #australianbooks #kidlit

How to Make Friends and Go Viral by Accident

 

How to Make Friends and Go Viral by Accident by Y. K. Willemse (Rhiza Edge) RRP: $14.99 ISBN 9781761113109

Reviewed by Rebecca Fung

How to Make Friends and Go Viral by Accident is one of the Rhiza Shorts series, a short fiction for teens. It's laid out as if it's a funny guide to making friends and going viral, following Hayden's journey, where, of course, he ends up doing both. Don't really expect to use it as a real guide, just a funny and touching story! 

Hayden has a stutter, and his parents want to force him into singing lessons to help him find his voice, build his confidence, and improve his social life. I was a little wary of this idea from the parents: Hayden was taking solo classes and resented the idea, so was this the right way to help him feel confident? But it propelled the story, so let's see.

As Hayden is thirteen, this story is pitched at the younger end of the teen spectrum. The language and the simplicity of the story and concepts meant I felt the story would most appeal to the lower-teen to upper-middle-grade spectrum. It's an area where many readers would welcome stories, since many books focus on readers much younger or much older.

Hayden thinks singing is for girls and suffers from his friends' teasing. His story involves befriending girls and changing people's minds - including his own - about sex stereotypes in singing. The singing lessons are a hoot. Mrs Williamson is a funny character who intersperses comedy with sympathy and wisdom. She guides rather than lectures Hayden, so he begins to discover singing and really loves it.

There are elements many teens will relate to, even if they don't relate to singing - the need to fit in, friendship, feeling nervous, finding themselves and what they really care about, being bullied, being embarrassed by parents, and laughing at parents and how they don't understand teen slang!

Willemse captures this journey well in a concise story with a lot of heart. I found Hayden someone I could cheer for and laugh with through his flaws and uncertainty. The music of his world was unifying and inspiring.

Amanda Commander: The Great Orange Bake Off

Amanda Commander: The Great Orange Bake Off by Coral Vass (Wombat Books) RRP: $12.99 ISBN 9781761112195

Reviewed by Rebecca Fung

This is part of the Amanda Commander book series, though it's perfectly possible to read it as a stand-alone story. This chapter book is about the school baking competition where everyone must include a special ingredient, an orange.

Amanda's paired with Eve for the bake-off, even though she doesn't like Eve and her competitive nature. Lucia and Mai, Amanda's best friends, aren't very happy with the arrangement either, and try to help Amanda to get back with them, the Dolphin Squad.

The chapter book is presented with fun visuals that may appeal to young children. There are plenty of pictures, and some of the text is laid out as handwritten notes, diary scribbles, text messages, posters, and so on, which break up the normal writing and make it appealing. It's a good way to introduce text to young readers and keep it from being too intimidating.

Amanda's chirpy voice telling the story to us is engaging for a young reader who may relate to the excitement of a child with her friends - her interest in having a "headquarters" with her friend, and her eagerness to keep the gang together. These little childhood emotions keep the book going. 

However, the main story of the book, while it may seem fun (who doesn't like food and competition?), is ultimately not very dramatic or tense. The friendship issues are resolved a tad too easily. There didn't seem to be much difficulty in working out what to do with the orange. It's not a story for those seeking suspense, intensity or challenges in their events. The story will satisfy those who want to hang out with Amanda and the girls and enjoy a happy, comfortable time.