What’s Your Dream?

What’s Your Dream? by Simon Squibb (Puffin Books) PB RRP $16.99 ISBN 9780241798140

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

This is a workbook where young readers are challenged to ‘Discover your potential. Unlock you confidence’ and is written by the number one Sunday Times bestselling author. In this book, Squibb starts by posing the question, ‘What is your dream?’ If the reader has or doesn’t have a dream, the book asks them to write things in the book like what they look like, things they like to do, eat or read. It continues in a step-by-step fashion, giving reasons, for example, the reason why one ought to have a dream (‘it encourages us to take action – thinking about what we can do in our lives and how we can help other people.’)

Interspersed between the break-out sections, Squibb writes of other young people who have had dreams and how their dreams do things like focus on goals ‘that means we know exactly what we want to achieve’ and ‘gives us purpose – a powerful reason for pursuing our dream that keeps us on track to achieve it.’ It is clever how each section builds on the section before and after it.

Kids, aged 8 to 11 years are encouraged to write their answers into the book and to keep on reading. Chapter headings include ‘I’m Ready! How Do I get Started?’ ‘I’ve Started, Now What?’ and ‘I’m Stuck! What should I do?’ right through to ‘I’m Doing it. Am I there yet?’ and ‘I’ve finished! What did I learn?’

The book – printed on poor quality paper – finishes with Chapter 9, ‘The Dream Diary.’ In this section, the child reader is encouraged to open the book every six months and to note down how they’re getting on with their dream. This is followed by double page spreads in which the reader is invited to write down ‘one thing I’ve done,’ ‘One thing I’ve learned,’ ‘One thing I want to do next,’ and ‘One goal I’m setting myself.’

This is a useful, interactive and well-presented and well-designed book. Recommended. 

What’s Next, Spot?

What’s Next, Spot? By Eric Hill (Puffin Books) HB ISBN 9780241738597

This board book provides ‘Lift-the-flap choices for little learners’, and would suit children aged 3 to 6 years. It starts with Spot deciding what to choose for breakfast. Each of his four choices are cereal, toast, pancakes and bread. Under each word (and illustration) is a picture of Spot eating that food. For example, if he chooses toast, there’s a picture of him eating toast with the words, ‘Thanks for the tasty toast.’

Now it’s time for him to leave home for nursery, he must decide what clothes to put on first. Will it be his hat, books, coat, or scarf? The next page shows Spot with his friends crocodile, tiger, hippopotamus, rabbit and monkey at nursery and has him deciding what activity to do first – paint, draw, build with blocks or play outside.

The rest of the book follows a similar pattern with Spot deciding on which costume to wear, and which book to read.

This is a bright, colourful book with simple illustrations. It is sure to be a hit with young readers.

Bluey Mum School

Bluey Mum School (No writer or illustrator mentioned) HB RRP ISBN9781761357176

This is an odd story wherein Bluey plays Mum School with balloons as her children. Their names include Lightning Bolt, Windgust and Dronigan. Mum holds a clipboard and gives scores for various acts performed by Bluey and her brother Bingo. For instance, ‘Zero Points for putting a cushion on Greenie’s head,’ and ‘Two points for telling off Windgust for called Greenie a cushion head.’ It’s not clear why points are being scored.

Eventually all the kids (ie balloons) are put in the pool (a bathtub), except for Greenie who Bluey has fallen in love with.

This was my first Bluey experience, and I must admit I was confused all the way through the book. I’m convinced that children aged 3 to 5 years for whom it’s assumed this board book is marketed will not understand it either.

Tiny

Tiny by Laura Stitzel (Walker Books) PB RRP $25.99 ISBN 9781760658571

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

Laura Stitzel is an author, illustrator and animator from Melbourne. She has illustrated books for Penguin Random House, Scholastic, Hinkler Books and Affirm Press. She is the author/illustrator of two picture books - Mr Mo Starts to Grow (Hachette) and Moonlight Mums (Penguin). 

Laura created the background art and character animation for programs such as the Emmy Award winning Peg + Cat, Disney’s Space Chickens in Space, Warner Bros’ Ginger Snaps and the world’s longest running children’s series, Arthur. Who doesn’t love Arthur?

Tiny tells the story of a little girl who is very small in a big world. She dreams of being big but instead, she repeatedly shrinks, until she eventually becomes the size of a dot. Magically, she discovers that viewing things from such a tiny perspective is wondrous and enchanting. Being small is a superpower.

Laura Stitzel’s words tap into what it’s like to be a child in this big world. She writes from a childlike perspective. The opening page’s wording is concise and powerful. I’m Tiny. I’m really small. The world is so big. The people are tall.  The problem is introduced immediately. Wherever I go, at home or in town, nobody sees me. They never look down. This is how a small child can feel in this big, busy world.

This story connects well to child feelings. It is emotive and most children dream to be bigger.  The story voice is direct, and the page turns work well. Instead of Tiny getting bigger she gets smaller, I love this. It is unexpected and reminds me of the movie Honey I Shrunk the Kids. The child is called to imagine and wonder and see the world through extra tiny eyes. The verbs delight and questioning is used throughout the narrative. What if I shrank even smaller again? The narrative has childlike thoughts, and Stitzel combines words in sentences beautifully. I’d land in a tickle and sail away, bouncing around in the splashes and spray. The word patterning and word play is creative. The ending pulls on heart strings. Aw.

Stitzel’s illustrations are joyful, detailed, and whimsical — the kind that make little hearts sing. They have a delightful energy as they playfully dance creatively across every page. The use of perspective is wondrous and lets a reader feel small and see magical tiny things and be immersed in this story world.  The dream like quality makes this book feel timeless and beautiful. The colour palate is soft yet bright like pink and green.

Tiny is a picture book that has appeal to children aged 4-6 years old. It delights and lets small children know they can see things that big people miss. You see, small things are rarely seen when you are big, and this is what this story brilliantly showcases. It’s magical being a child and seeing the world through small eyes. Why would you want to be bigger?

 

Ten Naughty Numbats – Let’s Count

Ten Naughty Numbats – Let’s Count written by Grace Nolan Illustrated by Nancy Bevington (Big Sky Publishing)  ISBN 9781922896575 RRP $24.99 (HB)

Reviewed by Jude Mullen

This beautifully written and gloriously illustrated counting picture book is one that every early educator and parent will want to have on their bookshelf.

Any children’s book with a hint of naughtiness or mischief in the title is sure to immediately capture the attention of young readers. This title is particularly clever: not only does it include the word ‘naughty’, it also features alliteration and a playful almost-pun, with ‘numbats’  being so similar to ‘numbers’.

The simple yet rich language continues throughout the book, with further alliteration such as ‘wobbly wombats’ and ‘perky possums’. The text also features smooth, unforced rhyme and a comfortable rhythm, making it perfect for reading aloud.

While appropriately sparse, every word of the text earns its place, and is brought to life by the  lively and engaging illustrations. As readers count from one to ten, they encounter vividly illustrated Australian animals that are swimming, playing, gliding, digging, or dreaming—and they are clearly having a great deal of fun. Full of movement, colour and animation, Bevington has also incorporated fun, quirky details in each spread which add freshness and humour. There are elegantly poised black swans wearing crowns, kookaburras peering through binoculars, kangaroos on pogo sticks, and my favourite, wombats wearing head-torches.

Rather than ending when the counting reaches ten, the book extends the enjoyment with four additional spreads, each featuring the animals engaged in new activities alongside different counting experiences to further reinforce early numeracy skills.

This is the first book in a series which introduces children to numbers and counting, while entertaining them with delightfully illustrated Australian furry friends and playful rhyming narrative. It will especially delight 3-6-year-old audiences who will have so much fun that they won’t realise they are learning.

Phoenix

Phoenix by Kimberley Brubaker Bradley (Text Publishing) PB RRP $22.00 ISBN 9781923058774

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

Eleven-year-old Harper’s world has just turned upside down. She has just moved from a large city to a small rural town, following her parents unexpected separation. Everything is new and a stark contrast to what she is used to. Harper now lives with her mother and the family dog in a tiny house next to horse stables… and she isn’t even sure if she likes horses!

One Saturday morning when Harper is home alone and the stables are empty, drivers of a fully loaded ‘kill truck’ dump a severely neglected and emaciated horse in the paddock adjacent to her house. Harper insists that the drivers sign the horse over to her indefinitely. The condition of the horse is unfathomable, and Harper knows nothing about caring for horses, but she is determined to do everything she can to help it return to good health. She names the horse Phoenix as she believes it will come back from the brink of death.

Phoenix is the first book in the upcoming Ride On series, suitable for middle grade readers. This heart-warming narrative is recommended for animal lovers aged 9 years and older who enjoy realistic fiction. Themes include change, hope, determination, perseverance, friendship and family.

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.