Category Archives: children

May 16, 2013 · 8:00 am

Picture Book Nook: Dog Loves Counting by Louise Yates

Louise Yates creates picture books that combine two of my favourite things – dogs and books.  Louise introduced us to her book-loving Dog in Dog Loves Books, and then came Dog Loves Drawing.  Dog is cute, lovable, totally addicted to books and one talented wee pooch.  Dog shows how exciting and fun reading can be.  Louise’s latest book is Dog Loves Counting and it’s an absolutely terrific book.

Dog can’t get to sleep.  He loves books so much that he just can’t stop reading.  Dog tries counting sheep, but it’s not working – perhaps there are some other creatures he can count?  Soon Dog is off on an adventure, finding friends and numbers in unexpected places.

Dog Loves Counting is a cute, funny story in which Dog takes us on a journey inside a book to help him solve his problem.  Louise had me from the first page,

‘Dog loved books.  He loved reading them late into the night and didn’t like to leave them for long.’

You immediately relate to Dog and you want him to be your best friend.  When he can’t sleep he reaches for a book and hopes that it might help.  He discovers all sorts of creatures and makes some new friends within the covers of his book.  Not only that, it also helps him with his problem of not being able to sleep.  The text is simple, yet fun and I really like the way it flows over the page.  Louise has created a sense of anticipation of what creature will be on the next page and what there will be to count.

I love Louise’s illustrations, from the loveable Dog and his stacks of books, to the multicoloured Dodo, the Three-Toed Sloth, and the Five-Lined Skink.  Each of the pages made me laugh, but I especially like the picture of Dog in bed, surrounded by sheep with books in their mouths.  The way that Louise has incorporated the numbers into the story is really clever too and it makes the story more interactive for children.  Louise has also created some stunning endpapers too that add an extra surprise to the book and incorporate numbers, stars and the creatures from the story.

Louise’s Dog books aren’t just for kids, but also for book-lovers everywhere.  In her character Louise has perfectly captured how much I love books and what makes them so special.  Grab Dog Loves Counting and Louise’s other Dog books from your library or bookshop.

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May 14, 2013 · 8:00 am

House of Secrets by Chris Colombus and Ned Vizzini

Chris Coloumbus is the writer and director of some of my favourite movies, including Gremlins, The Goonies and Home Alone.  He’s a gifted storyteller for the screen who has now delved into the world of children’s books.  His first children’s book is House of Secrets, co-written by Ned Vizzini, and I was interested to see if his books were just as good as his movies.

A secret history… A mysterious family legacy… Dark magic of untold power… And three kids who will risk everything to bring a family back together. The Pagett kids had it all: loving parents, a big house in San Francisco, all the latest video games … But everything changed when their father lost his job as a result of an inexplicable transgression. Now the family is moving into Kristoff House, a mysterious place built nearly a century earlier by a troubled fantasy writer with a penchant for the occult. Suddenly the siblings find themselves launched on an epic journey into a mash-up world born of Kristoff’s dangerous imagination, to retrieve a dark book of untold power, uncover the Pagett family’s secret history and save their parents … and maybe even the world.

House of Secrets is an action-packed blockbuster of a book about three children who are transported into the world of fiction.  There’s something in this story to appeal to all kids – adventure, mystery, magic, witches, giants, warriors, pirates, and fictional characters coming to life. Most readers have wanted to actually be in the world of a story at some stage, and this is exactly what happens to Cordelia, Brendan and Eleanor (even if it was the last thing they wanted).

Chris and Ned have said that the story was originally going to be a screenplay for a movie, but they thought it would be too expensive to make so they adapted it into a book.  I thought this came through quite clearly as the story really reads like it should be a movie.  It’s quite fast-paced and there is lots of action so it will definitely keep kids’ attention.  I can see why it would have cost so much to make this story into a movie, because it’s quite epic and there would be huge special effects involved.  The house that the children find themselves transported in is much like the Tardis (‘it’s bigger on the inside’), with lots of hidden passageways, and it gets battered about by witches, giants and pirates.  There are many different fictional worlds, filled with different creatures and characters.

Although I loved the story and the way the authors kept the action moving along, I found the children quite stereotypical and a bit flat.  Within the first 10 pages you’ve had a detailed description of what the three children look like and how old they are, which just seemed a little bit forced to me.  I guess it’s probably a movie thing and they’re trying to give us a picture of the characters, but you don’t need to know everything about a character within the first few minutes.

The plot races along right to the end and leaves the story hanging for the next book in the series.  I’ll be looking forward to discovering what comes next for the Walker children.

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May 13, 2013 · 8:00 am

The Trouble with Mummies by F.R. Hitchcock

Hot Key Books are a UK based publisher who publish ‘stand out, quality fiction’ for 9-19 year olds.  Every time I go and check out their website to see what they’ve got coming up I add most of their books to my TBR pile.  They have introduced me to some wonderful new authors and some really original stories, including the marvelous Fleur Hitchcock.  Last year I loved her debut book, Shrunk, so when I heard she had a new book coming out I had to grab it.   The Trouble with Mummies is her latest book and it’s sure to have kids roaring with laughter.

Sam comes home one day to find his family turning strange – his mum is redecorating using hieroglyphics and his dad is building a pyramid in the back garden. He hopes it’s just a weird new fashion… but then the strangeness starts to spread. With the help of his friends Ursula, Henry and Lucy the Goat, Sam must save his town from rampaging Roman rugby players, hairdressers turned cavewomen, and a teacher who used to be a ‘basket of kittens’ but now wants to sacrifice the Year Ones to the Aztec sun god. As history invades Sam’s world, will he be able to keep the Greeks away from the Egyptians and discover the cause of the Mummy madness?

The Trouble with Mummies is a crazy adventure, where history comes alive and the kids have to solve the mystery before it’s too late.  When Sam’s parents start acting weirdly he gets the feeling something strange is going on.  Then his teacher dresses up in a wetsuit covered in feathers, and his PE teacher lines his class up in ranks and throws a javelin at them, so Sam knows that things aren’t right.  The people in his town get weirder and weirder and it’s up to Sam and his friends to figure out what is causing them to act so strangely.  Is it something they ate or drunk or have they all just lost their minds?

Fleur brings her love of history into the story with the different ancient peoples.  Sam’s parents become Egyptians, painting the house with hieroglyphics and building a pyramid, Miss Primrose becomes an Aztec and plans to sacrifice Sam’s friend Henry, and Ursula’s parents become Trojans.  It’s the perfect book for those kids who are really interested in history and ancient civilizations in particular.  If you know a Horrible Histories fan, you need to get them this book.  If your kids don’t already love history, then this book might just get them hooked.  You’ll certainly never look at your museum the same way again!

The thing I love the most about Fleur’s books is that they are unique stories full of imagination that are aimed at younger readers.  Forget Zac Power and Beast Quest, get your boys reading Shrunk and The Trouble with Mummies and they’ll be hooked on books.  Both of Fleur’s books also make great read alouds and they’re bound to have both you and your children laughing out loud.

What better way to hook readers in than show them the Hot Key Books ‘What’s in it?’ book key – Cavemen, Pyramids, Romans and Beards.  Who wouldn’t want to read a book with all that in it?

Check out this video of Fleur Hitchcock reading the first chapter of The Trouble with Mummies:

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May 9, 2013 · 8:00 am

Picture Book Nook: Breakfast by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Amy Lam

Joy Cowley has written many wonderful stories throughout the years and she has created characters that children have grown up with.  I don’t think you can go through primary school in New Zealand without reading one of her junior readers or being read one of her picture books.  Clean Slate Press have published many of Joy’s stories and they’ve just released a delightful new picture by Joy Cowley and illustrated by Amy Lam, called Breakfast.

BreakfastEach morning the breakfast dishes get themselves ready for breakfast.  The jug gets all the dishes and cutlery, table and chairs ready for the noisy, messy children that come racing downstairs for breakfast.  After yet another ‘breakfast war,’ the children leave ‘jam in a puddle and milk in a pool’ as well as bent spoons and broken cups and plates.  When the children are gone, the breakfast dishes clean everything up and fly into the dishwasher with smiles on their faces.

Breakfast is a story that children (and parents) will be wishing was true.  If only all your dishes would magically transport themselves to the dishwasher when we leave the room!  Joy has taken an everyday occurrence and turned it into a magical experience.  Children will have a good giggle at the antics of the breakfast dishes, while parents will relate to the chaos of breakfast time.  It’s a simple story with rhyming text that makes it great for sharing with younger children.

Amy Lam’s soft, but colourful illustrations are the perfect match for Joy’s text.  The dishes all look happy, and even when they’ve been battered and bent, they’re ready to jump back in the dishwasher and do it all again tomorrow.  I love the cover with the splash over the title and it’s sure to stand out on the shelf.  Clean Slate Press have once again produced a beautiful hardcover picture book, with very cute end papers.

Breakfast will make a great addition to any school or home library.

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May 6, 2013 · 8:00 am

Once Upon a Slime by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

Is this the right book for you?

Take the SLIME TEST and find out.

- Have you ever wondered where ideas come from and how stories are made?

- Would you like to know the true stories behind some of Andy and Terry’s books and characters?

- Would you like to discover 45 great ways to have fun with words and pictures?

SCORE: If you answered YES to any of these questions, then this is definitely the right book for you! If you answered NO to all of these questions then you are an IDIOT and this is DEFINITELY the right book for you!

Once Upon a Slime is a must-have book for young writers and fans of Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. The book is crammed full of ideas from Andy and Terry’s books to get you writing and have fun while doing it. There are heaps of examples of the crazy, stupid and disgusting stories from Andy and Terry’s books, along with 45 writing and storytelling activities.  They give you ideas for writing lists, instructions, cartoons, letters, personal stories, poems and pocket books.  You can have a go at:

  • Designing your own crazy machine
  • Draw something exploding
  • Make an ‘I hate’ list
  • Write a list of scary things
  • Make the unbelievable believable
  • Write your own time wasting cartoon

The book is aimed at kids so it’s easy to read and great to dip in and out of.  It’s also a great resource for teachers as there are heaps of great writing ideas that are quick and fun ways to get kid’s imaginations flowing.

I tried using some of the activities on the Christchurch Kids Blog last week as a school holiday activity and got some really cool writing from the kids.  Check out their Andy Griffiths Writing Challenge samples and why not try them yourself.

Grab a copy of Once Upon a Slime from your library or bookshop now and let your imagination run wild!

Here’s a video of Andy Griffiths talking about the book and trying some of his own writing activities:

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May 3, 2013 · 8:00 am

Picture Book Nook: Bang by Leo Timmers

I’ve been a huge fan of Leo Timmers ever since Gecko Press first introduced us to his work when they published Who’s Driving? Each book of Leo’s that Gecko publishes seems to be funnier and more clever than the last.  Leo’s latest book from Gecko, Bang, is his best yet.

Bang is virtually wordless but Leo Timmers proves that you don’t need words to tell a hilarious story.  It all starts with a book-loving deer who is driving his car while reading.  Everyone knows that’s a bad idea and that it’s not going to end well.  What starts off with one ‘Bang,’ quickly escalates into a multi-vehicle pile-up, with animals, food, clothes, and paint ending up in one huge mess.

I absolutely love this book!  Leo brings his characters to life in his characteristic, vibrant illustrations.  I love how each of the animals have their own distinct personality and a vehicle that seems to be a perfect match for them and their outfit.  The cat has a very small, pink car and the rabbit has a very long car to fit all her children. Leo’s characters also have very expressive faces that portray all sorts of emotions throughout the story, from the horrified expression of the pig before he crashes, to the stressed expression of the mother rabbit.

There is a wonderful sense of anticipation throughout the whole book.  Each time a new character crashes you wonder what effect it will have on the other characters, and it often has unexpected results.  The sign of a excellent picture book is being able to turn the page and not know what will happen next.    Just when you think you know how the story will end, Leo surprises you.  Each time you read the book you’re bound to find some quirky detail you didn’t see last time.

The book has been beautifully produced by Gecko Press, with delightful end-papers and the wonderful fold-out page right at the end.  One of the reasons I love Gecko Press picture books is that they produce beautiful hard-back editions that will be treasured for many years, and this book is no exception.

Bang is a picture book that adults will love just as much as children and you’ll want to read it again and again. Thank you Gecko Press for bringing us the magic of Leo Timmers!

Win a copy of Bang

Thanks to Gecko Press I have a copy of Bang to give away.  All you have to do to get in the draw is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Friday 10 May (NZ only).

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· 8:00 am

Learn to draw from Oliver Jeffers and Jeff Kinney

If you’ve run out of things to keep your kids entertained in the last few days of the holidays why not get them drawing.  Who better to teach them than Oliver Jeffers and Jeff Kinney!

Oliver Jeffers teaches you how to draw a moose.

Jeff Kinney teaches you how to draw Greg Heffley

Jeff Kinney teaches you how to draw Manny Heffley

 

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May 2, 2013 · 8:00 am

Make some Sneaky Art with your kids

With the weather getting colder and wetter it’s great to have something crafty up your sleeves to entertain your children.  I was pretty useless at art as a kid (and still am) but my dad helped me make some pretty wicked crafty creations.  There are some great art and craft books around and our library shelves are always bursting with them.  Candlewick Press have just released a really cool new craft book by Marthe Jocelyn, called Sneaky Art: Crafty Surprises to Hide in Plain Sight.

Sneaky Art is chock full of quirky yet simple craft ideas that kids will love to make.  Marthe says that sneaky art ‘is quick to install and effortless to remove’ and that each project in the book is ‘meant to be displayed in a public place, for people you may know or may not know, in a made-you-look-twice spirit of fun.’  There are Fractured Faces that you can stick anywhere, tiny bunting for a teeny party, a teensy-weensy washing line, and miniature houses to place in unexpected places.  My favourite idea is something I might just try in the library – Library Shouts.  These are large speech bubbles, with sayings like ‘Best Book Ever!’ and ‘Read Me!’ that you can stick in books to make them jump out at you.

The thing I love about all the ideas in Sneaky Art is that you can make them from stuff you already have at home, including junk mail, magazines, and Post-it notes.  Part of the fun of making the things in this book is finding somewhere funny to leave them.  Together you can plan your sneak art attack.

Next time you’re looking for something to entertain your kids grab a copy of Sneaky Art from your library or bookshop.

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May 1, 2013 · 8:30 am

2013 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Finalist: The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate De Goldi

The ACB with Honora Lee is a finalist in the Junior Fiction category of the 2013 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards.  I reviewed it in October last year,  so if you want to hear all about it and find out what makes it such a worthy finalist, read on.

Kate De Goldi’s last book, The 10PM Question, was a wonderful story and won many awards.  It’s a story that’s loved by adults and children alike, and Kate’s latest book, The ACB with Honora Lee, is bound to have the same crossover appeal.  I first heard about it when Kate talked about it at the Schools Programme for the Christchurch Writer’s Festival and I’ve been dying to read it ever since.  I immediately fell in love with Perry and the residents of Santa Lucia.

Perry’s mother and father are busy people … they’re impatient, they’re tired, they get cross easily. And they think that only children, like Perry, should be kept busy. On Saturday mornings Perry and her father visit her gran, Honora Lee, at the Santa Lucia rest home, but Gran never remembers them. ‘Who is that man?’ Honora Lee asks when Perry’s father leaves the room. After movement class is abruptly cancelled, Perry is allowed to go to Santa Lucia on Thursday afternoons. She discovers her Gran has an unconventional interest in the alphabet, so Perry decides to make an alphabet book with the help of Honora and the others. Soon everyone is interested in Perry’s book project.

The ACB with Honora Lee is a quirky story about an unusual girl who finds friendship in an unlikely place.  The story is brimming with humour, joy, wisdom, and a cast of colourful characters.  It’s set in the Beckenham loop in Christchurch (where I live) and I only wish that I could go and meet Perry, Honora Lee, Dorris and the rest of Kate De Goldi’s characters.  Perry is a unusual girl, who acts and sounds older than her 9 years.  She seems quite lonely when we first meet her.  Her parents are wrapped up in their own problems and don’t seem to have time for her.  They don’t take much notice of her and enroll her in after school activities that she doesn’t really enjoy.  Even when she really enjoys going to visit her gran and the others at the rest home, her parents don’t understand.  Perry makes lots of new friends at Santa Lucia, including her gran’s friend, Doris, and Stephen and Audrey who work there.  The fact that her gran doesn’t remember her doesn’t seem to worry Perry, she just reminds her who she is each time she visits.  The thing that I like the most about Perry is her love of words.  If she hears a word she doesn’t understand she has to find out what it means.

Perry’s gran, Honora Lee, is a real character.  She may not remember who the people around her are, but she remembers songs and lines of Shakespeare.  As one of the characters describes her, she’s ‘crabby as an old apple,’ but she comes out with some hilarious lines.  I especially like it when her and Perry are playing I Spy, because she always gets it around the wrong way.  Here’s a great example, ‘I spy with my little eye,’ said Gran,’something beginning with fat.’

It’s Kate De Goldi’s whole cast of wonderful characters that make The ACB with Honora Lee such an enjoyable read.  Their interactions provide some funny, embarrassing and touching moments.  It’s a story that will be enjoyed by the young and the young at heart and it will leave you with a smile on your face.

4 out of 5 stars

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April 30, 2013 · 8:00 am

What books hold a special place in your heart?

I read a lot of books.  Some of them I forget about almost straight away, but others stick with me long after I’ve turned the last page.  There are only a handful, however, that have a lasting effect on me and hold a special place in my heart.

Some books feel as if they’ve been written just for you, like my favourite children’s book, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.  As soon as I started reading it I knew that I would love it, and the more I read it, the more I felt like Cornelia had written it just for me.  She felt exactly the same about books and stories as I did and it was like she had put the thoughts and feelings inside my head down on paper.  I can’t tell you what I was doing or where I was at the time I first read it because I was completely caught up in the story and didn’t want it to end.  My favourite adult book, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, also had this effect on me.  I’m going to meet him at the Auckland Writer’s Festival in a couple of weeks and I think I’ll probably die of excitement just listening to him talk.

Some books unsettle you and creep in to your head so that you can’t stop thinking about them.  Alex Shearer’s The Speed of the Dark was one of those books for me.  I can’t remember much about the story (I will have to reread this again soon) but the sense of mystery and feeling of unease I got while reading has stuck with me for many years.

Some books just wrench your heart out, by putting you in to the head of a character that faces some horrific situations.  I’ve just finished reading Morris Gleitzman’s books about Felix, Once, Then, Now and After.  These were books that I had been meaning to read for a while but hadn’t got around to reading.  Last year one of my best friends, who is a school librarian, told me I had to read Once.  I did and I’m incredibly grateful to her for making me do so, as this book (and it’s sequels) had a huge impact on me.  Morris Gleitzman is a very talented storyteller, who can write incredibly funny stories as well as incredibly sad and moving stories.  Morris’ stories of Felix’s fight for survival in Poland during World War II are heartbreaking and I know that I will always carry these stories in my head and my heart.  Once, Then, Now and After are stories that everyone should read.  I’ll be meeting Morris Gleitzman at the Reading Matters Conference in Melbourne next month and I’m sure I’m not the only one who will be telling him how much I love these books.

What books hold a special place in your heart?

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