1. ‘Ant Party’ by Ross Montgomery & Illustrated by Sarah Warburton
As
we all know Ants are very hard workers; no lazy life for them! In an
unspectacular piece of ground, a new day was dawning for a nest of ants.
The farmer ants were collecting food, and the worker ants were building
tunnels. And of course, the soldier ants were guarding the Queen. “But
for one ant, it was a very special birthday!” While he wanted to
celebrate properly, his house was very small, so he decided just to
invite the neighbours for the ‘little’ gathering. That’s simple; but
then again, perhaps not.
But
the few neighbours they invited spread the news about the party at
Andy’s that night. The neighbours thought they were such great workers
that they invited a few extra friends. But after the flying ants sent a
message across the jungle… Well, the message spread everywhere – including ants from ‘The
Nutshell’, ‘Sunflower City’, ‘Ant Hills’ and the ‘Great Puddle’. The
first guests soon arrived, but when Andy opened the door, he could
see a massive sea of ants.
But
then there their ant hill rumbled and they heard a knock at the door.
It was an Anteater! He was hungry. But Andy wasn’t afraid. He shouted to
the other ants “CONGAAAA!”. And the ants formed a great conga line.
They caught him and threw him into the river. What a great move. And they
celebrated well into the evening. It was the best party ever!
2. ‘Tomato Sandwich’ Written & Illustrated by Caroline Magerl
You
may have seen me post on this wonderful book recently, but I wanted to say a
little more about this fabulous picture book. Now, right off the bat,
let me say that soggy tomato sandwiches bring up some VERY bad memories
for me of such school lunch ‘delights’! So when the fly leaf tells me
this is for those “who turn soggy sandwiches into delicious days” they
have my attention!! For my American friends, I should tell you that sit
down dining room lunches, is not what Australian schools generally have.
We used to bring lunch from home and eat these un-refridgerated delights in hot
schoolyards. This is still much the same today, but High Schools (and some Elementary or Primary Schools), have canteens where better food can be purchased, if you can afford such things.
Award
winning author-illustrator Caroline Magerl has given us an incredible
wordless book! There is a uniqueness in this work rarely seen. Our
central character wakes to a less than normal day. Just who has decided
to start the vacuum cleaner so early?! This must be stopped! So, with
‘magic’ wand in hand she stops the culprit. Perhaps a nice breakfast
will calm her down. She has the cleaning culprit at her mercy. What will
she choose for her treat?
Cereal?
Boiled eggs? No, I have them at my mercy. A very special cupcake.
Sadly’ it ends up as just a sandwich. She sets off with her trusty dog
and her sling shot for a day out. Perhaps she can get a cup cake at the
local cake shop? Meanwhile, her Dad, has been cooking a cup cake, unsuccessfully. She arrives at home with the smell of smoke. The day continues
in many unexpected ways.
Caroline
Magerl was born in Frankfurt Germany, but came to Australia aged 2 (so
we’re claiming her as our author)! She lived on her families’ yacht until she
was 14. In 2001 she won the Children’ Book Council of Australia
Crighton Award for new talent in children’s book illustration for ‘Maya
and Cat’. Her book ‘Nop’ was awarded a CBCA Honour book, and her latest
book ‘Piano Fingers’ was awarded as a ‘Notable Book’.
3. ‘Something Terrible – Tim Tie-Your-Shoelaces’ by Sally Barton & illustrated by Christopher Nielsen
This
wonderfully illustrated book for children aged 7-9 is very funny and
yet it has a wonderful underlying message about pollution. Author Sally
Barton and illustrator Christopher Nielsen also produced a book
about the environment and the varied waste that finds its way into our
drains and sewers.
This current
book is 84 pages long, but is typically at least half illustrations on
each page. Every page has illustrations which are very comical. The
black and white drawings while cartoon like are not like most comics you
will find.
Tim
Mulligan is the boy at the centre of the story. This boy, aged about
nine, never (I repeat NEVER!) ties his shoelaces. In fact most people
think his name is “Tim-tie-your-shoelaces”. This is because both his
mother and father EVERY day would tell him to TIE his shoelaces. They would call out to him as he ran for the bus, “Tie Your Shoelaces”. He
didn’t listen and NEVER tied his shoelaces.
This
had never been a problem to him until one day he was to meet Mr
Willbanks, who had the less than desirable job of cleaning the sewerage
drains underground. When he entered each day he always posted a sign “DO
NOT ENTER”! Now Tim as it happened was walking along the path to school
as usual with his shoelaces flapping when he trod on one lace. He tripped
and slid into an open drain hole and into SEWER NUMBER 9. Now Mr
Willbanks was there, NOT just to clean and dodge rats, bats, lizards and snakes,
and cope with smells and sewerage. He was there to hunt for a very large
crocodile named Matilda! You will need to get this special book to find
out how it ends.
4. ‘Something Terrible – Becky Brush-Your-Hair!’ by Sally Barton & illustrated by Christopher Nielsen
Here is another gem from Sally Barton, in what I hope will be a longer series of very funny books for 7-9 year olds. Becky Culpepper has wonderful hair, but her parents who have to chase her out every day and call out “Becky Brush Your Hair”. So much so, that most people think that this is her name. Her Dad will implore her by saying “you’ll be mistaken for a bird’s nest”. She never listened so her hair remained “knit-knotting, twist-twirling” as she walks. But one day, something terrible did happen! It was Tim Mulligan who spotted the problem one morning while riding his bike. He exclaimed “Becky, you have two little birds in your hair”.
Becky tried everything to rid her hair of the birds, but nothing worked. Her teacher was not happy. Her teacher would exclaim “stop that cheap-chirping”. Eventually, she was sent to the Principal’s office.
Becky didn’t mind the birds or the cheep-chirping, nor did her friend Tim Mulligan, and strangely no-one else seemed to notice.
But eventually, because it disturbed others, she felt she needed to be rid of them. But nothing seemed to get rid of them!! Worse still, more birds came! Middle-sized birds and then quite large birds.
What on earth could possibly make things worse? You’ll need to get the book to find out. Young readers aged up to 12 will enjoy this book. While the book is 80 pages, every page has wonderful drawings that take up at least 50% of the book. The images mean that even younger readers could be ‘stretched’ by reading the books. The language used is no more than a Grade 5-6 level.
5. ‘Down The Plot Hole’ by Annaleise Byrd
Terry began to read the book before him, “The Complete Fairy tales of the Brother’s Grim”, but he suddenly stopped and exclaimed as he pointed to the book, “there’s a word missing”!! It was missing the small golden swan symbol beneath the title. He knew this cleverly showed to those who were wise, that this book had a portal into the Fairytale world! To go there you need only to touch the golden symbol.
This
is a more substantial 174 page book with no illustrations. As such it
is more suitable for better readers aged 12 yrs. The spacing and print size
means that it would be a reasonably quick read for average readers in
less than two weeks, at 2-3 chapters per day.
In the story, we meet two boys, who were
reluctant readers were reading the Bothers Grimm again. This was in
spite of the fact that the last time they read this book, they were
plunged into the fairy tale world. They have no hesitation in doing this
again.
This action packed 174 page book will be loved by children who enjoy reading about funny action packed adventure stories. As well, it is filled with mystery, magic and fantastic adventures. It also has a novel short quiz at the end that children will enjoy completing.
