Today’s post written by Peta
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
I’m always full of admiration when an author donates royalties to a good cause. Except for a lucky few, it’s almost impossible to eke out a living as an author in Australia, which is why I’m leading this month’s book review post with Noah’s Garden. The author deserves a big hand for her generosity! All the titles below are available at Fishpond Bookstore, who charge $5.99 flat rate postage Australia-wide, with orders $50+ shipped free.
Looking to connect with some tried and true a favourites? Check out the KidStyleFile Reader’s Choice Top 40 Children’s Books.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Noah’s Garden by Mo Johnson, illustrated by Annabelle Josse
$27.99 $26.42 at Fishpond Books
Noah’s Garden is a delightful picture book based on a true story. In December 2005, Jessica Titmus was born at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital with a life-threatening heart condition. Thankfully, after a seven-month stay in the Hospital, Jessica won her fight to survive. During this period, her family demonstrated such resilience and love that they inspired family friend Mo Johnson to write this book.
Noah’s Garden is the fictionalised story of how Jessica’s brother, Noah, coped with his baby sister’s illness by retreating daily into the Hospital gardens to play. He forgets his fears for Jessica by creating an imaginary world in the garden, in which he bathes with tigers, fights with pirates and dances with penguins. But Noah asks frequently for Jessica, longing for her to join him in the garden. (His parents bring his sister to him on the final page).
Stunning illustrations and a heartfelt and optimistic story make this a beautiful reading choice – AND all royalties earned by Mo Johnson for the sale of the Aussie edition of this book will be donated to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne! There’s much to love about Noah’s Garden.
$14.99 at Fishpond Books
This book is hands down my favourite from the titles reviewed this month. I’m a bit of a sucker for books that can be understood on two levels. I love nuances that sail over the heads of young ‘uns, but cause adults to secretly smile or feel moved in some way.
Colin Thompson, who has had more than 50 books published, does this brilliantly. Free To A Good Home is his latest work. It’s about the Smith family, who are a little different from most families. They’re no good at cooking, housework or homework, and with Mr Smith’s penchant for collecting strange things incase they come in handy one day, their home is a jumble.
The children, Peter and Sally, add to the confusion by bringing home an old lady they find at the mall. The old lady has never been a grandmother, and the children have never had grandparents, so the arrangement suits everyone – except Mrs Smith, who worries about the ethics of bringing home an old lady as if she were a stray cat. But her concerns magically dissolve in a lavender oil bath as “Granny” gets the kids ready for school. The Smiths, and Granny, have never been happier!
This book is most definitely offbeat, and if you are looking for a more conventional bedtime story, best you look elsewhere! With impressively detailed computer-generated illustrations, Colin Thompson brings us a book that is very funny, with the missive that it’s juuust fine to be a little bit wacky if you’re surrounded by people you love! I laughed as I read its closing line – “See, you can choose your relatives” and saw the slogan on young Peter’s shirt: “Children of Hippies Support Group.”
Zoobots by Bruce Whatley and Ben Smith Whatley
$24.99 at Fishpond Books
Perfect for preschoolers and children just having started school is Zoobots, a quirky offering from this father-and-son team.
Zebo and her friends Hyde and TC live in Junk Jungle, a scrappy place (rather like a tip) filled with discarded things. Zebo likes her friends a lot, but she longs for another friend, one a little smaller in size than Hyde, and a little bigger than TC. So she sets out to craft herself a new mate from the odds and ends in Junk Jungle.
This book celebrates the joy of having good friends, and making new ones, and tells us that one person’s trash is another’s treasure! With its computer animation-style illustrations, Zoobots is refreshingly different. It, too, has little gems within its pages for the adults to savour, such as when Zebo says the new friend they’re building “might be a she” and so “we’ll need to add a brain”!
A Giraffe in the Bath by Mem Fox & Olivia Rawson, illustrated by Kerry Argent
$24.99 $23.97 at Fishpond Books
How coincidental! As I sit writing my reviews with the TV on in the background, who should come on The Circle to plug this book but the legendary Mem Fox! This lady needs no introduction: she’s the author of a zillion wonderful picture books, including Possum Magic.
Well, I now know (thanks to the telly) that Mem considers it incredibly difficult to write a children’s picture book. Sure, there are far fewer words than in an adult book, but that means they must be chosen with great care, and attention paid to their rhythm and rhyme – it’s a true art! (She certainly nipped in the bud the common assumption that writing a kid’s book is child’s play!)
A Giraffe in the Bath is another example of Mem magic. A giraffe in the bath – now does that make you laugh? Or a sheep in the shower? Or a frog in the flour? Kids will love the rhyming text as they laugh at animals in silly scenarios. And who better to illustrate this book than Kerry Argent, one of Australia’s best loved kids’ book illustrators, who launched her own career with the Australian classic One Woolly Wombat.
$24.99 $23.97 at Fishpond Books
Even if you’ve never heard of Rosemary Milne, there’s no doubt her best known work is familiar to you and your children: she wrote the Playschool theme, There’s a Bear in There!
There’s a Goat in my Coat is full of playful, simple poems that are fabulous for developing children’s language. Catchy rhymes, lively subject matter and lots of repetition will have children soaking up the words like little sponges!
Rosemary says she uses “rhymes and rhythms that will delight them, like ice-cream, making children want to taste the words again and again.” My 14-month-old has a very short attention span when I read to her, but this one had her quite transfixed.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Songs For Stories event – Supporting indigenous literacy
Just a little note for those in Sydney: if you, like me, believe it’s important for everyone in this fine country of ours to have the chance to learn to read and write, please consider buying a ticket and heading along to Songs For Stories on Saturday 15 May at 7.30pm at the Sydney Town Hall.
Josh Pyke is heading an exciting line-up of musicians, including Katie Noonan and The Captains. Hosted by Julie McCrossin, this concert is a celebration of words and music to raise urgently needed funds for The Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP), which supplies books and literacy resources to remote indigenous communities.
Tickets are $65 ($55 concession) and are available at www.sydneytheatre.org.au or by calling (02) 9250 1988. For further information on the ILP, visit www.indigenousliteracyproject.org.au
