April Underhill

by Bob Graham

Walker Books. Australian, Picture Book. Hardcover RRP $29.99

April and Esme Underhill have a special task to perform. Grandma has rung April’s mobile phone and asked April to collect Daniel’s tooth. Younger sister Esme is keen to help.

April and Esme have never collected a tooth before. It’s a big responsibility but they’re very excited when mum and dad agree they can go. When Daniel stirs, a little advice from dad via a text message from mum, helps them convince Daniel he is having a wonderful dream.

It was a smile moment for me when April expresses surprise that human children think tooth fairies are magical creatures.

Bob Graham’s whimsical illustrations bring to life these tooth fairies who use mobile phones and send text messages. At the same time he weaves in the traditional story as mum reminisces of the time before the motorway when “foxes still chased hares on the hills and things were different back then.”

My favourite page is where April and Esme fly off into the night:

              “The wind took them and shook them, pushed them and pulled them.
              It shivered down Esme’s wings and rippled through the feathers of a passing owl.”

Zelah Green

Who says I’m a freak?

by Vanessa Curtis

Hardie Grant Egmont. Young Adult, Humour. Paperback RRP $16.95

Reviewer - Barbara Brown

Zelah Green has a problem. Zelah doesn’t think that it’s that big of a problem but her stepmother has decided it is.

Zelah can’t touch people. She doesn’t like dirt and hates germs. She has to keep her bizarre and strange routines correct otherwise something bad happens, like when her mother died and her father left.

When Zelah’s stepmother sends her to a special hospital, Zelah realises her quirks may be a little bit strange, but not as strange as the other inhabitants, Alice the anorexic, Caro the self-mutilator and Sol the silent but cute guy.

Zelah Green is a funny yet touching story of modern-day problems that are very real for many children. An easy read recommended for the high school library book shelf.

http://www.vanessacurtis.com/

Warambi

by Aleesah Darlison, illustrated by Andrew Plant

Working Title Press. Australian, Picture Book. Hardcover RRP $24.95

Reviewer - Sandy Fussell

Warambi is a little bent-wing bat, born into the safety of the nursery cave, surrounded by a colony of family and friends. Her life is comfortable. She grows fur, learns to fly and hunts for moths and beetles with her mother.

One day, a terrible thing happens. “Sunlight and metal burst into the darkness. The pups and their mothers squeaked in terror, whirring and wheeling about.” In the confusion, Warambi is separated from the colony.

Alone and lost, she finds shelter but the strange noises around her new home are frightening. She feels unsafe. Then gentle human hands find her and release her into the night in a place where she can hear the sound of other bats. Warambi finds a new family.

Andrew Plant’s illustrations are a wonderful exploration of colour. The world is blue when Warambi learns to drink water. Inside the colony’s cave is a warm brown environment. The forest is bright green and the night is dark.

This is a story which provides a number of discussion points for early readers – the life cycle of the bat, environmental threats and the need to belong and feel safe. Information about miniopterus australis, the bent-wing bat, is contained inside the front and back cover.

The Reading Stack reviewed Puggle's Problem by Aleesah Darlison in November 2010.

http://www.aleesahdarlison.com/

http://www.andrewplant.com/

Unearthly

by Cynthia Hand

Harper Collins. Young Adult, Fantasy. Paperback RRP $24.99

Reviewer - Barbara Brown

When Clara turned fourteen her mother told her that she was special. The angel blood that runs through her makes her smarter, stronger and faster than humans. She is on this earth to fulfil a purpose and that she will have to follow her destiny.

Clara is now sixteen and has a dream that comes to her any time, day or night, sleeping or awake - a dream of a forest fire and a boy. This boy and the fire are Clara’s purpose. But what does she have to do? Does she have to save the boy from the fire?

Clara’s purpose leads her and her family to Wyoming. Here she meets the boy of her visions, Christian. He is the most popular boy in school and is dating the most popular girl. Others see Clara as infatuated with Christian, as are all the girls in the school.

The purpose, Clara soon realises, is only a small part of being an angel, or part-angel and she finds there are good and bad angels and that she has a bigger fight on her hand.

Then she meets Tucker. A boy who tugs at her heart. When the time comes and the forest fire starts Clara realises that both Christian and Tucker are in danger. Who does she choose? And will her decision change the purpose she is destined for?

Unearthly is the first book in a trilogy. It is a captivating story that dragged me along and had me reading it within 24 hours. Now to find out what happens in Hallowed due out in early 2012.

www.cynthiahandbooks.com

Lily’s Wish

by Barbara Pyett and Illustrated by Serena Geddes

New Frontier Publishing. Australian, Children’s Picture. Soft cover RRP $9.95

Lily writes to Santa asking for just one Christmas wish. Santa writes back to Lily with suggestions for her wish. The correspondence continues until Christmas Eve when Santa pays Lily a visit to grant her wish.

Lily’s Wish is primarily a book for young children but it is also a book grandparents all over the world will love to be given from their grandchildren for Christmas.

A beautiful story with captivating yet simple watercolour illustrations that will become a favourite in many families.

Serena Geddes - http://www.reeni.com.au/

Brave

by Mark Whittaker

Pan Macmillan. Australian, Biography, Other. Paperback RRP $34.99

Guest Reviewer – Ian Brown

Walkley Award winning journalist Mark Whittaker, has written a unique book about ordinary men and women who perform incredible acts of bravery - entering a flooded stormwater drain to rescue a child,  plunging into a burning car to rescue a woman and her child and swimming out to a man who had just been attacked by a shark. These are just some of the dozen stories from the everyday heroes Whittaker has interviewed.
The interviews explore not only how people make a split second decision to help someone, but also the aftermath of their actions. Many suffer guilt that they did not save another or become extremely traumatised. And in some cases it destroys their lives. Many had no counselling or any form of help at all and ironically ended up in worse shape than some of the people that they rescued.


You may even remember hearing about some of the incidents in the book, I certainly did. This book is well worth reading.

Nancy Bentley

The First Australian Female Sailor

by Tracey Hawkins and illustrated by Jacqui Grantford

New Frontier Publishing. Australian, Junior, Historical. Hardcover RRP $24.95

Nancy Bentley lived in Port Arthur, Tasmania in 1920. While playing around the harbour she was bitten by a snake. There were no hospitals or doctors nearby but luckily the HMAS Sydney was moored in the bay. The problems began the moment Nancy set foot on the ship. In those days, no woman was allowed on board a naval vessel. The Captain was at a dilemma. How could Nancy stay on board under the care of the ships surgeon? A unique solution was found. At six years of age Nancy Bentley was enlisted into the Royal Australian Navy.

Children will delight in reading this wonderful story that tells a small but interesting part of Australia’s history. With original photographs and scans of Nancy’s entrance and discharge papers, Nancy Bentley is an excellent Australian history book to have on school shelves.

The Reading Stack reviewed Tracey Hawkins Martha’s Journey in April 2009 and Jacqui Grantford’s Molly’sMemory Jar in March 2010.