Grimsdon

by Deborah Abela

Random House Australia. Australian, Junior, Adventure. Paperback rrp $16.95

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

The city of Grimsdon is under water and three years after the flood, the ‘sneaker waves’ continue to roll in.

Isabella Charm, her best friend, Griffin, twins, Raffy and Bea, and Fly, the girl who never speaks, live in a palatial half-submerged old building. Every day is a struggle to survive - they scrounge for food, brave the dangerous flying fox and dare the waves in a flimsy dinghy – yet the children are happy with each other. Their home furnishings are the stuff of fairytales as they play dress up and act out stories.

But change is on its way - through the air, across the harbour and from under the sea. Dashing Xavier flies in on his aerotrope to admire Isabella and challenge Griffin’s role in the family of children. The ‘harbour master’,

 Byron P Sneddon, makes new and greater demands on the children – including one for the aerotrope. And there just might be a sea monster lurking in the deeps, the dreaded Skelene.

This is a story of magnificent scope. A film waiting to happen. Readers will be drawn, dripping wet, through the wonderful world of Grimsdon. Fast paced, imaginative and with just a touch of romance, this book will equally appeal to boys and girls.

http://www.deborahabela.com/

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

by Lewis Carroll. Retold by Harriet Castor. Illustrated by Zdenko Bašić

Hardie Grant Egmont. Picture, Young Reader, Junior. Hardback rrp $29.95

Everyone knows the classic tale by Lewis Carroll and this wonderful retelling with fascinating pictures will bring another generation down the rabbit hole sharing Alice’s magical adventure.

This large (wider than A4) and interesting book has lots of pieces to touch, pull and open as the story unfolds. Little fingers will eagerly wait the turn of each page, to see what new magic it will bring.

Bašić’s pictures are like an I Spy collage with so many interesting and quirky things to see it is sometimes hard to concentrate on the text without sneaking continual glances at the illustrations. And at the end there is another mystery to solve.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland might be primarily for children but many adults will love reading it to their young ones. With its soft cushiony outer case this is a book that will be loved and treasured by all – at bedtime and every time.