Dance, Bilby, Dance

Little Bilby wants to dance. Everywhere he looks, something is dancing – leaves, ants, willy-willies,

moths and emus. Even his shadow is dancing.

Bilby copies his shadow and soon he is prancing and twirling. Until another shadow arrives, a huge, scary bunyip. Bilby runs away but the bunyip catches him. Fortunately, the bunyip wants to dance too. Bilby has found a dancing partner.

Bright, bouncing illustrations are a highlight of this book. Each page is alive with movement as Bilby dances, runs and falls in a tangled mess. On my favourite page, the willy-willy whirls furiously, gathering up gumnuts, eucalyptus blossoms, leaves, feathers, ants and a very surprised looking gecko.

Tricia Ocktober has won numerous awards for her wonderful artwork showcasing Australian flora and fauna. In this picture book, she cleverly manages to make Bilby both realistic and adorably cute.

Bilby Wants to Dance is a simple but captivating story for young children, perfect for reading aloud at Easter.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: Bilby Wants to Dance
Author: Tricia Oktober
Publisher: Ford Street Publishing $14.95 RRP
Publication Date: 2016
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781925272130
For ages: 4+
Type: Children's Picture Book

Don't Think About Purple Elephants

Sophie doesn’t worry during the day, when there are friends and family to play with and new things to learn at school.

She worries at night when she’s lying in bed, waiting to fall asleep. What if she forgets to take her lunch to school? What if Mum cooks brussel sprouts for dinner?

Her family tries to help. Emily offers her teddy but Sophie worries Emily won’t be able to sleep. Dad suggests warm milk but Sophie worries she might wet the bed.

Mum tells Sophie not to think about purple elephants. Now Sophie can’t think of anything else, until she falls asleep.

Clever illustrations reflect Sophie’s feelings. When she worries, the world is grey. When she is happy, it is bright and colourful and when the elephants arrive the pages are filled with purple exuberance.

Written with gentle humour, this is a special book – a story that a child will want to hear over and over again and a resource for parents with children who worry.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: Don't Think About Purple Elephants
Author: Susan Whelan and Gwynneth Jones
Publisher: Exisle Publishing
Date: April 2015 $24.99 RRP
Type: Picture Book

An Aussie Year

An Aussie Year is a fun-filled peek into the lives of five young children, and Warrigal, the dog. Each child has a different cultural background and together they introduce readers to the wonderful multicultural mix that is Australia.

I love the format of this book. It’s about learning while having a lot of fun reading. Each page is full of details to find and things to investigate as the reader follows Ned, Zoe, Lily, Kirra and Matilda on a year-long journey. They go to school, play, celebrate cultural diversity and visit amazing Australian places.

Special days are emphasized including those associated with other cultures. I challenge any reader, young or old, not to open the page for their birthday month without hoping to find something on their special day. Even if no birthday event exists, every child will find days to identify with. There’s weather, food, geography, flora, fauna, city life and country life. Even Book Week.

A sense of humour and a clever way with words, twisted, wound around and wrapped in speech bubbles make this book perfect for shared reading.

Tina Snerling’s distinctive images and world trails are colourful and bold. My favourite picture is Children’s Week where the kids are jumping through puddles. That joyful sense of fun is everywhere in Tina’s illustrations.

This is a clever example of an interactive book with no technology necessary. An Aussie Year will make children want to plan and share their own stories and adventures.

Recommended for schools, parents, independent young readers, in fact, recommended for everybody.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: An Aussie Year

Author: Tania McCartney and Tina Snerling

Publisher:  Exisle Publishing

Publication Date: $19.99 RRP

Format: Hardback

Type: Picture Book

Rawr!

by Todd H. Doodler

Being a dinosaur is hard because dinosaurs are so big. Being big can seem scary to kids at school, even to teachers. Big means you don’t easily fit into a desk, or a bus, or even into sports clothes. Then there’s the loud sound of a dinosaur’s Rawr!

But Rawr! means both hello and goodbye. And being big has its benefits. Big can be helpful when playing sport, getting things from up high, and when playing games.

This clever book addresses the differences in people, and how sometimes we feel out of place because we are different. It also shows that acceptance can be an easy and wonderful thing. There are negatives and positives to every situation and what you consider a short-coming, others may see as a benefit.

This thought-provoking book can be utilized as a teaching tool, as it will generate questions and discussion on what it means to be different. 

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: RAWR!

Author: Todd H. Doodler

Publisher: Scholastic Inc., $14.99 RRP

Publication Date: December 2013

Format: Hardcover

ISBN: 9780545511186

For ages: 3+

Type: Picture Book

Sam the Cat

by Sam Bowring and Andrew Mclean

Working Title Press. Picture Book. 

Sam the Cat lives with Ian and Jane. Everything is perfect until the baby arrives. The proud parents decide to call the baby Sam.

So Sam needs a new name. He has lots of suggestions of his own – Lord Strongtail, Master of the House, King Ironpaw, Ruler of the Roof - but Ian and Jane decide his new name is Jack. Sam doesn't like it at all and he doesn't like how they spend all their time with the new baby.

He goes for a walk. Terrible things happen – a storm, mean alley cats and getting lost. When Ian finds him he is so happy to be home he decides the baby can stay. He doesn'teven mind being called Jack because now he knows his real name - Captain Boldwhiskers, Explorer Extroadinaire.

Every child loves a cat story. My young reader immediately picked this book off the review pile as soon as he caught sight of Andrew Mclean’s illustrations of cheeky Sam.

This book could be used to introduce a new baby to young siblings. The message is simple and clear. When a new baby arrives everything is different but everyone is still loved. 

The Down-Under 12 Days of Christmas

 by Michael Salmon

 

Ford Street Publishing Picture Book. Hardcover.RRP $19.95

Reviewed by Francine Sculli

We all know the 12 Days of Christmas carol – we have sung it in our homes, heard it in the supermarket in the lead up to Christmas and no doubt whispered in the ears of children around us as we watch glee spread through their eyes. So what happens when you take a well-loved and well-known carol like that and give it some Aussie cheer? You get a great children’s picture book that will make the perfect gift for those little ones this Christmas.

So what makes this a down-under Christmas? Well it is brimming with a host of classic Australian animal characters, some hot sun and a range of equally classic Australian activities that’ll warm any heart with familiarity. Following the same rhythm, repetition and structure as the original carol, this book introduces readers to kookaburras in gum trees, snakes on skis, wet galahs, lyrebirds, kangaroos, sharks a-surfing, egg laying emus, dancing dingoes, snoozing crocs, washing wombats, leaping lizards and musical possums. Best of all are the vibrant and cartoon-like pictures that fill the pages and are jam-packed with enough beautiful detail to allow plenty of room for pre-emptive and early literacy discussions – and simply to keep readers engaged.

This book is perfect for children aged three and up. For the younger ones, the repetition and colourful images allows them to predict the text and introduces them to a classic carol and for the older ones, the language is simple and repeated enough to allow them to read through it on their own – making this a great early literacy resource. I tried this one out on my three and a half year old son and he absolutely loved it and by the end of the book he was ‘reading’ along, making this a certified winner for the Christmas related read-a-thon in the lead up to Christmas.

Francine Sculli is a regular reviewer of children's books for Buzz Words magazine, an essential resource for writers and illustrators for children.

Coming Home

by Sharon McGuinness

Wombat Books. Picture Book. Australian. Hardcover RRP $24.95

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Why doesn’t Dad want to play with me anymore?” Gemma asks her mother.

Did I do something wrong?

Gemma’s father is sad. He sits in the garden he once loved and stares at the growing neglect. He doesn’t care about it anymore. He doesn’t seem to care about Gemma either. Sometimes he still  laughs with his friends but when they are gone, he sits and stares again.

Gemma’s mother explains dad is suffering from depression. It’s an illness you can’t really see like a broken leg, but it’s there just the same. She encourages Gemma to keep talking to him, dancing for him and playing the recorder. And one day he is there to pick her up from school, a smile on his face.

What I really like about this book is it doesn’t attempt to analyse depression, the reasons why or its treatment. It shows how Gemma deals with her father’s illness – her struggle to understand and her ongoing determination to be part of his life no matter what – the support she provides by never giving up.

One in five people suffer from depression and many of these are parents. Coming Home explores how this affects a young child. Gemma feels helpless but she keeps reaching out, hoping things will change.

From the front end paper where the garden is shrivelled and dried to the back paper filled with coloured blooms, this book is a journey of hope. It will help young children understand depression, particularly in a parent, and provide a discussion starter for older readers.

Imagine We Were

by Renee Bennett, illustrated by Claire Richards

Wombat Books. Australian, Children’s Picture Book. Hardback RRP19.95

Everyone has at least once wondered what if they were…
Imagine We Were is the wonderful story of a mother and child. It reminds me of the Old Lady Who Swallowed The Fly…

               “Imagine we were bees
               and you were my baby
               zzz zzz zzz

               We’d buzz round the cat while
               it lazed on the mat and
               I’d whisper,

               ‘You’re precious to me’.”

The bees change to cats, who change to dogs, and so the story continues until mother and child are together as humans.

A wonderful story of imagination for mothers and children to enjoy together. Claire Richards’ colourful but subtle water colour illustrations are simple but a pleasure to look at. The clouds floating in the sky gradually forming shapes for a young child to discover are magical.

http://reneebennett.com.au/
http://clairerichards.com.au/