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The Nothing to See Here Hotel by Steven Butler and Steven Lenton

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There is a hotel that is hidden to the human eye that caters to the most smelly, hairy, warty clients around. Nestled amongst the waterfront hotels for humans is the number one place to stay for magical creatures, The Nothing to See Here Hotel.the-nothing-to-see-here-hotel-9781471163838_lg

Frankie Banister runs the Nothing to See Here Hotel with his parents.  This isn’t your average hotel though!  It’s a hotel for magical creatures and it’s full of all sorts of weird sights, smells and sounds.  All varieties of magical creatures come to stay here, from trolls and ogres to mermaids and werepoodles.  There is no such thing as a normal day at The Nothing to See Here Hotel but things get really crazy when a messenger arrives to announce the imminent arrival of the goblin prince, Grogbah.  He’s mean, demanding and very, VERY important.  Before the Banisters know it Grogbah is taking over the place.  Then another unexpected guest arrives to shake things up.

The Nothing to See Here Hotel is a rambunctious, rollicking read packed full of imagination and fun.  As soon as I entered The Nothing to See Here Hotel I immediately felt at home and didn’t ever want to leave.  It is fun from beginning to end and I need to read more escapades of Frankie and his family.

You can tell that Steven Butler and Steven Lenton had enormous fun writing and illustrating this story.  The characters are hilarious and they have some great lines. There is Granny Regurgita (Frankie’s great-great-great troll grandmother with the best insults), Nancy the hotel cook (who is a giant Orkney Brittle-Back spider), Gladys Potts the werepoodle and Mrs Dunch (a geriatric mermaid).  My favourite characters though are the Molar Sisters, the triplet tooth fairies.  Their names are Dentina, Gingiva and Fluora and they have the worst dental hygiene in all of the magical world (because they eat nothing but sugar cubes and their teeth are rotten).  Their magic wands come in very handy though to help the Banisters out of some sticky situations.

The Nothing to See Here Hotel is perfect for reading aloud as there are lots of great voices you could do. It would make a great read aloud for Years 3-6, especially for those teachers wanting a change from the usual Roald Dahl. There is plenty to keep all kids engaged and begging you to read the next chapter. I’m glad to see that this is the first book in this new series so there will be more books to come.

Great Graphic Novels for Primary and Intermediate

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I absolutely love graphic novels for kids!  I can’t get enough of them and neither can the kids at my school (especially the girls).  There are more and more great graphic novels being written and produced for kids and there really is something for every sort of kid.  These are a selection of recent reads that have stood out for me.  If you’re looking for some great new reads for your graphic novel collection I highly recommend these ones.

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Sparks! by Ian Boothby and Nina Matsumoto

This is a hilarious story about two cats who do good deeds dressed in a dog suit.  August is a brilliant inventor who is afraid of the outdoors and Charlie is the pilot of the suit and isn’t afraid of anything.  Together they are a sort-of robo-Lassie (along with their sentient litter-box), rescuing a baby from a well and saving people from a burning building.  In to the story comes a strange family with an evil baby whose aim is to control every animal on earth.  It’s up to Sparks to save the day and stop their dastardly plan.

I smiled the whole way through this graphic novel because the humour is spot on.  I could hand this to any kid from Year 4-Year 8 and I’m sure they would love it too.

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The Adventures of Jack Scratch: The Quest for the Hiss-paniola by Craig Phillips.

This action-packed tale of cats on the high-seas started life as a Kick-Starter campaign and I was super excited when it went ahead and I got my copy.  It’s a swash-buckling adventure full of brave, fearsome and some down-right nasty cats.  Like the Tintin graphic novels I grew up with its got plenty of action to keep kids interested and illustrations that they will pore over.  One of the things I love most about graphic novels is that they are perfect for reading again and again and this one will certainly be read to bits.  Perfect for ages 7+

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Cucumber Quest #1: The Donut Kingdom by Gigi D.G.

I can only do this book justice by using the Goodreads blurb so here it is:

What happens when an evil queen gets her hands on an ancient force of destruction?

World domination, obviously.

The seven kingdoms of Dreamside need a legendary hero. Instead, they’ll have to settle for Cucumber, a nerdy magician who just wants to go to school. As destiny would have it, he and his way more heroic sister, Almond, must now seek the Dream Sword, the only weapon powerful enough to defeat Queen Cordelia’s Nightmare Knight.

Can these bunny siblings really save the world in its darkest hour?

Sure, why not?

This is the first book in a new series (that started out as a web comic).  It’s another hilarious story with fantastic characters.  The BLT Trio had me laughing out loud and I hope to see more of them as the series progresses.  The world that the story takes place in reminded me of Adventure Time so any kids who love that will love Cucumber Quest. The kids that I’ve passed this on to have loved it just as much as I did and we all can’t wait for #2 to be available in NZ.  Perfect for ages 10+.

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Anne of Green Gables: a graphic novel, adapted by Mariah Marsden and Brenna Thummler

This is a wonderful new graphic novel adaptation by Mariah Marsden and Brenna Thummler.  It perfectly captures the essence of the story and will hopefully open up the story to a new generation of readers.

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The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag

The Witch Boy is about 13-year-old Aster who is expected to grow up to be a shapeshifter when he really wants to become a witch.  In his family all the females are witches while all the males are shapeshifters, but Aster has always found witchcraft more exciting.  When some of the males start disappearing and an evil force threatens his family Aster knows that he can help – as a witch.  With the help of his non-magical new friend Charlie, he sets out to help his family using his witchcraft skills.

It is a fantastic story about being different and being who you want to be.  This is another graphic novel that the girls at my school have been gobbling up.  Molly’s illustration style is quite similar to Raina Telgemeier which lots of the kids love.

23594349Clem Hetherington and the Ironwood Race by Jen Breach & Douglas Holgate

A dangerous rally race + archaeology = a whole lot of fun!

Clementine Hetherington and her robot brother, Digory, have run away from the orphanage they’ve been living in since their parents died. Clem and Dig want to follow in their famous archaeologist mother’s footsteps, but no one will take them seriously. Their chance arrives when a man from their past saves Digory’s life, and to repay the debt they enter a multiday rally race… to recover stolen artifacts! Clem and Dig hope to win so they can give them to a museum, but their opponents want to sell them on the black market. The Ironwood Race has no rules, and Clem and Dig might be in over their heads!

This is an ingenious mash-up that I couldn’t get enough of.  Before I knew it I had finished the book and I’m dying for more!  This story is sure to keep even the biggest non-reader engaged.  Those kids who love action-packed movies with great baddies and lots of explosions will love this book too.

 

Mind-Swapping Madness by Tom E. Moffatt

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New Zealand’s answer to Paul Jennings is here! Tom E. Moffatt’s collection of wacky short stories will have kids in hysterics.

If you’ve ever thought you might like to swap minds with someone these stories will make you think again. Tom shows us how funny, scary, crazy and totally embarrassing it would be to swap minds with a toad, an evil auntie, a flea, your baby sister and more.

In Mind-Swatting George switches minds with a fly after his brother seats him with an electric fly swat, Ari learns you should never kiss a toad in Croak, and a synchronised sneeze causes Emily to end up in nappies in Bless You.

These stories are perfect for reading aloud, especially to ages 10 and up. I can just imagine a whole class cracking up as the teacher reads it aloud. My favourite story is Soul Beneficiary, where Robert inherits more than he bargained for. It is clever and twisty with a hint of spookiness.

If you enjoyed Tom’s first book, Barking Mad, you need to read Mind-Swapping Madness.

The Red Book by Beck and Matt Stanton

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Beck and Matt Stanton are creators of books that drive kids crazy.  Their previous picture books, This is a Ball and Did You Take the B from my _ook? have been hits with kids, even if they do make them go a little crazy.  Their latest picture book is The Red Book and it is absolutely hilarious!  It is my favourite book to read aloud at the moment.

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Even before you open the book you know that it is going to be funny just by reading the instructions for grown-ups on the back:

For the Grown-Ups:

Okay, Big Wig.
We have a challenge for you.

It’s your job to convince the nearest kid that everything in this book is actually red.

And we mean everything.

It will not be easy! They will try to persuade you that things are not as red as you say, but you will stay strong!

And the kids will love it!

The Red Book is fantastic, interactive picture book that will both infuriate kids and have them rolling on the floor laughing.  I’ve been reading this book to the Year 1 and 2 kids at my school over the last couple of days and they absolutely love it!  As soon as you show them the cover and read the title they start arguing with you and yelling ‘No!’ because the cover of the book is purple (or so they keep telling you).

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The first page gets the kids on board with you, making sure that they agree about the colours on the page.  When you turn the page though you tell them that they are all wrong and that everything is red. It’s your job to try and convince the kids that everything in the book is red, but they won’t have a bar of it, because they can see that Fergus the Frog and Rose the Penguin aren’t red.  The kids get more and more frustrated and you (as the reader) eventually snap and tell them that you’re the grown-up and what you say goes.  By the end of the book though you will convince them that this book is red.

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The text is perfect for this interactive book and really gets everyone involved in the story.  The kids can’t help but join in and argue with you because what you are saying is so silly. If you’ve got kids who loved The Book with No Pictures (who doesn’t love that book!) or Do Not Open This Book then they’ll love this one. The illustrations are simple but bold and really stand out on the plain white background.

Get The Red Book for your home or school library now and drive your kids crazy!

Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase by Peter Helliar

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What is your worst nightmare?  Trapped in a pit of snakes?  Trapped in a room full of clowns? Being forced to listen to Taylor Swift songs over and over?  Frankie Fish’s worst nightmare is being stuck in the past with his grumpy grandad.  He may hate it but it is certainly hilarious for readers of Peter Helliar’s new book, Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase.

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Twelve-year-old Frankie Fish hates visiting his grandparents. Grandad Fish is cranky, and yells a lot, and has a creepy hook for a hand – plus he NEVER lets Frankie go inside his shed. But after a teensy tiny prank goes wrong at school, Frankie is packed off to Old-People Jail for the whole holidays.

What Frankie doesn’t know is that Grandad has been building a home-made TIME MACHINE in the Forbidden Shed, and the old man has big plans to get his missing hand back. But when Grandad goes back in time, he changes history and accidentally wipes out Frankie’s entire family – Nanna, Mum, Dad, even his annoying sister Saint Lou. Somehow, everyone is gone but Frankie and Grandad! And it’s only a matter of time until Frankie disappears too…

As the last Fish men standing, Frankie and Granddad must race back in time to undo this terrible mistake. But can they stand each other long enough to put the past back together again? And even if they manage the impossible – will Grandad’s wonky time-machine ever get them home?

Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase is a wacky time-travel adventure with a cool new character.  There is something in this story for everyone – pranks, time travel, family secrets, a weird grandparent with a hook for a hand, magicians, strange transformations, the Water Tank of Death and plenty of laughs.  Peter Helliar’s other career as a comedian shines through in this book as he certainly knows what makes kids laugh.  Peter hooks you right from the start and makes you need to keep reading to find out what happens.  Like any good time travel story this one asks ‘if you could go back and your past would you do it?’

Frankie Fish is a character that kids, especially boys, are going to love.  Frankie is a mischievous kid who loves playing pranks with his friend Drew Bird.  When Frankie starts poking around in his grandad’s shed he finds himself stuck in a place and time unlike the one he knows, with his grumpy grandad.  Suddenly, Frankie is the sensible one who must keep his grandad on the right track and stop him from making even more of a mess of his life. Thanks to his grandad’s meddling Frankie finds himself changing more than he could ever imagine.

Lesley Vamos’ illustrations add some extra fun to the story, especially when there are several different grandad’s involved. The cover is fantastic and the title literally jumps off it.

It’s good to know that Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase is only the first book in a planned series featuring Frankie.  I certainly want to read more of Frankie and Alfie Fish’s adventures!

Spy Toys by Mark Powers

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When the world is in peril and villains are running amok who do you call?  James Bond? Alex Rider? The Ghostbusters?  No, you call the Spy Toys.  They’re a rag-tag group of toys whose faulty machinery makes them the perfect crime fighting team.  Dan, Arabella and Flax are the Spy Toys and their first mission, in Mark Powers’ new series, is to protect the prime minister’s son from the clutches of Rusty Flumptrunk.

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Dan is a teddy bear.  He’s made for hugging.  Aw, so cute, right? WRONG!  Dan’s so strong he can crush cars.  But what makes him a faulty toy could make him the perfect spy.

Together with a robot police rabbit and one seriously angry doll, Dan joins a top secret team designed to stop criminals in their tracks.  And just in time!  An evil elephant is planning to kidnap the prime minister’s son.

Spy Toys is a hilarious story filled with action, adventure and characters that kids and adults alike will love.  Every kid will wish that they had toys as cool as Dan, Arabella and Flax.  Once you start reading Spy Toys you won’t want to stop because it’s a really fun and clever read.

There are lots of toys that feature in the story and everything is made by the Snaztacular Ultrafun company.  Their toys aren’t just your average toy though.  They create teddy bears that hug you when you need a hug, footballs that return to you after kicking them and bikes that take you home if you are too tired to pedal.  Clearly Mark Powers needs to be working with toy companies to make these awesome toys.

I loved the characters in the story, from the Spy Toys themselves to Auntie Roz, the Spy Toys’ boss who doesn’t take any nonsense, to the villain of the story, Rusty Flumptrunk, a genetically engineered cereal company mascot who has turned to a life of crime.  My favourite characters though are the McBiff Triplets, the children of a circus strongman and strongwoman, who are sent to test the Spy Toys.  They are destructive toddlers with huge muscles and their fight with the Spy Toys is hilarious.

Tim Wesson’s cover and illustrations throughout the book are fantastic.  He makes the Spy Toys look so cool and tough, the kind of toys that nobody messes with.  I especially love his illustrations of Rusty Flumptrunk who looks absolutely nuts.

I am hooked on the Spy Toys and I can’t wait for their next adventure.  If the sneak peek at the end of the book, featuring a hedgehog villain called Professor Doomprickle, is anything to go by, Spy Toys is going to be my new favourite series.  I would especially  recommend Spy Toys for any fans of Aaron Blabey’s Bad Guys series.

Check out the awesome Spy Toys website for heaps of activities and info about the series – http://spytoysbooks.com.

Marge and the Pirate Baby by Isla Fisher

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Prepare yourselves for more fantastical adventures with your new favourite babysitter, Marge.  She’s back again in Marge and the Pirate Baby.

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Marge is back and exploring the neighbourhood with the kids! With some help from Jemima and Jake, can she stay in charge and keep ‘pirate’ baby Zara under control? And can the children make sure Marge behaves at Uncle Desmond and Annie’s wedding?  Anything can happen with Marge around!

I love Isla Fisher’s Marge stories.  Marge is bursting with energy, stories and surprises and you just never know what she’s going to get up to next.  Jemima and Jake always look forward to Marge turning up to look after them and I look forward to her visits too.  She brings joy and excitement in to the Button house and plenty of colour too (especially with her rainbow hair.  Eglantine Ceulemans’ illustrations are delightful and add some extra humour to the stories.

The Marge stories are perfect for reading aloud, especially for 7-9 year olds, and they will certainly have kids laughing.

Brobot by James Foley

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I absolutely love the Bad Guys books by Aaron Blabey.  For a while now I’ve been looking for something else to suggest to kids that is similar to the Bad Guys, both in the way that the story is told and the humour.  I’ve found the perfect book in James Foley’s new junior graphic novel, Brobot.

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Sally Tinker makes machines … and Joe Tinker breaks them. As the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve, Sally knows she can build a better brother than Joe. But is her invention – Brobot – really all that a brother should be?

Brobot is a hilarious junior graphic novel about a girl and her search for the perfect brother.  There is something in this book for everyone – annoying brothers who destroy everything, inventions, robots, toxic nappies, destruction and a whole lot of laughs. I’m sure a lot of kids will relate to Sally and her problems with her annoying little brother.

I loved James Foley’s previous book, My Dead Bunny (with Sigi Cohen) and I’ve been following the development of Brobot for a while, so it’s great to finally read it.  The story is really funny by itself but the comic illustrations add to the laughs.  Sally’s human brother Joe doesn’t even say anything and he still makes you laugh.  The facial expressions of Sally and Joe are enough to make you crack up sometimes.  I especially love Sally’s name, which she shortens to S. Tinker Inc.

Although it’s a graphic novel it’s a chapter book format so I’ll be shelving it with my younger fiction, just like the Bad Guys series.

Brobot is perfect for anyone who likes Aaron Blabey, Kyle Mewburn or just a really funny read.

Check out this great book trailer for Brobot too:

Do Not Open This Book by Andy Lee

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I love interactive picture books that beg readers to be part of the story.  They make you feel like the story couldn’t work without you.  Do Not Open This Book written by Andy Lee (one half of Australian comedy duo Hamish and Andy) and illustrated by Heath McKenzie is a brilliant new example of this type of picture book and it’s guaranteed to make kids laugh-out-loud.

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Do Not Open This Book begins with a strange little blue creature who is surprised that you’ve opened the book, especially since there was a warning on the front cover.  He asks the reader not to turn the page, but this is exactly what you want to do.  As the book goes on, he becomes more and more desperate, begging, pleading, threatening and sulking, before he finally reveals that if the reader reaches the final page, something terrible will happen.

I absolutely love Do Not Open This Book!  It is one of those books that is incredibly fun to read aloud and it never gets old or boring, no matter how many times you read it.  I’ve read this book aloud many, many times to the kids at my school, from new entrants through to the Year 6 kids, and they all love it.  I have kids queuing up to take this book home and I’m sure they would all be quite happy if I read it to them every time they came to the library.  Even though I love reading it to kids it’s even better when I hear some of the senior kids reading it aloud to each other.

The best thing about Do Not Open This Book is the perfect combination of the text and illustrations.  The story would be funny without illustrations but Heath McKenzie’s illustrations just add so much more humour to the story.  Heath’s character (which looks like a blue egg with long arms and legs) has a very expressive face.  The look of horror on the character’s face when  you do turn the page (even though he told you not to) or his face going purple because he is so exasperated that you keep turning the page just makes kids crack up laughing.  I have to stop myself from cracking up too every time I read it.

Do Not Open This Book is going to get read to death in my library and it is a must-have for your school or home.  You will be begging your kids to let you read this book to them.

AniMalcolm by David Baddiel

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Imagine that you are a kid that can’t stand animals of any kind.  You hate the smell of them, the way they eat their food, the way they look at you with their beady eyes and the sound that they make.  Your family love each and every type of animal though and you’re forced to live side-by-side with them.  Your worst nightmare would be to actually be an animal.  Now, imagine that you woke up one morning, not in your own bed, but in a mud puddle as a pig, or very low to the ground as a tortoise.  You would want to try anything you could to become human again.  This is exactly the situation that Malcolm finds himself in in David Baddiel’s laugh-out-loud new book, AniMalcolm.

y648Malcolm doesn’t like animals. Which is a problem because his family love them. Their house is full of pets. What the house is NOT full of is stuff Malcolm likes. Such as the laptop he wanted for his birthday.The only bright spot on the horizon is the Year Six school trip, which Malcolm never thought his parents would pay for. And yet there he is, on the bus, heading to… oh no. A farm. Over the next days, Malcolm changes. He learns a lot about animals. More, in many ways, than he would like. He learns what it’s really like to be an animal. A whole series of animals, in fact…It does make him think differently. And speak differently. And eat differently. And, um, smell differently. But will he end up the same as before? Because sometimes the hardest thing to become is… yourself.

AniMalcolm is a hilarious story about a boy who doesn’t like animals finding himself in a very strange situation.  He gets turned into an assortment of different animals and gets a completely different perspective of them.  Whether you love animals or hate them, this is a story for you.

The thing I love the most about AniMalcolm is the range of characters.  Each of the animals that Malcolm meets has a distinct personality.  There are the two tortoises, Benny and Bjornita who are always complaining about how fast everyone moves, three sheep who repeat each other called Dolly 1, Dolly 2 and Dolly 3, Ludwig the pig who can speak most of the ‘malanguages (animal languages) and Chinny the Argentinian Chinchilla.  The conversations between some of these characters made me crack up.

The wonderful Jim Field has illustrated this book, as well as David’s previous books.  Jim’s style of illustration perfectly suits David’s books.  He really brings David’s characters alive.  I especially love how he has made each of the animals that Malcolm turns into look like Malcolm’s human self.

AniMalcolm is perfect for any kid who loves funny stories, especially fans of David Walliams.  If you haven’t read any of David Baddiel’s books grab AniMalcolm and you’ll be hooked on his books.