The thing I love about verse novels is that they pack so much emotion and imagery in to so few words. Each chapter or poem is like a snapshot of the character’s life. Worse Things is Sally Murphy’s fourth illustrated verse novel and this story is proof of her mastery of this form of storytelling. Sally takes us inside the lives and minds of three very different kids whose stories intertwine.
Jolene is the daughter of two doctors. Her mother is always busy but lives her life vicariously through her daughter. Her mum’s dreams of hockey stardom were shattered when she was younger and she just wants her daughter to excel in the sport. Jolene hates hockey. She also hates that her father is saving lives on the other side of the world rather than being at home with her. Blake is footy-mad but his season is over when he fractures his arm. He doesn’t feel included with his footy mates and doesn’t know who he is without footy. Amed is a refugee who has spent most of his life in a refugee camp. He now lives in Australia with his Aunty but he knows very little English. This leaves him feeling left out and struggling to make friends. There are always worse things than a nagging mum, missing out on footy or not having friends.
I loved each of the characters because they are all dealing with their own issues. My favourite character was Amed because he had been through a lot in his life and he was able to put things in to perspective more than Jolene and Blake. I especially loved this thought from Amed:
‘If I could talk to you I might explain just what it’s like to be an outsider since birth to be so outside you wonder if you will ever be safe.
And then when you finally are to find yourself kept separate again by the invisible fence of language.’
Sally’s writing is just so beautiful and her imagery so rich. This is a story that works so well in verse form, and like many stories told in verse, it probably wouldn’t have the same impact as a novel. Sarah Davis’ bright, graffiti-style cover will make the book jump off the shelf too.
Grab yourself a comfy spot and an hour or two to savour this wonderful book.
Bad Cat is the most hilarious picture book of 2020! This book is an absolute winner for kids and adults alike. The cover made me crack up and I could not stop laughing the whole way through. My daughter was rolling around on the bed laughing her head off too. We then read it 3 more times. This is one of those picture books that any age can appreciate. I know that preschoolers will love it but I also know that the Year 8 kids at school will love it too. I’d love to read it in a whole school assembly but I don’t think they would hear me through the laughter.
Fluffykins is a bad cat. A REALLY bad cat! He may look cute and use his cuteness to make you forgive him, but then he’s back to his old tricks. Oh, what a lovely vase of flowers! No…now it’s smashed on the floor. That nice jumper you’ve been knitting is now just a bunch of wool on the floor with Fluffykins in the middle. The reader becomes the owner of Fluffykins and tries to get him to change his ways.
I have loved all of Nicola O’Byrne’s picture books but this one is her best yet. In Bad Cat she uses sparse text and hilarious illustrations to entertain readers. Nicola gives Fluffykins so much personality in her illustrations. Most of the time he is cranky and mean but Nicola also shows us his cute, fluffy side too. I can’t even choose a favourite illustrations because they’re all so fantastic!
You need to buy or borrow Bad Cat. I guarantee you won’t regret it. It will be a picture book that you will glad to read again and again.
Lauren Wolk’s previous book, Beyond the Bright Sea, is one of my absolute favourite books. When I heard Lauren had a new book coming out I was very eager to get my hands on it and see where she would take me next. The cover alone is one of the best covers of 2020 and would draw any reader in! In Echo Mountain, Lauren Wolk transports readers back to a time that is both simpler and harder. There is no technology so distractions are few and it’s quiet, but the doctor is far away and you must trade for food or grow it yourself. Lauren introduces us to Ellie and her family, making a home on Echo Mountain.
It is 1934 and Ellie’s family have been hit hard by the stock market crash. Her father was a tailor and her mother was a teacher but business for them both had dried up, so the family must move from the city to the wilds of Echo Mountain. They survive by growing food and trading what they can. When Ellie’s father slips in to a coma after an accident on the farm their lives are changed forever. While Ellie’s mother and sister use lullabies to soothe him, Ellie sees that this is doing nothing to help him get better. Ellie determines to do anything she can to wake her father, from pouring ice cold water on him, putting a snake in his bedroom to make her sister scream, and making her own medicine. When Ellie is out collecting ingredients for her medicine a mysterious dog leads her to a hut the top of the mountain, where she discovers a sick, old woman called Cate. As Ellie helps Cate to heal she starts to heal her family. The more that Ellie learns about those around her, the more connections she uncovers
Echo Mountain is an engaging, character-driven story that leaves you feeling like you have just lived Ellie’s life right beside her. Ellie is a person who has strong emotional connection to things around her. She feels the pain of tree roots as she walks through the woods, she feels great sadness when honeybees die trying to sting her. As you read you feel Ellie’s determination to wake her father and the frustration that her sister and mother won’t break out of their slump. Adults in the story keep mentioning that she is ‘only 12’ but she is the one using her commonsense and is willing to do anything she can to help the ones she loves, whether that is her puppy, her father or Cate. She realises that to save her family she is the one to do it. If she doesn’t know how to do something ‘the best way to learn is to do it,’ something she has learnt from her father.
It’s a story about identity. It’s about Ellie trying to figure out who she is, but also realising that people aren’t just the person you see on the outside. Ellie says “For a long time, I’d thought that people simply were who they were and became who they became. But I didn’t think that anymore.” Ellie learns that Cate is not simply ‘the hag’ that everyone believes she is, but a kind, caring person who has been affected by the events in her life. Ellie also realises that her mother isn’t just the sad woman whose husband is sick, that she was a different person before she moved to the mountain and a different person again before she met Ellie’s father.
If you haven’t yet read one of Lauren Wolk’s books read Echo Mountain and fall in love with her writing.
The Inkberg Enigma is a brilliant graphic novel from New Zealand comic creator and film maker, Jonathan King. Reading this made me feel like I was 10 years old again, devouring Tintin and wanting to be him.
Miro is a book-obsessed boy living an adventurous life through the stories of Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Real-life adventure finds him though when Zia, a girl from his school, drags him in to a town mystery. Miro is reluctant to get involved but, as Mira says, ‘this is how you have adventures. You find cool things and you do them…you don’t just read books about them!’ Their town of Aurora has been built on the prosperous fishing in their harbour. When Miro and Zia see something that they are not supposed to, they set out to discover the truth behind the legacy of Aurora and the shady characters who run the town.
The Inkberg Enigma is filled with adventure, mystery, and secrets. It’s also just the right amount of spooky and sinister that keeps you turning the pages. I flew through the story the first time and have since read it again to fully appreciate the story and the artwork.
I love all the characters, from the book-loving Miro and the ever-curious Zia to the sinister mayor of Aurora, Mr Hunter. Miro reminds me a lot of myself because he sells artefacts that he finds in his attic just so he can buy more books. His habit gets so bad that he has a whole spare room full of books! He’d also rather read about adventures than have them in real life.
Jonathan’s illustrations are fantastic, from his characters to the images of the town of Aurora. As a Christchurch local I immediately recognised Lyttelton as Aurora, from the town streets to the museum and the harbour. I really like the flow of the illustrations, with the scene on the boat being my favourite. Jonathan doesn’t let the panels limit the story either, with some really clever sections where the illustrations move out of the panels.
The Inkberg Enigma is one of my favourite kids graphic novels of 2020 and I’ll be recommending it to everyone. I really hope there will be more stories with Miro and Zia.
The Inkberg Enigma is released in August from the wonderful Gecko Press. Stay tuned for my interview with Jonathan King.
Illustrated fiction is perfect for newly independent readers because there are still pictures that help to bring the characters alive and show what is happening in the story. There are so many wonderful illustrated stories out there that are perfect for young readers to read themselves or to read aloud. Friendship, magic and animals are all common themes for books for this age group (roughly ages 5-7).
The books below are all ones that I have read for my own enjoyment or read aloud to my 5 year old daughter so they come highly recommended.
From the bright, sparkly cover to the story of a magical colouring book transporting Maya to another world, The Magical Kingdom of Birds series (written by Anne Booth and illustrated by Rosie Butcher) is sure to be a winner with young readers. It’s perfect for fans of Zanna Davidson’s Fairy Ponies series or readers who have loved the Rainbow Magic books and want something meatier to read.
Maya receives a magic colouring book that once belonged to her mother and it transports her to the Magical Kingdom of the Birds. Here she meets a fairy named Willow and a Magpie named Patch, who tell her she is destined to save the kingdom. This first book in the series focuses on the hummingbirds and a spell that has been placed on them. It is up to Maya, Willow and Patch to find an antidote and stop the villainous Lord Astor.
One of the things I loved about this book is the way that the author adds extra special details at the end of the story. There is a Bird Fact File with lots of hummingbird facts, and instructions for making a bird feeder and bird biscuits.
The Pearl the Unicorn series by Sally Odgers and illustrated by Adele K Thomas is a series that I will gladly read over and over again. They are super fun stories with perfectly matched illustrations. I’ve read all the books in the series so far with my daughter and they’re all great. Essentially, Pearl is a unicorn whose magic always goes wrong. A ‘toss, toss, wiggle, flick’ can end with hilarious results like yogurt falling from the sky. Pearl spends the days with her friends Tweet the fire bird and Olive the troll, getting up to all sorts of adventures. The nasty gobble-uns are never far away but Pearl’s misfiring magic saves the day.
What isn’t to like about the Kitty series by Paula Harrison and illustrated by Jenny Lovlie? It’s about a girl called Kitty who turns into a cat superhero at night, with cat superpowers like super hearing. Kitty and her feline friends, Pumpkin and Pixie, go on daring missions at night, like saving a secret Sky Garden from being ruined by bad cats. This is the perfect series for kids who have loved watching PJ Masks and are interested in superheroes. Jenny Lovlie’s illustrations are super cute, especially Kitty’s feline friends.
The Evie and Pog series by Tania McCartney has been one of my favourites to read aloud with my daughter. They’re funny and silly with characters that kids will want to keep coming back to.
Evie is six years old. She likes reading and baking and rolling on the daisy-spot grass. Pog is a pug. He is two and likes to drink tea and read the newspaper.
There are three books in the series so far – Party Perfect, Take Off and Puppy Playtime. Each book has three stories, that take about ten minutes to read aloud, making them perfect for bedtime. Pog reminds me of Gromit (from Wallace and Gromit) because he doesn’t talk but has very human-like qualities, like reading the newspaper or entering an art competition.
I’m a huge fan of the Miniwings series by Sally Sutton and illustrated by Kirsten Richards. Every single book in the series is totally fabo, from the silly antics of the Clara, Sophia and the Miniwings to Kirsten Richards hilarious illustrations. The Miniwings are small horse toys that come alive when adults aren’t around. They are always getting sisters Clara and Sophia in to trouble and getting up to lots of mischief, including destroying a delicious high-tea that the sisters get invited to.
The latest book in the series, Moonlight the Unicorn’s High Tea Hiccup is a finalist in the junior fiction category of 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. It’s one of the best junior fiction series for young readers in New Zealand so it’s great to see it get that recognition.
Donovan Bixley’s Flying Furballs series is another brilliant junior fiction series from NZ that has just come to an end with the ninth book in the series. Flying Furballs is pussycats in planes in Paris. Donovan reimagines the First World War, with the CATS as the good guys and the DOGZ as the bad guys. There are daring missions, dramatic rescues, and action and laughs galore. They are such fun books to read and you can tell that Donovan had a lot of fun creating them. The Flying Furballs series is sure to hook young readers who are just starting on their reading journey.
Stripes Publishing
In my opinion Stripes Publishing are publishing the best illustrated fiction for newly independent readers. Their authors are some of the best children’s authors around, their illustrators are superb and they are gorgeous books to hold and enjoy. Here are some of the best from Stripes.
I love this adorable odd couple. Jasper is a cat who is neat and tidy and a snappy dresser and Scruff is a scruffy dog who’s a little messy. They’re complete opposites but the best of friends.
In the first book, Jasper is desperate to join the Sophisticats and he does all he can to gain their favour. They finally accept his dinner invitation when Scruff comes in to his life and throws it in to disarray. In The Treasure Hunt (the second book) they open a bookshop together and find a treasure map in one of the books which leads them on a treasure hunt.
Both of the stories in the series are perfect for reading aloud or for newly independent readers to read themselves. There are illustrations on every page that make the story come alive. Nicola Colton writes and illustrates the stories and she really knows her audience. I hope to read more adventures of Jasper and Scruff.
Midge & Mo by Lara Williamson and illustrated by Becky Cameron is the perfect book about friendship for newly independent readers. Midge is starting at a new school. His parents have split up so he has moved. He misses his old school and his friends. A girl in his new class, Mo, becomes his buddy and tries everything she can think of to cheer him up and become his friend, but it takes a special present to bring Midge out of his shell.
The story is engaging and attractive, with sparse text and colour illustrations on every page. As well as being perfect for newly independent readers to read themselves Midge and Mo would make a great read aloud for 6-8 year olds.
I picked up Little Rabbit’s Big Surprise by Swapna Haddow and illustrated by Alison Friend from the library to read to my daughter (who was 4 at the time). She loved this adorable story so much that we read it all in one go and read it 3 more times in the next few days. That, for me, is the sign of a great book! I’ve recommended it to lots of kids since and they’ve all enjoyed it.
Little Rabbit’s Big Surprise tells the story of a little rabbit who joins her grandfather on an outing one day and ends up helping out the animals that they meet. Alison Friend’s illustrations to Swapna Haddow’s story make this a super cute read. Like all of the Stripes junior fiction with colour illustrations there are no chapters so the story reads like a picture book in a chapter book format.
A Sea of Stories by Sylvia Bishop and illustrated by Paddy Donnelly is a story about Roo and her grandfather. Roo loves exploring the cove by her grandfather’s house but when he can’t get down the steep path any more Roo asks him about the treasures in his house. Each treasure has a story attached to it and through these stories Roo learns more about her grandfather. This is a lovely story about family and the stories our elders have to tell.
I hope you’ve found some new books to read or share in this post. If you’ve got favourite books for young readers I’d love to hear about them.
The Sunken Tower is a seriously funny fantasy adventure with plenty of punching and sword swinging thrown in. It seemed like a short story that is part of a bigger fantasy world so I’d like to see more of Dig, Iana and Crina on further adventures.
Dig’s day starts off pretty bad. His bag is broken, he’s super hungry and the local law enforcement is after him. Then his day gets a whole lot worse when he’s kidnapped and thrown in a dungeon far underground. It’s in this dungeon that he meets Iana and Crina, two other prisoners who are going to help Dig escape. They tell him of the great magical kingdom and the great tower that used to be above ground which sunk below ground thanks to a young wizard messing with blood magic. The wizard was warped into a monster which is now trapped in the sunken castle. The creatures who kidnapped Dig are The Brotherhood of Blood and they want to sacrifice Dig, Iana and Crina to the monster to get its blood magic. Not if the three of them can help it! They must find their way to the top of the sunken tower and smash through to their world up top.
Tait Howard’s world is one I want to know more about. The glimpses you see when Dig is walking through the market reminded me of Ben Hatke’s Zita the Spacegirl and Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet (if you’ve read those you’ll love this one). There are lots of different creatures, even within the Brotherhood of Blood. The main characters are all really cool, from Dig with his magic powers to Iana with her bristly legs and big muscles. Iana and Crina are in love and they have some really great banter.
I think my favourite thing about The Sunken Tower though is the humour and sarcasm. Tait’s comedic timing is spot on and the dialogue had me chuckling away. This is a kid’s graphic novel that will appeal to teens and adults as well. I’d love to hand it to some of my most reluctant readers as I’m certain the humour alone will grab them.
I really hope that Tait Howard has more adventures with Dig, Iana and Crina up his sleeves.
This was such an unexpected marvel of a book! Just when I thought it was one kind of story it would morph in to something else and I was never sure where it would go next. It’s a really fresh, unique story that is hard to sum up and I loved every minute of it. The ending was perfect and made me want to start it again straight away.
The general gist of the story is Frankie (and the rest of her small English seaside village) dies in a tsunami, she wakes in her house as a ghost, takes a sleeping potion and wakes 100 years later and becomes a stranger in her own house (which becomes a tourist attraction). I don’t want to spoil what happens next though.
I completely loved this book (it would be in my top 5 of 2020 so far) and now need to read Nicola Skinner’s first book, Bloom. Storm would be perfect for fans of Ross Welford.
This is the book that so many of my students need. It’s totally creepy and Jennifer keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. It is sure to hook the most reluctant of readers and they won’t want to put the book down. It’s a spooky adventure story with a good dose of mystery.
A class goes on their school camp to a new camp ground called Crater Lake. It has been built in a huge crater from a meteor that crashed to earth many years ago. Things start off bad when their bus is stopped by a bloody, rambling member of the camp staff. He warns them to turn back but the kids and adults continue on foot to the camp. The place seems deserted until a weird camp leader turns up and shows them to their rooms. The situation starts to get really bizarre when the kids get locked in their rooms and some of them start acting really strange, with eyes like bugs. As things go from bad to worse it’s up to Lance and his friends to figure out what’s going on and stop the mysterious creatures from carrying out their plans. Oh and make sure you don’t fall asleep!
Crater Lake is a total page-turner and I was really excited to hear there is going to be a sequel. This is going to be constantly on loan because I just know that word is going to spread between the kids.
When Clancy and Tash visit their pa in his resthome they have no idea about the journey they will take over the coming days. What starts out as freeing their pa from his resthome and visiting their old family home turns into a mission to give their pa a better life with his family that will take care of him. They will travel by taxi, car and train to visit their aunties in the hope that they will be able to take care of their pa.
I loved this road trip with Clancy, Tash and their Pa. I admit to not really liking the girls to start with but the more time I spent with them the more I liked them. I really admired their determination to give their grandfather a better life than the one he was living in his rest home. Their mission to take their grandfather to live with one of his daughters takes them far and wide, from the city to the country, from their grandparent’s old home to a yoga retreat in the bush. Their journey tests their relationship with each other but ultimately strengthens their bond. There is also a sense of magic about their journey too with unusual encounters and signs from their dead grandmother that help to point them to where they need to go.
Also, how cool is that cover! It certainly drew me in and made me want to know more about the story.
Th One and Only Bob is the stunning sequel to Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan. Like The One and Only Ivan this is a beautifully written story in verse that will always have a place in your heart. Katherine Applegate makes you fall in love with her characters from the first page and you care about everything that happens to them.
In The One and Only Bob we get a story from Bob’s point of view (the feisty little dog that became Ivan’s friend at the Exit 8 Mall). We hear about Bob’s life before meeting Ivan and what life is like now that Ivan and Ruby have been rehomed with others like them. A storm is brewing, a hurricane that will change life for Bob and his friends and test Bob’s strength and courage.
I read this book in a couple of sittings because I just wanted to stay with these characters. Bob made me laugh and made my heart ache but his story left me smiling all day long. Whether you have read The One and Only Ivan or not, you will fall in love with Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Bob.
My Best Friends Are Books 