Win The Crystal Code by Richard Newsome

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The Crystal Code is the latest book in Richard Newsome’s action-packed Billionaire Series.  I absolutely love this series and if you know anyone who loves books packed with action, adventure and mystery you have to push this series on them.  Once they’ve read the first chapter they’ll be hooked!  You can read my review of The Crystal Code here on the blog.

To celebrate the release of The Crystal Code I’ve got a copy to give away, thanks to the wonderful people at Text Publishing.

Thanks to everyone who entered.  This competition is now closed.

Picture Book Nook: This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers

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Oliver Jeffers is one of those illustrators that can do nothing wrong.  Whichever book he writes and/or illustrates is wonderful, whether it’s his own picture books, or illustrations for other authors’ books, such as John Boyne.  Oliver’s latest picture book, This Moose Belongs to Me, is another beautifully illustrated tale.

“Wilfred owned a moose. He hadn’t always owned a moose. The moose came to him a while ago and he knew, just KNEW, that it was meant to be his. He thought he would call him Marcel.”

Most of the time Marcel is very obedient, abiding by the many rules on How to Be a Good Pet. But one dark day, while deep in the woods, someone else claims the moose as their own …
Is Marcel really Wilfred’s pet after all?

This Moose Belongs to Me is a classic Oliver Jeffers story, with the wit, subtle humour and odd characters that I love in his books.  It’s quite a simple story filled with lots of quirky details, such as Wilfred’s rules of how to be a good pet, the string to help him find his way home, and even Wilfred himself, who wears a bow-tie and listens to records.  It’s the sort of story that children of all ages will love.  What kid wouldn’t want to have a moose for a pet, that would go anywhere you wanted to go and provide shelter from the rain?

Oliver’s illustrations are as remarkable as always, but he has tried a different technique with this book.  Instead of using a plain white or coloured background he has painted onto landscape paintings created by another artist (Alexander Dzigurski).  This has created a really interesting effect.  Even though the background and the characters were painted by different people, many years apart,  they go together perfectly.  You feel like you want to dive into the book and follow Wilfred and Marcel through the beautiful landscapes, especially the cover image. It’s almost difficult to tell the two different artists apart on some pages.  If you’re familiar with Oliver’s other books you might even be able to spot several characters from them in this book too.

This Moose Belongs to Me is great for children young and old.  Younger children will love the story and older children (and adults) will appreciate the remarkable illustrations.

5 out of 5 stars

David Levithan on Every Day

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Every Day is David Levithan’s amazing new book, out in NZ and Australia this month from Text Publishing.  I love David’s books and Every Day sounds really interesting and completely different.  I can’t wait to lose myself in the story.

This Moose Belongs to Me book trailer

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This Moose Belongs to Me is the stunning new picture book written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.  He is one extremely talented guy who always creates wonderful picture books, and this is no exception.  It’s available in NZ this month and you can read my review on Monday.

The Crystal Code by Richard Newsome

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What do you get when you mix Tintin, James Bond, and The Famous Five together?  You get Richard Newsome’s Billionaire Series.  So far in the series we’ve followed Gerald, Ruby and Sam to England, France, Greece and India, trying to stay one step ahead of the notorious Mason Green.  In their latest action-packed adventure, The Crystal Code, we join our favourite characters as they make new friends and enemies.

Gerald, Ruby and Sam are meeting up with Alisha and Gerald’s Australian school friend Ox for two weeks of snowboarding in the mountains of California. It’s a dream vacation.

But soon after they arrive—by helicopter, with Gerald’s butler Mr Fry at the controls, of course—the private chalet is attacked. Gerald and the gang escape through a secret passage, only to be pursued on snowmobiles by men with guns across frozen lakes and into the path of a cascading avalanche.

Could this be the work of Gerald’s nemesis Sir Mason Green, recently escaped from prison? Or is someone else behind the attack?Does the old dry cleaning ticket Gerald found amongst Green’s belongings hold the key?And how does an invitation to join the secretive Billionaire’s Club land Gerald in so much trouble?

The Crystal Code is Richard Newsome at his best!  It’s chock-full of everything I love about the Billionaire Series – chases, fights, close calls, awkward situations, sarcastic remarks, laugh out loud moments and memorable characters.  From the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, to Prague, and a tiny island in Sweden, Richard Newsome takes us on a wild ride where the action never lets up.  Whenever I read one of Richard’s books I feel the absolute joy that I remember feeling the first time I read Tintin’s adventures.  They make you wish that you were a billionaire with a crazed mad man threatening your life.  As the characters grow up, their relationships change, so things become a bit awkward between Gerald and Ruby (especially when another girl, Felicity, gets thrown into the mixture).  I really liked the dynamics between the characters, and by introducing new characters into the original trio, Richard has refreshed the series and made it even more exciting.

Richard has also taken the series in a different direction by introducing some new villains.  At the center of the story is a centuries old manuscript that nobody has been able to decipher, and there are two characters that are desperate to get their hands on it.  Tycho Brahe, the mysterious man with the silver nose, is a fantastically sinister character who will stop at nothing to carry out his plans.  There is a lot of mystery surrounding him and Gerald and his friends don’t believe that he can be the man he says that he is.  Then there is Ursus, the man with many names, a shadowy character whose motives are unknown.  They’re both really intriguing characters and I have a feeling we’ll meet them again.

The Crystal Code, and the rest of the Billionaire series, are a must read for anyone, young or old, who love action, adventure and mystery stories.  Grab it from your library or bookshop now and dive into the adventures of billionaire boy, Gerald, and his friends.

5 out of 5 stars

Newly updated Margaret Mahy books from HarperCollins NZ

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HarperCollins New Zealand have just released two newly updated Margaret Mahy books to celebrate her life and work.

Margaret Mahy: A Writer’s Life by Tessa Duder

This was first published in 2005 and it has now been fully updated and republished.  The updates include:

  • Updated introduction
  • New Epilogue which covers Margaret’s life between 2005 and 2012.
  • Updated notes
  • Updated Chronological Bibliography with Margaret’s books published from 2005 onwards.
  • Updated Awards and Honours (including the Hans Christian Anderson Award which Margaret won in 2006).
  • New photos.

The Word Witch by Margaret Mahy, illustrations by David Elliot, edited by Tessa Duder

This was originally published in hardback in 2009 (I have my copy in pride of place on my bookshelf) and is the ultimate collection of Margaret Mahy’s much-loved poems and stories in rhyme.  Each of the 66 pieces is accompanied by a poignant illustration by one of New Zealand’s best, David Elliot.

This new paperback edition includes a CD with recordings of Margaret reciting 12 poems, including favourites such as Down the Back of the Chair and Ghosts.  The CD is a delight to listen to and it’s wonderful to hear these poems read as Margaret heard them in her head.  If you already own a copy of The Word Witch it’s definitely worth buying a copy of this edition as well, just so you can listen to Margaret perform the poems over and over again.

 

Win Shrunk! by F.R. Hitchcock

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Shrunk! is the wacky, weird and wonderful new book from debut children’s author, F.R. Hitchcock.  It’s also one of the first titles published by a fantastic new UK based publisher, Hot Key Books (check out their other fantastic books on their website).  You can read my review of Shrunk! here on the blog.

To celebrate this wonderful book I’m giving away 2 copies.  All you have to do to get in the draw is add your name and email address in the form below and I’ll chose two lucky winners.  Competition closes Wednesday 3 October (International).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  This competition has now closed.

Shrunk! by F.R. Hitchcock

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Have you ever made a wish on a shooting star?  Tom has, but his wish has gone horribly wrong.  Now he can shrink anything he likes and it’s going to get him in a whole heap of trouble.  Read about Tom’s misadventures in F.R. Hitchcock’s wonderful new book, Shrunk!

After Tom moves in with his grandmother next to the Bywater-by-Sea Model Village, he makes a wish on a shooting star and gets the curious ability to shrink things. The first thing he shrinks is Jupiter, then some sheep and a boat.

But without Jupiter in place, the Earth is slowly being drawn towards the Sun. With the angry (and miniaturised) school bully yelling from his pocket, Tom has to return Jupiter and save Earth — all while trying to make friends in his new home.

Shrunk! is a wacky, weird and wonderful little story full of hilarious antics.  It’s so nice to read a story for children that feels really fresh and completely different.  There’s something for everyone in this wonderful story – wishes gone wrong, missing planets, meteors crashing to earth, shrinking animals and people, horrible little boys, a race against time, and lots and lots of laughs.

I love all the characters in the book, from Tom who ends up with a rather useless and annoying power, to his Grandma who knows more than she’s letting on, his unfortunate, geeky friend Eric, Eric’s dad who believes he has been abducted by aliens, and Jacob the big (or should that be small) bully.  The hilarious antics of the characters will have children cracking up laughing, especially Jacob vs. the squirrel.

Shrunk! is F.R. Hitchcock’s first children’s book and I hope I get to read many more of her stories.  Shrunk! is perfect for children who like funny stories or stories with a touch of magic or science.  It’s a great book for children to read themselves and it also works really well as a read aloud (for around 8 years and older).  It’s a short read too so it’s great for reluctant readers.

5 out of 5 stars

Picture Book Nook: Catching fish and dragons – picture books by Tanya Batt

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Clean Slate Press is a New Zealand based educational publisher that has just launched a new picture book imprint.  Their first book, Wishy Washy World by Joy Cowley, is a collection of eight stories featuring Mr and Mrs Wishy Washy and the animals on their farm.  Clean Slate Press have just launched two new picture books, Catching Fish and My Dad’s a Dragon Catcher, both written by Tanya Batt.

Catching Fish is about Jake, who wears his favourite shirt all the time.  It’s his favourite because it has five red fish on it that swim along the bottom edge.  It gets so dirty that he has to wash it, but when he wears it next all the fish have gone.  Jake and his mum look everywhere for the fish, but they can’t find them, until they look up in the sky and see them swimming through the air.  How will Jake get the five fish back on his shirt? Catching Fish is a delightful, funny story that begs children to join in.  They can make the sounds of the clothes in the washing machine and on the line, help Jake go fishing and jump up to try and catch the fish from the sky.  I really like Natalia Vasquez’ quirky, collage-style illustrations.  It’s interesting to see all the different materials and photos that she has used to create the illustrations (the wooden fence is photographs of wood and the sun is a photo of pasta).

My Dad’s a Dragon Catcher is about Toby and the job that he makes up for his dad.  When Toby and his friends are sitting around eating their lunch they talk about what their dads do for a job.  Toby says that his dad is a Dragon Catcher because that sounds exciting.  When his teacher invites their dads along for Father’s Day at school, Toby has to figure out what to do.  His dad isn’t really a Dragon Catcher but maybe he can pretend.  Boys especially will love this story, with its dragons, red truck with fireproof wheels, and the fire-proof undies.  Helen Bacon’s fiery illustrations will really appeal to children.  Her dragons all look quite silly and harmless, even when they’re breathing fire.  It’s a great book for dads to share with their children, especially if they’re ready for a longer story.

The thing I like most about these two great picture books is their production.  The hardbacks look wonderful and they have beautiful endpapers with dragons and fish on them.  Catching Fish and My Dad’s a Dragon Catcher are available now from a Whitcoulls near you.

Metawars: Fight for the Future by Jeff Norton

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Sometimes it would be nice to be able to escape your own life and pretend to be someone else.  What if you could connect yourself to a virtual world, where you could do exactly that and look completely different.  You could have a different face, a different body, and you could even be a unicorn or a dragon.  In this virtual world, everything is clean and bright, and you can work, shop and play.  Enter the world of the Metashpere in Jeff Norton’s new book, Metawars: Fight for the Future.

Jonah Delacroix can’t stand the real world – so he lives most of his life inside a global computer-based virtual world called the Metasphere, where everyone is represented by an avatar. When he discovers the avatar of his dead father, and assumes his online identity, a series of events are unleashed that compel Jonah to race across the real world with a secret society to protect the freedom of all mankind…

Fight for the Future is the first book in Jeff Norton’s action-packed science fiction series about the fight for cyberspace.  The real world has fallen into ruin and humans now spend most of their lives in the Meatasphere, a virtual world full of life and colour, where people work, go to school and socialise.  There are two warring factions fighting for what they believe is right.  The Millenials believe that the Metashphere should be controlled, but the Guardians believe it should be free.  Matthew Granger, the creator of the Metasphere and leader of the Millenials has just escaped prison and will stop at nothing to take back his creation, one piece at a time.

The main character is Jonah Delacroix, a teenager who lives on a bus in the real world with his mum, but like most people, prefers to spend his time in the Metashpere.  His father, who was once Matthew Granger’s personal pilot, was killed when a Guardian bomb blew up the airport.  Jonah knows where his loyalties lie, but these loyalties are constantly tested in the story.  Who do you trust when everyone thinks they’re right?  One thing I really liked about the story was that there are no clear villains.  They may seem like villains but they’re only fighting for what they believe is right.  Matthew Granger’s character was really interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing how Jeff develops his character in the next book.

Metawars is a real boys story and the perfect book to hook reluctant readers.  There are heart-stopping action sequences, spies, terrorists and cool characters. It’s sure to grab those video game addicted teens as they’ll understand the allure of wanting to be constantly plugged into the virtual world.  To hook them in, all you need to tell them about the book is it’s like Alex Rider crossed with The Matrix.  Once they’ve read Fight for the Future they’ll be hooked and eagerly awaiting the sequel The Dead Are Rising.

4 out of 5 stars