I’m always on the lookout for exciting new reads for my Year 3 and 4 students, especially for those kids who are moving on from their tried and true favourite series. Leonora Bolt: Secret Inventor is the first book in a new series that is perfect to bridge the gap between the more formulaic series’ for younger readers, and longer more developed novels. Leonora is a character that children will fall in love with and want to read more of her adventures.
Leonora Bolt lives in a lighthouse on remote Crabby Island with her scary Uncle Luther, their housekeeper Mildred, and her pet otter, Twitchy Nibbles. Leonora spends her days creating incredible inventions – like flameproof shampoo and an electric, sock-sorting octopus – watched over by her uncle. Life can be lonely on the island but Leonora gets to do the things that she loves. Her life changes dramatically one day when a boy washes up on her island. He tells her that her uncle is incredibly famous on the mainland as one of the world’s most amazing inventors. Leonora discovers that Uncle Luther has been stealing her inventions and selling them on the mainland as his own inventions. Not only that, but the parents that she believed were dead are, in fact, still alive. For the first time in her life Leonora must leave Crabby Island to stop her uncle from using her latest invention for dastardly deeds and discover the truth about her parents’ whereabouts.
Leonora Bolt: Secret Inventor is bursting with imagination and adventure. There is something in the story for everyone, from mind-blowing inventions and giant piles of treasure, to disgusting food and daring escapes. There is adventure, mystery and plenty of laughs thrown in. Each of the characters are fantastic, from the brave and inventive Leonora to the dastardly Uncle Luther. Gladys Jose’s illustrations perfectly match the tone of the story and really capture the essence of the characters.
Readers will finish the story wanting to go on more adventures with Leonora and her friends, and luckily there are more adventures to come (including the second book, Deep Sea Calamity, which is out now). This would be a wonderful read aloud for Years 3-6.
David Hill is an incredibly versatile writer. Over the years he has written historical fiction, sci-fi, adventure stories and one of the best New Zealand novels for children, See Ya Simon. David Hill’s latest book, Below, is an edge-of-your-seat survival story that is going to be a winner with kids.
Liam and Imogen really don’t get on. Liam’s dad is a tunneler, helping to build a new road tunnel through the mountain, and Liam loves the chance to visit his dad at work. He gets to know the others working on the tunnel and see the tunnel boring machines or TBMs up close. Imogen and her family are strongly against the tunnel, believing that it will harm the environment and disturb the wildlife. Liam is determined to show Imogen that she is wrong and that the tunnel will be a good thing. Stealing his dad’s keys, Liam arranges to meet Imogen at the entrance to the tunnel one night and give her a tour. However, while they are exploring the tunnel and checking out the TBM, part of the tunnel collapses, trapping them inside. Not wanting his dad to truly know where he was, both Liam and Imogen lied about where they were going that night, and so nobody knows that they are trapped in the tunnel. As hours and then days pass, more parts of the tunnel collapse and their hope of being rescued dwindles. Liam and Imogen will have to try and keep themselves alive, with the few supplies they do have and hope that Liam’s dad figures out where they are.
Below is a real nail-biting, hold-your-breath kind of read. You are hanging on every one of David Hill’s sentences, hoping that Liam and Imogen will make it out alive. You can’t help but put yourself in the characters’ shoes and think about how you would cope in their situation (not well at all, in my case). The first part of the book is pretty tense, with the middle part slowing the pace down, but also making you feel the sense of timelessness that the characters are feeling. There is not a lot going on in this middle section of the story, but this fits with the fact that Liam and Imogen are mostly just sleeping and eating what little food they have and they have no real sense of time passing. The last quarter of the book ramps up the suspense, and just when everything seems like it’s looking up, David Hill throws another twist in. I didn’t stop reading until I knew how it ended.
Penguin Random House NZ have done an amazing job of the cover of Below! The cover screams ‘READ ME!’ and perfectly captures the tension of the story. One of the best NZ covers for children’s fiction that I’ve seen for ages.
I will be recommending Below to all of my Year 5-8 kids and it’s going to be such an easy book to sell to them. It would be an amazing read aloud too, especially for Year 7/8s. I know they would be begging for just one more chapter.
Magic and science don’t often go together. Magic is mysterious and unexplainable whereas science is grounded in fact and can always be explained. Both magic and science are equally important in Denis Knight and Cristy Burne’s new series, Wednesday Weeks. The first book in the series, Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows, is out now and it’s absolutely brilliant!
Wednesday Weeks is always accidentally creating havoc, whether it’s setting things on fire or blowing things up. Her teacher knows what to expect and keeps a fire extinguisher handy at all times. If that wasn’t bad enough her sorcerer grandfather keeps materialising in her classroom, ready to take his apprentice away. Wednesday never asked to be a sorcerer’s apprentice, but her grandpa keeps showing up. One day, Wednesday will be the Protector of the Realms and her grandpa needs her to be ready. When Wednesday and her grandpa travel to the Realm of Slugs, they are attacked by the fire-flinging, psychotic goblin king, Gorgomoth. Grandpa refuses to give Gorgomoth the Ruby Ring, with which he would enslave the Nine Realms, so Gorgomoth takes grandpa and disappears through a void. Together with her best friend Alfie, a prime-number fan and robotics expert, and a wise-cracking talking skull called Bruce, Wednesday must learn to control her magic so that she can rescue her grandpa from the Tower of Darkness. Together they will have to solve puzzles, outwit fairies and survive a laundry maze to reach the Pit of Extreme Discomfort in the heart of the Tower of Darkness.
Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows is an epically awesome adventure that had me laughing out loud the whole way. There is something for everyone in this story, whether you like coding and mathematical problems, magic spells and sorcerers, or power-crazy villains and sarcastic sidekicks. Wednesday and Alfie are two characters that I would follow anywhere. Between them they can solve any problem that comes their way.
The book is bursting with humour, from the characters, like Bruce the wise-cracking talking skull, to the witty dialogue, and Denis and Cristy’s spot-on comedic timing. There are so many parts of the story that made me laugh out loud, like the fact that there is a Realm of Unfriendly Cats, or that Wednesday’s grandpa has a Settee of Interdimensional Contemplation. I love that Bruce is totally sarcastic and you never know what will come out of his mouth. You can tell that Denis and Cristy had a lot of fun writing this story and really let their imaginations go wild. I mean, a maze in a laundry, filled with clothing that turns into a kraken?! Fantastic!
Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows has me hooked on the series. I’m super excited for book two, Wednesday Weeks and the Crown of Destiny, which is out in September. I can’t wait for more adventures with Wednesday, Alfie and Bruce!
I am a HUGE fan of Laura Ellen Anderson! Her Amelia Fang series was the first series of books that my daughter and I had a shared obsession with. I had listened to a couple of the Amelia Fang audiobooks myself and loved them, and I suggested to my daughter that we listen to one on the way to school one day. She absolutely loved listening to them and we got to the stage where we were quoting lines from the books to each other. It felt a little like our own secret club, because no one else in our family knew what we were going on about. When we finally listened to the last book in the series, Amelia Fang and the Trouble with Toads, we were both sad that we wouldn’t have any more adventures with Amelia, Squashy, Florence, Grimaldi and Tangine. They are the BEST audiobooks because Zoe Thorne perfectly captures the characters with her voices. My daughter told me that I couldn’t read the books aloud, after we had listened to the audiobooks, because ‘your voices don’t sound the same dad.’ Like so many other fans of Laura’s books, I was incredibly excited when she announced she was writing a new series, called Rainbow Grey. It feels like I’ve been waiting a long time for Rainbow Grey (especially when I was seeing people in the UK getting the most beautiful early copies of the book, with rainbow sprayed edges!). Thankfully, Rainbow Grey has now arrived in NZ! Over the past week I’ve been reading Rainbow Grey aloud to my daughter and we have been enthralled.
Ray Grey lives in the Weatherlands in the City of Celestia. The Weatherlands are responsible for creating the weather for Earth. The Sun Weatherlings look after the great Sunflower in the sky that provides light and warmth for humans, and there are Snow, Rain and Wind Weatherlings who use their magic to give Earth its weather. Ray’s friends, Droplett and Snowden, both have weather magic but Ray has none. Ray wishes she had magic and longs for adventure, like her hero, Earth explorer La Blaze Delight. Ray gets more than she bargained for though when a map in an old book sends her off on a forbidden trip to Earth. Ray and her friends discover a crystal which unleashes a power that hasn’t been seen in the Weatherlands for centuries. Suddenly, Ray has more power than she ever imagined was possible. Where there is great power though, there is always someone wanting that power for nefarious means. Someone Ray thought was her friend becomes her enemy and they will stop at nothing to take Ray’s new-found power. With the help of her friends and family, Ray will have to defeat this new enemy in order to save Earth from destruction.
I absolutely LOVE Rainbow Grey! This is a book bursting with magic, imagination, humour and heart. It is twisty, nail-biting, funny and completely brilliant. Every time we would read this book together, I found myself saying ‘let’s just read one more chapter,’ because I didn’t want to put the book down. There are some real cliff-hanger endings, where you can’t possibly stop! We were both hooked and couldn’t wait to dive back in to it again.
Like all of Laura’s stories, you immediately click with the characters and they feel like your best friends. Ray is incredibly determined, never giving up on what she believes in, and she is very brave. Snowden is clever and always looking for solutions to the conundrums that him and his friends find themselves in (and he loves drizzle pickle sandwiches!). Droplett is sassy, very good at puddle-porting, and will stand up to anyone who is mean to her friends. Ray, Snowden and Droplett make an amazing team and they always have each other’s backs. You feel like you are right there beside them as they try to save the world. The situation gets pretty tense towards the end and we ended up biting our nails, wondering how they were going to get through.
The thing I love most about Laura’s stories is the humour and this book radiates humour. The humour is there in the names of the characters (La Blaze Delight and her pigeon, Coo La La, is just one example), it’s there in the dialogue and in the illustrations, and it’s there in the events of the story. There are so many parts that made us laugh, like knicker-nadoes, exploding cloud-cats, and people being called thunderbum-faces.
Laura Ellen Anderson’s cover is amazing, with Ray’s rainbow hair swirling through the title. If I didn’t already automatically buy a new Laura Ellen Anderson book I would certainly be picking this one up to read. Laura has such a recognisable illustration style, and one of the things I love most about her illustrations is that every character looks different. Each of the different types of Weatherling has a different style of dress. Droplett has her raincape and has tight-fitting clothes (good for puddle-porting), whereas Snowden has snow-white hair, gloves and a scarf. I especially love La Blaze’s style.
Laura wraps up the story nicely, but gives us a tantalising glimpse of what is to come in the epilogue. Both my daughter and I will eagerly await the sequel and there will be squeals from both of us when it is published. I can say with confidence that Rainbow Grey is a FANTASTIC read aloud, for ages 6-10. It is one of those stories that would be particularly good as a family read aloud, if you have a range of ages to cater for.
So many kids love dragons. Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series has seen a surge of interest in dragon stories at my school in the last couple of years, especially when the graphic novel adaptations (illustrated by Mike Holmes) were released. Some of my readers want to be reading Wings of Fire but they’re a bit too hard for them at the moment, so I’m always looking for slightly easier dragon stories for them. A new series of graphic novels about dragons has just started this year, called Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly, and it’s perfect for those younger or less-confident readers.
In The Coldfire Curse we meet Ruskin and his friends. Ruskin is a young scarlet dragon, who is the pet of the prince of Wrenly. He lives a pampered life, with his own lair and all the food and toys a dragon could ask for. Cinder is a young dragon from the island of Crestwood, whose father has been struck down by the coldfire curse. Cinder ventures to the castle in search of help from the king, but only finds Ruskin. Cinder tells Ruskin about the legend of the scarlet dragon and he agrees to come with her to help her father. With the help of Cinder’s cousin, Groth, the three young dragons set out to break the curse and save all of Wrenly.
In the second book, Shadow Hills, Ruskin hears of a firestorm heading towards Wrenly, which will rain fire from the sky. The only thing that can stop the firestorm are lava rocks, which can absorb the energy of the storm and disintegrate it. The lava rocks are only found on Crestwood, so Ruskin returns to the home of his friends, Cinder and Groth. The witch-dragon Villinelle tells the friends that it is only the enchanted lava rocks in the Shadow Hills that will stop the firestorm, so this is where they head. They soon discover why it is called the Shadow Hills. They are given the enchanted lava rocks by the dragons of Shadow Hills, but they are soon stolen. All hope of saving the kingdom seems lost. Only Ruskin’s mysterious powers will be able to help.
The Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly series is full of enough action, adventure and magic to keep any young dragon fan entertained. The pacing is steady and there is a bit of mystery to each story, so readers will want to keep reading to find out what happens. The stories are broken up into chapters, so there are some good places to pause for less confident readers. They’re great stories to hook younger readers (7-9 year olds) on fantasy and adventure stories, because there are elements of those types of stories, without being too heavy on detail. The illustrations are bold, while also being not too detailed. All of the dragons have unique characteristics, with the younger dragons appearing smaller and younger, and the older dragons appearing weathered and wizened.
With each new story in the series we start to get more of a picture of Ruskin’s powers and how it is that he might fulfill the prophecy of the scarlet dragon. The friendship between Ruskin, Cinder and Groth also develops, while the truth of who the villain might be is still hidden away.
I have loved the first two books in the series and will be looking out for the next in the series (book three and four are also out now). I can’t wait to introduce the series to the kids at my school. I know these books will be snatched up quickly and will spread like wildfire.
Some books just speak to me. As soon as I see the cover or read the blurb I know that I’m going to love it. Ham Helsing: Vampire Hunter had me at the title. I knew this was going to be hilarious, but I underestimated how much I would be laughing my ass off!
Ham Helsing has always been the odd one out in his family. The other males in his family have been daring and adventurous, hunting down monsters, but Ham doesn’t fit the mold. They may have had the brawn but not the brains, and they have all died in stupid situations. Now, the only one left is Ham, and it’s down to him to carry on the family legacy. Reluctantly, he sets out on his first quest. Mud Canyon has a vampire problem and they need a hero to save the day. With the help of a couple of enterprising rodents, a werewolf and a ninja, Ham sets off to hunt down the vampire. When they eventually confront the vampire, they discover he isn’t quite what they were expecting. There are other forces at work, and Ham and his friends must work together to defeat them.
Ham Helsing is an epically funny graphic novel that kids will be clamouring to get their hands on. Rich Moyer infuses humour into every aspect of the story, from the events of the story and the illustrations to the characters and the dialogue. The montage at the start of the book, of Ham’s family members dying in stupid situations, sets the tone for the story and gets you laughing straight away. Rich’s comedic timing had me laughing out loud. At the same time, Rich makes you feel for his hero, who didn’t really want to be a hero. There is plenty of action too, that keeps the story moving.
The characters are all endearing, especially Ham. I love his smiling face on the front cover because he looks like nothing would faze him. He’s very loyal and is always trying to do the right thing. Many of the characters are not who they appear to be, which adds to the humour of the story. The werewolf seems scary when Ham first meets him but he’s actually quite tame. I cracked up every time he transformed back into a human! The vampire in the story isn’t as terrifying as he’s made out to be either, especially with a name like Malcolm and bacon for minions.
Rich’s illustrations are bursting with humour and his characters are really expressive. There are lots of visual gags and Rich regularly uses chunks of wordless panels to tell the story. I especially like the parts where the werewolf transforms. I love what Josh Lewis has done with the colours too. The cover alone is brilliant! Much of the story takes place at night and Josh has done a great job of capturing moonlight and torchlight on the characters’ faces.
I desperately need more Ham Helsing adventures, and Rich leaves the ending hanging, so here’s hoping for more books! This is a must-have for school libraries, especially for those kids that love a good laugh.
The fifth instalment in Anh Do’s action-packed Wolf Girl series is out now. I love this series because it has hooked so many of the kids at my school on reading. One of my Year 3/4 teachers was looking for a great read aloud to hook her whole class last year, and I recommended the first Wolf Girl book. They couldn’t get enough of these books, so they ended up reading the other 3 books in the series throughout the year. Those kids still talk about Wolf Girl and they are going to be lining up to read the fifth book, Across the Sea.
In Across the Sea Gwen, Rupert and the dogs strike out across treacherous ice and freezing oceans. If they are to have any hope of survival, they must stowaway on a ship full of enemy soldiers. But sometimes help comes in unexpected forms. Someone new will join the pack … but who will leave? Deep in the frozen tundra, the danger is heating up! Also, look out for the bonus Wolf Girl story at the end of the book.
Thanks to Allen and Unwin I have a complete set of Wolf Girl 1-5 to give away.
Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner is Jackie Rassell.
I love both survival stories and verse novels, so any story that combines both is a winner with me. Dusti Bowling’s The Canyon’s Edge was my top book of 2020 because of this combination of survival story told in verse. If you’re a lover of verse novels too then you need to read Megan E. Freeman’s latest book, Alone. It’s a story of a girl trying to survive on her own after everyone else in her town disappears.
Maddie is just your average 12 year old. She wants to hang out with her friends and is frustrated at having to spend her weeks between two separate houses. Maddie organises a sleepover with two of her friends at her grandparent’s vacant house. She gives her mum and dad two separate stories so that they won’t suspect anything. However, an unexpected event occurs that leaves Maddie abandoned and alone. Her whole town has been evacuated, leaving houses empty and personal belongings strewn across roads and footpaths. The bits of information that Maddie can gather make no sense, and there is no one around to ask what happened. Maddie’s only companion is George, her neighbour’s Rottweiler. They explore as far as they are able to, finding food, water and other essential supplies. What they don’t find are other humans. Without power for heating and cooking, Maddie must rely on other means to help her survive. The library becomes vital for helping her learn new skills and for keeping her sane. Maddie holds on to the hope that someone will come for her, but as the months go by, Maddie has to cope with changing seasons and wild weather that make survival hard.
Alone is an absolutely amazing read! It is a tense, gripping and, at times, terrifying story of survival against the odds. I was really torn reading this book, because the pace races along which kept me turning the pages, but Megan’s writing is just so stunning that I wanted to savour her words. There were quite a few times when I was holding my breath while I was turning pages, because I was generally concerned for the life of this fictional character. There were also parts where I wanted to throw the book across the room because something didn’t seem fair.
Maddie is the kind of character we all wish we could be. You hope that, if you were put in her shoes, you could find ways to survive. She is incredibly resilient, even when faced with terrifying circumstances, including a tornado. Maddie is used to relying on technology to answer her questions, but when the power goes out, she has to rely on information in books. She raids her local library to find stories to read as an escape, but also nonfiction books to teach her how to light a fires. Those who have control over the funding of libraries should be given this book to prove how vital physical libraries are. Maddie has grown and matured so much by the end of the story that I wonder how she would cope returning to normal society. Maddie’s relationship with George is adorable. They have each other’s back and keep each other warm when the weather changes.
The main reason I love verse novels is because they so perfectly capture the raw emotion of the characters. This is what makes Alone so stunning. In just a handful of words, Megan captures Maddie’s despair, loneliness or horror. We know how she feels, what she’s thinking and what she fears. Alone is an emotional- rollercoaster that leaves you feeling exhausted but satisfied.
Alone is one of my top reads of 2021. I will be recommending it to both the kids and teachers at my school. It’s a book that will spread like wildfire between the kids and is perfect for those teachers who ‘don’t have much time for reading.’ It would be a great read aloud or class set for Years 7-9.
I’ve been a fan of M.G. Leonard from her very first book, Beetle Boy. I love all of her books, especially her most recent series, Adventures on Trains, written with Sam Sedgman. I was super excited to hear she had another new solo book coming this year, all about birdwatching and solving mysteries. Twitch is out now and it is absolutely wonderful!
Twitch is a kid who loves birdwatching. It’s nearly the summer holidays and he plans to spend it watching birds at Aves Wood, in the bird hide that he has painstakingly constructed. His plans are interrupted though when the police start hunting for an escaped convict from the local prison. The police are combing every inch of Aves Wood, scaring the birds away. All of his hours spent birdwatching have honed Twitch’s observation skills, and he notices some strange behaviour from visitors to Aves Wood. There are two girls who seem to be sneaking around and a man called Billy, who is camping out in the woods. Billy is friendly to Twitch and wants to know more about Aves Wood and its bird life. Robber Ryan has been seen in the area and Twitch is hoping that Ryan doesn’t find his bird hide. As Twitch tries to uncover the truth about what is happening at Aves Wood, he unwittingly puts others in danger. It’s up to Twitch and his friends to catch the criminal and right a wrong.
Twitch is an action-packed mystery that zips along at the speed of a kingfisher. I flew through the story, because I needed to find out how it ended. It’s a story that has something for everyone, from twists that swoop out of nowhere and clever characters, to tricky plans and birds galore. It’s also a story where you don’t know who to trust. Twitch will make you want to get outside and enjoy nature, because M.G. Leonard shows you that there is so much to explore and observe. Paddy Donnelly’s stunning cover makes you want to dive into Twitch’s story and meet all of its avian characters.
Like her Adventures on Trains series, M.G. Leonard weaves a perfect mystery, that keeps you guessing, and has the most satisfying ending. She makes you feel connected to the characters and concerned when they find themselves in trouble. I love the way that she sets up the characters, so that you’re never really sure about their intentions. Twitch’s bully/friend Jack is one of those characters who is tricky to figure out. At the start of the book he is trying to force Twitch to eat a worm but then becomes his friend. You’re never really sure whether he’s actually Twitch’s friend or not though. Twitch is a cool character and I’m sure he will inspire young readers to become birdwatchers themselves. He has made me want to take more notice of the birds around me.
I absolutely love Twitch and I hope we get to join him and his friends on more adventures. Twitch would be a wonderful read aloud for Years 5-8 as it will have everyone on the edge of their seats.
Walker Books and M.G. Leonard have created some wonderful videos to go with Twitch. Check them out below:
For a long time slime was everywhere. It was the thing to make and kids were obsessed with it. The hype has passed but I still have heaps of kids, every week, asking for books about slime. It’s a fascinating substance for kids and there are so many different types. In Partners in Slime, Christchurch author, Belinda O’Keefe’s new book, friends Jake and Cooper create cool new slime that is in hot demand. However, when they add a new ingredient, things get out of hand.
An amazing new roller coaster, the Steel Beast, is opening in Jake and Cooper’s town in just over a month. They are desperate to ride it on opening day, but they need $110 each and their parents won’t give them the money. They need to make some fast cash but they can’t think of any good ideas. When Jake’s sister, Paige, takes his hair gel for making slime, Jake realises that slime is the key to making some easy money. If they give it their own unique name and market it right, they can sell heaps of it to the kids at school. After some experimentation, Gloopy Gloop is born. They have some early success with sales but Paige starts to sell a superior product and their sales drop rapidly. Jake and Cooper know they need something that will blow their competition away, and Cooper’s scientist uncle, Ivor, has just the solution. Their new products prove hugely popular, so to keep up with the demand, they add a secret ingredient. Adding this to their slime has unexpected consequences, and before they know it, things are seriously out of control. They need to find a solution, and fast.
Partners in Slime is a spectacular story filled with schemes, sibling rivalry, slime and silliness. It’s a story that is entertaining from beginning to end and you’re never quite sure what’s going to happen next. It reminds me of Paul Jennings’ stories, because there’s an element of weird and wacky, but it’s also really funny. I especially enjoyed the part where Dave the turtle is walking down the street, between the shady and sunny parts.
Belinda’s characters are very relatable for kids. Jake and Cooper are determined to make the money they need for their ticket for the Steel Beast. Just when you think things are looking up for Jake and Cooper though, something happens to bring them back down to earth. The sibling rivalry between Jake and Paige is really strong, and Jake will do anything to beat his sister. I enjoyed Uncle Ivor, because he’s just a little mad (I mean, who keeps a mysterious space rock in their house?).
Illustrator, Minky Stapleton, and cover designer, Erin Nicol, have created a slime-tastic cover that will grab readers’ attention. The cover oozes green slime, and the turtle with stuff stuck to his shell makes you curious about the story.
Partners in Slime is one of my top NZ reads this year and it will be easy to sell this book to kids. I love the ending, which certainly leaves the story open for more adventures with Jake and Cooper. It would be a fantastic read aloud, especially for Years 5/6. It is sure to hook the whole class and keep them begging to read another chapter.
My Best Friends Are Books 