New Zealand author

Picture Book Nook: Stomp! by Ruth Paul

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Join the dinosaurs and follow the leader as they stomp, jump and hop their way through the jungle, the swamp and the river.  Children will have fun doing the actions and making the sounds as they pretend to be dinosaurs.  Those dinosaur-mad children will be able to name the different dinosaurs and can pretend they’re a T-Rex or a Triceratops.

Stomp! reminded me of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt because of the wonderful noises and actions that children can copy as you read.  I love the way that Ruth Paul has organised the dinosaurs from tallest to shortest across a double page spread.  This layout makes it easy for children to see all of the dinosaurs and look out for their favourites.  Everything is very ordered when the T-Rex is leading, but things start to fall apart when the baby dinosaurs leads on the way back home.  Ruth Paul shows us through the  illustrations that it’s good to be small, as the baby dinosaur is small enough to creep under the creepers and squeeze through the trunks.  The illustrations are bright and clear and full of plenty of humour, especially towards the end.

Stomp! is a book that can be shared with one child or many.  Everyone can make lots of noise and stomp around like dinosaurs.

Picture Book Nook: Phoebe and the Night Creatures by Jenny Hessell and Donovan Bixley

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Phoebe’s in bed but needs to go to the toilet.  There’s only one problem – there’s a wolf under her bed.  Her mum tells her to take the wolf with her and off they go to the toilet.  Along the way she meets a cast of interesting characters, including a stinky troll, a scary shark, and a giant,  who all follow her to the bathroom.  Are all these monsters following her or is it just her imagination?

Phoebe and the Night Creatures is one of those picture books where the words and the pictures are a perfect match.  Jenny Hessell’s story is full of the monsters that children create in their imagination and they are brought to life with Donovan Bixley’s stunning illustrations.  Jenny has created Phoebe, a girl who isn’t afraid of trolls or ghosts and Donovan has portrayed this courage in his illustrations, particularly on the cover of the book.  Donovan Bixley is my favourite New Zealand illustrator, because of the way he uses light and colour, making his illustrations glow on the page.  This book has really allowed him to have some fun and use his imagination to create these night creatures.  Another aspect of the book I really enjoyed was the design, which is also done by Donovan.  The layout of the words adds extra enjoyment to the story, with some words looking spooky or stinky.  Phoebe and the Night Creatures is probably not a book to read before bed, but one to share with those children who aren’t scared easily and are fascinated with monsters.

Picture Book Nook: Out of Bed Fred by Lucy Davey and Harriet Bailey

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Every day Mum has to give the boys a hurry-up.  She goes through the house calling,

“Out of bed, Fred!
In your clothes, Mose!
Brush your hair, Blair!
Wash your face, Mace!
Eat your food, Jude!
Clean your teeth, Keith!
Time to go, Joe!”

However, their little sister, Shirley is always up before them, “all dressed, brushed, washed, fed, cleaned and ready to go.”  She’s the sort of sister who always  does everything right and never gets in trouble.  But one day her brothers come up with a plan to change all that.  Will it work or will Shirley outsmart them?

Out of Bed Fred is a fun story that perfectly captures the day-to-day life of a big family.  Shirley really stands out, not just because she’s the only girl, but also because of her sense of humour and the way she stands up to her brothers.  The illustrator, Harriet Bailey has given the pictures a real Kiwi feel, with the brothers wearing shorts and rugby jerseys and photos of beach holidays on the wall.   If you look hard enough you’ll also be able to spot Weetbix and Marmite on toast.  Out of Bed Fred is perfect for brothers and sisters of all ages and is a great read-aloud.

Northwood by Brian Falkner

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The best books grip you from the first few sentences and you want to keep reading until you get to the end.  Northwood  by Brian Falkner is one of those books.  Here are the opening sentences:

“This is the strange story of Miss Cecilia Undergarment and the black lions of Northwood.  It is probably not true, but who really knows for sure.”

Straight away, you want to know all about Cecilia Undergarment (like why does she have such a funny name?), why the story is so strange, and what are black lions?  So now you’re sucked into the story and want to find out what happens to Cecilia.

Cecilia Undergarment lives with her extraordinary family in her extraordinary house, which is shaped like a huge bunch of balloons (to find out why you’ll have to read the book).  Wouldn’t it be great to live in a house made of balloons!  One day while looking out her window she sees a sad and neglected dog trying to escape from the house next door.  She rescues the dog, but the dog’s mean owner destroys her home and sends her balloon room floating away, until it lands in the dark forest of  Northwood.  The forest is home to the ferocious black lions and anyone who has entered Northwood has never returned.  Cecilia and the dog, Rocky find refuge in Northwood at Castle Storm, which is ruled by the horrible King Harry.  Cecilia is determined to find a way out of Northwood, but King Harry will do anything to stop the people leaving.

Brian Falkner has created an amazing world.  When I started reading I was transported into the world of Northwood and felt like I was right there with Cecilia on her adventure.  I could picture the dark tarblood trees of the forest and the dusty rooms of Castle Storm, smell the damp forest, and hear the low rumble of the black lions.  Cecilia is a really cool character and someone who you would want to be friends with.   I also really loved Donovan Bixley’s illustrations, especially the way he portrays King Harry, and the cool cover that really stands out.

Recommended for 9+     10 out of 10

Picture books to brighten your day

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On a cold, dark and miserable winter’s day,  reading and sharing picture books is one of the best things to brighten up your day.  The words bounce, float, and soar along the page and the illustrations can transport you to places far, far away.  The good thing about picture books is that they almost always have a happy ending that leaves you smiling.  Here are a couple of fantastic new picture books:

CoverHester and Lester is the latest book by award-winning New Zealand author, Kyle Mewburn and  it’s beautifully illustrated by Harriet Bailey,  the winner of the inaugural Storylines Gavin Bishop Award for Picture Book Illustration.  The book is about big sister Hester who finds her brother, Lester sitting sadly in the forest.  She tries to cheer him up and so they go on an imaginary adventure in the forest, building a castle, filling it with gold and jewels and assembling a troop of snail soldiers.  This is a great story about siblings and using your imagination, with beautiful illustrations that highlight our special flora and fauna.

CoverWaiting for Later is the new book by Tina Matthews, author and illustrator of the award-winning Out of the Egg.  Nancy is bored so she goes to each of the members of her family to ask if they will play cards, come for a swing, or tell her a story, but they all say ‘Later.’  Nancy decides to climb a tree to wait for later, when her family will have time for her.  In the tree she sees her mother ‘wondering up words and writing them down,’ and hears the little creatures in the tree and the autumn leaves saying ‘We will tickle you, until you wriggle and giggle.’  I loved this sweet story with all the descriptions of the things Nancy sees and hears, and the wood cut and stencil illustrations are stunning.

The Wolf in the Wardrobe by Susan Brocker

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When Finn comes across a car accident, little does he realize that his life is about to change forever.  The huge, injured animal he discovers is no dog – but a wolf, escaped from the circus that he went to with his Dad.  Finn knows that he must save the wolf, Lupa, and prevent her from returning to the circus and the sinister circus clown, Cackles, who torments her.

Finn takes her to the vet and they patch her up, but then he has to figure out how he will pay the vet bill.  Where will he hide her and how will he feed her?  When Finn’s Nana discovers Lupa in the wardrobe, he thinks he’ll be in big trouble, but his Nana thinks Lupa is her old dog Molly and she only wants to keep her safe.  Meanwhile, Cackles the Clown is hot on their trail and will stop at nothing to get Lupa back.  But Cackles doesn’t even like wolves though so why is he so determined to get her?

The Wolf in the Wardrobe is a great story about a boy who will do whatever he can to protect his animal friend.  Finn gives up the things that he loves so that he can earn extra money to help Lupa and learns all that he can about wolves to help take care of her.  Finn’s Nana was my favourite character, because she made me laugh and even though she would forget who Finn was sometimes, she’d help him to care for Lupa.  I also liked the character of Cackles because he was so sinister and creepy.  If you like books about animals or just a story with great characters, you’ll love Wolf in the Wardrobe by Susan Brocker.    Recommended for 9+    8 out of 10

Do Not Push by Kyle Mewburn

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If you found a big, red button in the middle of a forest, would you push it? Even if it said DO NOT PUSH?

Cam likes to explore the forest behind his house.  He feels like it might change and move around when he’s not looking because there’s always something new to explore.  One day, he decides to check out the pond to see if the tadpoles have legs yet, but he falls down a bank and finds himself in a gully surrounded by steep cliffs.  One of the cliffs is covered in vines, but he notices that there is a large, red button behind the vines, with the words DO NOT PUSH written underneath.  Cam doesn’t think anyone will notice if he pushes the button and he doesn’t think anything has happened.  As he turns to leave he sees a green lever that says PLEASE PULL, but he leaves it and runs home.  When he gets home, he realises that something strange has happened, all because he pushed the button.  Suddenly there are no rules and everyone is acting really weird.

Do Not Push is the hilarious new book by our June Star Author, Kyle Mewburn.  He shows you that a world without rules would be fun but also a little embarrassing.  Who really wants to see their mum sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor in her pajamas, eating icecream with her hands?   I also really liked Sarah N. Anderson’s illustrations, especially the one of Cam when he’s in town watching all the chaos.  If you like short and funny stories, Do Not Push is perfect.  Recommended for 7+   8 out of 10

Wings by Raymond Huber

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Wings is the sequel to Sting, the action-packed, adventure story about a young honey bee called Ziggy.  In Wings, Ziggy and his bee family travel to Tokyo with their human, Sparkles, to investigate the disappearance of bees all over the city.  In Tokyo they meet Mitsu who shows them around the city and takes Ziggy and his family to try and find out what happened to her sisters.  Along the way they make new friends and have to escape spiders, hornets and humans who want to destroy them.  Will they figure out why the bees are dying and save the day?

Wings is a great sequel to Sting and is once again full of action and adventure.  You don’t need to have read Sting to understand what happens in the story as it’s a stand-alone book.  The story is told from Ziggy’s point of view and he’s a cool character who’s very brave and loyal.  If you like animal or adventure stories you’ll love Wings.   Recommended for 9+  7 out of 10

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Super Finn!

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Finn Marsh is just an ordinary kid who’s not very good at most things.  When his class has to do a homework assignment about what they’d like to be when they grow up, Finn decides he’d like to be a superhero.  But to be a superhero there are a few things you need, like superpowers, a nemesis, a costume, and you need to save someone’s life.  To finish his homework Finn needs to become Super Finn and, with the help of his friend Brain, he must figure out what it takes to be a superhero.  When Finn’s mum tells him and his brother that they can’t afford to sponsor their World Vision child, Umbaba anymore, Finn realizes that it’s up to him to raise the money to save him.  After their experiments to try and get super-strength and night-vision powers don’t go as planned, Finn and Brain turn to doing dares for money and running a black market junk food business during their lunch break to raise money to help sponsor Umbaba.  Are their crazy schemes enough to help save Umbaba’s life and become a superhero?

Super Finn is the funniest book I’ve read in a long time.  Finn and Brain are cool characters and you might even have kids like them in your class.  The things that they get up to are hilarious and one part of the book, when Finn is in assembly with bags of lollies strapped to his body, made me crack up laughing.  I loved the character of Finn because even though he keeps getting in trouble he doesn’t give up his mission to help Umbaba. Super Finn is Leonie Agnew’s first book and I can’t wait to read what she writes next.  Recommended for 7+     10 out of 10