I’ve always loved Ben Brown and Helen Taylor’s books. So far their books have been mostly about native New Zealand wildlife and they’re beautiful books. Their latest book, The Great Orlando, is something completely different, but absolutely stunning.
From the very first page you know that this is not a happy story. ‘The Great Orlando,’ otherwise known as Sunday Jones lives in a ‘rough, broken house with an unkempt lawn and a dead lemon tree in the front yard.’ His father is a cruel, miserable man, but his mother cares for him, protects him, and tells him bedtime stories of The Great Orlando. When his mother dies, Sunday Jones is left with his father who makes his life a misery. When he gets the chance to enter the school talent show, he transforms himself into The Great Orlando and is finally able to escape his miserable life.
The Great Orlando is a dark, multi-layered story about a boy who wants to escape. Ben and Helen introduce us to Sunday Jones, a boy with a father who makes life hard for him, but holds onto the dreams his mother gave to him through her stories. Ben Brown weaves his magic on the reader with his words and shows us a snapshot of Sunday’s life. I particularly like the way Ben describes the mother’s love for her son. This story also shows us how versatile Helen Taylor is. It’s a completely different subject matter to her previous illustrations but they match the text perfectly and I really love them. They’re quite dark and eerie, which matches the tone of the story, and I like the symbolism she’s used throughout the book (the shadow of the bull in the background and the butterfly). The Great Orlando is the perfect picture book to share with older readers who will appreciate both the story and the illustrations. I hope The Great Orlando sees some success outside of New Zealand for this talented duo.
4 out of 5 stars
Back in November 2010, Des Hunt told us on the 
The Story of Bo and the Circus That Wasn’t is about a sheep called Bo who has always dreamed of being an acrobat. He’s not going to let the fact that he’s a sheep or that he’s afraid of heights get in the way of his dream. However, Bo lives in a country where circuses are forbidden, so he works in secret on his sparkly blue uniform and his ‘sheepachute’. His friends are right behind him and want to help him live his dream, but can he overcome his fears?
Old enemies awaken as Camp Half-Blood’s new arrivals prepare for war. When Jason, Piper and Leo crash land at Camp Half-Blood, they have no idea what to expect. Apparently this is the only safe place for children of the Greek Gods – despite the monsters roaming the woods and demigods practising archery with flaming arrows and explosives. But rumours of a terrible curse – and a missing hero – are flying around camp. It seems Jason, Piper and Leo are the chosen ones to embark on a terrifying new quest, which they must complete by the winter solstice. In just four days time. Can the trio succeed on this deadly mission – and what must they sacrifice in order to survive?
Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. But all three have been given a second chance – to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history …Project Exodus – a mission to transport 300 Americans from 2070 to 54AD to overthrow the Roman Empire – has gone catastrophically wrong. Half have arrived seventeen years earlier, during the reign of Caligula. Liam goes to investigate, but when Maddy and Sal attempt to flee a kill-squad sent to hunt down their field office, all of the TimeRiders become trapped in the Roman past. Armed with knowledge of the future, Caligula is now more powerful than ever. But with the office unmanned – and under threat – how will the TimeRiders make it back to 2001 and put history right? This is book five in the bestselling TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow. Ancient Rome gets a time-travel makeover!
Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship – or an early grave. Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra. If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood – not even from each other.
Everyone knows the song – Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O. In this latest picture book version of the song, one of New Zealand’s most talented illustrators, Donovan Bixley, has given the song a uniquely Kiwi twist. As soon as you open the book you get a dose of Kiwiana with illustrations of some of the things you might find on Old MacDonald’s New Zealand farm. You can’t help but sing the song as you join Old MacDonald on a typical day on the farm. These cows don’t just go moo-moo here and moo-moo there, they also make a mean milkshake. The dog bakes ANZAC biscuits, the pigs have a beauty salon and the sheep get fancy haircuts. Who knew Old MacDonald’s farm was so remarkable?
The Elves and the Cloakmaker is the latest title in the Kiwi Corkers series from Scholastic. Written by Chris Gurney and illustrated by John Bennett, I think this is one of the first, if not the first, Christmas book with a Maori theme. Chris and John have taken the idea of the original Elves and the Shoemaker story and given it a New Zealand twist.
My Best Friends Are Books 