Cindy- Ella An Aussie Cinderella

By Tom Champion

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The Aussie Gem series is oozing with Aussie bush charm from every page. These stories are packed to the rafters with images of life in the Australian bush, Aussie alternatives to common words and an overabundance of koalas, wombats, kangaroos, gum trees and sheep.

This delightful picture book is an Australian version of the Cinderella fairytale. With plenty of Aussie icons, including the wattle, blue thongs and a red kangaroo, this cute version is unashamedly Aussie and is brought to life with humorous illustrations by Glen Singleton.

Cindy-Ella’s stepsisters Rachelle and Sheryle keep her busy feeding the budgies, cleaning the dunny and cooking meat pies, but she dreams of romance with Steve, the best sheep-shearer in Gundaroo. She finally gets her chance when her fairy god-nanna, with a few waves of her wattle branch, gets Cindy ready for the Gundaroo Singles Mingle Ball.

Review by Mrs Sillar

The Chestnut King

N. D. Wilson
Couldn’t put it down, and no, it wasn’t because of the honey sandwich I’d just eaten. I reviewed book two in the 100 Cupboards trilogy feeling that I had lost something I loved in the first book, the sense of mounting mystery. This third book managed to win me back completely with its combination of fantasy based action adventure, unexpected twists, original ideas and well crafted writing.


In Dandelion Fire we leave Henry relatively settled and safe: within pages of the start of The Chestnut King every single person he cares for is in terrible danger, and the family has been split up and by choice or force are heading in three different directions. We are introduced to an apparently invulnerable new foe. However, I was especially pleased to find that there was lots more about the “faeren”, the quirky “fairies” of Wilson’s world who are run more like a trade union than a fairy court. I just loved the description of Thorn and his hand carved “inscriptor” which turns out to be a wooden typewriter!


As with Dandelion Fire I have to warn that this is not a sweet tale for little children. There are battles, injuries, deaths, blood, and spine chilling dangers that Henry and his friends and family have to face. The book is also the longest of the three, so again I would think more suited to Year Seven and up than younger readers.


For older readers there is an opportunity to see what good fantasy writing is all about: there is no slavish following of hackneyed formulas, the characters are developed with distinctive voices, there are passages of really fine and poetical writing, and, I’m pleased to say, no danger of confusing right and wrong, good and evil. The normally vexed problem of how people move from world to world is dealt with in a creative way, with lots of tongue in cheek fun concerning the apparent disappearance of Henry’s Kansas home and how the local community deals with that.


Andrew Lack
Head of the Odell Learning Resources Centre.

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The Legend of the Golden Snail

Graeme Base
It is hard not to have a great sense of anticipation when you open a new Graeme Base book. His books are full of engaging, wonderfully detailed illustrations designed to be pored over by older and younger readers. The Legend of the Golden Snail is equally attractive, but there are some new approaches as well. Some of the illustrations seek to capture the experience of sailing through vast and lonely oceans, so he has exchange crowded details for subtly shaded panoramas.


The story is quirky, and structured in a way that will please younger readers. Young Wilbur hears the story of the giant snail, converted to a sailing ship by an enchanter. The opening pictures suggest the rest of the story is Wilbur’s imagination, but that can be left to the young reader to decide. I confess that I was hoping for a more emotionally engaging tale but still enjoyed the many pages of illustration.


There are a number of extra features that add appeal. You are greeted by a miniature book inside the front cover (the one that Wilbur’s mother reads to him), which has a lift up flap showing another (older) book inside it, with another lift up flap inside that! At the end we are told to go back and look for the “snail and cross bones” to be found on every page, and then there is the official Graeme Base web page. This is a beautifully constructed site (well worth a look). When children have found all the “snail and cross bone” symbols they can log in, answer some questions then get access to special features on the website, including activities you can play by holding the book up to a web camera!


This is a lovely book with much to commend it, though in some ways I would prefer less cuteness and more story. It will suit younger readers (and is also good for “read to me” moments). I like the idea of the online extension.


Andrew Lack
Head of the Odell Learning Resources Centre

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Dandelion Fire

by N. D. Wilson
I have been thinking hard about what to say about this book. The first in the series, 100 Cupboards, was fascinating and mysterious. Much that was hidden and unexplained in the first book is revealed and explained in this. In a strange way, that almost seems like a weakness.


Part of good fantasy writing is to create the sense of a complete world. Paradoxically this is done best by having much more to hint about than you have time to explain. When the author decides to explain all the odd events of the first book, it leaves me wanting more mysteries! However, the writing is good, we meet more great characters, and the adventures become much more intense.


In book one, young Henry is staying out on a farm. He discovers the wall over his bed is covered with little doors and that each door leads to a different place. Strange events pile up rapidly after he receives a warning letter through one of the doors.


In Dandelion Fire, Henry decides he needs to explore further, but unfortunately everyone in the house becomes involved, and matters can only be resolved by going into the considerable danger of the worlds behind the doors.


This is a book from a very original and imaginative writer. There are some interesting uses of language, haunting poetic phrases, and races and roles quite unlike the standard fantasy fare. For instance the Faeren are the “fairies” of the novel, but are nothing to do with the gauzy creatures of children’s tales. They are face pulling gnomes obsessed by petty rules and restrictions.


I will warn that while the “sides” are very clearly drawn (good is good, evil is evil), there is a good deal of killing, and Henry and others in the family get fairly battered at different times. Because of the violence level I would be suggesting this for Year Seven and up. Adult readers who enjoy fantasy should certainly have a look at this series, they will find the writing and ideas worth the read.


Andrew Lack
Head of the Odell Learning Resources Centre

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Leviathan

Author Scott Westerfeld, illustrated Keith Thompson

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I am not a big fan of “alternative history” novels, but the energy and imagination behind this teen “steam punk” novel won me at least half over. We are taken back to the days just prior to World War One... but to an Austria that has developed giant fighting machines a little like the “walkers” in Star Wars, and a Britain that has learnt how to genetically alter creatures to turn them into huge transporters or attack weapons.


The fun is in the imagined technologies, but the focus is on the adventures of two young people each caught up in the fighting: two young people destined to meet in strange circumstances. The story rolls out at a cracking pace, and it is moodily and ably illustrated every second or third page.


This is not a delicately crafted tale... it is told as an adventure story and you simply have to be prepared to suspend belief that quite so many wild adventures (and escapes) would happen to any one (or two) individuals. There are mysteries, and a bit of background story to each of the young people featured. Not all the mysteries are fully explained by the end of the book, as there are two more books to go in the series.


This is a fun read for younger teens who like adventure, and a reasonable introduction to the steam punk genre. It does raise some interesting questions about genetic engineering as well.


Andrew Lack