Oliver

Author and Illustrator: Birgitta Sif

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Recommended for Kindergarten to Year Two

Three different staff members independently picked this book out of a collection of books from a supplier. Oliver "felt a bit different". Exactly how or why he is different is not explained. He plays lots of games, but even in a room full of people he plays with his toys and puppets. He loves to read and has all sorts of adventures. As we get to the end of the book Oliver starts another adventure... he befriends a little girl who likes to play just the way he does. Charmingly the book has "The End" crossed out and replaced by "The Beginning".

The illustrations are delightful and much of the story is told through these pictures that combine an expressive free style with rich detail. Most pages have a single picture as a double spread, and they are full of things to notice, discuss and comment on. I thoroughly approve of books that can be pored over and explored.

The take home message is that we don't all have to like or do the same things (an important point in this age of globalism and advertising mediated conformity), but that relationships are a wonderful adventure. This book works well as a book to read out loud, but will also work as a visual story for little ones to read to themselves even without the words.

Andrew Lack
Head of the Odell Learning Resources Centre

The Great Expedition

Author: Peter Carnavas

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This book is about a team of brave young explorers, a group of little kids who have been directed by their mum to deliver a parcel to their grandma. Some of the explorers don’t make it and in the end there are only two explorers left who have made it across the wild country.

This may sound serious but when you look inside the book you find the wild country is in fact a local playground. The inspiration for this story has come from the story of Burke and Wills, the two men who led an 1860-61 expedition to become the first Europeans to cross the Australian continent from south to north.

The illustrations are delightful and there is a great play between the words and pictures. A wordless double page illustration shows the land the children have crossed. This is suitable for young folk age four and up.

Helen Sillar

NO!

Author: David McPhail

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This slim book is a moral lesson in picture book clothing. The story is simple and told almost entirely without words. A little boy writes a letter to the president of his country. As he walks to the letter box to post it, he sees various horrors of war. There are bombers and explosions, a tank, jack booted soldiers, a policeman who sets his dog on an older man.

The boy is physically unscathed, but when he reaches the letterbox, an older boy starts to bully him. Much to the surprise of the bully, the little boy delivers his big line… “NO!”. You can read the book in a minute, but the issues that it raises are far from easily dealt with. While I thought the key question about “what has happened to the rules?” was effectively asked, I was less comfortable with the apparently instant resolution of the cities problems… if only it was that easy!

The book is supported unobtrusively by Amnesty International, who give a brief reflection inside the back cover.
The pictures are quaintly drawn with a partially naïve style, and much play of light and dark. Would you actually give this book to a five year old? I actually think that that might be a bit of a problem. There is a fair amount of implicit violence: the policeman’s dog is shown biting the older man, and the soldiers are kicking in the door of a mother with young children. I wonder if the instant resolution actually is more likely to give false hope.

The book is therefore a bit lost between younger readers for whom it may not be suitable, and older readers who may demand significantly more from any work on the subject of war and violence. I think it would be best used by a teacher in Middle School as a talking point, and indeed the book is dedicated “for teachers everywhere”.

Andrew Lack

My Uncle's Donkey

Author: Tobhy Riddle

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I was quite surprised when I finally closed this book. I had thought this book was just for children because of the adorable illustrations. When children read this book, they will think the donkey is cute and funny, but I suspect they won't care about the existence of the uncle.
I read the title and thought that this book would be a delightful story about the uncle and the donkey. The donkey was acting like a human: watching TV, playing piano and eating food with a fork. However when I saw the uncle's face I was surprised because his face is so emotionless. The donkey doesn't look sad at all. It looks like it is used to having fun.

It is interesting that the narrator is a little kid. The book starts with the sentence "My uncle's donkey is allowed in the house!". The kid starts to enumerate how donkey acts, and the story ends with the question "I wonder if my uncle's donkey would be allowed in our house?". It seems that the kid envies the uncle very much for having a donkey in his house, and would like the donkey to be in his/her home, too. That is because the kid thinks that it will be great to be with the donkey which is very friendly and funny. But the uncle, it seems, never thinks like that. He looks bored.

We realise that we can't find the uncle in every pages of the book. We only can find him in the pages about eating, working and watching TV. His life is tedious compared to the donkey's life which includes cartwheels, hanging out with friends and staying up late reading a favorite book.. I think Riddle tried to describe a life of a contemporary man who is so busy so he can't enjoy his life at all and so starts to become emotionally flat.

This book is an adorable picture book however I don't think that it is only for children. The narrator is just talking about what the donkey does, but we can find the true meaning of this story through the illustrations. I love this kind of book. An author doesn't need to write a 500 page book to express his thoughts. Through pictures an author can make people understand his opinion just as effectively.

Noelle Lee (Year 10)

The Paradise Garden

Author: Colin Thompson

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The Paradise Garden is a richly illustrated book ostensibly for younger readers… if you are going to measure by the limited amount of text and simple storyline. However the only character Peter is not a little boy: he looks more like Year Seven than Year Three. Moreover his story is actually about running away from home, and this is presented as a good, even vital thing for him to have done.


I would be much more comfortable giving this book to an older student (Year Seven and up) who either had a strong visual bent, or who needed a story with not too many words. Another great way the book could be used would be to support someone who was having an unhappy time: a book like this provides great cues for talking about unhappiness, and suggests by metaphor ways to cope.


The story follows Peter whose home and neighbourhood are noisy and upsetting due to arguments, and whose heart is lonely because his parents have split up. He tells his Mum he is going on holiday with his Dad, but actually goes and camps out in botanical garden in the middle of the city. Here he finds a time of respite and healing. He eventually goes back home determined to take some of the garden with him so that he can find peace at home.


The outstanding feature of the book is the intricate and intriguing illustrations. Each page is filled with detail, factual and fantastic. As Peter is walking home through the bare winter trees, a family of hedgehogs is trailing him through the grass, but at the same time on a branch that frames the page, a tiny wooden house has been built with smoke pouring out of the chimney, and a toy biplane about the size of a grain of rice is revealed trapped in one of the trees.


This book will satisfy someone who loves to pore over pages delving into tiny detail in illustrations… and at the same time is a poignant reminder of the pain some children carry inside themselves.


Andrew Lack
Head of the Odell Learning Resources Centre

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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It’s a Book

by Lane Smith

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This might seem a simple picture book with a few words per page... but it had staff in fits of laughter! The monkey is reading a book, and the donkey can’t’ understand how a book could possibly work if it is not a computer. The humour is very dry, and plays up on our sense of unease at the arrival of ebooks and ebook readers. The illustrations are very interesting as they combine cartoon styles with a strong sense of graphic design.

This is a delightful book to read to children from four up.... but I suspect it is a book you will be showing your guests at the next dinner party as well. I liked it so much I purchased my own copy, complete with the "Its a Book" Book Bag.

The Red Piano

Written by Andrew Leblanc, Illustrated by Barroux.

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This poignant story appears at first glance to be a young child’s early reader. It has a large format, with highly energetic and idiosyncratic drawings. Sometimes a full spread is devoted to a picture with no words. In fact the language level is quite complex... “blighted by an eerie moonlight”. The story is harrowing, though with a guardedly optimistic ending. It is part of the true story of Zhu Xiao-Mei, who is now an international concert pianist, but who was consigned to a re-education camp during Cultural Revolution.


This book would suit a younger advanced reader willing to struggle with unfamiliar words. In this case parents should be involved to work through the ideas behind the Cultural Revolution and the unkind treatment the girl receives. It would also be ideal for a parent and older primary student to share as a discussion starter about repression and individual freedom. Not surprisingly the book jacket refers to Amnesty International.


A powerful story, succinctly told.