story time books

Ann Brashares Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series was very popular, although I’ve always sold it with a warning that the fourth summer is teenage/young adult reading, whereas the earlier books were perfectly suitable for intermediate age readers. Now there’s a new sisterhood, and these girls are about to go to high school, and this book is perfectly suitable for younger readers again, aspiring to be the teenagers these three girls are. Polly, Jo and Ama are the friends, with a friendship that has history “like a brimming and moody pond under a smooth surface of ice..”. The girls have very differnt focuses: Polly wants to be a model, Jo is spending the summer at her family’s beach house, and Ama somehow manages to get her idea of nightmare as a summer placement. She wanted an academic camp, but gets a wilderness trip which tests her more than she wants to be tested in a physical sense. Good characterisation, and each of the girls learns something about herself, the friendship and life in general. I liked this more than I expected to. Novels about girls in America can be very shallow, but I liked these girls and cared about what happened to them. Not just for fans of the previous series.

Bernard Ashley, the author of this book, has been writing for children since 1974, so he knows what he’s doing, and this book is a very interesting one. There’s a boy, shipwrecked on an island called Solitaire, memory gone, survival the only thing that matters. And there’s a grandfather, a wealthy businessman who is convinced that his grandson is still alive and is prepared to use money and influence to find him. Are the two connected? It’s a book about loyalty and betrayal, about family, about power and money, and about the mental effects of trauma. Very good, probably suitable for good readers from 10 up.

This is the second novel for Kiwi kids by Susan Brocker, who has written many books for the US market. The first was Restless Spirit, with a background of Kaimanawa horses. This one has an animal connection too. Ben’s mother is dead, his father in jail, his older brother Sam looking likely to follow, when his aunt and uncle reluctantly agree to take them in. Ben’s uncle has bought a dog from someone at the pub as a guard dog, but she’s useless, nervous and afraid of everything. So the uncle is about to have her put down. But Ben recognises the dog as a kindred spirit and begs to be allowed to keep her, and with training she shows herself to be intelligent and highly trained. Meanwhile Sam is getting into worse trouble and a PE teacher is picking on Ben. There’s nice character development as Ben and Layla gain confidence together and earn the uncle’s approval. Exciting stuff for any reader, but particularly dog lovers, and a terrific climax. Intermediate age and older.

Four books in a new Zac Power series (by H I Larry) for even younger readers. The original series has overtaken Captain Underpants as the must-have books for young readers and reluctant older ones, and this series is even easier reading, with fewer pages, a bigger font and a picture of some sort on every double page spread. Sure to enthuse an even younger readership.

For those who haven’t discovered Zac, he’s a twelve-year-old secret agent working for the Government Investigation Bureau, with his code name being Agent Rock Star. His brother Leon (Agent Tech Head) is a technician, developing new gadgets, and in this series Zac is test driving the latest of Leon’s inventions. A great first step up from early readers into real story books.

Another teenage/young adult read, by Inbali Iserles, and another fantasy novel, one of the type that immerses the reader in the real world of the characters before they go through some sort of portal into another world. Sash hates school, where he is an outsider to both students and some of the teachers. When he finds a riddle in his research-obsessed father’s study he decides to look for a magical bird. One of the girls who has been his enemy at school insists on helping, and the two investigate together, with interesting consequences. Edge-of-the-seat plot, with some unexpected twists and turns, believable characters, and good writing make this another great read.

My last post of this review was invaded, so let’s try again. It’s a slight spoiler to say anything about this one, but it is another vampire book, by Susan Hubbard, and this one is beautifully written. Can’t say vampires and werewolves usually do much for me, but this is character-based writing at its best. Ariella knows that her mother disappeared the day of her birth, and she has been raised by her scientist father, who is very overprotective. When he finally lets her go to visit his housekeeper’s family, she begins to have some comparisons which make her question her own way of life. And the story develops from there, as she uses the internet to find answers to some of her questions and then goes off in search of her mother. Wonderful characters, lovely writing, a good teenage/young adult read.

A hardback picture book, this is by Terry Golson, with photographs by Ben Fink. It tells the story of seven hens who live in a henhouse on Little Pond Farm. Six of the hens happily lay their eggs in the nesting boxes provided in the henhouse, but Tilly is too interested in what’s outside, and lays her egg somewhere different every day, which provides the child who is being read to with the challenge of finding the egg in each of the pictures. Lots to look at in each of the photographs, and the extra interactivity of finding Tilly’s egg on each page make this a charming book.

My apologies for the way this site has been behaving. Some morally and intellectually challenged person is using this site to improve their ratings on search engines by clogging my posts with garbage. I’m trying to get this fixed, but it is taking a while. I hope to be back to normal, or maybe even better, soon.

This is the latest picture book from Todd Parr whose books are always vibrant, colourful and positive. Some of his previous titles are: The Mummy Book, The Daddy Book,It’s OK to be Different and Reading Makes You Feel Good. This one is the ultimate statement of unconditional love. “I love you when you sleep. I love you when you don’t sleep. I love you when you are stinky. I love you when you are squeaky clean.” You get the idea. There are lots of cutesy animal books which convey these sentiments, but this is all human, adults and babies and toddlers. This would make a lovely gift for new parents. Many parents must love Todd Parr, and more should discover his brand of cheerful positivity.

This is the latest novel from the wonderful Sharon Creech, winner of the Carnegie Medal, author of Ruby Holler and other wonderful books for children. This is another to treasure. Sharon Creech is another writer who accentuates the positive and coveys great wisdom without being heavy. Pia and her younger brother Enzio are orphans living with a master who is a brute, verbally and physically. They wish for a life of ease such as they imagine the inhabitants of the castle above the village having. Meanwhile, those in the castle wish for the freedom of the villagers. This is really a fairy tale of kings and princess, commoners and wordsmiths, heroes who are not very heroic and villains who are not entirely villainous. Suitable for children from eight up, and for adults who will see comment here about recent events and the power of storytelling. Wisdom appears to reside in the ability to say as little as possible. This is a lovely reading experience which means I have some catching up to do today after being seduced by its storytelling magic at times yesterday when I should have been working. Highly recommended.