story time books

This is a series of books from ticktock Media. We have four of them in stock: Beat Stress! The Exam Handbook;   Body Talk: the Social Survival Handbook;  How to Cope: the Life Changes Handbook, all by Anita Naik, and Making a Difference: the Save the World Handbook, by Ali Cronin. All have down-to-earth advice, great layout and graphics, boxes, bullets and numbered lists to make their points succinctly. The teacher in my family has already ordered The Exam handbook, and the counsellor thinks the Body Talk and How to Cope volumes are good, while the Making a Difference volume is as good a summary as I’ve seen of ways to change personal behaviour to make a difference to one’s impact on the planet.  These should be popular with schools and parents.

This is another wonderful Chicken House book, by Kirsten Boie, translated from the German. Jenna lives with her mother, who teaches etiquette and is a very private person. Then someone arrives at school wanting girls between 12 and 16 to audition for a film role, and Jenna is amazed when they appear to want her for the role, not any of her more talented or beautiful friends. And off she flies to begin filming in the small kingdom of Scandia. But things in Scandia are even stranger. Jenna looks very much like the Princess of Scandia, who has disappeared, and the acting seems to be more like impersonation. It’s a rip-roaring read as Jenna slowly discovers what is going on, and the reader discovers things with her. There are layers of discovery. Just as the reader thinks that s/he and Jenna know what’s going on there are more revelations. Great writing/translation, wonderful characters, both good and evil, but mostly in-between, and a very satisfying read which touches on politics and friendship, family and status, and much more. Great read for anyone who can cope with the complexity, say intermediate age and above, with the usual qualifications and exceptions.

Michael Gerard Bauer is an Australian, author of the serious The Running Man and two books about Ishmael Leseur: Don’t All Me Ishmael and Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs, both of which are very funny. So which genre will his latest novel fit. Well, neither of course. It’s 2015 and scientists have refined their understanding of space and time to the extent that a group of them is ready to bring a dinosaur into the 21st century, contain it for a few minutes, photograph it from every angle and send it back. But when the buttons are pushed there’s a minor glitch and the dinosaur is stuck somewhere in the age of castles and knights. We get the dinosaur story, the story of a boy who wants to be a knight but is not well-enough bred, (and his brother) and the story of an investigative journalist who is invited to see the dinousaur in the  21st century. I’ve liked and admired all of Bauer’s books that I’ve read previously, but in this one he’s set himself such a challenge, and achieved it so well, that it’s almost impossible to think of this story being improved on. The writing is so good that I was gripped by all three time-threads and every word seems the perfect one to tell the story at that point. I recommend this book to anyone over about ten, and many adults would love it as much as their children. It would also make a terrific read-aloud at senior primary, intermdiate or junior secondary level (if anyone still reads aloud to secondary students. Lots of issues to discuss as a very feisty princess opts for adventure rather than propriety and the space/time ideas are also interesting. Simply fabulous, and what literature should be like more often.

Des Hunt is becoming one of the most prolific of New Zealand authors for children: this is second book this year. It’s  story is told by Jason, a thirteen-year-old boy, but because Jason has a twin sister who is also involved, it should also appeal to girls.  Des Hunt’s love of the natural environment is apparent again and his narrative skill continues to develop. On the farm where Jason and Jessy live there’s a rock outcrop called Jelly Mountain, but Jason thinks it should have been called Hokey Pokey Mountain for its texture. He and Jessy study via the internet, and some of the teachers’ liberal and environmental views don’t quite coincide with their fathers’. So there’s some tension when an oil exploration man arrives and crash lands in their paddock. The fact that the oil man Shawn is a bully towards Jason but flirts with Jessy doesn’t help either. It becomes obvious that Shawn is more interested in something on top of the unclimbable Jelly Mountain than in oil, and not much more can be said without spoiling the mystery as the plot unfolds. Soon Jelly Mountain is very important. Great characters, heroes and villains, interesting tensions between the family members and the usual rattling yarn readers have come to expect from Des Hunt. Intermediate and secondary students will enjoy, and a few senior primary readers too.

This new book from David Hair is one of those rare beasts, a New Zealand fantasy.  Matiu is of mixed Celtic and Maori ancestry, and a budding artist who uses both parts of his ancestry in his art. His parents have recently separated; his Dad (the Maori part of the mix, and a lawyer) seems preoccupied and disconnected, and then there’s his father’s new client who seems to have his father living in fear of him. At a tangi for a friend of his great aunt he takes a bone tiki this new client wants, and needs to run. Soon after that things become very strange indeed and he finds himself in a parallel Aotearoa with long-dead people, taniwha and other mythical people and creatures as company. It’s an exciting story, the characters are terrific, and the writing is wonderfully assured for a first-time novelist. A great story of real and unreal New Zealand, and many who read this will be hoping for more from David Hair, apparently a Wellingtonian currently living in India.

This is the third book by Val Bird, illustrated by Rebecca Cundy, about young Ozzie Kingsford, great-great-great-great-grandson of the famous explorer of the same name. The second is short-listed for this year’s New Zealand Post Book Awards, and this is just as good as the other two. As usual, nothing is simple for our hero and his mate Fletch, what with the michievous forest sprites who have been around since his eleventh birthday (and the first book) and Ozzie’s affinity with the Murphy’s law that says anything that can go wrong will. Fletch and Ozzie decide to build an Electricity Storage Machine, which will collect energy from lightning and store it until needed, so the reader can immediately see the potential for trouble if not disaster. The Brat (Ozzie’s sister) and Snoops (the dog) have minor roles to play, along with Ozzie’s parents, and like the other books it is very funny and should be popular particularly with boys of  just under or around Ozzie’ age (eleven). Because the illustrations break up the text to make it look less daunting it will be useful for less enthusiastic readers, but should by no means be confined to them.

By Beatrice Rodriguez, this is another Gecko Press production, but this time the translation from the French must have been relatively straightforward, as the title is the only words in the book. A rustic scene, an animal picnic, and then, suddenly, fox rushes in from the bushes picks up a squawking hen and runs off. Bear, rabbit and another hen give chase, but it gradually becomes apparent that fox is after a friend, not a meal, and eventually, after a chase over mountains and sea, the friends are reunited, peace is made and the three chasers depart waving to fox and hen who wave arm in wing from the shore. Evocative illustrations which convey movement, emotion and the passing of time without a word, and lovely touches such as rabbit and hen using bear as a boat substitute. It’s another lovely story about how wrong our assumptions can be, and another reminder that a story can be told very effectively using only illustrations.

This is another example of Gecko Press’s fine production standards and even better selection. This is a picture book by Wolf Erlbruch, author and illustrator of Duck, Death and the Tulip, and illustrator of  The Story of the Little Mole who Knew it was None of His Business, among others.  Four friends, none of them pretty, Toad, Rat, Bat and Spider are lamenting their lot when Hyena arrives. He shows them, by playing his saxophone, that there are talents which can make people forget physical ugliness. Rat takes out his ukulele and joins in, Spider sings, and Bat provides a whistling accompaniment. Alas, Toad has no musical talent, but when he tells them he can make pancakes they decide to set up a pancake palace with music and dancing. When no one arrives for their opening they revert to pessimism and self-pity until they decide to enjoy themselves anyway, and once they do that others hear the sounds and come looking.  A wonderful night eventuates and a tradition is begun. A wonderfully timely tale about the more-than-skin-depth of beauty with superb illustrations, great values, and a superbly told tale. Read it to a child you know soon.

Mal Peet’s third novel featuring sports journalist Paul Fastino is self-contained, like Keeper and The Penalty, but adds to the picture of his fictional country and its people. It’s definitely a teenage read, with sex, violence and machiavellian politics and a very cynical view of the world of the celebrity. It has several stories in one, a story of ambition and vindictiveness that parallels Shakespeare’s Othello, and characters who, apart from Otello’s colour,  could be seen as a Posh and Becks parallel, so there’s lots to think about as they become more and more rich and famous, and less and less free and manipulated by those around them. But it is also amusing and beautifully written and Mal Peet knows quite a lot about football and its seamier side as well as its beauty. It’s only really a young adult read by virtue of one of its characters being a teenager, and it’s a sophisticated read, so not for everyone, but football fans who are also readers of literary fiction will certainly enjoy, as will anyone who liked Peet’s earlier books.

This is the third volume in Sandy Fussell’s Samurai Kids series, and it continues the gentle feel-good story of the Little Cockroach ryu, with its teacher, Sensei or Ki-Yaga the wizard, and its less-than-perfect-bodied students. White Crane, the one-legged boy, continues to tell the story, which this time involves a trip across the Sea of Japan to China to help the Shaolin monks. There’s action and contemplation, excitement and philosophy as the Little Cockroaches continue their education. And there is a threat to Sensei from one of his former students who learnt much of what the students are learning from their teacher, but failed to put it in the framework of the philosophy. His dark heart seeks revenge, and he is a fearsomely accomplished warrior. As with the earlier volumes, it’s a story told with warmth and wisdom, and Sandy Fussell is a wizard herself, casting spells over the reader with a deceptively simple style which fits the Eastern wisdom perfectly. This is a series which deserves to be widely read and recommended. Suitable from about  nine-years-old and up.