story time books

M.P. Robertson is one of the zanier author/ illustrators out there, (as Hieronymous Betts and His Unusual Pets demonstrated) and many kids love zany. This is a picture book for those children who enjoy a slightly scary experience that ends up amusing rather than terrifying, and in my experience that’s most of them apart from the sensitive wee souls who get nightmares from anything remotely frightening (like me when I was a child). Big Brave Brian isn’t scared of anything, not Grumpy Grizzly Bears, not Bottom-Biting Bog Monsters, nor a whole catalogue of amusingly terrifying creatures. But there’s one thing even he is scared of (turn the page with trepidation and trembling): cleaning his room. With the terror and amusement aspects finely balanced and a bit of toilet humour thrown in, this should be a very popular story, especially if read with a bit of drama by a loved adult holding the child tightly. Wild illustrations of monstrous monsters add to the delicious terror.  New in paperback.

By Celeste Walters, with illustrations by Anne Spudvilas, this is  a beautiful little book (only 122 pages) which tells the story of two misfits, a deaf musician and a nine-year-old girl in the Vienna Woods in 1823. Neither of these characters is named, until the last page, but the reader gets more and more clues to the musician’s identity as the story unfolds. The child’s father is a good but weak man who gives in to the temptation to drink, until one of the townspeople who sees the good in him suggests that the army might be good. This deprives the girl of her beloved Papa, but a friendship slowly develops with the musician, whose music seems to speak directly to her. The beautifully evocative writing is complemented by the illustrations, and the echo of wonderful music is never far away. A lovely book, suitable for intermediate age and above, particularly for those who know something of music.

This is another one of those books that makes reading a wonderful experience. Jonathan Friesen (the author) is apparently a sufferer of Tourette’s (or Tourette) syndrome himself. So is his character Sam Carrier, a teenager who has been emotionally, psychologically and sometimes physically abused by his stepfather (who has one or two problems of his own), and told so many lies about himself and his father that he believes them. He’s even had his name changed, and believes this to be a good thing because of the distorted picture he’s been given of his father. But then events lead him to people who give him a different view of his father and himself and in his confusion and disorientation he loses things completely for a while. It’s a road story, a coming-of-age story, and a love story (of sorts).  Sam/Jack is one of the great creations of young adult fiction, completely different from, but just as real as Kate De Goldi’s Frankie Parsons who has just helped his creator to the 2009 NZ Post Book Award. As a character study of an abused ego it is terrific, but that’s only part of it. This is a superb read, funny, tragic and uplifting with characters who leap off the page and writing that has every word in the right place.

This fantastic Suzanne Collins novel is now available in paperback, which I hope makes more people read it. I wrote about it here in November 2008 when it first arrived. To read that, either enter Hunger Games in the search box, or click on November 2008 on the right hand side further down this page, then scroll down to the second page. The second volume of the story is due out in hardback later this year. For age 11 and over, very exciting, very well written, and lots to think about in terms of how far away from some current reality tv this is.

This is a teenage or just preteen read by Pauline Fisk. It’s tempting, but too simplistic,  to put this into a sub-genre of books about terminally ill children or teens, with Before I Die, Ways to Live Forever, and a few others like Bill Condon’s Dare Devils, all of which are good reads.  So is this one, and like the others, part of the reason is that it’s about more than the illness, and concentrates on the living, not the dying.  Charis, who tells the story,  in retrospect, almost as therapy, and for Frankie, is an ordinary child in an ordinary family. Frankie lives the life of  princess, a rich family, posh schools, fancy clothes. They meet when Frankie swears at Charis’s mother in the shop where she works, and Charis calls her “Little Miss Up-Herself”, which is how she’s known to many of the locals.  But then meetings in other situations see them become friends, just as Frankie finds out that she is ill. Charis’s response to the illness wavers between over-the-top solicitous to too-scared-to-make-contact, so much of the book is to do with the friend’s response, rather than the feelings of the ill person, and ultimately Charis is a very good friend.  It’s certainly been done before, but so has nearly every other story told, and this has a protagonist who is younger than many of the others. And it is still rare to find books about death and dying for children, so any addition as well-written as this is welcome. There are also some surprising touches. Recommended from senior primary or intermediate age up.

The Grump is a brand new (hardback only) picture book by Sarah Garson, which tells its story from the point-of-view of a small boy with minimal text and detailed illustrations. He tells of waking one morning as a monster leaves his room, following its trail through the house, being scared then relieved when a shadow turns out to be his mother and baby brother, then following the growls to find THE GRUMP which turns out to be his father, sleeping on the couch. What our naive narrator fails to tell us, but the pictures do, is that there was a 40th birthday party in the house the night before. Mum’s yawning suggests that perhaps the baby sent Dad to the couch for some sleep.

This is another classic (from 1988) lovingly republished by Walker Australia. The author and illustrator,  Madeleine Winch is an Australian painter, and the pictures are truly beautiful and tell much of the story. Bertha is alone, walking “far from anywhere” when she comes across a tumbledown old house. She decides to stay, tidies it up, gives it a name: “Come by Chance” and settles in to live alone, until the first winter storm, when one by one animals arrive for the only shelter available. They too settle in, sit by the fire, dance and sing. In spring they all leave, except one who stays, but Bertha knows they’ll be back every winter. A lovely fable about companionship, seasons, shelter and more, with wonderful detailed illustrations.

Mo Willems, of Pigeon fame: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late etc.,  creator of Knufflebunny, and other picture books, has now written and illustrated this one, about Wilbur, a naked mole rat who likes clothes!!! Quelle horreur!! Yuk!! Ughh!!! As everyone knows, naked mole rats can be very sarcastic, and eventually, when that has no effect on Wilbur’s disgusting tendency to go about fully clothed, they appeal to “Grand-pah, the oldest, greatest and most naked naked mole rat ever.” They tell him all about Wilbur, including the fact that he asked “Why not?” when told that naked mole rats don’t wear clothes. Grand-pah thinks and considers, says he will make a proclamation. Wibur, after much anguish decides to play it safe and wear only socks. Then comes the proclamation: “Fellow naked mole rats! I had never worn clothes until I heard Wilbur’s simple question: Why not? ”

“Why not indeed? Do clothes hurt anyone? No. Are they fun? Well, they may not be for everyone, but this old naked mole rat wishes he had tried getting dressed earlier!” And from that day on, nakedness was optional. Some fine touches in the illustrations, especially of Wilbur’s clothes shop proudly bearing the sign “Grand-pah Approved”. A lovely book extolling and celebrating  the virtues of innovation, diversity and tolerance in a totally unpreachy way. With the nakedness aspect for children’s laughs, this is sure to be popular.

No, that’s not a misspelling, it is Pearl Verses the World, not Versus, though I’m sure the double meaning is intended. This is by Australian author Sally Murphy, with beautiful monochrome illustrations by Heather Potter, and I have to agree with Christine Horsefield, writing in the latest Magpies magazine, who says “This slender little book is, like its heroine, a treasure.” Pearl is a primary school pupil, who lives with her mother and her granny. “Granny is fading./ So are Mum and me.” Pearl’s verse is unrhymed, and she mocks her teacher, Miss Bruff who wants poems: “good ones.. with lots of rhyme and rhythm”. But when Granny dies it is Miss Bruff who takes her home. At the funeral Pearl reads one of her (unrhymed) poems, Miss Bruff admires it, and another day at school asks the class to write a poem without rhyme. This is a beautiful poetic book about life and death, loneliness and friendship, coping and not coping, family and poetry. Fewer than 80 pages, but every word counts.  Wonderfully simple, and simply wonderful.

This fantasy novel by prolific NZ author Ken Catran is complex, so that some readers have misinterpreted things, or not read it properly. One bookseller’s site calls it medieval, but it is made clear late in the book that it is set in the future. Nina, the main character is also a complex being, an imperfect heroine. Her world is one of dragons and vicious creatures, power-hungry humans and gentle giants, and Catran is a good enough writer that it all seems natural and has its own internal logic, or similar internal illogic to our own world, so that it feels very real. Catran is a storyteller rather than an explainer, so the reader has to work quite hard at times to make connections which are not spelt out, but that is how things are in real life and it adds to the feel of reality. Nina gradually discovers that she is the one who has to make a stand against forces which are destroying the balance in the world, and her unlikely companions on her quest are a thief and a giant. It’s a great story on several levels as Nina battles her own inner darkness as well as the outer forces.  So it’s a young adult book because of its complexity rather than any content and one which is recommended for lovers of good fantasy.