Paley-Phillips, G., & Antonini, G. (2012). Tamara Small and the Monsters' Ball. Pulborough, UK: Maverick Arts.
ISBN: 9781848861008
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 5 stars
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One night when Tamara Small can't sleep she is whisked away by a hairy monster and taken to the mysterious Monsters' Ball for an evening of fun she will never forget!
Starting off in a spooky rhyme that is just full of building tension, we find Tamara clutching her ted and unable to sleep. Suddenly a big hairy arm comes snaking in and grabs poor Tamara.
With the illustrations done in lots of dark tones to help build the feeling of fear, the only bit of brightness is Tamara in her bright pink PJ's.
Suddenly the tone of the illustrations changes. Although they are still quite dark, depicting night time, they have a brightness to them - more of a friendly party atmosphere.
The rhyme also changes, taking on a questioning tone before moving into an energetic fun filled one and finally a sleepy bed-time feeling.
The font is large and easily read, while the language used is appropriate for younger children with no big confusing words. With a variation in font size to help the reader give emphasis to the story, this is also a great book for older children to read to their younger buddies.
Another great monster book a for bed-time read-aloud. Kids will love the rhyme and the awesome illustrations. I love these types of picture books ... they give kids a great introduction to poetry, and the joy that can be found in word-play, as well as showing kids that monsters don't have to be scary things. Books are to be enjoyed, and they can come in all shapes, sizes and genres.
I got my copy of Tamara Small and the Monsters' Ball from the Taradale Primary School library where I work.
Oops! I wasn't able to find a copy at Napier Libraries.
Byous, S. (2014). Because I Stubbed My Toe. North Mankato, MN: Capstone Young Readers.
ISBN: 9781623700881
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Book
Rating: 5 stars
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What a fantastic book for children young and old! I love it!
One day a boy stubs his toe, which leads to a chain of events that are hilarious to follow,culminating in a rather delicious surprise.
The story is just one sentence! Each page describes the event's as they occur, presented in a large easy to read font. The verbs (action words) are shown in bold so they stand out from the rest of the text.
Whilst it is not told in rhyme, it is a very easy text to read using lots of expression. A sure-fire hit with the kids.
The illustrations are bright, bold and depict each event clearly. The background images have been done in a greened-out wash which makes the focus images stand out. After the initial page, many of the two-page spreads gives you a clue as to what the next event might be.
And you have got to check out the end-papers. So many fantastic images! See if you can match each image with the page they occur on.
A great book to add to your collection. Good to use in class for prediction and cause & affect.
I got my copy of Because I Stubbed My Toe from the Taradale Primary School library where I work.
You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.
Hartnett, S., & Masciullo, L. (2010). The Boy and the Toy. Melbourne, Australia: Puffin Books.
ISBN: 9780143506041
Pages: 32
Age Level: Middle Childhood 7-12
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
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A young boy's father, having all the best intentions in the world, makes a robotic toy for his son to play with while he is away. It was the best toy ever and they have so much fun together. Until that is, the boy wants to read and play with his other toys. What happens when you combine a robot with feelings of jealousy?
Hartnett tells a very sophisticated tale weaving together friendship, jealousy and inventiveness in a way 'that explores the meaning of friendship'. This is a topic that children young and old always have issues with, and it is nice to have a book that is aimed at our more older readers.
Using the robot as the 'friend that you can never please' and showing the sneaky lengths that some people will go to is a clever idea, however I believe that the message within the book will go over the heads of a lot of children. While the book will be enjoyed by children, I think it should be read aloud and discussed to get the message across.
Masciullo's illustrations remind me of Shaun Tan's work. The colours are muted giving the images a 'dark' feeling, and yet they have so much information within them that they are really quite spectacular. To me they have a 'steampunk' feel to them combining the old with the new - Dad heads off in a sailing ship powered by a hot air balloon, and their house is a mish-mash of old-style furniture and mechanical bits-n-bobs. The robots progression from friendly toy to jealous playmate has been portrayed really cleverly. The young boys feelings of joy, surprise ... or should I say shock, and determination are clearly depicted in his facial expressions.
Wow! I really want to like this book, but I think that the message about friendship in it has been portrayed in such a dark manner it is bordering on creepy. Definitely a book for older readers. A good book for sharing and discussing about what exactly friendship is and what makes a good friend.
I got my copy of The Boy and the Toy from the Taradale Primary School library where I work.
You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.
Duddle, J. (2014). Gigantosaurus. Gosford, Australia: Scholastic.
ISBN: 9781742761015
Pages: 32 - including 1 'fold-up' page
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6 / Middle Childhood 7-12
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 5 stars
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His feet go STOMP!
His jaws go CRUNCH!
In the blink of an eye you'll be his LUNCH!
Are you ready to meet the GIGANTOSAURUS?
Bonehead, Tiny, Fin and Bill are four tiny and terribly cute dinosaurs who like spending their days playing. Their mums warn them to beware of the Gigantosaurus, but like most children do they take any notice? Why, of course not! Well actually ... Bonehead does. He keeps tricking his friends by calling out the Gigantosaurus is coming. But what happens when the Gigantosaurus really does come???
What a gorgeous gorgeous book. It initially reminded me of the Puff the Magic Dragon story, but the further through I read it appeared to be a dinosaur retelling of Peter and the Wolf. Bonehead is a bit of a liar, and he eventually cries 'wolf' ... woops I mean 'Gigantosaurus' once too often.
Told in rhyme, this is a great book to share with your dinosaur-loving children. Younger children will enjoy having this read to them, while the language used is more suitable for older children to read alone.
Duddle's illustrations are fan-fraking-amazing. I love love love Bonehead. Each of his images seem to just pop with his courage and self-confidence ... especially the page where their mothers are trying to tell them to be careful. He's like 'Yeah Yeah, whatever!' While his friends are quaking in their boots. Did I mention that they are really really cute???
The amount of detail in each illustration is fantastic. They are bright, clear and show so much. If you look carefully you can see hints of all sorts of dinosaur formations hiding in the images. And you also get to meet the dinosaurs in the book at the end. There are two pages of dino facts for kids to enjoy.
What a great addition to your collection, whether it's because you are a dinosaur fan, you like a good read-aloud, or purely for the amazing illustrations.
I got my copy of Gigantosaurus from the Taradale Primary School library where I work.
You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.
Van Dam, J., & Lawford, M. (2014). Doggy Ditties from A to Z. Auckland, New Zealand: Scholastic.
ISBN: 9781775431886
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6 / Middle Childhood 7-12
Genre: Picture Book / NZ Fiction / Poetry
Rating: 5 stars
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Doggie ditties, rather witty,
about a kid's best friend;
a crazy collection, a silly selection,
from A through to Z at the end.
When I first read this book I thought "Huh, that's dumb, the story doesn't rhyme!". Then I thought about it, flicked through it again and realised "Doh! They're not supposed rhyme in a continuous and equal way!". That's because each page is it's own separate and catchy ditty moving through the alphabet from A to Z. " What a doofus!"
This gorgeous collection of poems (or ditties) takes the reader through the alphabet in a flurry of dogs. Starting with Alfie the Affenpinscher and Buddy the Boxer, all the way through to the noisy Yorkshire Terrier and poor Jim the Zuchon. Did you know there is actually a dog that starts with the letter X? Very sad there was no Shih Tzu like our Charlie, but the Shar-Pei in his too-big coat is a very cute addition. You can tell that Jo van Dam has done her research on the various types of dogs and their quirks and foibles. And her love of wordplay shines through in the variety of poems in this collection.
Myles Lawford's illustrations are a beautiful contrast to the witty ditties. They depict the dogs in a very realistic and easily recognisable way, whilst bringing out the humorous touches as described in the poems. And to finish off, the final two-page spread is a park scene with all the dogs from within the book, for you to spy. There is just so much fun to be had looking at the illustrations, regardless of whether you read the poems or not.
What a great book for bed-time reading and for sharing with dog-lovers. Also good to add to your collection to update your poetry section, and provide some shorter ditties for the Year 3 & 4 poetry competitions. And of course, for use as an exemplar in classroom literacy sessions, showing a variety of poetry techniques, and promoting that language can be fun to play with.
And as an extra bonus ... Jo is one of us. A school librarian in New Zealand ... at two primary schools! I look forward to reading what you publish next Jo :-)
I got my copy of Doggie Ditties from A to Z from the Taradale Primary School library where I work.
You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.
McLeary, E. (2014). Purrs, Paws and Claws. Auckland, New Zealand: Scholastic.
ISBN: 9781775432272
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6 / Middle Childhood 7-12
Genre: Picture Book / NZ Fiction / Poetry
Rating: 4 stars
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Erroll McLeary has presented us with a selection of nursery rhymes and limericks with a twist on the original. They are all pussy-cat inspired!
There's 'Pussycat Horner' (Little Jack Horner), 'The Cat and the Fiddle', 'Jittery-Tickery Tock' (Hickery Dickery Dock), and 'This little Kitty' (This Little Piggie) to name a few.
A hilarious collection that is a joy to read-aloud. Children young and old will enjoy it, either for it's fun rhymes, or to see if they can match the original with the adaption.
McLeary's illustrations show the humour of the rhyme in the way they have been done. Each image has it's own little quirks. I didn't know whether I should look at the images first to see if I could figure out the rhyme, or read the ditty first and then see if the images matched. Very cleverly done.
A fun rhyming book to add to your collection. A nice change for bed-time read-alouds. A book that cat-loving kids will really enjoy :-)
I got my copy of Purrs, Paws and Claws from the Taradale Primary School library where I work.
You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.
Gurney, C., & Bennett, J. (2014). Esau the Paw. Auckland, New Zealand: Scholastic.
ISBN: 9781775431855
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6 / Middle Childhood 7-12
Genre: Picture Storybook / NZ Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
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Esau the Paw was a VERY cool cat.
No cat was fluffier, be sure of that!
OMG! Esau the Paw is the cutest fluffiest cat! One of the descriptions of him is that he looks 'like a big bloated fur ball'. And he does! His facial expressions as he plays are fantastic. And his looks of absolute disgust I'm sure I have seen on my own cat!!!
Esau the Paw has a beautiful fluffy coat that his owner grooms when he gets it tangled. Until ... one day it is just so bad that he has to go to the vet ... where he gets a trim - Doh!
Chris Gurney's rhyming text is easy to follow. He humorously tells the tale of poor Esau's catastrophic results from playing in the mud. Something many a pet owner can relate to - especially those of us with long-haired darlings, be they cats or dogs ;-)
John Bennett's illustrations are bright and colourful and clearly show Esau's delight in life ... and his disgust once he has been shaved bald! Predominantly full of full-page illustrations like this one, children will be able to relate to their own pet's predicaments when they get messy in the winter.
A humorous and colourful read-aloud that will be enjoyed again and again.
I got my copy of Esau the Paw from the Taradale Primary School library where I work.
You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.
