Title: The Hidden Forest
Author: Jeannie Baker
Illustrator: Jeannie Baker
Publisher: Walker Books UK
Publisher: Greenwillow Books USA
ISBN – Hardback: 0-688-15760-2 (trade USA)
ISBN – Hardback: 0-688-08918-6 (lib. ed. USA)
ISBN – Hardback: 1-85681-010-0 (UK)
ISBN – Paperback: 0-7445c7876-0
ISBN – Big Book: 0-84428 518-9

Themes: Wonder, Environment, Conservation, Forrest, Diversity, Nature, Beauty

‘When you see kelp forest under the water and you’re looking up, the sun is like the light of the sky, it penetrates the water’s surface and shoots rays down as in a rainforest. The forest is very magical and mysterious and fish, appear at times, like birds flying through the trees’. Jeannie Baker

The Hidden Forest is another unique masterpiece from the author who brought us titles The Forest Beneath the Sea and Window.

In The Hidden Forest Baker once again combines her passion for conservation and extraordinary talent with collage with an endearing story of discovery and wonder. The story follows Ben, a boy who, after getting his small fish trap caught in an underwater kelp forest, sets out on a snorkelling adventure to unhook the trap. Led by his eco-conscious friend Sophie, Ben discovers the beauty and diversity hidden beneath the surface of the bay.

Wonders such as the multi-layered, multi-textured kelp forest, the many different types of fish and even a whale are all part of Ben’s journey to discover that the underwater world is a place where everything has it’s purpose and needs to be respected and valued.

This story is, like all of Baker’s creations, a visual smorgasbord of colours and textures, inspired by the kelp forests on Tasmania’s Tasman Peninsula. Baker used a multitude of natural materials including seaweeds, sponges and sands in the construction of her illustrations and reader’s can find illuminating information on the endangered kelp forests and Baker’s creation process on the final page.

This book is again, a beautiful and inspiring encouragement of valuing and respecting our natural environment and a wonderful tool for educating the generations to come.

Review written by Holly Lobb, November 2010.

Author: Lane Smith
Illustrated by: Lane Smith
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
ISBN-10: 1596436069
ISBN-13: 978-1596436060
More on how the book came to be: On Lane Smith’s Blog

Themes: Laughter, Literacy, Books, Technology, Knowledge, Questions, Simplicity, Gadgets

A Jackass and a Monkey sit in a room together, the Monkey happily and contently reading it’s book, engrossed in the text before him he’s interrupted by the JackAss, (happily playing on it’s laptop) who is wondering what on earth he is doing, what’s he got in his hand, what does it do?

I’ve already mentioned Lane Smith’s work on this site a number of times, his work on “The Big Elephant in the Room” and “Squids will be Squids” is as hilarious as they are poignant sometimes, ad there’s nothing really special to what he does, it’s plain and simple illustrations with an uncanny knack of portraying facial expressions, even on donkeys and elephants, or in this case, a Monkey, a Jackass and a Mouse.

This timely book is as humerous and laugh out loud funny as it is cringe-worthingly plausible. I remember taking young people to the local community radio station a number of years ago and introducing them to the LP storage section, which is where I’d be asked what a LP is, and what an EP is, somehow I’d found myself in a group of kids who had never seen a vinyl record and had no idea what I was talking about. It’s plausible then, that there may be kids somewhere in the near future who use their computers to read books and to do everything that we’d normally use paper for, and when that happens I’m afraid for the future of books.

And in this world of gadgets and instant communication where people are used to quick and short messages there is a possibility that books that are 500 or more pages long may actually be too long for the short attentioned, mobile phone literate masses, why would I spend a day reading a book? One of the funniest lines in the book is where the Jackass decides to shorten the text from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island into SMS format.

Too many letters.
I’ll fix it.

LJS: rrr! K? lol!
JIM: !

So… what to make of this book.

It’s funny, it’s quirky, simple, delightfully illustrated, sleek, fun, enjoyable, clever, real…

It’s a book to read together with the kids….

and

It’s possibly a too real, too scary, too frightening possibility for a world that is quickly handing over their novels to the Kindle and iPads.

Perhaps we all need to go to the library and borrow a book and, then introduce another friend to a book that you think they may enjoy reading as well…

So, what is your favourite book, what about it is special, why did you fall in love with it?

Check out the book trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat
Author: Stephen Michael King
Illustrated by: Stephen Michael King
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 9781865087474

Themes: Vocation, Call, Gifts, Passion, Being different, Being Honest with yourself, Seeing things differently, Being different, Imagination, Creativity, Vision, Art, Sharing joys, dance, welcoming strangers, bravery, friendship, making friends, what do you love about your friends, making gifts…

Stephen Michael King has cemented his place as my favourite children’s book illustrators, his illustrations create new worlds, new friends and new stories for the reader to enter into and to dream of. This story is playful and a delight, joy and pleasure to read.

Milli is a special person, she can take a thing that is nothing and, with a wiggle and a cut turn them into a something. She sees ordinary things that have been thrown out or left behind and can recreate them into an object of beauty.

But her special gift, the thing that gives her passion and energy, the thing that she loves doing more than anything is not appreciated by those around her. Instead they only want her to create for them normal working shoes, brown or black, something practical, something that they can use for work. They have no interest in her beautiful gift.

Until one day two strangers knock on her door asking for her to make them some shoes.

These strangers don’t have any money, but instead they promise to teach her how to dance as payment for her shoes, an arrangement that she agrees to.

As they teach Milli to dance she begins to enjoy herself, something inside her awakens, soon she finds new bravery, she feels a new sense of freedom and the courage to create something new.

And so Milli sets out to create the perfect pair of shoes for her new friends and dance partners, and as she does she finds her true vocation and calling.

Surely Milli will never make anything brown and normal ever again, her life changes, as does the lives of those around them.

And as for Jack and the dancing cat, well, you’ll just have to buy the story to find out.

A fun and joyful story of someone who is not living out her dreams and vocation who finally finds someone who believes in her and who awakens in her the realisation of what she was created for, the purpose for her being on the earth, her true passion and gift.

A story about the power of new friends, of the possibilities that open up when one takes in a couple of strangers, of the power of dance and the importance of our own passion and being honest with ourselves.

Everyone knows what it’s like to be doing something for a job that does not inspire them.

Perhaps it’s about time we all need to learn some dance…

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Patricia
Author: Stephen Michael King
Illustrated by: Stephen Michael King
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 1865049387
 

Themes: Frustration with adults, Listening, Sharing Ideas, Family, Children, Finding Time, Talking to Adults, Ideas

Stephen Michael King knows people, he really knows them.

What’s even more important is that he really knows how to tell their stories.

Patricia is a little girl with a huge imagination, her mind is so full of thoughts that she is bursting to have someone to share them with.

The problem is that no one seems to know how to listen to her properly, everyone seems to be too busy, or has trouble understanding or simply can’t hear her.

And what’s more… Grandpa is asleep and he’s the only one who seems to understand her.

Stephen Michael King’s hypnotic and familiar illustrations allow the reader to go deeper into the story, reading this alongside a child will be a reel gift, an experience that will help both remember that they need to find time to really listen and talk with one another.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Title: The Man Who Loved Boxes
Author: Stephen Michael King
Illustrated by: Stephen Michael King
Published by: Scholastic
ISBN: 9781865048376

Themes: Love, Family, Father, Son, Passion, Communication, Community

This is Stephen Michael King’s first ever picture book, it’s simple, exquisite, beautiful, meaningful and timeless. As you read this book you get a sense that one of Stephen’s gifts is his ability to illustrate the humanity of his characters, their frailness, their beauty and their own individual story.

At a basic level, this is a story of a father and a son and the father trying to find a way to tell his son that he loves him. And in saying “basic” I’m doing it an injustice because it’s not “basic” at all, it’s deep, wise and honest.

At a deeper level this is about how we as a community communicate our feelings with one another, how we befriend people who are different to us and how we can live together as one family.

And, on another level this is about the extent and power of our imagination.

Once upon a time there lived a man who loved boxes…

A story to be read by fathers to their children of all ages

A story that will withstand time

A story that needs to be shared

A story that is both wise and whimsical

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The Big Elephant In The Room
Author: Lane Smith
Illustrated by: Lane Smith
Publisher: Hyperion Books
ISBN: 9781423116677
Teachers Guide: Teacher’s Guide by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
 

Themes: Humour, Funny, Housemates, Friends, Things that aren’t being talked about, Laughter

Lane Smith is quickly getting a reputation for authoring some really quirky books, his most recent release “It’s a Book” had me in hysterics and the first book of his that I remember, Squids will be Squids is a favourite of mine (and has been for many, many years).

Quirky and fantastically humorous, this book tells the story of two friends trying to have a conversation about something that’s been bugging them for a short while and that neither had talked about as yet. A misunderstanding in communication leads to an amusing conversation, (how often does that happen?)

Many of us will have unresolved issues and questions with friends that we’d like to talk to them about, secrets perhaps, or maybe we’ve eaten their ice-cream, or maybe we have loaned them a dvd or a game or a book that they have had for months and not returned. Never the less, it’s some thing that can eat away at us until we actually talk about it.

Some people just hold onto these things, letting it eat at them for days, months or even years, imagine how much damage that may do to a friendship.

Then again, some people quite simply have an annoying friend who continuously embarrasses them or does silly things… I guess the book could be about that as well…

Families will enjoy reading this book over and over again and children and adults alike will find this story laugh-out-loud hilarious.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Harry and Hopper
Author: Margaret Wild
Illustrated by: Freya Blackwood
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 9781862917415
 

Themes: Grief, Loss of a pet, Loss o a loved one, Death, Family, Saying goodbye

Harry and Hopper is one of those books that will bring a tear to everyone’s eyes, heck, to be honest you may completely bawl your eyes out on first reading this tale of a child loosing his best friend and his struggle with grief and his journey to say goodbye.

This is a children’s book, but it’s almost an adults book in disguise, written to remind us of how we first may have felt grief, of that first time that we knew what death was and how it feels to loose a loved one, a close friend or family member. And it will remind you, be sure of that.

It’ll remind you that grief is confusing, that it takes time, that not all of us handle grief the same way, that memories are our strongest friend, that saying goodbye helps and hurts all at the same time, that talking with your friends about it is hard, that sometimes you just don’t understand it at all.

Harry and his dog Hopper are best of friends, they do everything (except for going to school) together that’s what best friends do. But one day Harry comes home to his father sitting on the house steps waiting for him, and no Hopper. An upset father shares with Harry that during the day there was an accident and that Hopper died.

What follows is a story of a young boy who slowly works through his grief in a beautiful and completely heart felt way. Over a series of late night visits from his friend Hopper, Harry is able to find the courage, the space and time to finally say goodbye.

Argh, I’m feeling the tears welling up again now as I write this review.

The story is written in a simple and beautiful way by Margaret Wild and the Illustrations by Freya Blackwood only serve to build the story up in a way that it’s completely believable and that will remind you of being a child yourself and having that first glimpse and experience of grief.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Title: Sarah’s Heavy Heart
Author: Peter Carnavas
Illustrated by: Peter Carnavas
Publisher: New Frontier Publishing
ISBN: 9781921042058
Teacher’s Notes: Teaching Notes by New Frontier Publishing (pdf)
 

Themes: Supporting one another, compassion, sharing problems, caring, emotions, friendship.

Sarah Knew the heart would always be hers to carry.
She just wished it wasn’t so heavy…

“This story came about when I drew a little picture of a girl carrying a heavy heart on her back. I liked the way the curve of the heart fitted with the curve of the girl’s back. From that image, I then put together a story depicting the burden of a heavy heart, then introduced the girl to somebody who had quite a different problem with his heart. The ending then came together – balance.

Sarah’s story is basically about sharing one’s problems. Children relate to the need to talk about things that make them sad and adults may identify with the search for love and friendship. I often feel like this is a grown-up book disguised as a children’s book.

My favourite moment of making this book was the night I decided to pair Sarah up with her tortoise friend. I had tried other animals – dogs, birds, snails – before it struck me: the burden of the tortoise’s shell parallels the weight of Sarah’s heart.” – Peter Carnavas

Peter Carnavas’ stories and illustrations have quickly found their way into my book shelf, and into my heart and imagination. His whimsical drawing of characters and simple stories with heart and compassion really stick out on the bookshelves of stores full of beautiful Australian children’s books.

Sarah has a heavy heart…

We all know kids who wear their emotions on their sleeves, and many of us know young people who seem weighed down by their emotions sometimes, whether it be a passion and compassion for others, grief, sadness or depression.

These children, these adults are beautiful people who care all too much, who love all too much, who give oh so much and who’s passion and care can inspire us and break our hearts.

Meet Sarah, see her heavy heart, watch her carry it around with her everywhere, se her try and play, bath, go to school and travel with it weighing her down.

Wonder why no one seems to be there offering help to carry it…

Wonder why her heart is so large, how did she get such a heart?

And watch in wonder and joy as she meets someone who’s heart is too small, too light, who needs help to keep his feet on the ground.

And don’t be surprised at all that its the girl with the heavy heart who offers to help the new friend.

And be overjoyed, inspired and touched by the way that the two friends help each other and bind their hearts together.

Loveable, Joyful, Whimsical, Beautiful, Simple…

You’ll fall in love with Sarah and the story too…

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The Bear With The Sword
Author: Davide Cali
Illustrated by: Gianlica Foli
Published by: Wilkins Farago
ISBN: 9780980607048
Teachers Notes: Teachers Notes by Wilkins Farago (pdf)
 

Themes: actions and consequences, community, violence, fear, revenge, redemption, change, the environment, bullying, anger, jumping to conclusions
 

Often we accuse somebody or something for things which happen to us. I think this is quite stupid.

“When a flood destroys thousands houses we talk about nature out of control which kills people, but we never consider that, maybe, we too are responsible about this. When things happen we prefer to find an enemy to fight against but most of times our worst enemy is… just us.” – Davide Cali

Once upon a time there was a bear with a sword…

And this bear loved showing off his sword, often slashing at trees and things just to show off how powerful he and his sword can be.

But when his home is flooded by water and destroyed he takes his sword out in search for revenge, threatening the beavers who share their story of tragedy and pass the blame onto the pigdeer. The pigdeer passes the blame to the fox who then defers to the birds… The bear continues the search until he finds out who is responsible for the flooding of his home and when he does he will slice them open with his sword!

I don’t want to destroy the end of the story, but essentially it’s a powerful and timely story about how we all need to own up to the consequences of our own actions. That when we act out without any thought for other people, or the world there will consequences.

And when we’re put face to face with those consequences perhaps we’ll find that we’re the one’s to blame and will have to ask a number of difficult questions about who we are and who we will become, or perhaps who we’d like to be.

On a simpler and more basic level this can be seen as a redemptive story of a big bully and vandal who terrorises a community of people because he is bigger and stronger than everyone else. A story that invites the reader to believe that even the biggest bully in the forrest can change and turn from his old ways.

I always love a picture book that has unique illustrations, Gianlica’s illustrations in this book remind me of books like Unberto Eco’s “The Three Astronauts” and Davide Cali’s “The Enemy” (illustrated by Serge Bloch). His use of water colours and spray paint helps create the world of these intriguing animals, and invite us to walk along the trees and waterways of the forrest.

This is a great book that invites the reader to think about how their actions affect the world and community around them.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Title: Wanted: The Perfect Pet
Author: Fiona Roberton
Illustrated by: Fiona Roberton
Publisher: Penguin Publishing / Viking
ISBN: 9780670073566
Teachers Notes: Teaching Suggestions for Wanted: The Perfect Pet
 

Themes: Friendship, pets, love, gifts, helping others, meeting new people, loving one’s self, pretending to be something that you’re not, loneliness, recognising the special things in others.
 

Once upon a time, there lived a boy called Henry.
What Henry wanted more than anything in the whole wide world . . .
MORE than chips . . .
MORE than a cowboy costume . . .
MORE than an all-expenses-paid trip to the moon . . .
was a DOG.

One really has to wonder how one young boy manages to convince his parents to allow him to have 27 different varieties of frogs, and then after that also allow him to advertise for a dog…

This charming and sweet story created by Fiona introduces us to a young boy named Henry who wants a dog more than anything else in the world, and who goes to extraordinary lengths to get one, dogs, unlike frogs have personality and he believes that this makes them the most perfect pet in the world (I happen to agree with him here). Apparently dogs can also read the newspapers because Henry decides to advertise in one to help him on his search for the perfect pet…

And he sits and waits…

At the same time a duck (without a name) live a lonely life on the top of a mountaintop, no one ever visits him, or emails or takes him out or sends him emails, and playing ping pong alone must really suck… And it’s this lonely duck that decides to disguise himself as a dog and respond to Henry’s advertisement.

Henry’s excitement at having a dog appear at his doorstep is immense, and straight away they start to learn new tricks and play new games… but it soon becomes obvious that there’s something not-quite-right with this dog…

What follows is an adorable example of friendship and hope.

Simply and illustrated you’ll fallen love with the two adorable characters (especially the duck) as they traverse the tricky and fun adventure of developing new friendships.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars