This post was added by Rebecca Newman. Rebecca is a children's writer and poet, and the editor of the Australian children's literary blog, Alphabet Soup.
For more about Rebecca visit: rebeccanewman.net.au.
This book is about Valerie, who is a cheeky and very brave sausage dog that steals a sausage then gets lost in the wild. She has an adventure.
I really liked this book because of all the pictures, the picture with sausages in it was my favourite, and the one when Valerie rides a surfboard. It sounded nice to listen to because the story is so good and it has lots of rhyming words.
I can’t believe this is a true story. I hope she gets to go on more fun adventures.
This is Asher’s first book review for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall, Yearling (Penguin Random House), ISBN 9780593897232
REVIEWED BY NYLA, 10, INDIA
The book The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, One Rabbit, and Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall is the first in a series that will leave you scrambling to catch up.
The book features four sisters (Rosalind, the most responsible; Skye, the one with a high temper; Jane, the author of the family; and Batty, the youngest one) and a boy named Jeffrey. They meet in a very odd fashion, in which Skye unknowingly insults Jeffrey’s mother and falls on top of him.
Together, the five go through numerous adventures, including the rescuing of Batty from the attack of an angry bull, and soon develop a great bond. But when the sisters realise what their music loving friend, Jeffrey, is going through on account of his mum, the sisters know that they have to do something.
My favorite part is when Jeffrey’s mother insults Skye’s family. Skye doesn’t even hesitate for a second before charging in there to defend herself and the people who she loves most. I would recommend this book to children ages 9–12, and the author has done a wonderful job in adding several side challenges for the sisters and still ensuring that they still stood by Jeffrey’s side throughout.
This is Nyla’s first book review for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
Wolf Girl 15 is an exciting adventure book. With simple words and quick pace, it’s impossible not to love the book!
The series is interesting and takes wild turns. The fact she can talk to dogs is amazing and the humour is hilarious. The plot fits perfectly with the other books and the illustration was done well. You generally feel for the character in the search for their parents.
Great book. Keep it up, Anh Do!
Wolf Girl 15: Hunted is out now. Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
This is Charles’s second book review for Alphabet Soup. You can read another of his book reviews here. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines.
The Kangaroo and the Porpoise, told by Agnes Lippo, compiled by Pamela Lofts, illustrations adapted from paintings of the story done by children at Belyuen School in the Northern Territory, Scholastic Press, ISBN 9781865046297
REVIEWED BY EVA, 8, NSW
This is a beautiful, Australian First Nations story from The Dreaming. It’s told by Agnes Lippo and compiled by Pamela Lofts.
This is a story about how the porpoise came to live in the sea. I really liked this book because it talks about lots of unique, cute creatures and what they eat.
I also liked how the kangaroo is trustable at the start and then changes at the end.
I disliked how the story was a bit challenging sometimes, because I don’t like fighting among characters.
This book made me feel happy and sad at the same time! This is a good book for ages 3 to 8. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
How the Birds got their Colours, told by Mary Albert, compiled by Pamela Lofts, illustrations adapted from paintings of the story by Aboriginal children living in Broome, Western Australia. Scholastic Press, ISBN 978-1865046242
REVIEWED BY ISLA, 7, NSW
How the Birds got their Colours is a lovely book told by Mary Albert, compiled by Pamela Lofts.
This is an Australian First Nations story from The Dreaming. It tells the story of how the birds in the beginning had no colour. They were all black. Then one day a little dove changed everything forever.
I loved this book because there’s a happy ending. It made me feel inspired with the marvellous colourful illustrations.
I give this book five out of five stars and recommend it for all ages, but especially for ages 4 to 8.
We’re pleased to be sharing a series of book reviews by Petersham Public School students, NSW.This is Isla’s first book review for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
Bethany Loveridge is an author-illustrator who has always loved storytelling and the natural world. She has been a youth worker, a film and television teacher, a curriculum specialist and a museum nerd (not the official title). Today we’re chatting to Bethany about her novel Harper Wells: Renegade Timeline Officer.
From the publisher:
Harper Wells finally gets a bedroom of her own, away from her annoying big brother. But on the first night in her new bed, she wakes up in the past and meets a troubled young girl named Edie. Harper is thrown into a world of time-travelling spies as she risks her life to find a missing girl before time runs out.
If you found a way to time travel, which time in history would you choose to travel to?
If I found my own Wollemi Bed, I’d love to travel back in time to meet a thylacine (Tasmanian tiger). They think the thylacine went extinct in the 1930s, which was a miserable period called the Great Depression. So I would go back, smuggle a thylacine pup in my hoodie, and hightail it back to the present. Imagine how many species I could save!
What gave you the idea for a bed to be the device that enables Harper (Harrie) to travel through time?
The story idea started with a dream I had about the Wollemi Pine; a native Australian tree sometimes called the ‘dinosaur tree’ because it was thought to be extinct. So my time travelling ‘device’ needed to be made from a tree, and I thought a bed would be more exciting than a chair (though I do know a brilliant story involving a magical wooden wardrobe)! I also liked the idea of falling asleep and falling back in time.
Can you tell us a bit about why you chose Edie to be the first person from history that Harper is assigned to keep watch on?
Once I had dreamed up a time-travelling bed, it was time to choose an historical person for my main character to visit. I knew I wanted a female character from the past, someone brave and kind who could help Harrie develop the same attributes. I didn’t know much about Edith Cowan (except she was on our $50 banknote), so I had to research! Pretty soon, I knew Edie was the right character. I discovered she was passionate about improving children’s heath, the rights of women (she brought in an act that allowed women to be lawyers), and social welfare. Edith Cowan (nee Brown) had a rough childhood but an IMPRESSIVE impact. Even though lots of people gave her a hard time, she became the first female elected to an Australian parliament – how awesome is that?
Did you have any favourite time travel (or time slip) books you read when you were growing up?
Not really! When I was a kid, I liked reading fantasy stories best. Fantasy is still my favourite, but now I have read MANY time slip and time travel books, and I love almost too many to list! My favourites include Elsewhere Girls by Emily Gale and Nova Weetman, Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park, The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones, and the World Between Blinks stories by Amie Kaufman and Ryan Graudin (these aren’t strictly time slip, but feature a world of lost historical places and objects). Also, I have always enjoyed ‘portal fantasy’ books and television shows, and time travel is pretty similar – you just end up in another time rather than another universe.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
Harper Wells: Time Walker (book two in the trilogy) comes out in September! This time, we’ll meet Constance Stone, who was Australia’s first female medical doctor. I’m also over-the-moon excited for my new junior fiction (for readers 6–9) series that starts next month with Josie Mack and the MEGA Division. Illustrated by the delightful Jade Goodwin, it’s about a nine-year-old girl who joins an underground (literally and metaphorically) agency of talking animals. So. Much. Fun.
Harper Wells: Renegade Timeline Officer is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Cats by Kathryn Walker, Wayland Publishers, ISBN 9780750268578
REVIEWED BY FRANKIE, 7, NSW
Cats by Kathryn Walker is an information book about many different types of cats.
This book has adorable, cute photographs that kids would love. The more you read the more you can learn about cats.
The best thing about this book is learning about how cats act so if they behave a certain way you know if they are happy or angry.
In the book cats there are little facts about cats. For example, there is one that says “Most cats love to climb. Their strong muscles and sharp claws make them good climbers.” There are many other amazing facts you can learn from this book. This book is quite old but you can find similar information books about cats at your library.
The only part I disliked in this book was a photograph of a cat and a crow because the cat could fall or the crow could eat the cute kitten.
On the contents page, it has cool headings like ‘A Kitten is Born’ which sounds really cute and interesting. At the end it has an interesting index to look for topics in the book.
Cats made me interested in getting a cute little cat. I am rating it 5 out of 5!
Zanni Louise has been writing stories since she was little, growing up in country NSW. She’s written over fifty internationally published books for kids including picture books, chapter books and books for 10–12 year-olds. Today we’re chatting to her about the latest books in her Handbooks for Little Humans series. You can see the two latest books in the series above – Fairness and Friendship – both illustrated by Maja Veselinovic.
From the publisher:
Phew. There’s a lot to know about being a human, right? You have so many things to learn, like: swimming in the big pool, spelling your name and the words and actions to your favourite song. This is a series to guide meaningful conversations about the things that count most.
Simon & Schuster provided reading copies of these books.
So far in this series you’ve written handbooks for Compassion, Confidence, Inclusion, Integrity, Fairness and Friendship. What brought you to write the Handbooks for Little Humans series?
I have been talking with kids in classrooms for years about important topics like honesty, integrity, creativity and persistence. I wanted to make fun, engaging guidebooks that built on these conversations and gave classrooms and families a structure, so that they could continue this dialogue with their little people. We have guidebooks for how to light a fire and use a vacuum cleaner. Why not a guidebook for how to be human?
The books include information, guidance and tips for readers. How did you gather your information? How do you decide what to put in … and what to leave out?
It’s a tricky finding the balance between enough information and making it concise and simple enough to be engaging. I think hard about the topic, like “What is integrity? To me?” I think of examples in my own life and how the topic impacts me. I research online. I talk with kids. I talk with teachers and librarians. For Inclusion, I spoke with a disability advocate. Once I form a clear idea about the topic, I experiment with the best way of articulating the theme so it appeals to kids.
The illustrators across the series – Maja Veselinovic, Kim Drane and Jingting Wang – have included brightly coloured illustrations, comics, diagrams and checklists. Did you meet with your illustrators to work on the books? When you send the text for the comics sections do you present it differently from the text of the main pages?
I’ve never met any of these illustrators. I send my text to my editors, then they brief the illustrator. I am sent ‘roughs’, which are sketches of the whole book. I give feedback on these. We go back and forth a couple of times. I want to give the illustrators plenty of freedom to play with the concepts as much as they’d like to. I want it to be fun for them and for the illustrations to have their personality. They’re the creative talent behind the visuals. For the comics, I lay out the text and give a few stage directions. I suggested the animals once or twice, but also said, “Feel free to pick your own.” It’s important that the illustrator feels ownership over the project.
How do you hope these Handbooks are read and used?
I hope they are conversation starters. I hope they plant a seed in kids’ minds, and give homes and classrooms accessible ways of talking about complicated themes. I hope they can lay a pathway for being kinder and better to one another, so we can create a more harmonious society. It sounds lofty, but I truly believe books have this power. I had many messages from readers of my earlier series, Human Kind, telling me how kids electively pulled the books from the shelves and read them in their own space and time. Later, they would chat about the topic with their parent, and reflect on how they were persistent, honest, etc.
Having spent lots of time with kids over the years, I’ve learnt never to underestimate their interest in and ability to talk about big topics. Nor should we every underestimate their capacity for humanness. Us adults could learn a lot!
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
A lot! This week, I am jumping between drafts of two novels (I have never done that before, but it’s fun, and it’s working, so I’m not going to complain!). I have several more books coming out later this year that I’ve been editing and proofing. I’m just happy to go wherever the ideas take me.
The Handbooks for Little Humans series is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, Puffin (Penguin UK), ISBN 9780141325491
REVIEWED BY STEFAN, 9, NSW
Heroes of Olympus: The Lost hero is a fantastic book that I recommend. Rick Riordan has done a fantastic job writing adventures with heroes, monsters, and brilliant battles. Heroes of Olympus connects to the Greek Myths, with gods, demigods, and secrets for how to solve the puzzles.
One of my favourite parts is the twist. Some parts are scarier than others and some are funnier than others. This book made me feel happy when reading it and sad when I finished it.
The main character, Jason Grace is brave, powerful, and funny once you get to know him. He has woken up on a school wilderness bus with a psycho coach. He and his new friends must go on a serious mission to save the wonderful Camp Half Blood but if you want to find out all the serious secrets of this mission, you must read this awesome book.
I recommend this book for people who are into mystery, solving puzzles, fantasy, and the Greek Myths. But still, in my opinion, anyone would love this book. I give this book 5 out of 5. It is suitable for ages 8+, but again, anyone could read this amazing book.
The Famous Five: Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton. Graphic Novel retelling by Béja and Nataël, Hachette Children’s Books, ISBN 9781444963670
REVIEWED BY JACK, 7, NSW
This adventure graphic novel is about five amazing friends on a treasure island by the famous author Enid Blyton and illustrated by Béja and Nataël.
I like this book because it has lots of action, drama and it makes me feel emotions. The youngest kid cried for her mum when she got dropped off at her aunty’s house. But then they travel far and wide, and explore new places no one has discovered before – they find valuable things too.
If you like this book, you should read the rest of the series. There are some illustrated versions and some non-illustrated versions.
This book makes me want to read the rest of the series. I would recommend this book for ages 8 and over. I am rating it 4.5 out of five.
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