Cristy Burne is a science writer and children’s author. You might have read her adventure novels To the Lighthouse and Off the Track. If you love reading nonfiction keep an eye out forZeroes and Ones: The geeks, heroes and hackers who changed history.
Cristy Burne’s brilliant award-winning Takeshita Demons series has recently been re-released as a series of e-books with new covers and a new series title: Hashimoto Monsters. Today we’re chatting with Cristy about the series!
Your Hashimoto Monsters series is quite different in style from your other junior fiction novels. What sort of readers will love this series?
These books are full of supernatural monsters, creepy chills and Japanese culture. They are scary, but they’re also funny and a little bit strange. They’re popular with kids who love fantasy adventure stories. I’d say if you’re aged between eight and twelve and you like the Goosebumps series, you’ll like to read these.
Why Japanese monsters? Did you read a lot of horror/scary books as a child?
I get scared VERY easily and I can’t watch scary movies, but I love action and adventure. And I *love* Japanese monsters. I lived for three years in Japan and studied Japanese monsters for even longer after that.
Japanese monsters aren’t always monstrous. Some are kind, some are sad, some are strange (like the one that sneaks up behind you to invisibly touch the back of your neck), some are insanely happy (like the Laughing Woman who just doesn’t stop laughing and laughing and laughing and laughing … which is a bit creepy, now that I think of it.)
Which is your favourite monster/demon? Why?
I love the aka-na-me, which translates directly to “Filth Licker”. This is the monster you really want for a friend. He’s loves to clean, so you don’t have to. In Japanese mythology, he comes out at night to lick dirty bathrooms till they sparkle … Seriously, could there be any better creature?
In my books, he also cleans laundries, kitchens, dirty faces, you name it. Plus his super-sensitive tongue can taste out clues. He’s like a detective in a frog’s skin.
I also love Betobeto-san, or “Mr Footsteps”. He’s Japan’s answer to that spooky feeling you sometimes get that you’re being followed. Because … drumroll … you ARE being followed. By Betobeto-san. The good news is Betobeto-san is a sort of oversized, invisible marshmallow on legs. He eats the sound of your footsteps (and then spits it out again), but he’s quite shy and not at all dangerous.
Do you have any tips for kids who want to write horror/scary stories?
Scary stories are scariest when you don’t let the reader know what’s coming next. So if there’s a zombie in the next room, don’t give away that information too early. Instead, drop little clues … Slow the action right down. Describe little details, so every creak and every moan, every scent and every sensation invades your reader’s mind. And let your character’s imagination run wild too… What we worry about and imagine might happen is often worse than what actually happens.
And most of all … have fun! Scary stories are so much fun to write because it’s fun to scare ourselves. Ghost story, anyone?
What is your current writing project (or what you might like to tackle next)? Can you tell us a bit about it?
I’m working on an authorised biography of Dr Fiona Wood, who is an incredibly inspiring person. She’s a doctor, a burns surgeon, the inventor of ‘spray-on skin’, and was Australian of the Year in 2005.
It is such an honour to work with Fiona on this book, and to learn about her life when she was a kid. Why did she decide to become a doctor? What was she like at school? What was it like to grow up on the coal mines of England and go on to become a famous Australian hero?
I’m also working on another adventure story for Fremantle Press (and this one’s going to have platypus, flash floods and lots and lots of LEECHES!), plus a fantasy-meets-science series I’m co-authoring with Denis Knight, called Wednesday Weeks.
So I’m super busy, but I try not to get overwhelmed. I just try to do little bits on each project each day.
The Kaboom Kid: Hit for Six by David Warner with JS Black, ill. by Jules Faber, Simon & Schuster Australia, ISBN 9781925030846
Mekaeel reviewed his own copy of this book.
Kaboom Kid: Hit for Six is a fiction book. This book is suitable for primary school kids. It is easy to read and understand. The plot is gripping and the story is interesting.
The story is about an 11-year-old child, David Warner, who is in year 6 and loves cricket. He plays for Sandhill Sluggers. A boy named Mo bets that he’ll treat the team if Warner hits six 6s in a match. But when Warner opens the treat box given to him by Mo, he learns a shocking secret.
Because Warner is always dreaming about cricket, he sometimes gets in trouble as well. Mr Mudge (the teacher) also banned him from playing cricket until he brings back his completed essay.
Most of the characters in this book are kind but some like Mo, are a bit rude.
I liked the excitement of finding out if David Warner hits six 6s in one match or not. Would he submit his homework essay on time? Would he get the big win for Sandhill Sluggers?
I really like this book but it could have been better — if David Warner hadn’t been banned from playing cricket.
The Home Imaginarium Writing Competition (Entries close 5 May 2020)
This writing competition is open to Australian residents aged 7 to 12. Write a short story up to 800 words long (shorter is fine). Your story can be on any subject but you must include the words PAPER and BIRD (separately or together) somewhere in your story.
At the end of your story you must include the following details:
Entrant’s full name
Entrant’s age (as at 5 May 2020)
Australian postal address (for receiving books in the mail)
Parent’s email address
Parent’s mobile number
The statement: “This is my own unaided work, and it has not been published elsewhere.”
Parents/guardians should email entries to: editor@alphabetsoup.net.au
ENTRY: FREE
PRIZES: The winner will:
have their story read aloud by an Australian author or illustrator as part of the Paper Bird Books Home Club videos AND
receive a 6-month subscription to Paper Bird Books’ Home Imaginarium. (This means the winner will receive a new-release children’s book each month, for 6 months.)
Alphabet Soup’s Young Book Reviewers’ Competition (Entries close 2 May 2020)
Announcing our book reviewing competition. This comp is open to Australian residents aged 12 or younger.
To enter:Review a children’s book from any genre, fiction or nonfiction. You can choose to review any book you own or borrow, but you cannot enter a review of a book if that book was provided to you or a family member as a review copy.
Junior category (Kindy, Preprimary and Year 1): Winner will receive 6 postcards from various children’s authors and illustrators (one postcard per month for 6 months)
Primary category (Year 2 to Year 6): Winner will receive 6 postcards from various children’s authors and illustrators (one postcard per month for 6 months)
Check out these awesome authors and illustrators who could be sending you a postcard!
Kid Artists: True tales of childhood from creative legends by David Stabler, ill. by Doogie Horner, ISBN 9781594748967, Quirk Books
Kobe reviewed her own copy of this book
This book is my favourite book in March because you can learn about famous artists’ lives from childhood to adulthood, even Leonardo da Vinci! The most important part is that it tells you how they work hard to become famous artists.
In the book you can learn how Frida survived polio in her right leg, how Dr Seuss made super funny books and how Leonardo da Vinci made such a scary shield. It’s so interesting reading this FABULOUS book.
I am certain that you should at least take a look at this picture-filled book and your mind will be lost in time and the past. It was a very interesting inspiration. I hope you’ll enjoy reading this amazing book.
These are certainly strange times – with new rules about social distancing and self-isolation many of you will be at home most of the day now. (Our editor Rebecca is working from home while writing this blog post.) We hope you finding time for some reading. If you’ve run out of books – and your family uses the public library (we hope you do!) – you might be able to use your library membership to access books on BorrowBox. If you’re interested, ask a parent to see www.borrowbox.com for instructions. (Alphabet Soup is not associated with BorrowBox in any way, we just like to keep kids reading!)
And, of course, it’s the last day of March, so here are the March recommendations from members of our Top Reads Team*:
You’ll find a recommended list from our Top Reads Team on the last day of every month (February to November). If you’d like even more recommendations, browse all through all our Top Reads ever!
*All our Top Readers are kids aged 13 and under. No grownups allowed!
The Trials of Apollo: The Tyrant’s Tomb is a fascinating book. It is a fiction novel about mythological creatures, gods and other beliefs. Rick Riordan writes every one of his books with care. The initial storylines of these books are all set in the same world, but his stories and plots get more sophisticated as they continue on from the other stories within the series.
I really enjoyed this book, as it plays along with the main storyline of the series and refers to mythological elements from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.
Overall, Rick Riordan’s books are all highly recommended!
This is Isaac’s first book review for Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines.Happy reading!
Moonfish is about a fish who wants to know more about his life and why he is different.
I like Moonfish because the drawings are very realistic. I especially like pages 5 and 6 when the main character appears. The story is sad to begin with but the ending is very good.
This is Lucas’s first book review for Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines.Happy reading!
Do you have any tips for kids who want to write horror/scary stories?
Get Book 1 in the series for FREE! (
REVIEWED BY MEKAEEL, 7, NSW
We’re excited to announce our second big competition for 2020! 
Alphabet Soup’s Young Book Reviewers’ Competition 
REVIEWED BY KOBE, 9, WA
REVIEWED BY ISAAC, 13, WA
REVIEWED BY LUCAS, 9, WA
alphabetsoup.net.au 