John Long, Fossil Hunter, story told by Danielle Clode, Wild Dingo Press, ISBN 9781925893687
The publisher provided a review copy of this book.
This book in the Aussie Stem Stars series features John Long, the inspiring fossil hunter. The story is told by Danielle Clode.
I recommend this book for ages eight and up.
The chapter I found hilarious was “karate kid”, when suddenly John fell in love with karate. He first had a passion for karate when he saw Bruce Lee do karate!
I learned many facts about fossils in this wonderful book, that I didn’t know before. I also had never heard about John Long before, until I read the first few chapters of the book.
My favourite chapter was ‘Camping Chaos’, because I like how the author described the the event, which made me feel as though I was in a different world, right there stuck in the terrific story!
If I could star rate this book, I would probably give it a 4.5 out of 5! That is my opinion on how the book is really good.
I really enjoyed John Long, and learning about his experience with fossils.
The Last Light Horse by Dianne Wolfer, illustrated by Brian Simmonds, Fremantle Press, ISBN 9781760991302
The publisher provided a review copy of this book.
This exceptional book by Dianne Wolfer is about the only horse survivor from the First World War – Sandy. Sandy was only one out of 136,000 horses sent from Australia to aid the British and Australian officers. The horses were in a new climate and weren’t used to the war. How would Sandy cope with all the fighting?
The book takes you on a journey going back to WWI to show you what happened in those days. It also has different newspaper clips from that time and pictures to help you visualize the text. The newspaper clips also tell the opinions that were circulating around in Australia concerning the war such as the Declaration of War which was reported on Friday 7 August 1914 and the deaths of important generals.
I rated this book five stars out of five because it shows Australia’s perspective of the war and has beautiful illustrations. It should be for people interested in history to read.
Teena Raffa-Mulligan writes poetry, short stories, picture books and novels. She has also worked as a journalist and editor. Today we’re pleased to welcome her to Alphabet Soup to chat about about her latest book, Just Write – an easy guide to writing stories.
From the publisher:
Just Write can help to kick-start the process for kids who are stuck at the start. Find out how to come up with ideas, create interesting characters, paint word pictures and more in this easy-to-follow guide full of activities and helpful examples.
How did you come to write Just Write?
I never had any trouble writing stories when I was a kid. My pen flew over the page and I could barely keep up with the ideas spilling out of my imagination. I had a head full of stories and would even run home from the park to write them down. When my children were in primary school, I became a parent helper in the classroom and realised there were lots of kids who struggled with story writing.
Around the same time, my first picture book was published and I did some school visits. The idea of putting together a book for children about writing took shape as I had more books released and continued to share my love of stories in talks and workshops. The first version, which was called What Comes Next? Story Writing Made Easy for Children, was accepted for publication but that never happened so the manuscript stayed in my filing cabinet for years.
Last year I had extra time at home because of the COVID lockdowns and restrictions but I didn’t feel like writing anything new. I did need a project to work on so I decided to take another look at some of my unpublished manuscripts. You Can Be a Writer came out in January and is a picture book for early primary children that is based on a talk I give in schools. Just Write is the next level up, so it’s for mid to upper primary age.
I hope the books will encourage children to see story writing as a fun activity. There’s a blank page waiting for our imagination to take us on an exciting adventure and we don’t know where it will lead until we start out.
What’s the WORST writing advice you’ve ever been given?
Be disciplined, write for set hours every day, work on one story from start to finish, and stick to one genre so readers know what to expect.
This may be excellent advice for another writer – I’ve learned it isn’t a fit for me, so I don’t have a set routine. I’m always working on a range of different stories and I don’t work from start to finish. A lot of the time my stories come together like jigsaw puzzles.
You write poetry, picture books, children’s novels, novels for teens and novels for adults. Which do you find easiest to write?
Anything short that I can write quickly and move on to the next bright, shiny new idea! It takes a lot of focus to write a novel and I am easily distracted so sometimes it will be months between writing one chapter and the next. I used to get really cranky with myself for not being more disciplined and concentrating on one story at a time. I’ve now realised this stop and start approach to novels works really well for me because when I return to the story after a break it will head in unexpected directions.
You love reading as well as writing! Can you recommend a book you’ve enjoyed recently?
Maddie in the Middle by Julia Lawrinson kept me so engrossed in the story I read it in two sittings. I had to stop for lunch! It is all about friendship and breaking the rules and Julia captures Maddie’s voice brilliantly. Another story I loved recently was Catch a Falling Star by Meg McKinlay, set in 1979 when the world was waiting for pieces of Skylab to fall back to Earth. Meg is one of my favourite authors and everything she writes is exceptional, from the language she uses to her vividly drawn characters and understanding of human nature.
Can you tell us a bit about your next writing project?
I’m working on a novel about a kid who finds a mysterious object at the local quarry the night after his next-door neighbour claims to have been chased by a flying saucer. That night Callum notices his toes have turned red and as the days pass the bright stain creeps steadily up his body. He can’t let Mum know or she won’t let him go to his first ever school camp. Lara from up the street has a secret too, and when the aliens turn up in search of the missing bits of their spaceship, the two kids have to decide what to do. It’s the sort of story I like writing because I let my imagination run free and until I write each scene, I don’t know what’s going to happen next.
Just Write is out now! Ask for it at your favourite book store or local library.
How did Gisela Kaplan, a young German survivor of WWII become a world-leading expert in the behaviour of animals?
This book is a biography of Gisela Kaplan written by Emily Gale. Gisela Kaplan had a hard life in Germany after the Second World War. Then after she immigrated to Australia, the book shows how other people helped her along in her career as she played a role in primate and bird science. In addition, there are notes to help explain words you don’t understand.
When she arrives in Australia what jobs could she take? How did she learn a second language, and how does she support her daughter? Read Aussie STEM Stars Gisela Kaplan to find out more and all the answers to these questions!
I like this book and for me, it is five-star rated because it shows an emotional story of immigration. It also shows how much practice has to go into work till you can fulfil your dream, as you can see how she consistently worked away from home, in the work field.
This book would be for ages ten and up to read by themselves although most children from the age of six to ten can read with someone to help the children understand. Go grab a copy of this amazing book either online or hard copy.
We know many of our readers are fans of the Guinness World Records books and with the release of the 2021 edition we’re excited to share a peek at one of the records – a record that’s bookish, and speedy … and involves knocking things down! We’re also thrilled to be collaborating with the publisher for a Guinness World Records 2021 giveaway.*** THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW CLOSED***
From the publisher:
– Travel through the Solar System and see the planets come to life with a free augmented-reality feature
– Encounter the cutest, weirdest, most dangerous and exotic creatures on our home planet
– Meet the world’s tallest, shortest, hairiest and heaviest humans
– Marvel at the latest high scores, speed runs and players at the top of their game in eSports and beyond
– Get the lowdown on the world’s most successful and prolific actors, musicians, TV stars and influencers
– Review the greatest sports achievements from the past year and celebrate today’s top athletes
Check out this bookish record, featured in Guinness World Records 2021:
Extracted from Guinness World Records 2021, published by Pan Macmillan Australia (available now!)
Want to win a copy of Guinness World Records 2021?We have three copies of the book to giveaway, thanks to Pan MacMillan Australia. Here’s how to enter:
Email editor@alphabetsoup.net.au with GWR2021 in the subject line. In the body of the email state your name.
Entries close 11.59pm (AWST) on 28 September 2020.
The winners will be contacted by email and we will request a postal address at that time. Winners’ names and Australian states will be announced on Alphabet Soup’s blog on Tuesday 29 September 2021.
Entrants must be aged 18 or over (children can ask an adult to enter on their behalf).
The prize will only be posted to an Australian address.
Minecraft Guide to: Survival by Mojang AB, Egmont UK, ISBN 9781405296502
Kobe reviewed her own copy of this book.
ARGH! You just can’t find the right book to guide you through Survival Mode in Minecraft, what should you do? Well, I’ve got the perfect solution for you: read the amazing, fantastic, and spectacular Minecraft Guide to: Survival book! This official book is developed by Mojang, the creators of Minecraft and it is absolutely the unmistakable guide to Survival Mode in Minecraft with every piece of info and tips!
I believe that this book is totally and utterly the most ultimate Survival guide you can wish for! There, solved your problem, but here comes another, how do you use the book? Using the book is quite easy because all you need to do is read the book through and if you come across ANY problems, really look and seek some information to help yourself to any situations you have! How simple is that?
Now imagine you’re playing just fine, hold on! What’s that thing right next to you? Hmm, looks like some sort of creature that swims in water, EEK! It also has some creepy teeth and weird eyes! That’s exactly what happened to me! I was doing amazingly well looking at the stream I was next to behind my tree, then weird tentacles rose out of the water and with circle of teeth! But how could I know that it was only a squid rather than a nerve racking monster without this amazing guide book? If I had that book at that time, I wouldn’t be so creeped out!
Now you can immediately see how your brain is urging you to get that book! I’m just saying, you are not going to survive in Survival Mode for that long if you’re a beginner and you haven’t gotten this book already because when I tried Survival without the book, it was only a matter of time before a creeper exploded right next to me, so I died.
Now I am 100% sure you are going to get this book as soon as possible! Have a good time reading, adventurous reader!
This picture book is an information book about germs — how small they are, and where you’ll find them. This is an interactive book and as part of the story you have to take Min (a microbe) on an adventure. Do not lick this book includes photographs taken with a microscope to show close-ups of paper, teeth, your shirt, and your belly button (your skin), as well as comic-style illustrations.
I like how it turns a serious topic into a fun story with cute germ characters. I found the teeth page very interesting with the close-up view of your teeth.
This book is bright, funny, and child-friendly. It’s great for ages 4+. I’m 11 and I still found it entertaining and interesting. So did my mum (and she’s 43).
Matilda received a copy of this book from the publisher.
In this nonfiction book about Australian animals, there is one page for each animal with the headings:
What is it?
Where does it live? and
What is its life like?
I like the way the book is split up into the climates that the animals live in and the photographs are extremely professional. There is a ‘how to use this book’ page, which is really helpful for understanding certain symbols used in the book.
My favourite animal in this book was the Rufous Bettong (Aepyprymnus rufescens). This animal lives in woodlands, grasslands and forests.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves animals and wants to know more about Australian animals.
Letters and Numbers by Armand Jammot, Hardie Grant Books, ISBN 9781742700687
This book includes actual rounds of puzzles from the tv show Letters and Numbers (in the UK the same show is called Countdown). It consists of letter games (you are allocated letters and you have to make the longest word you can), number games (you are given a list of numbers to use and you can use any mathematical operation to arrive at a target number), and ‘word mixes’ (like a single crossword clue, plus a list of letters and you must solve the crossword clue by rearranging the letters to reveal the right word).
Each player is on their own when attempting the puzzles and it’s a competition to see who’s the best at each puzzle.
You have to complete each puzzle in 30 seconds, but in my family we always play for one minute. That way the youngest family members have more of a chance. I always like to play a round at dinner time with all my family having a go. The puzzles are challenging for all ages.
In the book there are 50 rounds of puzzles and the answers from the tv contestants and tv ‘masters’ are included at the back of the book.
I would recommend this book for families with children 9 and above, because younger kids probably won’t keep up with the style of puzzles.
I would rate this book 9 out of 10 because I thoroughly enjoy playing it.
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Joseph is one of our regular book reviewers. His most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of Mister Cassowary. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines.Happy reading!
REVIEWED BY KOBE, 9, WA
REVIEWED BY CINDY, 7, VIC
REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 11, WA
Amazing Animals of Australia’s National Parks by 
alphabetsoup.net.au 