Illustrated Books

A picture book to celebrate amazing mummies
an adventurouse graphic picture book
and a wordless illustrated text
... check these out!


The Hero of Little Street Gregory Rogers (Allen & Unwin)
Greg Rogers creates great books ... and this is another!
This wonderfully illustrated wordless title is the third title in his BOY BEAR series. This time the boy, escaping from a gang of bullies winds up in the national gallery in London and gets transported back in time as one of the famous art works comes to life when the little dog in van Eyck's The Arnolfini Portrait escapes and with the boy leaps into a painting by Vermeer an they are back in 17th century Holland!! But danger dwells here too!
Characters from the previous titles dwell in these pages too. There is much to look for in the illustrations. Terrific for schools looking into history and art!


Captain Congo and the Crocodile King Ruth Starke & Greg Holfield (Working Title Press)
This graphic picture book is fun! With spies, mysteries, adventurers, and scorpions, it should really get the boys hooked!
It tells of the adventures of two adventurers who are sent by the Agency on missions ... this time they are sent to rescue a lost anthropologist searching for the legendary Treasure House of the Queen of Sheba. Will they find the missing professor? Will they achieve their goal? What mysteries and treasures will crocodile heads reveal? And like all good rescuers they have special 'tools' to help them in emergency situations!
This title is the first in a new series - really good story line and terrific illustrations that really have an adventurer feel about them!


Mummies are Amazing Catriona Hoy & Annie White (Lothian)
Why are mummies amazing? Here is one book that tells you why?
They make snakes out of stockings, mermaids out of sand, solving splinter problems and fixing things and a whole lot more!
Fun illustrations accompany the fun text.
Just in time for Mother's Day!



Enoy sharing these great titles.

New From Hazel Edwards

Flight of the Bumblebee Hazel Edwards & Mini Goss (New Frontier Publishing)
CD Narrated by Antonia Kidman

Many adults have listened to Rimsky Korsakov’s famous Flight of the Bumblebee and imagined the flying bee ... some may have even imagined a story to accompany the music. Well this book does just that - it combines a great piece of music with an imaginative story written by the acclaimed Hazel Edwards (of Hippopotamus fame). The Music Box Series is new. It is a wonderful introduction to classical music. Each title contains the picture story book and a CD of the music and the narration.
In this book Bumble is a clumsy bee, lacking a sense of direction and getting lost BUT after listening to the music as suggested by a kind drone, and then flapping in tune to the music he soon finds his wings and gets it right.
Also contains small factual information about the composer, the music and bees!
Kids will be listening to the story and buzzing everywhere with this book!
See more about this book at Hazel’s website.


Gang-O Kids Hazel Edwards and Kim Woolley (Omtivo)
Five children, orientation and four short loosely linked stories make up this enjoyable book for younger readers.
in this book there are mysteries to solve, an Easter camp with an April Fool's joke played at 12.05, and falling down pants -- all the while involving the sport of orienteering. A really good fictional introduction to the sport.
Hazel has also included teacher’s notes which link with curriculum requirements on her website.
For more information about this book check the website.

For other information about Hazel see http://www.hazeledwards.com/

Enjoy!

Wickedly Fun!

Silas and the Winterbottoms Stephen Giles (Pan Macmillan)
Silas Winterbottom is not a nice man - and he is dying. Three young cousins (his relatives) have been summoned by him to his castle. One of the three he will choose to inherit his vast fortune, the others will go home empty-handed ... at least that is what he tells them for things at Sommerset are not as they appear. There is trickery, deceit and nastiness - and that's just between the cousins. A mystery person has also entered the castle with a dastardly plot ... and there is a secret basement where life changing plans are being made. There is a not-too-nice pet crocodile, an alligator infested swamp and characters with secrets to reveal!
A fun "wicked" read with an ending that just leaves us knowing there is more to come!

New Series Books

More of the same and still lots of fun ....

The Greatest Sheep in History Frances Watts & Judy Watson (ABC Books)
Another title in the Extraordinary Ernie and Marvellous Maud series is as much fu as the first two.
This time the Baxter superhero team are attending the National Superheroes Conference and will hear Super Wizz speak. But things don't go as planned of course and when Chicken George - the most terrifying and villainous chicken anyone has ever seen invades the conference and steals the notes of from Stupendous Sue as she is giving her opening address right in front of all the superheroes and later - who will save the day?


One Wacky Week Michael Wagner & Gus Gordon (Puffin)
More wacky fun with the Undy's is here.
All in one week - Josh and his dad have Fun; Josh attempts to tackle the worlds seventh strongest man but when that doesn't work mass tackle mania begins when josh and a crowd of kids all pile on top; they continue their mannying duties and this time having a competition to find then strongest strongman; they are media stars on the number one morning TV show talking about mannying (and having fun!); and get involved in a wife-carrying race, part of public housing family fun day!
It’s another wacky week!


Better Homes and Gardens Colin Thompson (Random House)
Here is the 8th and final instalment of the crazy family - the Floods and this time it is true ... after years on the run the Floods are coming home (for some of the floods it’s the first time and a return to the land of their forefathers). And just in time too. Transylvania Waters was bad before but now the current ruler King Quartorze has just about ruined the country! Everything’s has been sold - even everyone's shoelaces, only the castle has electricity. But to rule the country they first need to get rid of the present king and some seriously nasty characters before Transylvania waters is liberated! There are fortune tellers, a genie, secret spells, magic gates that give departing travellers wonderful memories (and awesome photos) and stacks more.



and the Freak Street series Knife & Packer (Scholastic) ...
Wizardsons On Holiday
Humansons On Holiday
Zombiesons On Holiday
Aliensons On Holiday
and yes they are all going on holidays! of course any holiday that these families are part of will not be an ordinary holiday. This is the second series of Freak street books and like the first the stories are fun. Great full colour illustrations too. There is also the Freak Street website (http://www.freakstreet.com.au/) with lots of freaky information, wallpapers, games, and fan site! These books will have readers giggling.

If readers enjoyed the earlier books ... they will not be disappointed with these!

Non Fiction Picture books

Maralinga: the Anangu Story Yalata & Oak Valley Communities with Christobel Mattingley (Allen & Unwin)
This book, created through extensive research and community consultation, tells the story (in detailed words, photographs and traditional art) of the history of the Maralinga lands in South Australia - all from an indigenous perspective. It tells of growing up, life before and after atomic testing, the coming of the railway, the food, the mission, the bomb and its impact, and the expulsion and return to the land. Also has map, glossary adn sources listed.
This is an important work told by the elders for all peoples.


100 Years of Petrol Power: 1900-2000 John Nicholson (Allen & Unwin)
This is the final title in the series Transport Trade and Travel in Australia. All of these books, suitable for those in upper primary and above, are thoroughly researched and are accompanied by detailed illustrated throughout. This title focuses on petrol power looking at Australia’s reliance on the petrol and diesel, the development of transportation powered by these. It looks at the internal combustion engine and also poses the questions ... what next?
These books are terrific nonfiction titles for kids to investigate.


Something About Water Penny Matthews & Tom Jellett (Omnibus)
Here is a terrific book, perfect for children investigating water, recycling, and saving the planet. The text has simple explanations about water, its importance to the environment and of course about human interaction and reliance on water. There are simple but informative explanations of the water cycle, pollution, and an investigation of what we can do. End matter also contains other text and web references.
Told through the eyes of an inquisitive boy and with comic strip illustrations and school project style pages makes this easy for children to follow and fun to read.

These non fiction reads would be are most deifinitely worth investigating with your readers who want to know!