Cooking and giggling!!!

Here are a two non-fiction titles that are sure to be popular ... a great kid's cookbook and a joke book!

Stew A Cockatoo, My Aussie Cookbook Ruthie May & Leigh Hobbs (Little Hare)

With cooking shows being a star this book is wonderfully well timed. This is just perfect for kids to read and to investigate and then to jump into the kitchen. Mum's and dad's beware - the kids are set to take over the kitchen. As the introduction says ... this is a book for the whole family - kids and oldies alike, full of old-time recipes, with a few new ones added in.

There are recipes for Bush-Pig fairy Bread, Lamingtons, banana benders (especially for the chocoholics), even BBQ burgers.

The book also has terrific Leigh Hobbs illustrations that will bring on more than a few giggles, and to give it an authentic Aussie voice (as if Dinky-di meat Pie wasn’t enough) slang like "arvo-tea" and “fair dinkum" are added. For the purely Aussie twist to chocolate crackles - Roo Doo in a Patty Case is a must. Ripper mate!

365 Awesome Aussie Jokes (Scholastic)

Here is a book with a joke for every day of the year ... so be warned. If you give this book as a present this year expect to be hit with a joke or two every day.

What Aussie bird is a master chef? A cook-aburra!

What do you get when you cross a kangaroo with sheep? A woolly jumper!

Why did the cockatoo sit on the clock? So he would be on time!

This book is the annual joke book that supports the wonderful work of Camp Quality ... and just in case your young readers have a joke that is not in here there is also the web or postal address where they can submit jokes that might just end up being published in next year's joke book.

Cook up a treat and giggle as you do with these two books!

Picture Books about Friendship and more....

 These are wonderufl picture books for young children, great for sharing and reading aloud. Some are also filled with giggles too.

I Found a Friend and My Friend Found Me Beth Norling (Penguin)

Every child wonders about finding friends and every child finds that first friend. Then when they are found there are the great times that friends share and also the not so good times that happen - often from misunderstanding ... or by accident. This book is about just that - finding friends, making friends, things friends do and then how they fall out of friendship and are just fine doing things without their special friend, until they realise all the things they miss doing with their special friend. And of course the little sorry word pops in too!

A lovely story with equally delightful illustrations.

The Cocky Who Cried Dingo Yvonne Morrison & Heath McKenzie (Little Hare)

This is a pure Aussie retelling of the classic Aesop fable, the boy who cried wolf, this time told in wonderful rollicking verse! And great for discovering our colourful Aussie birds!

Cocky is so very cheeky.

Cocky loves to play tricks on the other birds and when the other birds discover the pranks they are furious with Cocky - and tell him so. Each time Cocky is humbled and very apologetic. Eventually Cocky's cries of I'm trapped in the jaws of a big hairy dingo and are ignored by the others and this time he really is in trouble as all the other birds ignore Cocky's cries of distress. When cocky does escape, although not completely unharmed, he still plays tricks, but never mean ones! Or does he?

The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies Tom Niland Champion, Kilmeny Niland & Deborah Niland (Allen&Unwin)

In a tiny apartment in a big city lives a tall man with twelve babies with the boys called Alistair and the girls were called Charlene. When they were all happy they laughed and when they were angry they all yelled. One day, frustrated with the craziness of the babies, the tall man scoops up the Charlene’s and the cat and steps outside only to have the wind blew the door shut. So the tall man tries to squeeze through the cat-flap ... only to get stuck and be pushed and pulled by the Charlene’s an the Alistair’s until eventually he is free.

A lovely quirky tale with absolutely delightful illustrations that require second investigations.

Noni the Pony Alison Lester (Allen&Unwin)

Books by Alison are always a treat and worthy of multiple investigations and this new title, written in rhyming verse, does likewise.

Noni is a pony. Noni's friends are Dave Dog and Coco the Cat. They enjoy playing games together and even with her speed Noni always makes sure her friends stay together. And when thunder scares her friends Noni tells them a story to help them be brave.

This is a beautiful book about caring, sharing and friendship.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice Tom Skinner & Annie White (New Frontier)

A young sorcerer's apprentice who is told NOT to practise magic on his own does just that when the master has to go out. of course the spells cast by the apprentice don't quite work out as they should and the chaos develops.

In 1897 the wonderful classical piece of music - the Sorcerer’s Apprentice was created, based upon a poem by Goethe and this book - with accompanying CD is the 2010 creation. Part of the music box series it is a fantastic way to open minds to the wonders of classical music.

The Very Itchy Bear Nick Bland (Scholastic Press)

The very cranky bear is back and this time he is ITCHY! This hilarious story, great for reading aloud, about one very big bear and one very small flee and the friendship these two create.

Bear is sitting alone on a log, reading. Flea is close by. Flea bites bear, as fleas do, not to be impolite, but to say hello. Of course a biting flea to a bear is not very comfortable and soon he is being bitten everywhere. bear's only escape is to jump into sea in the hope of getting rid of flea, but flea bites him just to remind him he is still there. So when bear finds flea he flicks him way out to see - and now that bear is all alone, he is frightened floating on the sea but at the same time concerned for flea’s survival ... all of which means that bear ends up rescuing flea and in the end the two of them go everywhere with flea biting bear no longer.

Just delightful books.