Rivetting Fiction

These are great reads so read and enjoy.

Head Spinners Thalia Kalkipsakis (Allen&Unwin)
The subtitle is Six Stories to Twist Your Brain and that is most certainly true. With tittles like, Tick Tock Time Machine, It began with a Tingle, Alive Again, these stories, all of varying length with really hook in readers who want something not suite so predictable.
Tick tock Time Machine - about a clock, given as a present (Sam really wanted a surf board) from her ingenious Uncle, that becomes a time machine…
It Began with a Tingle - an itch on the arm that soon grew to be a rather useful appendage, that is about to surgically removed!
These are FUN! Great for jump starting imaginations too.

Vinnie's War David McRobbie (Allen&Unwin)
With war raging in London, and Vinnie homeless after a bomb destroys the pub where he was living, Vinnie is evacuated on a train to the countryside with nothing but the clothes he is wearing (he doesn't even have a gas mask) and his harmonica and amazing musical talent. Vinnie and his three friends arrive in Netterfold to begin their wartime stay. The children, labelled the Vaccies by the locals, are soon entwined in mystery as things start to go missing in the town and the blame is laid right at their feet. Vinnie stands tall, the truth is revealed, and his life after Netterfold will be amazing.      
This author writes wonderful fiction and this one is just fantastic. It is a wonderful crafted story about the impact of World War 2 in wartime Britain. It is the story of Vinnie, a homeless boy who starts by losing everything, and - through his experience as an evacuee in World War II - finds friendship, vocation and a place to belong. The characters and settings are vivid, the drama is real, and emotions, raw. I couldn't put this book dow. It is one of he my favourite reads so far this year.

Henry Hoey Hobson Christine Bongers (Random House)
Imagine being twelve and half years old, starting your sixth school in six years and finding out that in you are the only boy in the final grade at our Lady of Perpetual Succour ("a school that even Catholic boys avoid") - that's what happens to Henry Hoey Hobson - and he's not even Catholic. Henry also has braces, unfortunately they make his mouth bleed so he soon is known as a vampire. And when the strangers move in next door, with some very strange nightie activities, Henry really thinks his life has taken a plummet. Henry just doesn't fit in … but all is not lost. There is always the school swimming carnival for Henry to redeem himself (as well as seeing the school queen fall) and the neighbours next door one of whom has a secret that changes Henry drastically. heroes come in all sorts of styles.
This book, shortlisted for the 2011 Children's Book Council Awards, is a terrific read.

Yep - these are great reads.

Gorgeous Picture Books

Here is a collection of picture books that are just oh so gorgeous.

Dream of the Thylacine Margaret Wild & Ron Brooks (Allen&Unwin)
The release says that this is an "arresting and beautiful picture book" and it is so very true. The masterly illustrations of Ron Brooks are haunting as it twists from reflections of the Thylacine as it could have appeared in its natural state in the vast Australian landscape to the last known images of the thylacine as it appeared in captivity in 1937 in Hobart Zoo. These ilustrations will require repeated viewing.
 Margaret Wild writes some of the most lyrical and poignant picture books texts and this is one of those.
This book is another call to action for our vulnerable native animals and environments.

Fierce Little Woman and the Wicked Pirate Joy Cowley & Sarah Davis (Gecko Press)
This book is just delightful. I love the story about a fierce little woman who lived in a house at the end of a jetty. Here she knitted socks to sell the sailors who got their feet wet and played bagpipes to the seagulls. One stormy day a wicked pirate came to the house and demanded to be let in but the fierce little woman was strong and refused him entry even threatening to whack him with her knitting needles. but this wicked pirate wasn't as tough as his bluster made him out to be ... and things change!
The illustrations are just beautiful, imaginative and humorous and require repeated examinations - the parrot has many funny appearances. And don't miss the endpapers.

Goodnight, Mice! Frances Watts & Judy Watson (ABC Books)
A lovely good night tale in rhyming verse that will help those restless mice settle down to sleep.
It is time for four little mice to prepare to go to sleep - grandpa mouse is already snuffling and snoring and mother and father mouse have already called them to bed, but the four little mice have other ideas and want a little more play time before going to bed, first in the bathtub, then brushing teeth, right the way till the four little mice are fast asleep.

The Runaway Hug Nicholas Bland & Freya Blackwood (Scholastic)
A heart warming story with gorgeous illustrations makes this a loving book that must be shared with the whole family.
Lucy has borrowed her mother’s very last hug which she will bring back as soon as she has finished with it. First she visits her father and gives him a hug which he immediately gives back, then her twin brothers, and then her sister Lilly. Each in turn returns Lucy's hug but when the family dog Annie runs away with the hug Lucy has to tell her mother that her very last hug has gone ... or has it?


These are just perfect for sharing!