The first time I read ‘The Elephant’ I must have been in a rush, and I didn’t think much of it.  After rereading the book I appreciate it so much more. I think it is excellent, with delightful images and gentleness which adults will particularly enjoy when reading to children. It is a story of a little girl dealing with her father’s depression after her mother dies. Plenty of messages in the book, some of which come to you in a second reading. There is a nice little twist in the tail which will make you smile.

(Copy copyright: West Australian Author – Grey things can be colourful. )

It goes without saying that Rodda writes well.

The Shop at Hoopers Bend is well written but it didn’t grab me. I suppose the theme is something along the lines of ‘Everything is connected’.  Rodda even gives a magical explanation of why this may be the case. With the magic alluded to, the reader believes in all the strange  coincidences. The story is complete and everything has its place.  The story is also warm and gentle, revealing the value of family, friends and place. Emily Rodda is a clever storyteller.

I found it hard to believe in the  amazing increase in rental opportunities that suddenly arose for the shop. I also couldn’t believe that a stranger would take  a girl in off the street without at least speaking to her parents/aunt? These  two crucial aspects of the novel are what put me off.

I recommend the novel for a good Year 6 (and upwards) reader. It is between 60,000 and 70,000 words long. All main characters are female, and the baddies are the guys. Ha! It is definitely more of a girls’ book than a boys. It was shortlisted for the 2018 CBCA.

What makes this book so valuable is the following, taken from the Western Australian curriculum.

The range of literary texts for Pre-primary to Year 10 comprises Australian literature, including the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, as well as the contemporary literature of these two cultural groups, and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and about Asia.

This book is all about a Torres Straight Islander boy and his life as a Pearl-shell diver.   I think the inclusion of so much history has interfered with the writing, however, it is an informative book which I enjoyed. There is plenty of suspense but the pacing needs work as does the characterization. Also, many problems are not resolved. Does his mother survive? He was working for money but did the cyclone rob him of this?  What happened to his dad? Does he find out what happened to his cousins? Whatever happened to the sea captain who was chasing him?

Still I would recommend this book, especially to teachers to read so as to cover the curriculum, probably for Years 5, 6 and 7.

Also, I recommend the book for children in upper primary and lower secondary school who want to learn about Australian history. It is well researched.

Karen Foxlee has written a wonderful fantasy book for primary children. Unfortunately I have been sick, my wife has been sick, the dog was sick,  my fish have died,  I have been searching the internet for pictures of fish and cutting them out, and stringing them in my aquarium, so I have only read half the book. But I have thoroughly enjoyed the part I have read. This book is recommended for upper primary and lower secondary children.

For some reason I have never been grabbed by the books of Wendy Orr, but this has changed with DragonFly Song. What a superb book for upper primary or secondary readers. My wife and daughter will scold me for saying it is a girl’s book. I don’t know how many words are in the book because many of the pages are formatted as verse. It is a lengthy fantasy book. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to lower secondary school girls.

The Icarus Show by Sally Christie is well written and clever.  POV is handled so deftly. The start was interesting, the middle was clever and the ending was quite good. Most of it was believable. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think a young adult audience would too. Sally Christie is a skilled writer and I’d be keen to read more of her work.

I am not really sure what to make of this book. The illustrations are an unusual, gentle and pleasing style. The writing isn’t noteworthy. The story ending is unbelievable yet also predictable. It is a short book for girls.  I wouldn’t recommend it as a read aloud for a class, but a Year 5 to 8 girl might appreciate it.

Argh! I did not think Kate DiCamillo could write ANOTHER excellent book but she has.  I am in the middle of Flora and Ulysses, and loving it. This book is highly recommended.

Once again, she has written a book that has a good plot and it is also enjoyable to read. The cadence of her writing is comforting.  I don’t know how she does it.

This book can be read by children in Year 4, 5 and 6. And it is also an excellent read-aloud book for children in this age group.

Teachers can use this book as an entry point into superheroes and poetry.

(Reviewed by a Western Australian author of children’s books.)

I think Year 4 children would love this book.  It is also probably good as a read-aloud book for Year 4 children.

As a class activity, children could design their own alien. Decide what it eats, where it sleeps, etc.  They could also design a wanted poster and write a letter. They could also write a list of foods.

In fact, the children could even write their own book. They could include a section on farts and poops which would be particularly entertaining for them.

The children could also be taught about the need to draw simple characters so they can be replicated many times. In Olga and the smelly thing from nowhere there are so many illustrations.

(Copy copyright: By Western Australian Children’s author who enjoyed this book.)

This is a Year 4 level book. It has all the excitement and magic of Harry Potter except at a Year4 Level. A teacher could read this to a class, or a Year 4 – 6 child read it for enjoyment. It is quite  a long book at 340 pages, but there are only about 200 words per page = 64000 words.

It is quite large print.

Three animals – a bird, a frog and a cat – set off to save a kingdom.  Two of them have magic and one(The cat/narrator) doesn’t. The dimwitted frog made me laugh out loud a few times.

Lots of  goodies vs baddies situations. Plenty of magical animals – an evil seven-headed dragon, levitating cats, spying eyeball fish. An orphan cat.

This book is about friendship, making mistakes and being forgiven. It is also about betrayal and that animals are better at saving kingdoms than people. If you have a kingdom that needs saving get a frog, cat and  bird.

Copy copyright: Western Australian Author reviewed this.

These books by Dana Simpson are collections of short stories/reflections on life/ jokes as seen through the eyes of an extremely, utterly beautiful, gorgeous unicorn and her rather plain human side-kick. They insult each other and many of the jokes revolve around the vanity of the unicorn, but they are also best friends.

It is all in comic form, much like Garfield.

There were quite a few laugh aloud moments.

I am trying to find a good book to read to Year 4s.  Year 4 kids would read this one themselves.

(Copy copyright: Reviewed by a Western Australian Author who reads a lot and who also writes a lot – books mainly.)

This is a funny book because Ivy is so stupid and tends to say whatever she is thinking. She is brutally honest. Such a long book for this age group tends to go all blah blah and dull in the middle, but not Anyone but Ivy Pocket.  The author cleverly introduces so many characters and with each  there is mystery and intrigue. I found myself guessing that this or that character was evil.  I found myself guessing all sorts of things about the necklace and diamond. Anyway, I am halfway through the book and enjoying it.

I just had to keep reading.  I was disappointed with the end of the book, but overall it was a wonderful exciting read. I am looking for a good book to read to a class of Year 4 children. This book is super for individual readers, but not to read to a class.

I recommend this book for children in Years 5 to 9. It is more of a girl’s book with nearly all of the characters female. A keen boy reader will also enjoy it.

(Copy copyright: Reviewed by a Western Australian author who coincidentally writes books.)

What a funny book!

I did laugh out loud heaps.

But I am not sure who the book is written for/marketed to.

It was recommended  to me as a book to read to 9 year olds, but I wouldn’t consider it. They’d miss most of the humour. I just opened a page at random and found “…a metaphor, Dr. Dundledorf. An analogy. A symbolic tale.”

I just opened another page at random. “And I cannot digress. And I cannot defend the agency from its debilitating demise.”

Perhaps it could be read to 12 year old children. Or maybe 11 year old children in an advanced private school whose dads potter on the stock exchange. “From the Young Entrepreneur’s Fun.”

(Copy copyrighttted by a Western Australian Children’s Author who coincidentally writes children’s books.)

I am almost finished reading Mallee Boys.

It was awarded the “Winner Adelaide Festival Unpublished Manuscript Award”.

I almost stopped reading after about 30 pages  because I had lost track of all the characters. Instead I made an effort to go back and reread some sections. I am glad I did because I have enjoyed this ‘coming of age’ book about two brothers also coming to terms with their mother’s death.

It is a teen book but also within the scope of being in the Young Adult category. Even though there are footy games, dirt bikes, and fights, there is also plenty of reflection on these events, which made me think it was written by a female. (Wow! Have I just put my foot in my mouth.)

Well, I have finished reading quite a few books recently, so need a few more.  My son has a copy of The Running Man, so that is next up.  The quality of the writing in the first few pages has me very interested. This YA book comes highly recommended so I will keep you posted.

(On an aside – I love having this year off, giving me the opportunity to read.)