Term 3 2022 Children’s Book Roundup
Disclosure – these books were provided to Blog of Dad free of charge for the Term 3 2022 Children’s Book Roundup. For further information, please visit my disclosure statement.
What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say – Davina Bell and Hillary Jane Tapper
This powerful book is rather extraordinary. Simple but deep, it consists of lovely illustrations of everyday scenes that challenge little people and big people alike, and with it a phrase suggesting what could be said.
When some children have intentionally trampled another child’s sandcastle: “That shouldn’t have happened to you. It was unfair.”
When your friend is upset that they have given themselves a terrible home haircut: ” It doesn’t matter what you look like.”
When you arrive at a party and everyone knows each other but you don’t know anyone: “I don’t know anybody. What’s your name?”
You can find What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say on the Hachette website.
Willa and Woof #1. Mimi is Missing – Jacqueline Harvey
Willa Tait is eight years old and lives at number seven Cricklewood Crescent in the seaside suburb of Hibiscus Gardens. Her house in their little cul-de-sacs is right near the back entrance to Sunset Views retirement village. Her best same-age friend is Tae Jin and her best old-age friend is Frank from the retirement village.
Willa loves to visit Frank and does so almost every day, but today there is a problem, Frank’s pigeon Mimi has gone missing. Worse still, as Willa thinks back, she remembers she forgot to tell Frank she couldn’t get the latch to hook properly when she had cleaned the cage the day before. Uh oh.
Yet another wonderful series by Jacqueline Harvey. This one is for readers about 7+.
You can find Willa and Woof #1. Mimi is Missing on the Penguin website.
Boss Ladies of Science – Phillip Marsden
Boss Ladies of Science contains a collection of biographies about women from a diverse range of fields, from ecologist Tara McAllister who studies poisonous algae in the rivers of New Zealand to chemist Tebello Nyokong from South Africa whose research focuses on an alternative cancer treatment that uses a blue dye, like you would find in jeans. This book is fascinating and inspiring. The work these women are doing is so interesting and on each single page biography is a message from each woman, many powerful. From quantum physicist and professional ballet dancer Merritt Moore: all the work and intention you put into a dream will pay off (not always in the way you think – but in a way which is just as exciting and rewarding).
You can find Boss Ladies of Science on the Hachette website.
Votes for Women! The story of Nellie, Rose and Mary – Mark Wilson
I’m 1890, Rose Burks and her stepdaughter, Nellie, two strong-willed and determined women, began writing letters and attending meetings to help improve the lives of women and children in their home city of Adelaide. They soon found themselves part of a movement that would change the lives of women everywhere. Through their friendship with famous female suffragist Mary Lee, they petitioned politicians and lawmakers – and in 1896 they became the first women in Australia to vote in an election. Votes for Women! tells their story.
You can find Votes for Women! The story of Nellie, Rose and Mary on the Hachette website.
Koala Ark – Stephen Michael King
When the bushfire comes fast and without warning, Koala sets out to rescue his friends. One by one he finds them, aboard the boat they come, and on they continue, searching for their friends. Somehow, the little boat made room for them all. The scaly lorikeets and black cockatoos flew ahead to search for food. They return to shore, dusk arrives and the first drops of rain begin to fall. Tomorrow the sky would be blue, and soon the earth would renew.
As always the distinctive Stephen Michael King illustrations bring the story to life. We especially enjoyed the inside cover illustrations; a map their billabong and surrounds.
You can find Koala Ark here.
Pig the Rebel – Aaron Blabey
Pig’s behaviour has caught up with him, so it if off to obedience school for Pig. But do you think Pig is going to willingly comply? Uh uh, oh no. Away he runs. With startling ferocity, he hurtled downhill at amazing velocity. What unexpected (and comical) eventuality awaits Pig? And can Pig ever change his ways?
You can find Pig the Rebel here.
Farmhouse – Sophie Blackall
Farmhouse tells the story of the daily life of a twelve child family and the farmhouse where they are growing up. It is based on a real family and an actual farmhouse where Sophie Blackall salvaged facts and artefacts for the making of this spectacular work.
The illustrations are stunning. Wonderfully detailed and created using Chinese ink, watercolour, gouache, a coloured pencil, as well as materials salvaged from a falling-down nineteenth century farmhouse in New York State: wallpaper, composition books, newspapers, brown-paper bags, clothing, handkerchiefs, curtains and string.
You can find Farmhouse on the Hachette website.
Paper Boat, Paper Bird – David Almond
Mina has travelled to Kyoto and she feels so weirdly at home. She is herself, but it’s like there is another Mina waiting to be discovered or created here. On a crowded bus, a women makes a paper boat and a paper bird and gives them to Mina. These gifts carry her in to a wondrous world that is both ancient and brand new.
This books had us reminiscing of our trip to Japan (pre-Covid!) with one-year-old Hannah; especially the immense kindness and friendliness of the people we met and the manys friend Hannah made because of this. There was the time that Hannah made friends with a middle aged lady on the crowded city train were on and the two of them held hands for the remainder of the journey. And the paper crane school students on an excursion gifted to Hannah after they interviewed us in English as part of their English assignment. So many wonderful memories that Mina’s travel to Japan brought back to us, bringing with it stories to be retold and hope of future travel back to Japan.
You can find Paper Boat, Paper Bird on the Hachette website.
The Marvellous Manner of Water – Philip Bunting
The Marvellous Manner of Water is the latest, extremely engaging factual book from the prolific Philip Bunting. Previous Bunting gems, such as The Gentle Genius of Trees and Who am I? have kept our fact-loving six year old engaged for hours, and this new book is no different. Philip Bunting has a knack for presenting information in a format that is visually engaging and highly informative for young readers, while also helping them to build vocabulary and a strong technical understanding of the subject.
You can find The Marvellous Manner of Water here.
The Wild Life #1. A Berry Long Walk – Laura and Philip Bunting
Philip Bunting isn’t just a great creator of amazing fact-based texts. He is also one of the go-to illustrators for the excellent author – Laura Bunting (yes, they are also married)! Laura Bunting is another favourite author in this house, with her Coco series a regular feature of our bedtime reading rotation.
A Berry Long Walk is the first book in the new The Wild Life series and it is a blast! It straddles the gap between picture books and long-format children’s books, by using picture book principles set out over eight chapters and a huge 160 pages! The result is a unique, highly engaging hybrid story about a recalcitrant wombat and his overly optimistic kangaroo neighbour who find common ground in their love of delicious berries for dinner. But, Wombat isn’t easily coaxed away from his “Safety Zone”, and the journey in search of the delicious berries isn’t exactly a smooth one.
You can find Wild Life #1. A Berry Long Walk here.