Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature is given for “a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for young people of secondary school level.”
The FitzOsbornes in Exile: The Montmaray Journals 2 by Michelle Cooper (published in the US on April 5, 2011)
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Saltwater Vampires by Kirsty Eagar
Big River, Little Fish by Belinda Jeffrey
The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta (available in US)
Dreaming of Amelia by Jaclyn Moriarty (available in US)
Pirates Don’t Take Baths by John Segal
Some piglets hate, hate, hate taking a bath. In fact, this little pig NEVER wants to take a bath again. So he decides to become someone who never takes a bath. Like a pirate! But his mother points out that he gets seasick. So the little pig decides to be a cowboy until his mother reminds him that cowboys sleep on hard, cold ground. How about an Eskimo, well they eat things like blubber and liver. The piglet goes from one idea to the next, his mother giving reasons why it isn’t a good option. Until finally, he decides to become a treasure hunter who searches for treasure – under water!
Segal has created a book that nicely mixes avoiding baths and different types of jobs. He infuses the entire book with humor that keeps it moving quickly forward. The relationship between the young pig and his mother is also a pleasure to read. Book design helps in reading the book aloud by having the mother’s comments in italics.
Segal’s art, done in pencil and watercolor, plays white space against fully colored pages to great effect. Reality of the mother and child is done against a white background while his fantasies of different jobs are done in full color backgrounds. The illustrations have strong edges and the watercolor gives a softness that is very appealing.
A fun look at avoiding baths through imagination, this book is appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from copy received from Philomel Books.
To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story by Casey Scieszka, illustrated by Steven Weinberg
Travel, romance and finding oneself are what makes this book irresistible. Casey and Steven met in Morocco, had a long distance relationship across the US, and then moved together to China and eventually Mali. This book celebrates taking leaps of faith with one another, experiencing life to the fullest, embracing different cultures, and just being entirely human in the process. Come spend a year with an engaging couple who teach, write, draw, and inspire.
Scieszka’s writing is frank and inviting. She captures travel and the experience of other cultures with an honesty that is very refreshing. From the rush of a new country and its own unique culture to the isolation and boredom that sometimes result, there is no shrinking away from even the bowel-churning portions of travel. At the same time, she depicts a growing relationship with Weinberg that slowly deepens and naturally evolves.
Weinberg’s illustrations are equally refreshing with their rough edges, free lines and widely smiling faces. As one turns the pages in the book, each new page is often a new story, a moment captured from their travels. The illustrations help make this work very well.
Reading this would send me into memories of my own travels, thinking about times when I had felt the same or done something similar. If you are a traveler, this book will speak directly to you and your experiences. If you are hoping to become one, this book will inspire you to do it.
A winning combination of illustration and story, this book will inspire older teen readers to take a different course in life: a path all their own. Appropriate for ages 16-adult.
Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.
Piggies in the Kitchen by Michelle Meadows, illustrated by Ard Hoyt
This romp of a book features a wild family of pigs who want to make a special surprise for their mother. Told in rollicking rhyme, the pace is fast and fun. The mess of batter, eggs, flour and more adds to the visual appeal and appeal. As vehicles come down the road, the piglets must scurry to try to hide what they are baking in case it is Mara returning. This adds another layer of frantic dashing to the busy story. Happily, Papa steps in to save the day and help with the oven and everyone lends a hand to tidy up. When Mama returns it is to a lovely birthday surprise.
Meadows has expertly paced this book with a frantic, wild pace that suits it to a tee. The rhyming is enjoyable and really begs to be read quickly to match the pace of the story. Meadows has also mixed in noises like engines and baking sounds to further add to the appeal of the book.
Hoyt’s illustrations add a merry mess of baking fun into the book. They are active, dripping, goopy and just great fun. Keep an eye on the littlest of the piglets as she tries to keep up with the bigger ones, often getting glopped on in the process.
An very enjoyable book to add to a story time about pigs, baking or birthdays. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.
Check out the book trailer:
Without You by Genevieve Cote
The pig and bunny from Me and You return in this second book about their friendship. After pig accidentally dumps bunny’s items out of a wagon, the two of them decide they can no longer be friends. They list the things that they will happily do apart from one another from cooking to reading to painting and music. Then they realize that things are indeed much more fun together. Food tastes better, colors are brighter, and music is sweeter. This celebration of the ups and downs of friendship will resonate with children.
Cote has written this book in a fresh engaging first person style where the two characters take turns talking in their own voices. The lack of any framing statements makes for a very engaging book that is a pleasure to read aloud, changing between the two distinct voices of the characters. The illustrations echo the same freshness with their pastel palette, light lines and free form colors.
A great choice for friendship story times, this book’s springtime colors will also make it a natural fit for any spring story time. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from copy received from Kids Can Press.
Also reviewed by Young Readers.
The Honeybee Man by Lela Nargi and Krysten Brooker
On a quiet summer morning, Fred heads to the roof of his home in Brooklyn where his bee hives are. With his cup of tea, he spends time with the bees, thinking about the honey they will make for him. He imagines flying like a bee and looking for nectar. He encourages the young bees to have courage on their first flights. He celebrates the older bees as they throw themselves into the air, some stopping to land on his sleeves first to greet him. He knows they will return full of nectar that then will be made into honey by others in the hive. At the end of August, Fred harvests the honey from the hives, resulting in golden jars of sweetness that he shares with his neighbors. This is a book about communities large and small, interwoven together.
The language in this book is lovely and evocative. It is a book that creates small moments of celebrations. Here is a passage of Fred’s morning in July greeting the bees:
Fred inhales the smells of a summer city morning: maple leaves and gasoline and the river and dust. He turns to the tiny city and inhales its smaller, sweeter smell – a little like caramel, a little like ripe peaches.
All of the senses are filled with the experience of urban bee keeping in this book. It is packed with these sensory moments. The language is poetic and beautifully detailed.
The mixed-media illustrations have a whimsical feel to them. Just as the book itself does, they celebrate Brooklyn, urban life, and the bees. There is a homey, warm feel that is often lacking in books about cities that is a pleasure to see.
Celebrate bee keeping, city life, and community with this book. Appropriate for ages 4-7.
Reviewed from copy received from Random House.
Clementine by Sebastian Loth
Released May 1, 2011.
Clementine is a snail who loves anything and everything round. She loves tires and balls, but most of all she loves the roundness of the moon. So she decides that she is going to head to the moon. Her best friend Paul, a worm, helps her come up with a plan on how she will get to the moon. They try a trampoline first, with poor results. The slingshot doesn’t do any better. Then they decide to try a rocket! And Clementine discovers that she has been connected all along to something amazingly round and magnificent.
The writing in this small picture book has a depth that is surprising and delightful. Written in longer paragraphs than many picture books, the text remains completely readable and enjoyable for preschoolers. It is because of the length of the text that the ideas can be explored fully.
Loth combines his poetic language with stunningly simple illustrations. The illustrations play beautifully with light and dark as well as motion. Opening with Clementine sitting near oranges, they also play with color and shape.
The result is a book that speaks straight to the dreamer in all of us. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from copy received from NorthSouth.
Small Persons with Wings by Ellen Booream
Mellie grew up with a fairy living in her bedroom. He was her best friend for years. But when she told her kindergarten class about him, he disappeared before she could prove he existed. Now at age 13, she is still called “Fairy Fat” by her classmates. Even her parents who had agreed that the fairy existed and treated him as real, declare in front of the school counselor that it is all Mellie’s imagination. So Mellie decides to turn off her imagination and become practical. When her parents inherit a decrepit inn in another town, it is Mellie’s chance to leave her nickname and the fairy behind for good. But that’s before Mellie discovers that the inn is inhabited by lots and lots of fairies.
Booream’s writing is so very readable, inviting readers into a world where fairies are real and plenty of trouble. The dialogue in the book works well, reading very naturally. The setting of the old inn is nicely rendered, giving readers just enough detail to visualize the inn clearly, but not too much to get bogged down.
Booream excels at creating interesting characters. Mellie is a wonderful young protagonist who displays an intriguing combination of prickliness, self-doubt and courage. She is a girl who has been bullied for years, but has not been broken by it. I also appreciate that Mellie is a heavier young lady who has heavier parents who love her and don’t mind her weight. It is the other children who have issues with it.
The cover with its zinging blue, sparkly letters is very appealing. I do wish that there was some even small hint off Mellie being a larger teen. Plus I am getting very tired of the feet on covers as a way to not show problematic protagonists in great detail.
A very friendly and fun fairy fantasy, this book will be popular with fans of the Rainbow Fairy books who are aging out of that series. Appropriate for ages 10-14.
Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.
Also reviewed by:
The new special set of stamps from the Royal Mail feature some of the most famous witches and wizards from literature. The stamps are beautifully designed. So much so that I think I’d write many more letters and cards if I only had these to affix to the front. Wowza!
Via /Film
Waking Brain Cells 