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Tag: Adventure

Published on Leave a comment on My Brother Ben by Peter Carnavas

My Brother Ben is a story of birds, boats and the bond brothers share. An ode to nature and a reminder that not all heroes wear capes.

Luke is a quiet boy who loves sketching birds and thanks to his Aunty Gem, is becoming an expert at recognising their calls. His big brother Ben is bold and brave as he climbs on the roof or leaps out of the huge twisted paperbark Jumping Tree into Cabbage Tree Creek.

Despite their differences, Luke and Ben stick together like Apostlebirds, especially since their father moved away. The brothers share a dream of owning their own boat to explore the channels and secret inlets of Cabbage Tree Creek. The perfect opportunity arises when the local council runs a competition to celebrate the creek and first prize is a boat.

Luke and Ben come up with a plan to win, but it is threatened when Ben starts high school and the boys begin to drift apart.  When Ben and Frankie become friends, the trust the brothers share is tested, especially when Ben starts sneaking out of the house at night. Luke will discover that all is not as it seems and his brother Ben really does mean it when he says "Trust me."

Peter Carnavas captures the beauty of nature with lyrical descriptions that immerse you in the sights, sounds and life of Cabbage Patch Creek.

The cool water swallowed me and I sank until my toes dipped in the mud at the bottom. Then I rose up, floated on my back and watched the paperbark leaves dance against the sky. Ben did the same. We were two sea stars spinning slowly on the surface.

Scattered throughout the book are sketches of birds from Luke’s sketchbook. My favourites are the sketches of Luke’s magpie, Maggie in the chapter headings that remind me of the magpie family who have called my backyard their home for many years.

“When you open your eyes to birds, the world opens itself in return.” (Aunty Gem)


My magpies enjoying sunset
Here is Peter talking about his book My Brother Ben...

My Brother Ben is one of my favourite reads this year.

Thank you for the copy of this book to review UQP.

Happy reading!

Teacher notes

Published on Leave a comment on The Song of Lewis Carmichael by Sofie Laguna and illustrated by Marc McBride

How strange it all was. A bird in his hands, a balloon on his roof.
Yet things felt more real here, than less.

Matthew is about to have the adventure of his life when he meets Lewis Carmichael, a black crow with a broken wing who can talk. Lewis invites Matthew on a trip to the North Pole and together they ride Boreas the North Wind in a colourful hot air balloon for six thousand, nine hundred and twenty-two nautical miles all the way to the Arctic.

Matthew is a quiet boy, lacking in confidence, slow at school and without friends. He thinks his parents need another child, someone who was more what they wanted. Matthew escapes his worries reading books about the Arctic, a frozen land of polar bears, reindeer, snow geese and Arctic Wolves. A place full of space; secret and wild.

Visiting the North Pole is Matthew’s dream and for the first time Matthew has a friend with Lewis.

Throughout their journey Lewis is by Matthew’s side encouraging, challenging and believing in him as Matthew learns to fly the balloon, treks across the ice and climbs a snowy peak to see the icy white world of his dreams. As they face challenges along the way, Matthew’s confidence, courage and resourcefulness grow alongside the reassuring soundtrack of Lewis’ song.

In all the world, in all the world,
Never did I see, never did I see.
In all the lands, in all the lands
Just one boy, one boy.
This boy. This boy.

The Song of Lewis Carmichael by Sophie Laguna with its intriguing title and magical front cover, is a heartwarming voyage of discovery and a joy to read. Marc McBride’s realistic line drawings in Arctic blue immerse you in the story and vividly bring it to to life. Marc's double page illustration of Aurora Borealis is breathtaking! A story of many layers that will linger with you beyond the last page.

Everyone deserves a friend like Lewis Carmichael.

Read Chapter One HERE

Happy reading!

 

 

 

 

Teacher notes

Published on Leave a comment on Across the Risen Sea by Bren Macdibble

 

Across the Risen Sea by Bren Macdibble is an action-packed adventure set in a future affected by climate change where the sea has risen and communities are finding new ways to live.

Naoma and Jag (Jaguar) are best friends who want to become the best fisher people and salvagers on the whole inland sea. They are 'living gentle lives' on high ground, living off the land, fishing and salvaging what they need for their small community in the peaceful Ockery Islands.

One day, three tall strangers from the Valley of the Sun arrive unannounced to chop down trees and set up a mysterious piece of 'Teknology' on Cottage Hill. No explanation is given. Naoma decides to take things into her own hands, but Jag is taken away to the Valley of the Sun to pay the debt instead of Naoma because "A wild spark like you will be no end of trouble."

Naoma boldy sets off alone across the risen sea in Licorice Stix to rescue Jag and find the truth needed to save her village and their way of life. With Naoma as narrator, we are swept along on her daring and dangerous journey as she bravely battles boat-jumping crocodiles, a hungry giant shark and tries to evade Pirate Bradshaw, a mad and ruthless sea hag.

One of my favourite parts of the story is when the elusive Valley of the Sun appears beyond the fog and is not at all what I was expecting to see and is very ingenious!

Across the Risen Sea encourages us to think about our own impact on the planet as it explores life in a world affected by climate change and highlights the importance of communities finding ways to work together with understanding and respect. It also has a stunning cover that captures the dangers Naoma faces sailing alone across the menacing waves. Take a close look at the cover, what do you see? Would you have braved sailing alone across the sea to rescue Jag? 

You might also enjoy reading Bren's previous books How to Bee and The Dog Runner.

Happy reading!

Teacher notes

Published on Leave a comment on The Fire Star by A.L.Tait

 

I have been waiting with great anticipation for The Fire Star by A.L. Tait and I couldn't move until I had finished the last page!

The Fire Star is an exciting adventure mystery set in medieval times in the imaginary kingdom of Chatrell. We are transported to Rennart Castle filled with a rabbit warren of rooms, nooks and crannies and secret passages. It is home to lords and ladies, knights and maids, where secrets are kept, plans are hatched and spies lurk.

Lady Cassandra arrives at Rennart Castle to unwillingly marry knight protector, Sir Garrick. The marriage has been arranged so her greedy uncle, Airl Buckthorn can claim the Fire Star, a precious red jewel handed down through generations to the women in Lady Cassandra's family.

When the Fire Star goes missing, Reeve the new squire is blamed and must prove his innocence by finding the missing jewel or he will never become a knight. Reeve has unexpected ally in Maven, Lady Cassandra’s feisty maid who will be banished to a nunnery with her mistress if the jewel isn't found. Maven and Reeve have only three days to solve the mystery of the theft of the Fire Star. They will need to trust each other and work together or they will both lose their dreams.

The Fire Star also shines a light on the life of females in medieval times where beauty was valued over intelligence. Women were not allowed to be educated and were expected to be obedient to men. Definitely not the life fiercely independent Maven and Lady Cassandra dream of and why they are connected to a secret society of women called The Beech Circle.

This fast-paced story with its twists and turns, lies and secrets, unexpected friendships and touch of romance is narrated in turn by Maven and Reeve and will keep you turning the pages until the thrilling ending.

You can read an extract from The Fire Star HERE

Allison has a passion for medieval times and her fascinating page of resources will take you into the world of Kingdoms, Castles and Secret Societies that inspired The Fire Star.

I can’t wait to solve another mystery with Maven and Reeve and I know Allison is busy writing their next adventure!

In the meantime, if you want to continue your medieval adventures, I highly recommend you read The Mapmaker Chronicles and The Ateban Cypher series also written by A.L.Tait!

Happy reading!

Published on Leave a comment on The Secret Library of Hummingbird House by Julianne Negri

 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Secret Library of Hummingbird House from the first page to the last! This mystery, time-slip adventure is set in inner Melbourne with a secret library, lost words and a mullolly tree - what more could you want?

Hattie Maxwell is ten years old and a Sailor Moon fan who loves reading and discovering new words. Hattie’s life has been turned upside down by the Big Split. Hattie and her annoying little sister Ivy, now have to live ‘week about’ with their parents. Hattie feels ‘a bit like the lamp that everyone forgot to pack’ because she doesn’t feel quite right at either home. She just wants things to go back to the way they were with her family together.

Hattie’s favourite escape in her Brunswick neighborhood is Hummingbird House.

It’s a puddle of magic, out of time with the rest of the city. Even though it hums with a strangeness I don’t understand, I always feel as though the house is happy for me to be here – like a hand waiting to be held.

The old mansion holds happy family memories for Hattie where they played in the large mulberry tree that her dad transformed with lollies into a mullolly tree each year for her birthday. Hattie is horrified when she learns that Lord Landlord plans to demolish Hummingbird House and replace it with a 10-storey apartment block.

When Hattie goes on a midnight visit to Hummingbird House during a triple moon event, she finds herself slipping back in time to 1970 where she discovers a very different Hummingbird House and Hypatia, a mysterious girl with a love for words. Hypatia reveals her secret Nonesuch Library and together the ‘not friends’ work to find a way to save Hummingbird House and solve the mystery of Hypatia’s Lebanese family.

A clever twist at the end ties the threads of the story together and all is revealed, including the identity of the mysterious Brunswick yarn bomber.

Hattie is a realistic and resilient voice in this story as she grapples with living in a separated family, navigates time travel and learns to speak up and fight for what she believes in while trying to save Hummingbird House. As a teacher librarian, not only would I love a NoneSuch Library, I also have a soft spot for Ms Guide whose background turns out to be quite a surprise.

Julieanne Negri works at the magnificent State Library of Victoria which was a major inspiration for The Nonesuch Library.

I was fascinated by the lost words in the story. There is a Glossary at the back of the book for you to explore and it will also help with my message below.

As a big bibliophile, I highly recommend this flippercanorious book!

Read the first two chapters HERE

Happy reading!

Published on Leave a comment on Monty’s Island: Scary Mary and the Stripe Spell by Emily Rodda

Somewhere far away, there's a sea that ripples with magic. And if you were a bird flying high over the sea one fine day, you'd be able to look down at the tiny green-and-gold dot that's Monty's Island...

Monty never knows what he might find when he takes his Pick-Up sled along the beach with his friend Tawny, looking for Special Finds. One morning, they receive some worrying news from their friend the Laughing Traveller that Scary Mary and her pirate crew are looking for a new island to call home. The pirates have burnt down the trees on their old base and turned it into a dump. Monty and Tawny certainly don't want Scary Mary, a cruel and greedy pirate with sharp gold teeth taking over their island home! 

What can Monty and his friends do? When Bunchy accidentally turns the whole island stripey with her new magic wand, they have nowhere to hide. Monty will need to come with up one of his best ideas to save them!

Listen to Emily Rodda read the beginning of Scary Mary and the Striped Spell...

Emily Rodda has created some unusual creatures that live on Monty's Island. Argue Birds that begin each day arguing loudly, Jinglebees that sound like a million bells ringing as they prepare to fly and will chew anything in sight and the Hairy Horrible that only hunts at night and doesn't like to get sand between its hairy toes.

At the end of the video, Emily invites you to invent your own creature. Draw your creature first. Is your creature scary or friendly? What makes it unique?

Lucinda Gifford is the talented illustrator whose fun and lively illustrations have brought Emily Rodda's characters and story to life.

Learn about Lucinda's drawing process for illustrating Scary Mary and the Stripe Spell...

Have fun drawing Clink the Shipwrecked Pirate with Lucinda...

There are more drawing videos with Lucinda Gifford and activities to download on the Allen & Unwin website HERE.

If you're looking for a fun new fantasy adventure to read then the Monty's Island series is perfect for you!

Happy reading!

Published on Leave a comment on Vincent and the Grandest Hotel on Earth by Lisa Nicol

The Grandest Hotel on Earth is perched high on the snowy slopes of the Mabombo Ranges. It's wilder than any African savanna, more fantastical than Disneyland and more magical than Shangri-la.

Warning: This book contains cute Pocket Dogs, travelling by llama or jet pack, chocolate fountains and flashing boots that play Bach!

Eleven year old Vincent lives a life that is not very grand in the ordinary town of Barry with his parents, seven year old sister, Rose who wants to be an actress and little brother, Thom who won't stop screaming and only eats eggs. When his grandfather leaves him his magical shoe-shine kit, Vincent's life changes forever in THAT MOMENT when Florence spots him and offers Vincent a job shining shoes at The Grandest Hotel on Earth. 

The Grandest Hotel on Earth is a fantastical and wondrous place beyond Vincent's wildest dreams. It is more beautiful, more majestic and more splendid than Vincent could have imagined. It has sixteen storeys of the most amazing themed rooms. Would you choose to stay in the Baby Memories Room, the Roller coaster Room, Sparkles Room, the Edible Room (with a never-melting chocolate couch), the Room of the Unexpected or maybe the Virtuoso Room where you can pick up any instrument and play it like a master? I think I would have chosen the Puppy Room so I could snuggle with all the Pocket Dogs! 

Vincent loves his new job and takes great pride blending the exact shoe polish colour for each customer's shoes and inventing ways to make them more comfortable. Vincent notices there is more to The Grand than meets the eye as he sees the behaviour of guests like the D'Silva family transforming during their stay. Vincent's friendship with Florence grows as he helps her run the hotel while her parents are away working on their projects. However, Vincent's dream life comes crashing down when he can't resist the Mirrors of the Future Room. As Vincent desperately tries to save Florence from a tragedy, he learns the value of friendship and family, to hold on to his dreams and that good things can come from bad. You never know what the future has in store...

The Grandest Hotel on Earth will sweep you up from the first page and transport you to a fantabulous destination! If you're looking for a grand adventure...this is it!

At the end of the book Lisa Nicol reveals her mysterious co-narrator who is at the heart of this story and whose wonderful imagination contributed to many of the fantastical rooms in The Grandest Hotel on Earth.

If you haven't read Lisa's other fabulous book Dr Boogaloo and the Girl Who Lost Her Laughter, make sure you do!

Everybody needs a little 'grand' in their life...and a Pocket Dog!

Pexels / Pixabay

Happy reading!

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Published on 2 Comments on Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire by Nat Amoore

Nat Amoore is a shiny new author whose shiny new book Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire is a story filled with heart and humour.

Finding a million dollars in your backyard - every kid's dream, right?
That's what me and my best friend Toby thought too. 

Tess Heckleston is ten years old, wise for her age and a natural born entrepreneur who is always dreaming up ingenious plans to make money. Toby her best friend, is a numbers guy who is smart, organised and her moral compass. Coming from a large family where money is tight, Tess wants to get rich while Toby who was adopted from Bolivia, wants to donate to every worthy cause he can find. Together they make a formidable team.

When Tess' dodgy neighbour Scotty dumps a million dollars in her backyard it changes everything. There's so much Tess and Toby could do with a million dollars, but there are also a lot of unexpected decisions and problems that come with that amount of money.

Who knew it would be SO hard for kids to spend a million dollars even when they want to do good with it?

Tess and Toby's skills and friendship are challenged as they 'creatively' try to find ways to spend the money. Personally, I loved their idea of a coffee and donut cart for the school staffroom, but you might prefer the jumping castle and lollipops and they might be on to something with their solution for a home for Kathy and Mr Piddles. But what happens when the Really Bad Guy, Scotty wants his million dollars back...all of it!

This book cleverly begins with the end as Tess opens her school locker to reveal a million dollars in front of the whole school and you want to keep reading. I read the first three chapters to Year Four classes in the library and one student said "I normally don't like reading, but I HAVE to read this book!!"  So don't just take my word for it!

Nat has written one of my favourite books this year and between you and I, I think there might be quite a bit of Nat in her character, Tess!

Here is Nat at her million dollar book launch for Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire at The Little Bookroom in Melbourne.

If you found a million dollars in your backyard
what would you do with it?

Happy reading!

Published on Leave a comment on The Search for the Silver Witch by Sally Rippin

The Search for the Silver Witch is the final book in the Polly and Buster trilogy by much loved author and illustrator Sally Rippin.

Polly has put the gorvan back to sleep and its purple mist is no longer infecting Blackmoon Coven. Life should be peaceful in the town once again…shouldn’t it?

Things have become worse between the witches and monsters at Blackmoon Coven and a war is looming. Miss Spinnaker has been dismissed from the Miss Madden's Academy and Polly’s magical stones have told her to find a Silver Witch to save the town. It isn’t until she finds her Aunt Hilda that Polly finally accepts that she is the Silver Witch that Black Coven needs. It is not going to be easy….

“The time has come for you to decide what kind of Silver Witch you will become. Every time you do a spell from a place of fear or anger, it will take you in one direction. And the further you go along in this direction, the harder it will be for you to return…You, Polly can choose to find power in love and kindness.” (Aunt Hilda)

Deidre Holloway has returned with Buster in her sights and forces Polly to make the hardest of decisions, but she hasn’t reckoned on the power of true friendship and kindness. It's a heart-racing 'Broomstick 500s' ride with Polly and Buster as they bravely try to help the witches and monsters work together to defeat a beastly menace and save Blackmoon Coven before it is too late. 

Thank you Sally for creating Polly and Buster who have touched our hearts and reminded us of the power of kindness, friendship, empathy and acceptance.

Kindness is the most powerful spell of all.

Happy reading!

Published on Leave a comment on The Poppa Platoon: Operation Dessert Storm by Danny Katz and Mitch Vane

Operation Dessert Storm is the second book in the funny Poppa Platoon series. This book had me at the word dessert! Yes, I'm that person who goes to restaurants and reads the dessert menu first so I can plan my meal around my dessert (or just have dessert!). Anybody else do the same? 

For weeks, Abbie has bugged her grandfather, major Poppa, to take her to Wibbly the Cheeky Wizard's Spooky All-You Can-Eat Family Restaurant. Today is the day and Poppa has carefully planned the Poppa Platoon's dangerous mission to sneak into the restaurant, eat as much as they can for $14.95 and leave plenty of room for dessert. But first, Abbie has to pass Major Poppa's All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Training Course and Dessert Bar Drills. Now I know why you don't choose soup at the buffet if you want dessert!

This mission is very important to Major Poppa who declares "Today we fight in the name of Cherry n' Cream Cheese Strudel!" and this is his plan...

1.We go into the castle.
2. We sit down, there's no hassle.
3. We join the buffet line (Poppa first, us behind).
4. We eat until we can't eat more.
5. When we're done we're out the door!

Not all quite goes to plan because Grandpa, Abbie and Flynn don't have a table booking and have to sneak past the ugly Door-Witch with red beady eyes. Crawling past hairy legs under sticky wooden tables and being caught in a messy food fight against an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Professional and her Freckly-Twin Chicken-Balancing-Buffet-Bandits makes their Operation Dessert Storm almost a mission impossible. It's up to Abbie to bravely complete her first Solo Mission and eat as MUCH dessert as she can as QUICKLY as she can in 5 minutes. Forget plates, cutlery and manners when you're a Dessert Warrior! Will Abbie avoid being captured by the Door-Witch and The 12th Armed Wizard Brigade and what will the Major Poppa discover about Wibbly the Cheeky Wizard?

Operation Dessert Storm will have you laughing out loud and make your sweet tooth tingle and your tummy rumble! It might also have you cooking up a storm in the kitchen creating desserts like Bleeding Heart Jellies, Marshmallow Ghost Pie, a ten-storey Spooky Cupcake Tower or creative desserts of your own that you could serve at your spooky restaurant.

If you have read or watched The Little Lunch series then you will already know the talented husband and wife team of author, Danny Katz and illustrator, Mitch Vane. Danny's wacky humour and Mitch's quirky cartoons make The Poppa Platoon books fun to read, especially aloud!

Begin the laughs with the first book,The Poppa Platoon: In World War Chew on a trip to the Royal Melbourne Show on a dangerous mission to the crowded Showbag Pavillion to buy a Chunky Choco Cherry Chew Showbag. 

Happy Reading and dessert eating!

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