"Well, there’s so much to read, and I’m so far behind." Wallace Stegner
My name is Alison Porter and I began my life, in 1958, in Bridport, Dorset. My parents had grown up in Dorset, and their parents before them. My dad worked in the local bank and my mum did repairs and alterations for a nearby dressmaker. My brother, Michael, was four years older than me. We … Continue reading Alison | Lizzy Stewart #GraphicNovel
In Special, Georgia Blain imagines a world not too far removed from what is possible now.A world before 'The Breakdown'.A world where data is the new currency and where genetic modification is the norm. For some.For everything has a price. Even our individual identity.Especially our individual identity.A world where being special isn't all its cracked … Continue reading Special by Georgia Blain
I love picture books...a hangover from my preschool teaching days I guess.When I read picture books I tend to wear two hats - my preschool teacher's hat (will a rowdy group of preschoolers like this book? What are its educational possibilities?) and my book lovers hat (do I love this book?)In recent years I have … Continue reading Sad, the Dog by Sandy Fussell & Tull Suwannakit
Henny is not your usual chicken - she's a chicken born with arms!"Sometimes Henny liked having arms and sometimes she didn't.She liked being different.She didn't like being different."This is a sweet and funny story about how Henny copes with being different. She faces her worries & discovers all the good things she can do with arms … Continue reading Henny by Elizabeth Rose Stanton
A new picture book turned up at work last week that I knew would be just perfect to share with all my Paris in July and Dreaming of France friends.Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio is about a family of French poodles.There are four adorable puppies - Fi-fi, Foo-foo, Ohh-la-la and Gaston.But a quick glance at the … Continue reading Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio & Christian Robinson
The Adventures of Beekle takes us into the magical, mysterious world of imaginary friends...from the imaginary friends point of view!Beekle is an imaginary friend waiting to happen.He watches all his friends get picked by children in need of an imaginary friend...but nobody picks Beekle.Tired of passively waiting, Beekle decides to be daring and brave and … Continue reading The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat
Little Owl is the age old story of a lost child in search of mother.Gwynne uses a simple repetitive text as baby owl asks various forest animals"whooo? whooo? whooo am I?"The illustrations by Sandy Okalyi are bold and colourful acrylic paint on board.They take us on a 24 hour journey through the Australian bush.We see … Continue reading Little Owl by Phillip Gwynne
I wanted to like Wildlife more than I did.It was well written with familiar teen characters doing many unfamiliar things (i.e. godmothers who organise a photo shoot & billboard campaign for their 15 year old goddaughters, spending a whole term of Year 10 at a sport & rec camp).Before starting this review I spent some … Continue reading Wildlife by Fiona Wood
You know how it is when you read a really, really good book?You love it soooo much, that you want everyone you know to read it & love it too.But you don't want to give away too much of the storyline, because you want everyone to discover it with the same fresh innocence as yourself.Therefore, … Continue reading The Apple Tart of Hope by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
Published in 1981, Magorian's Goodnight Mister Tom is now considered a modern day classic. So much so that Puffin is now including it in their Puffin Modern Classics range.I was already in highschool (and reading more grown-up books like Flowers in the Attic!) when this book came out, so I missed all the hype surrounding … Continue reading Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
When I first discovered Pastures of the Blue Crane on my school library shelf as a teenager, I thought that I had struck gold - that I had uncovered some little known Aussie treasure.I have since discovered that Pastures of the Blue Crane won the CBCA Book of the Year Award for 1965 & that … Continue reading Pastures of the Blue Crane by H.F. Brinsmead
A Tale For the Time being is the book that has kicked off my Booker shortlist campaign for this year. And it nearly stopped me in my tracks. It's not that I didn't enjoy it. I did. That is, I really enjoyed the middle section when I finally got going on it last weekend. The … Continue reading A Tale For the Time Being | Ruth Ozeki
The Story of Ferdinand (1936) is a personal favourite. When I was teaching, one of my assistants would fall about in hysterical laughter whenever I got to the part about Ferdinand's mother being a very understanding mother "even though she was a cow"! Even now the thought of it brings a smile to my lips. Some … Continue reading The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
I have to confess that until 2 months ago I had never heard of Their Eyes Were Watching God or Zora Neale Hurston. But the love gushing forth on the Classics Club page plus other on-line forums had me intrigued. So I decided to join in the sync reading experience to see what all the fuss … Continue reading Their Eyes Were Watching God | Zora Neale Hurston
I can't tell you how sceptical I was about this book.I'm so over teen/YA dystopian stories trying to grab onto the coattails of The Hunger Games. I was disappointed with The 5th Wave, although my husband quite enjoyed it. I therefore took my ARC of Reboot along to my stepson's soccer game with very little joy … Continue reading Reboot by Amy Tintera
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