No 13 , February 1999

Attending the JASCD-JCIS ‘98 Conference in Tokyo and visiting some of the schools in the Tokyo and Yokohama area was very enjoyable. We were also delighted that SEATCCO went ahead and was held at Jakarta International School. It was well worth the effort and the many stressful times during its planning. From there it was straight on to the IB Librarians’ Workshop in Penang. I really enjoyed meeting so many teachers and librarians, many for the first time, from so many different schools.

Then it was back home to organise shifting home and Austral Ed. That was not so pleasant! We finally shifted on 29th January. Such an upheaval and so much work. But we are now set up in much more comfort and considerably more room. I do admire those of you who shift frequently but I guess you don’t accumulate as much as we have over the past 15 years.

The new address and fax and phone changes are listed below but just in case you miss it, I shall list it again here.

Austral Ed
38 Ardross Crescent
Coolbinia 6050
Western Australia
Telephone 61 8 9201 2726
Fax 61 8 9201 0733
Or 61 8 9201 0744

Because of the shift, we were unable to get to the Arabian Reading Association in Bahrain. It was a shame for I was really looking to my first visit to that part of the world. Next year hopefully.

We will be attending for the first time the Swiss Group of International Schools Conference in Montreux in the middle of March. Austral Ed will have a display of course and Ron and I will both be giving presentations. I look forward to meeting new people from that region for the first time and to visiting some schools. Unfortunately we will be missing out on NESA this time in Cairo. There are just too many Conferences that I would like to attend! Next time maybe.

I am sending out this newsletter before the Short List for the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Awards for 1999 is announced at the beginning of April. If you would like me to fax or email you a copy of the Short List, please let me know.

Books for Young Readers

It’s a constant search for good, simple and appealing stories that will delight young beginner readers and ensure they keep on reading.

Bob the Builder and the Elves by Emily Rodda, pictures by Craig Smith pb $8.95

Bob is a nice sort of an Aussie bloke who is absolutely appalled when his house is infested by elves who insist on making his house horribly bright and clean and polishing his working boots and hard hat. They even tie his hair in fairy knots and make him fairy bread. It’s all so embarrassing. And what will his mates say when they come for cards on Saturday night?

An absolutely delightful, very funny story. The illustrations capture precisely the humour of Bob’s predicament. Bob is basically a very nice bloke and luckily for him, Lily Sweet, the librarian has just shifted in next door. Lily has had experience with elves and so is able to help in numerous ways. Children will love reading this story to themselves and librarians will have a chuckle reading it aloud. (Lily Sweet is sympathetic, helpful and knowlegeable like all good librarians).

Emily Rodda is one of Australia’s most well known and popular authors. Her series Rowan of Rin is a wonderful introduction for young readers to their first experience of traditional fantasy. The first book, Rowan of Rin, provides all the excitement of a quest, a dragon, misty swamps, walls of spiders and the young hero wins out. The series is Rowan of Rin, Rowan & the Travellers, Rowan & the Keeper of the Crystal pb $8.95 each (7 - 11 years)

Aussie Bites

The Aussie Bites series is recognised with delight by children because there is a bite, teeth marks and all, out of one corner of the front cover.

Down in the Dumps with Dinsmore by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Stephen Axelsen

pb $9.95

Margaret Mahy is renowned for her zany humour but this book is even zanier than most. Dinsmore is fascinated by the dump. He regards it as social history (of who takes what to the dump and who takes it out again) or as part of "the great merry-go-round of the world". He is writing, with great enthusiasm, his school project on this subject, much to the dismay of his teacher and parents as he gets dirtier and smellier with every visit. In the end, grass seeds from the tip take root and begin to grow on him. He becomes a beautiful sight, even sweet smelling and now attracts bees and grasshoppers rather than flies. As well as finishing his project, becoming rich, and solving a mystery Dinsmore also has a few well chosen words of wisdom for his readers. "I don’t really mind washing, but I like people to ask me what sort of a day I had first. There is too much energy given over to washing and not enough to deep thought." In spite of the deep thought in this book, it is very simply written with large print and seven to nine year olds would especially enjoy it (and the rest of the series).

Each of the books in the Aussie Bites is illustrated and is paperback, $9.95 each. The books vary in length and difficulty but all would appeal to young elementary readers. (I haven’t read them all yet and so have marked with an asterix the ones I especially like).

* The Excuse by Allan Baillie

Monkey Trix by R Caisley

Snap by Margaret Clark

* The Too-Tight Tutu by Sherryl Clark

No Place for Grubbs by Max Dann

The Strange Adventures of Isador Brown by Ursula Dubosarsky

Sebby, Stee, the Garbos and Me by Jane Godwin

Holly Harris and the Dream Fixer by Rosemary Hayes

The Horrible Holiday by Catherine Jinks

Hurry Up Alice by Christabel Mattingley

* Ginger by Christobel Mattingley

* Fort Island by David Metzenthen

Nathan & the Ice Rockets by Debra Oswald

Too much to Ask For by Mary Pershall

Whoppers by M Simons

* Rattler’s Place by Patricia Wrightson

Cat Chocolate by Kate Darling, illustrated by Mitch Vane pb $7.95

This is part of another series called Solos for beginner readers published by Omnibus Books. All these books are at an even more introductory level that Aussie Bites. Chester is a spoilt cat who loves being loved by his owner as though he is the only cat in the world. He also loves chocolate. Deprived of his owner’s undivided attention and of his chocolate when cousin Ken comes to visit , Chester’s mood turns to black grumpiness (perfectly portrayed by the illustrator) and then to glee when Ken’s desire for chocolate gets him into trouble. (7 - 8 years)

If you would like a list of the rest of the books in the Solos series, let me know.

Harry the Poisonous Centipede: A Story to make you Squirm by Lynne Reid Banks, illustrated by Tony Ross pb $8.95

This famous pair have produced a wonderfully lively story. Lynne Reid Banks is of course the British author of the Indian in the Cupboard series (pb $8.95 each) and of I Houdini, the story of the hamster who is called Houdini (for obvious reasons). pb $8.95

Harry could only speak in Centipedish and his name wasn’t really Harry, it was Hxzltl. But the problem with writing or pronouncing Hxzltl is that there are no vowel sounds "just a very faint crackling." If you put in some vowel sounds then you could perhaps call him "Hixzalittle. Or Hoxzalottle. Or perhaps even Haxzaluttle." But that still wouldn’t be the exact sound and that is why he is called Harry. This is typical Lynne Reid Banks (and the lack of vowel sounds is fascinating for in that respect Centipedish is exactly the same as Hebrew). But apart from vowels, this is really the story of how Harry, against his mother’s sternest warning, went up the Up-Pipe. In the most entertaining way, Lynne Reid Banks also tells us much that is true about centipedes, as she describes the exploits of Harry and his best friend George (or Grnddjl) and their close encounters with Hoo-Mins (or as centipedes pronounce it, H-Mns).

Harry the Poisonous Centipede is part of the Collins Red Storybook series, which are longer satisfying reads for confident young readers. (8 - 11 years). Again, let me know if you would like a list of the rest of the series.

The Fairy’s Wings by Gillian Rubinstein, illustrated by Craig Smith pb $9.95

This is a magical story about Tania and Troy, the two children who also appear in The Giant’s Tooth and The Pirate’s Ship each pb $9.95 each

When Tania discovers a pair of fairy wings in the garden, Troy is sure that they are just insects’ wings but he changes his mind when they get an irate message from the fairy who needs the wings for the Full Moon Dance. This is a story with a difference about fairies at the bottom of the garden and Craig Smith portrays them with very definite personalities. (8 - 10)

Picture Books

Game Plan by Emily Rodda, illustrated by Craig Smith pb $11.95

This is the same team that wrote Bob the Builder and the Elves but this has a very different feel. Craig Smith uses at times a varied, brightly coloured comic format with plenty happening in the foreground and background to fit a racy, very simple repetitive poem (a little like a rap poem) which describes a backyard game of basketball. There are just 6 players, Plan A and Plan B and lots of action.

"We work out a play. We call it Plan A.

Max steals the ball,
Max dribbles,
I hold back,
Max twists,
Max passes to me,
I dribble, I twist,
I pass to Max
Max does a lay-up..."

So simple but a marvellous depiction of the intensity, cooperation and fun involved in a game of backyard basketball. ( 6 - 10 years olds)

Illustrated Books for Older readers

I don’t like to give the following books the title of Picture Books in case some upper school librarians skip over this section and don’t read it. The following titles, The Rabbits and Ethel and Ernest are both exceptional books for older students.

The Rabbits by John Marsden & Shaun Tan hardback $22.95

Australia now has a tradition of picture books for older students (such as the enigmatic science fiction story The Watertower by Gary Crew pb $10.95). This latest book by John Marsden and Shaun Tan is challenging and intriguing.

It is told as a powerful allegory which surveys the damage to the land, the environment and the original inhabitants caused by invaders which in this case are portrayed as rabbits (but their actions are those of human rabbits.) It is a clever and chilling allegory. Shaun Tan’s illustrations show the story of the invasion and of the grief of the first inhabitants with innovation, power and beauty. The exquisite end pages of water birds on a billabong contrast with the dark abstract nature of some of the illustrations depicting the invaders and their machines and their bleak cities. I would highly recommend this book for Middle and Senior school students and teachers. Art and English teachers would find it of special interest.

Norton’s Hut was also published fairly recently. It doesn’t have the complexity of The Rabbits but it makes an interesting contrast. When a group of students on a school trekking trip in the mountains take shelter in Norton’s Hut during a dramatic change in the weather, they find they are not alone in the hut. This is a ghost story written in verse and is illustrated with photographic realism and great beauty by Peter Gouldthorpe.

Norton’s Hut by John Marsden illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe hardback $22.95

Ethel and Ernest by Raymond Briggs hardback $29.95

This is an extraordinarily moving book.

It is the story of Raymond Briggs’ parents from the time they met by chance in 1928 till their deaths in 1971. Told in the well known cartoon format that Briggs has used in many of his other remarkable books like Father Christmas, The Snowman pb $9.95,When the Wind Blows (pb $12.95) and The Man (pb $12.95), it depicts the lives of two ordinary decent working class people in their joys and distresses. While showing their struggles and everyday life together, it is also a marvellous portrayal of the immense social changes of that period. Firstly there is the Depression, then after the dark war years, the advent of television, the welfare state and the 60’s, a time of long hair and beatniks. When their son, with long hair and strange clothes, chooses to go to art school "when he could have got a nice job in an office", their dismay and complete incomprehension are perfectly captured. Briggs’ comments on these changes are at times very funny but also full of pathos. He has recreated a era and shown it with humour and empathy at the same time as giving us a warm, funny and very moving portrait of his parents.

Highly recommended for upper primary, middle school students, senior students and all adults.

Fiction

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J K Rowling hardback $29.95 pb $12.95

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets hardback $19.95 pb $12.95

These books have met with great enthusiasm from children, teachers and parents and from the judges of Book Awards in the UK. Joanne Rowling has obviously written a classic which will be much loved like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which she said inspired her. As one teacher wrote this is "joyous reading". The plot is complex, inventive, full of surprises, very funny and extremely entertaining. As the plot twists and turns, excitement mounts and the book is difficult to put it down. It is wonderful fantasy which has been rapturously received in the UK with record breaking sales.

Harry Potter realises he is different - but he doesn’t realised how different until he is rescued by an owl and taken to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and learns that he is a wizard. One of the highlights of the school is the wonderfully inventive game of Quidditch which involves riding on a broomstick from dizzying heights, endeavouring to swoop on to an elusive Snitch. Rowling is pure entertainment, with plenty of wit and humour and not a glimmer of the nastiness of Dahl. (8 - 11 years especially)

The Quicksand Pony by Alison Lester pb $12.95

Girls of about 8 - 11 years will find this a most appealing story, especially if they are interrested in horses. Set in the Australian bush near the coast, it is an adventure story which involves a mystery, a young girl’s first mustering trip, and a search for her beloved pony. Alison Lester was brought up on a farm and lives on a farm with her family and she writes with authority and with great affection for farm life and especially for horses.

Tomorrow When the War Began Series by John Marsden

This has been the most phenomenally successful series for adolescent readers in the history of Australian publishing. I have reviewed it earlier when there were only two or three books in the series however there are now six and the final one will be published later this year.

The series is about a group of teenagers who are forced to fend for themselves and to fight for their country when it is invaded by a foreign power. It is gripping, compulsive reading and has so far maintained its intensity. Adolescent readers identify very strongly with the characters. One group of Year 9 students who were talking about the books said that they looked on the characters as their closest friends or as brothers and sisters. This group obviously put themselves in the situation of danger and imagined themselves faced with making the many difficult decisions involving life and death that the characters have to deal with. However the invasion theme, while providing tension and thrills, does not seem to be the major interest of readers. The books have a wider appeal as Marsden seems to be able to tap into the problems of adolescents as they increasingly face their own dilemmas in everyday life and have to work things out for themselves without help from parents.

Some academics in particular have had difficulties with the fact that the invading force is from some unspecified place in Asia. This they see as continuing the fear of the threat from Asia - an old theme in Australian literature and politics. However students (from Australia and elsewhere) seem to be unconcerned - they are totally absorbed in the teenage characters and their problems and successes and failures as they live their lives pushed to extremes. The books are read avidly as soon as they are published, even setting them for study in English courses doesn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of students. They are very particularly aimed at the adolescent age group of Years 8 - 9 (14 - 16 year olds).

For more insight into John Marsden, read below about a new video in which Marsden discusses the way he writes and in which he discusses aspects of these books. Please note that each of these titles is also available in hardback - most unusual for Australian publishing. Titles, in chronolocial order, are:

Tomorrw When the War Began hardback $24.95 pb $11.95

Darkness be My Friend hardback $24.95 pb $11.95

The Dead of the Night hardback $19.95 pb $11.95

The Third Day the Frost hardback $19.95 pb $11.95

Burning for Revenge hardback $22.95 pb $11.95

The Night is for Hunting hardback $24.95

Bone Dance by Martha Brooks pb $14.95

Originally published in Canada, this is part of a series published by Allen & Unwin in Australia of titles (some of which have been translated) from overseas. This story draws strongly on the spirit world and the power of the land in its portrayal of Lucy and Alex, two young people who are at a time of their lives when they are struggling to make sense of what is happening around them. When Alex inherits a cabin in the country, she meets with Lonnie for whom connection with that piece of land has meant ghosts and bad memories. It is a moving story of love and of the importance of relationships and of family.

Non-Fiction

Sand Swimmers: The Secret Life of Australia’s Dead Heart by Narelle Oliver hardback $24.95

This is a unique look at Australia’s so-called "Dead Heart".

Charles Sturt was a famous Australian explorer who travelled north searching for an inland sea in the centre of Australia and became more and more appalled as his party crossed salt lakes, plains covered with burning stones, sand dunes, spinifex and clay pans. The country for them was hot, dry and lifeless.

Narelle Oliver has managed to combine on the same double page spread, a narrative frieze depicting Sturt’s journey (and short quotes from his diary) while the main illustration shows us the landscape that Sturt would have seen. However Oliver also includes the creatures that Sturt did not see - a wonderful variety of creatures that lived both on and below the surface of this harsh desert landscape and she shows us some of their unique ways of survival. At the beginning of the book a brief geological history of the land is sketched and reference is made to the Aboriginal tribal groups that lived there and knew about its plants and hidden creatures. Each page contrasts the stunning brightly coloured linocut illustrations of the landscape and its hidden creatures and the mono-coloured frieze which shows scenes from Sturt’s journey, a map of where he went and quotes from his journal such as "not a living thing to be seen, not an ant, not a cricket, or a grasshopper."

An extraordinarily innovative and beautiful book which can be appreciated by upper elementary and middle school students. I think it is certain to be shortlisted for the nonfiction section of this year’s Children’s Book Council Book the Year Awards.

Snapshots of Asia by Sue Ledger and Richard Ledger $149.95 nett

This is a very special pack of books on Asia. There are six Big Books which make a wide range of information on China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam much more accessible. Each country is introduced through a family and stories of daily life and fact files on subjects such as the environment, school, getting about and going shopping help capture various physical and cultural aspects of life in each country. Brightly coloured photos are contrasted with appealing cartoon style drawings and each book also contains a map, a board game, shopping lists, a cooking recipe and instructions. The books aim to help develop literacy while introducing Asian content. The accompanying teacher guide contains additional information, classroom activities and blackline masters.For the lower and middle primary classroom, it would also be very effective with ESL students.

Let’s Build an Airport by Kath Mellentin, illustrated by Gillian Clements hb $29.95

And to build an airport over 15,000 people are needed and this is the emphasis of this large format nonfiction picture book. Right from the beginning, on marvellous end pages, some of the key workers are portrayed and described - Alex Wood the Project Engineer, Sara Zadow Architect, Joe Elgar Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, Gita Patel Computer Engineer and Lian Yang Interior Designer. As the work on the airport progesses, the roles of these and many other workers are described. It is all kept very simple but it gives young children (and older ones) an idea of the huge range of very varied skills and jobs needed for a project such as building an airport. When the airport is finally built (after 3 years) and opened, another 15,000 people of different skills again are needed to keep it functioning. Staff such as aircraft controllers, restaurant staff, customs officers, fire officers, cleaners.

The building of the airport is simply described through text and illustration but it was the emphasis on the variety of people needed and their skills which I found so impressive.

Elementary level.

In Search of the Spirit: The Living National Treasures of Japan by Sheila Hamanaka and Ayano Ohmi hardback $26.95

This book introduces us to six of Japan’s masters who have devoted themselves to the art of continuing Japan’s traditional crafts. The crafts are yuzen dyeing of silk to decorate kimonos, basket weaving in bamboo, sword making, the neriage technique of pottery, the art of Bunraku puppetry and of Noh acting. Simple clear text and beautiful photographs describe the masters and the reasons they took up their craft and what it means to them. Then step by step illustrations or photographs show the method of each master’s craft or aspects of his artistry.

An excellent introduction to six Japanese master craftsmen and the skills involved in their traditional craft.

Video

The John Marsden Video $69.96

I was delighted to watch this video. There has been very little in the way of video material on Australian authors and this one is excellent.

John Marsden talks throughout the video but not as a talking head in a studio. The setting changes frequently giving an insight into how he goes about his writing. He talks of the importance of imagination, of his copious notebooks in which he writes snippets of interesting information, newspaper cuttings (anything that might come in useful when he is writing) and language. He explains how he needs the "voice " of the character before he can write and how he even has an actor read his books so he catch any jarring or grating of a particular "voice". He talks about procrastination and writer’s block, the hard work involved and research and how he becomes totally immersed in the characters when he is writing. He discusses how he tries to capture a setting in all its detail, the importance of the senses and he talks about editing, about sentences which work and don’t work and the empowerment of language.

Perhaps it is because he is a former teacher that he is able to discuss his writing with such clarity and understanding of how it works. English teachers would find this video of great interest and I am sure would be able to use it as a base for lessons on John Marsden’s books but also on creative writing. The video lasts approx 24 minutes. Books discussed are So Much to Tell You (pb $10.95), Letters from the Inside (pb $9.95) and the series Tomorrow when the War Began which I reviewed earlier in this newsletter.

The video is part of a new series on Australian authors. They are very professionally produced and each author worked closely with the production team to develop the script and work out significant locations. I haven’t yet seen the others in the series but have had good reports of all of them. They provide excellent insight into the author as writer, as a person and into the ways each of them writes. As well as The John Marsden Video, they are:

The Morris Gleitzman Video

The Libby Hathorn Video

The Libby Gleeson Video

The Robin Klein Video

The Emily Rodda Video $69.95 each

All prices are in Australian dollars.

Please take note of the new address!

© Kate Shepherd 2008.