Andy is a little upset when his parents go out but he is left with a capable nanny who has a special little rimu tree. She tells Andy that the rimu tree will grant him three wishes as long as Andy believes in his heart that the wishes will be granted. Andy is a believer and when he lies down to rest he and his dog Archer are whisked away on a ship only to discover that a sneaky prate has legged it with his rimu tree. What is Andy and Archer going to do? fortunately they meet some fairies called Tipodes who are guardians of the Forgotten island where the pirates have taken the little rimu tree ..read more

This is a sequel to award winning picture book Duck Goes Meow also reviewed elsewhere on this blog, as duck continues his quest to become a cat. Mama cat teaches her two kittens plus the duck to wash their fur, to climb a tree using their claws, to stalk and pounce and hiss but when the trio meet some rough looking big cats, Duck begins to wonder whether he is a cat. Mama calms Duck down and says he has all the skills necessary to be a cat and not all cats are the same. When he snuggles into mama’s fur with the other two kittens guess what noise he makes? read it and find out. Carla Martell’s ..read more

Lenny the Loris announces at the start of this excellent picture book for primary and intermediate kids that he is “Here to teach you something new! how to talk to other people using only your hands”. He is not a very well behaved young loris and other animals in the forest are “scared stiff of his crazy mischief”. he drops an old meatball on Benny the bear cub, he sticks Riley raccoon to a tree with blue gum, he throws sally the Spider at Elly the Elephant but comes unstuck when he throws a rotten plum at a baby monkey. Read it and see what happens. How will Lenny’s bad behaviour be rewarded ..read more

A manatee is an aquatic mammal that was once mistaken by sailors as a mermaid. It inhabits tropical areas especially around Florida and it eats the sea grass which unfortunately creates gas in their intestines and makes them fart. Hence Bubbles. Most young lady manatees control their farting so that they have Elegance, Finesse and Serenite and they can glide , sashay and pirouette but not Bubbles. She wants to be different. She wants to use her farts to make he speed. She wants to zoot and squee much to the chagrin of her mother and the aunties. Then she hits an old turtle and enough is enoug ..read more

Jack wants to get the gold back that the rat stole on the ship he built then in turn is nabbed by the cat, the squid, the whale the seal and the crab before being taken ashore by the turtle. Of course there is more to it than that and it is told in rhyming text as a parody of the old English nursery rhyme The House that Jack Built. The question is will Jack get his loot back? Cleverly told by Peter Millett whose other books are reviewed on this blog and superbly illustrated by Sam Caldwell who captures all the action and the characters as the loot changes hands. Released on 11 April this woul ..read more

Ashton Hill primary school has 17 students of which Lucas, his sister Ellie and friend Harriet are students. The Minister of Education Mrs carter decides to close the school down and the children want to protest. Their teacher Mr Ngata tells them protest will fall on deaf ears and any petition will be put on the scrap heap. Lucas wants to persist and so does his friend Harriet. While flying a kite marked with high-viz tape in the evening causes a fuss when a local chicken farmer Mrs Jones reports a UFO in the area and it is printed in the national newspapers. Tourists start clambering into th ..read more

Good old fashioned story telling from the winner of the 2023 Tom Fitzgibbon Award. Set in the 1960’s when there were no cell phones, no computers, no online games and kids played outside and made fun by themselves and their friends. Marbles was a competitive sport and kids did jobs to get pocket money. Atama is 10 years old and his sister Maia is 6yrs. They live in Burnham army camp as their father is sent to Vietnam. he is good father and close to his son in particular. When he leaves he gives Atama a gold Star medal that his grandfather Koro, was presented with after the battle of Crete dur ..read more

This very good fantasy novel about dragons and the mythical undersea beast the kraken is a sequel to Avis and the promise of dragons. In the previous book Avis became the nursemaid for two dragons owned by the far out Malinda Childe. The two dragons named Humber and Princess have grown and want to stretch their wings and Malinda decides they need somewhere safe to stay where they will not be found by humans. Avis and Malinda stay in contact with the dragons by means of a dragon teardrop which they wear around their necks like a cell phone. When that communication is hacked by something else t ..read more

This is a picture book about handling oneself when circumstances make you frustrated, you can’t regain calmness and you lose it. Toys out of the cot, temper tantrums and behaviour that is upsetting to everyone particularly your self. Nova has created a masterpiece for her father’s birthday and misplaced it somewhere in her house. She rips the place apart trying to find it before her father gets home and completely loses it. Meanwhile her dog Harley is taking it in his stride and when Nova loses it on the couch he lets out a howl. Nova sees Harley’s reactions and copies him so that she assumes ..read more

This is the third part of my favourite New Zealand graphic novels for primary and Intermediate students and reluctant readers of any age. They all look at relationships and help navigate children through emotional responses and at the same time being true to yourself. After helping a few of their friends out and getting a variety of responses Little Blue says to Big Blue “I mean. Why be helpful if there is no reward?”. I guess a lot of people ask themselves that question. You will have to read this book to see what the answer is. You will not regret it. Three stories – Help, Reward, and Kindn ..read more