Kid by Peter Carnavas

"They were so brave ... the bravest goats in the world! And I want to be just like them."

Now read the opening sentence of Kid: 

"There once was a small goat who lived on a farm, not far from the rugged mountain."

Ask yourself some questions - will this small goat have an adventure? will he travel to the rugged mountain? what will he find there? does he have a good life on the farm? are there any other goats there? does 'not far' mean this story will involve a journey?

Life on the farm is good. There are cows, sheep, pigs and hens. Oh, and of course there is a small goat - a young goat - a kid named Kid.

"He was barely taller than the hens, and not just because he was young. He was a small breed of goat - a miniature - so even when fully grown he would hardly peek over a bale of straw. For now he was still a kid, with gangly legs, ears that stuck out and two bumps on the top of his head. He couldn't see them but he knew they were there, and he dreamt that one day they would grow into big curved horns, strong and majestic."

Kid has dreams - big dreams. And these dreams are linked with the story of his parents. This is the story Audrey, one of the hens, tells him night after night. His parents were Buck and Bess and they heroically saved the farm from a fox but by chasing the fox they jumped over all the fences and "no one ever saw those brave goats again." Bess and Buck left their baby behind in the care of Audrey. "And you've been stuck with me ever since."

Kid has the care and friendship of Audrey and also of Harriet, a whitish-pink pig. So, the story is set. Kid would like to be heroic like his parents. He is sure his parents are living in the nearby mountains. Audrey needs to protect her young charge just as she promised his mother all those years ago and Harriet is keen to experience new tastes in the wild. But of course, there is a problem - well there are lots of problem but the biggest one of all is Farm Law. Note the capital letters. 

"Farm Law says that any animal who leaves the farm can never come back ... They'll bring danger to the farm - predators, or sickness from the wild."

"The adventures of Buck and Bess played in his mind. He had loved the stories, so wild and exciting, but he always dreamt that one day they would return to the farm. Now he knew he would never see them again, all because of a big white dog who didn't like goats."

Kid will not be stopped. Ma, the big white farm dog will not stop him. He jumps over the fence and ...

There are some sweet words of wisdom in Kid:

Audrey: "I was scared and I didn't want you to go. But then I asked myself what was more important: to follow the rules or follow your dreams?"

Audrey: "The world hasn't ended. You have a home and friends who love you - even when you're miserable. I didn't raise you to blob around like a snail without a shell. Get up and do something."

Cow: "Gavin (the great hawk) said you will find your family ... on the mountain."

I think I held my breath through the final chapters of this book - I know Peter Carnavas is a trustworthy author and he would give me that all important "happy ending", but I was so worried about little Kid - would Ma let him come back to the farm?

Publisher blurb: This is the story of a small goat called Kid. Ever since his parents chased away a fox and never returned, Kid has stayed with Audrey the hen in the chook yard. Audrey tells him stories of his mum and dad’s daring and bravery. She says they live on the nearby mountain, and Kid longs to leave the farm to find them. And then, one day, he discovers he is big enough to jump the fence … Will a wild adventure up the mountain help Kid find where he belongs?

Here is the trailer - this is sure to make you fall in love with this book:

This book will be published next week - do not wait - run to your independent bookstore or local library and order a copy of Kid by Peter Carnavas. I really wish I lived in Queensland so I could participate in some of the launch events for Kid. Huge thanks to UQP for sending me an advance copy of Kid. I devoured it in one sitting and then went back and read it all again today. There are extensive teachers notes for Kid BUT really my suggestion is just read this book - to your young reading companion, to your class or to your library group. Don't dissect it - just enjoy the writing, the friendships, and the very special voice of young Kid.

This one is just a delight from the first page to the last and your young readers will find it entirely satisfactory and, very likely, the kind of book that they will return to again and again. Just so Stories  (You can see art from Kid in this review)

Kid gives us plenty to love especially for the confident junior reader, animal lover, and those searching for their own g.o.a.t mini-hero to emulate. Dimity Powell  (G.O.A.T stands for Greatest of all Times)

In the UK Kid from Pushkin Press has a slightly different cover. I love talking with students about covers - design, appeal, font choices and the way covers can influence our reading choices. The US edition will come from Groundwood Books in 2027! Kid is published in hardcover and the beautiful pastel colours reminded me of my old copy of Heidi (I have put this image at the bottom of this post).

The publisher and Peter Carnavas himself (quite rightly) links Kid with two very famous books:

Charlotte's Web

You may know this book became the movie Babe.

Peter Carnavas says: After writing my last book, I promised myself I’d take a quiet break from writing, 

but then a small goat trotted into my thoughts. I’m not sure where he came from but I remember what I was doing at the time – I was reading Edwina Wyatt’s book Cub and Brown. Edwina’s story has nothing to do with goats but for some reason, halfway through reading, I put down the book, opened my sketchbook and drew a goat.  Up until now, my novels have centred around quiet children and relationships, so I wanted to try something different with my goat – I wanted an adventure! I started drafting ideas based on the structure of the hero’s journey: I gave him a call to action, a merry band of accomplices (each with their own strengths), a wise elder, a series of trials and an exciting climax. 

I really appreciate having maps in books. The map at the beginning of Kid reminded me of this book:

Map from Kid (found in the teachers notes)

Try to find this picture book too:

Albert and Lila

Check out all the picture books by Peter Carnavas and then look for his terrific novels:

Leo and Ralph, My Brother Ben, The Elephant

Kid is published in hardcover and the soft pastel colours used on the cover reminded me of my old copy of Heidi. Just a small observation of mine - Kid doesn't have any actual links with Heidi!

Waiting for Goliath by Antje Damm

I spied this Gecko Press book in the library at Westmead Children's Hospital and the illustrations intrigued me.

Bear sits at the bus stop waiting for his best friend - Goliath. Night falls and Bear falls asleep. Robin tells Bear his friend is not coming. It seems that the seasons are passing. We see the tree with leaves, then fruit and then autumn leaves. A bus pulls up at the bus stop but Goliath is not a passenger. Winter arrives and the birds fly south. Bear climbs off the bus seat and falls into a deep sleep while the snow falls all around him. When he wakes up it is spring.

"He hears a noise like a hand sliding slowly across paper. Goliath is coming!"

I can hear your group of young library visitors squealing when they discover the identity of Goliath! If you can find a copy of this book from 2018 it will be a perfect read aloud in your school library or you might borrow it to share with your young reading companion at home.

An only seemingly simple but endlessly sweet meditation on patience.  Kirkus Star review (contains a spoiler)

It's a delightful story, told in simple, clear language and it highlights the meaning of true friendship which actually celebrates differences rather than allowing them to form a barrier. And Bear is so patient: he's prepared to wait for his friend, no matter what. BookBag

The gorgeous artwork comprises a mixture of cut-outs and collage combined in beautiful dioramas. The endpapers at the front show an empty road, while those at the back feature one set of pawprints leaving. Children will have really good fun predicting and guessing what or who Goliath is. In this warm little story about loyalty, faith and friendship, Damm has created a really likeable character about whom children will want to hear more. Children's Books Ireland

Gecko Press talked to Antje Damm about her illustration technique. It reminded me of the work by Soyeon Kim who also uses dioramas. 

Image Source: Instagram

My first two books with Gecko Press were constructed from paper and cardboard. For The Visitor, I made a box with figures inside and photographed each scene. Colour comes gradually into the story so I painted the figures and the room for each scene then photographed it before painting it again. The lighting effects come through a hole at the top of the box. This was a risky way to make the book, because each time I changed the scene, the earlier version was lost. If the photographs hadn’t worked out, the whole book would have been ruined!

See inside this book here

From the Walker Books webpage: Antje Damm is a celebrated children’s writer and illustrator. Born in 1965 in Wiesbaden, Germany, she now lives with her husband and four children in a half-timbered house near Giessen. She has worked as an architect and has written and illustrated over a dozen books for children. Take a look at her Instagram account. 

I do hope Gecko Press have a plan to translate more books by Antje Damm especially Füchslein im Walde - which is dedicated to the topic of dying, death and mourning.

A fox comes into the forest. He is carrying a large box filled with tomato soup cans, because he is toothless and old. The rabbits, who were first afraid of him, soon understand this, and so some get to know each other who actually have nothing in common. The fox talks about his long life and teaches the rabbits important wisdom. They, in turn, accompany him when the old fox dies. After his death, they put him in his big box, bury him and say goodbye. But he remains alive in her memories.

Hogbert by Briony May Smith

You might like to begin with my Meet the Illustrator post where I introduce Briony May Smith. Her art is so appealing and surely you cannot resist the sweet image of Hogbert on the cover of this latest book.

When you pick up Hogbert twist and turn the cover. It is scattered with gold. Then, when you begin reading this book with your young reading companion you will encounter a truly delightful word - snufflebugs!

Here is a word list (not for a lesson) just to delight you: guzzled, snuffled, snorts and snuffles, let's hop to it, nattered, rumbling and grumbling, fiddlesticks, drizzle, and aroma.

This story is filled with references to fairy tales (some are very subtle). Hopefully all of these will be very familiar to your child or preschool group - Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel and The Frog Prince.

Here is a detailed interview with the author filled with art from this story and photographs of her forest adventures.

Publisher blurb: When Mommy Boar sends her little snufflebugs to explore the forest for the first time, she cautions them to stick together. After all, the Big Bad Wolf could be near! But Hogbert’s keen nose has other ideas, and after following a trail too far, he finds himself trembling alone in fear. What’s that rustling in the leaves? Just a little red squirrel on her way to visit her sick granny! What’s that growl coming through the trees? Just a snoring white doe who took a bite of an apple that made her sleepy! With each temporarily scary encounter, Hogbert finds that the world is a less frightening place, and that the same sense of smell that led him into trouble may just lead them all out of it again.

The skilled depiction of the sylvan setting includes lovely flowers, towering trees, and constantly shifting light and shadow. This low-key adventure is a pleasant diversion that effectively capitalizes on the appeal of timeless tales. Kirkus

The Other Ducks by Ellen Yeomans illustrated by Chris Sheban

"Two is not a line. Two is a follow. A line is more ducky."

Blurb: This Duck and That Duck are inseparable, but they long for more friends to waddle with. When they discover The Other Ducks beneath the water, their excitement turns to frustration as these new companions refuse to leave the pond. With winter approaching and their feathers itching for warmth, will This Duck and That Duck find a way to bring The Other Ducks into their world? Dive into this charming tale of friendship and discovery as these ducks navigate the challenges of expanding their circle.

The two ducks in this story, male and female, are so naive about the world (something your young reading companion will both relate to and laugh over). They are only two but they want to form a line so they need more ducks. In the pond/puddle of water they discover two more companions but very strangely on cloudy days these two others disappear and for some reason they won't follow This Duck and That Duck out of the pond. Then suddenly they discover they can fly and in the sky they do find other ducks - but where are they going and why?  The final page of this book will give you the biggest smile. 

This Duck (a confident female) and That Duck (a trepidatious male) enjoy each other’s companionship in the “wadey-water” until discovering a wider world makes the extrovert wish for more friends.This Duck yearns to lead a “more ducky” line when they move about, prompting her to wish for Other Ducks. Yeomans’ language is a delightful combination of the childlike and the existential. When questioned about the meaning of “Other Ducks,” she replies, “Like us, only not us.” Sheban’s soft, textured compositions are rendered in watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite; they start out sunny, with warm greens and yellows in the foreground and cool lavender shadows and shapes on the horizon. The lighting and mood change with the seasons and situations. ... A marvelous portrayal of the humor and uncertainty surrounding growth—and the comfort in having a fellow traveler. Kirkus Star review

This book was published in 2018 so it is now out of print BUT if you can find a copy in a library (as I did) you should grab it with both hands and settle down to read this with your young reading companion or borrow it to share with your preschool group. I live near a lake/lagoon with plenty of ducks - it would be so brilliant to read this book during or after your visit to see my ducks. 

Reading a wonderful picture book with a young child is such a meaningful way to discover rich words. In this book we have rushes, lush, wadey-water, waddle, splashed and splished, fretted, and this wonderful final sentence:

"And every single one of them felt downright ducky."

Chris Sheban is the illustrator of these two books below. I would like to see Three Squeezes, Someone like me (Patricia MacLachlan) and Job Wanted. He also illustrated What to do with a box which I will borrow next term from my friend's school library AND I now discover he did the covers of Because of Winn Dixie, Tiger Rising and Paperboy. See more here.

The Lonely Book

The story of a seagull and the cat who taught her to fly

The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow by Elaine Dimopoulos illustrated by Doug Salati

Use your milkweed: Read this! Kirkus Star review

Butternut is a young rabbit. She lives with her family in a burrow near a meadow and also near a human home. The family of humans regularly fill a garden bird feeder with delicious seeds for the many birds that live in and around the meadow but each morning one bird named Blue bullies the other birds and squirrels and so none can get close to the delicious treats. 

Meanwhile in the burrow each evening the young rabbits take turns as storytellers. I love the names of Butternut's siblings: Lavender, Clover, Thistle, Goosegrass and Baby Sweetcorn are the girls and Kale, Chicory, Watercress and Mallow are the boys. Mum is Nettle and Butternut's grandmother is aptly named Sage because she is the wise elder of their family.

There is a violent scene in the first chapter of this book I would say it is for readers aged 8+. Blue is angry with Mother Firstfledge and so he raids her nest and takes one of her eggs - his actions are truly awful and brutal. After a few more weeks the other eggs - three of them - do hatch and Piper, one of the new young birds, is determined to show forgiveness. Piper loves the way Butternut tells stories and they quickly become firm friends even though this is not usually allowed - friendship between species. 

One evening a young fawn catches her leg in the roof of the burrow. Her name is Winsome and she is badly hurt. Butternut lives her life in fear of 'what if' but Piper convinces her they need to go out late at night and find the hurt fawn and offer their help. Piper is also sure there is a way to help Blue - surely there is a deeper reason why he is such a bully. Oh, and Butternut also has to overcome her fear and take the test that all her siblings have had to do, learning to cross the busy road and avoid being squashed by a car. 

Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of the story and storytelling advice:

"Everyone in Milkweed Meadow still talks about the rescue, and if you stop hopping around like a kit that's found a banana slice, I'll tell you the story."

"Mother encourages strong beginnings. 'Snare them!' ... I suppose that's what a good story does. It digs into your skin like a silver wire and holds you in its grasp."

"Stories matter.  Interesting characters. A thorny conflict. A wood-gnawing climax. Details that let you smell and taste and touch."

"I wanted to say that he had me all wrong. That I was the most fearful and timid rabbit in my colony. That with the way my mind worked, every trunk in the forest would become a wolf, every twig a snake. But saying these things our loud would make them come true. There was a part of me that wanted to imagine that I could be brave. That I could tame my mind's brambles to help the fawn."

"If you ignore the creatures that can make a midnight snack out of you, then the forest at night is an enchanted setting for a story."

"Helping a creature is a good reason to take a risk. Isn't that what so many of our stories tell us to do? To help others?"

Blurb from author page: Apprehensive by nature, Butternut the rabbit believes the warnings she’s heard from her mother and grandmother. Egg-laying birds are inferior species. Deer bring ticks. Coyotes are terrifying predators. Only rabbits have the smarts to practice strategies for survival and to tell stories that entertain and inspire. In Milkweed Meadow, all species do best when they remain focused on their own kind. When the bully of the meadow, a jay named Blue, steals a treasure of her burrow and compels her to scale a trellis to retrieve it, Butternut forms an unlikely friendship with an irrepressible robin nestling, Piper, and later with Winsome, a deer fawn whose leg injury is a blow to her vanity. For the first time, the dangerous and fun adventures the friends have make Butternut question her elders’ teachings—and whether holding on to old prejudices truly makes creatures safer and happier. When the trio discovers creatures in crisis, their compassion is tested: Do they forsake the creatures or attempt the most daring rescue ever to take place in Milkweed Meadow, one that will require the help of multiple species, including the young humans that live in the adjacent house?

Here are some detailed teachers notes. Listen to a five-minute audio sample. This book also contains a map of Milkweed Meadow. 

This enchanting animal adventure is made up of a series of interconnected short stories. In a beautiful narrative voice, and brought to life by Salati’s charming black-and-white illustrations, Butternut describes her own storytelling process. School Library Journal

This chapter book has a relatively rare and welcome level of depth, and the strong narrative voice, ecological awareness, and themes around the value of connection and community will call to many readers. Horn Book

Awards for The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow

• A 2024 Massachusetts Book Award Honor Book
• An ALA Notable Book
• A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Book
• A Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of 2023
• A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of 2023 with Outstanding Merit
• A 2023 Booklist Editors’ Choice
• On Vermont’s 2024-5 Golden Dome Book Award List

Here is the sequel which was published in 2024:

Companion books:

Cress Watercress

Heartwood Hotel (there are four books in this series)

Appleblossom the Possum

The Legend of Podkin On-Ear

Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria

Kirkus relate The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow to this book Toaff's Way which I once have on my to-read list. Sadly there is no ebook version but Amazon do have a new copy for - gasp! AUS$140! I do find it odd that this book didn't really reach us here in Australia - Cynthia Voigt is such a famous author. I talked about this previously here. 

Meet Toaff: a lovable squirrel, and new standout character, searching for a place to call home in this gem of a story by a Newbery Medal-winning author. Toaff is a small squirrel full of big questions. Why must I stay away from the human's house? Why shouldn't I go beyond the pine trees? Why do we fight with the red squirrels across the drive? His sister shrugs--that's just the way things are. His brother bullies--because I said so. And the older squirrels scold--too many questions! Can Toaff really be the only one to wonder why?When a winter storm separates him from his family, Toaff must make his own way in the world. It's a world filled with danger--from foxes and hawks and cats to cars and chainsaws. But also filled with delight--the dizzying scent of apple blossoms, the silvery sound of singing, the joy of leaping so far you're practically flying. Over the course of a year, Toaff will move into (and out of) many different dreys and dens, make some very surprising friends (and a few enemies), and begin to answer his biggest questions--what do I believe and where do I belong?

You can see other books illustrated by Doug Salati here. 

Molly, Olive and Dexter by Catherine Rayner

Molly's favourite game is hide and seek. I am sure your young reading companion will know how to play this game and that gives this book an extra layer of enjoyment because your child or library group will laugh when they see how Olive and Dexter really have no idea how this game works.

First Olive and Dexter hide their own eyes! Then they hide behind the tree which is right beside where Molly has been counting.  Let's try this one more time. Oh no! The friends are really hidden. Molly cannot find them. 

"What is they got lost when I told them to hide? I'll never see them again and it's all my fault."

Never fear - Molly just needs to look in one more place!

This is a perfect book to share with a very young child. The illustrations by Catherine Rayner are fabulous. She gives each of the animal friends such expressive faces. Every preschool should add this book and the others from this series to their shelves. Here is the Kirkus review. 

There are four books in this series:

Here are two other books about the game of Hide and Seek:

The Best Hiding Place

The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers makes it clear from the first sentence that our story narrator is a dog. 

"I turn I turn I turn before I lie to sleep and rise before the Sun."

This is confirmed in the second paragraph:

"I am a dog called Johannes and I have seen you. I have seen you in this park, my home. If you have come to this park, my vast green windblown park by the sea, I have seen you."

This park is a wild environment but it is also a place frequented by humans for all sorts of activities many of which are a mystery to Johannes and his friends. Living in the park, behind a high fence, there are three Bison. I guess they are there as a draw-card for visitors but Johannes and the other animals know Freya, Meredith and Samuel are really the Keepers of the Equilibrium. Johannes is a free dog, a wild dog which means he can roam around the park. He has the important job of the Eyes reporting on all the park activities to the Bison. His friends are Bertrand a huge seagull; Sonja a squirrel; Yolanda a pelican; and Angus a raccoon. This team are the Assistant Eyes. All of them report to the Johannes and he then talks to Freya, Meredith and Samuel. Each of the animal characters has a very distinct personality. 

Yoland "like all pelicans, prefers to fly low low over the water, inches above the surface of the water. Yolanda also happens to be the only one among us who can read human written language, a gift she wear lightly."

Sonja "has a habit of showing up without saying hello, as if she's barged in on a private meeting. She's been on of the Assistants coming meet us on our rock, for probably six hundred years, so we cannot understand this, the way she persists with this initial shyness. She is missing an  eye, and the easy answer would be that this missing eye, lost in a fight with a crow, has caused her reticence."

Things are changing in the park. It is not exactly specified but I gathered the new building is an art gallery. The problem is, Johannes finds the art mesmerising and this means he puts himself in danger from the park authorities and the control-the-animals-people. Johannes is captured but it is by some hippies. This is a terrifying scene and a heroic rescue. Then a huge herd goats arrive to clear a large area of spiky weeds. His capture has made Johannes think about freedom and so he makes the huge decision to set the Bison free. This will take a huge team effort and while it seems completely impossible the outcome is sure to surprise you.

I held my breath when I looked to see IF Betsy Bird had read this book and then to see if she loved it as much as I did - YES she sure did! Here is an extract but please read her whole review - it is, as usual, eloquent and perfect. "You will find a thoroughly well-written, occasionally touching, funny, strange little book that sticks both its landing and in your memory. "

A confident writer that is confident for good reason is deeply satisfying. ... I devoured this book in a single sitting and would reread it happily if asked to do so, which I cannot say for every kids book I pick up. It’s the writing, man. It dares to be better, but doesn’t lose young readers along the way. There’s excitement and goats and near drownings and ridiculous disguises. It’s a legitimately fun book that soaked itself in great writing and isn’t afraid to show that writing off. I don’t know if it has what it takes to become a massive hit. I don’t know if other adult gatekeepers will agree with me on what it is doing (and how well). Fuse 8 SLJ Betsy Bird

There is a deeper story here, too, about being yourself and finding freedom. It is hinted at in the natural beauty of the deluxe version of the book, with its solid-wood front and back covers, and in Shawn Harris’s sublime illustrations. New York Times

Listen to an audio sample from the first chapter here. And the trailer is here. I highly recommend you share this trailer with a group of students when you introduce this wonderful book. More review comments here. 

One of the aspects of this writing that I found utterly delicious were the brilliant words and phrases used by Dave Eggers. Here are some examples: odorous, reticence, gravitas, all the hassles inherent in highly concentrated humanity, partake, maniacal, enumerate, privy to our deliberations and  judgements, sutured, paragon of valour, and validity. 

This book would be a perfect read aloud to a Grade 5 or 6 class. I wish I could, right now, put this book into the hands of a skilled teacher. This book is also perfect for animal lovers and readers who enjoy exploring a different perspective. In some ways this is a moving and serious story but there are so many quietly funny moments such as the way Johannes has absolutely no idea about numbers which means he exaggerates every time he talks about time or about the number of creatures in the park, especially the goats. Oh, and there is also the running joke about ducks and loons. 

Read this description of trucks that have a reversing beep - it will show you the way Dave Eggers adds touches of humour to his story and I am guessing he also dislikes this sound:

"And here I should say that of all the horrible things human have created, the most maniacal and wrong of them all is this, this intermittent screaming sound as their vehicles go backward. All of life stops when the screaming begins. All beauty ends, all music ends, clouds cleave, hearts break, and all of the world nearby waits, with breath held, for the sound to end. Nothing can be done during this mechanical wailing. No thinking, no eating, no running, no living."

And this one of the goats:

"The way they were eating the weeds was chilling. Would they eat us too? They seemed like vegetarians, but how could we be sure? There were so many of them. A thousand? A million? They could disappear the five of us in seconds."

There are two covers at the top of this post. The one that looks like wood is actually wood! and that is the one I bought. It also has gold embossed silky page edges and rich coloured art based illustrations.  This is the most expensive middle grade book I have ever bought at AUS$50 but it sure was worth it. The cover intrigued me and the Kirkus review convinced me and today, in one huge gulp, I read the whole book of 249 pages. 

Bison are such fascinating beasts. When I lived in Alberta there were several in a paddock near the town and very occasionally I would see them from my car. 

Betsy Bird said many people are not fans of animal books but this is not true for me. I did cry in Charlotte's Web but I also loved every word and similarly The Underneath is a book that moved me so profoundly - I have read it twice. Once you have read, and YES you must read The Eyes and the Impossible - head off to your library and try to find these:

Firstborn

A Wolf called Wonder

The way of Dog

Pax

Endling - The Last

Seekers - The Quest Begins

The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate

"So, what amazed you today, sweet girl?"

"What filled you with wonder? What made you feel awe?"

Creed of the herd - "An elephant alone is not an elephant."

You are sure to have met Ivan (The One and Only Ivan) and perhaps Bob (The One and Only Bob) and if so I am sure you will really want to get your hands on this third book where we find out more about Ruby and how she came to be at the shopping Mall with Stella, Ivan and Bob and later how life is going for Ruby with the other elephants at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary. 

Publisher blurb: Ruby’s story picks up a few months after the events of The One and Only Bob. Now living in a wildlife sanctuary, Ruby’s caretaker from the elephant orphanage in Africa where she grew up is visiting. Seeing him again brings back a flood of memories both happy and sad of her life before the circus, and she recounts the time she spent in the African Savannah to Ivan and Bob.

Listen to Colby Sharp talk about this book - his enthusiasm is wonderful. "I couldn't stop reading it but it was also hard to read at times ... It's just amazing what reading can do."

Applegate deftly tempers themes of grief and loss with compassion and humor as Ruby finds her place in the herd. ... Certain to steal hearts. Kirkus

Do you like the idea of book sets - I do. I am so happy to have all three of the books in this series sitting side by side on my shelf - The One and Only Ivan, The One and Only Bob and now The One and Only Ruby. The covers all work together really well but oddly the spine on the newest book has a slightly different format.

Here are some text quotes from The One and Only Ruby.  I highly highly recommend this series for readers aged 9+. My post labels will give you some idea about the themes in this book - animal conservation, the ivory trade, animals in captivity and elephants. 

"Elephants use our tusks for all kinds of things. They help with eating and digging and playing and some times even fighting. They are so important that when your tusks arrive, elephants hold a special ceremony to celebrate the occasion."

"When I was a baby, I had a mom, too. I guess that's true of most babies. I don't have one anymore. I haven't had much luck when it comes to moms."

"Floppy running is the best kind of running because it happens when you are feeling good about the world and like you could almost fly if you weren't an elephant and also had some wings, because they would for sure help. When you floppy-run your ears and trunk and tail go wherever they choose. Your legs just kind of floats in the air and your feet skip along like they just heard a really good joke. Watch a baby elephant sometime. They love to floppy-run."

"There's a word elephants have for those who take care of us. We call them sentinels. A sentinel is someone who looks out for you. It can be someone who's part of your herd, of course, but it could be anyone. Sentinels can be your caretakers or your friends or your teachers or your neighbors. They look out for you. They understand you. They try to help you."

"We are not our best selves without kindness. ... We are not our best selves without wonder ... We are not our best selves without courage ... We are not our best selves without gratitude."

Read more plot details for The One and Only Ruby at The Book Muse. 

The One and Only Ivan

The One and Only Bob

Old Fellow by Christopher Cheng illustrated by Liz Anelli

I like the enigma at the beginning of this sweet story - who is the 'old fellow'? Is the old dog or his elderly owner? It takes until the fourth spread for this to become clear - the narrator is the old man and he is having a conversation with his very old dog and they walk to their local park.

"Goodness me! We must be slow today. There are so many dogs and people here already. Look at that puppy chasing his tail. I remember when another small puppy couldn't stop chasing his tail!"

This is  gentle story of companionship and routines of love and daily walks. The text feels so personal as we 'listen in' to the conversation which I imagine is inside the old man's head. I adore the almost soft focus light filled illustrations which contain so much detail firstly inside the man's home and later around their park. In the backgrounds you can see the city buildings and construction. The variety of people who visit the park just feel natural - there is no sense of an agenda to include old and young, different cultures and abilities. You may recognise this park - it could be Melbourne or the setting could be any city. 

At one point the old man meets a friend who invites him to play a game of chess. The man asks his dog "Have we got time?"  This made me smile because if this book has a message (not that I need one) it is that the man and his dog, for today at least, have plenty of time. There will be many more days of walks to the park even though they are both old fellows.

If you are connoisseur of end papers make sure you hunt out this book - the end papers in this book are brilliant. This is a fairly new Australian children's picture book from 2022. I have not been able to talk about many of our best books over the last 12 months because I have been a Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) picture book judge but because this book was not sent to us for judging I can talk about it.

Liz Anelli’s highly expressive, richly detailed and boldly coloured warm illustrations enrich the narrative providing further clues about the relationship between the old man and dog. Children and adults alike will delight in the brilliant detail in the illustrations which offer something new to discover each time this book is revisited. Reading Opens Doors

Try to find this book in your school or local library. It would be a beautiful one to share with a young child. I well remember the old man who lived in our street when we were children. I realise now he must have been so lonely. Perhaps this book could be a jumping off point to connect with an older person in your community. Here are some teachers notes from Scholastic Australia. You can see inside this book here and Chris Cheng has a video trailer on his web page. The Biscuit Maker (see below) would be the perfect companion book. 

Here are some other books illustrated by Liz Anelli:

The Biscuit Maker

One Photo (in the US this has the title Dad's Camera)