Gimmie Cracked Corn and I will share by Kevin O'Malley

You must be yolking.

What are you - a comedi-hen?

This is the perfect book to tickle your funny bone. It is filled with jokes and puns - you will laugh out loud on every page.

When Chicken dreams of buried treasure, he and his pal fly the coop and set out on a journey to find the golden corn, in this scrambled retelling of a classic Eastern European folktale. Their eggs-traordinary adventure takes them across the road, through the woods, and to a distant barn where they hear of pigs that can fly and dreams that can feed the imagination. Packed with word play and over twenty puns, thanks to Kevin O'Malley's trademark humor, Chicken's adventure reminds us that sometimes we need to leave home to realize the things we really treasure can be found right back where we started. Book Depository

Sadly this book is out of print but I just wanted to share it here in case you can find a copy in a library (as I did!). I recommend this for young readers aged 7+ and their adult friends.

Cornball comedy guaranteed to pun-ish your funny bone. Kirkus Star review

Bamboozled by David Legge

Tuesday Treasure

The first thing to notice about this book is found on the back of the title page:

"The illustrations in this book were painted in watercolours." (They are not done with a computer!)

Now flip the pages slowly and marvel at the art, the details, the fun, the utterly brilliant ideas.

"I love my grandad. I visit him every week. And every week things are the same. But last week when I arrived, everything seemed odd."

Odd things abound in this visual delight.  Can you see the lounge on the front cover which is made to link with grandad's portrait on the wall? Take a look at these images and see what you can 'spot'.

My favourite page is when the little girl plants some bulbs in a garden bed.  Lots of things are upside down, there are so many vases, amazing clocks, watering cans and the crazy flooring. I wonder if the sophomore flags say something?

One more thing - flip over to the back cover for another surprise.

The bright, detailed watercolour illustrations reveal more on each rereading. AussieReviews

Bamboozled was first published in 1994 and was a CBCA short listed titled in 1995.

I picked up my copy at a charity book sale last week. I will add it to my collection of over 90 Australian children's picture books which included in special lucky dip bags for people attending the IBBY Australia International Children's Book Day event in April, 2020.

Little Blue series by Margaret Ryan illustrated by Andy Ellis

Easy Fiction Treasure

Here is the publisher blurb.

Little Blue is an intrepid little character who lives in an upturned boat with his mum and dad off the coast of Southern Australia. His friends are Rocky, a baby rockhopper penguin with a bright yellow crest, and Joey, a little kangaroo. His enemies are Fick and Fin the wisecracking sharks, and Big Grey and his gang of burly kangaroos.

Sadly all the books in this series are out of print but if you can find them in a library they are perfect to share with a newly independent reader. Margaret Ryan was a Scottish children's author. She died in 2019.