Giant by Nicola Skinner illustrate by Flavia Sorrentino

Dear Child,

Having a giant as your servant is an honor.

But it is also a big responsibility.

You will be paired with your giant until you turn twelve, when you will kiss them, 

turning them into stone to rebuild our island.

Sadness is not permitted at the Goodbye ceremony.

Remember: they are not your family.

You may feel fondness for your giant, but you must not mistake that for love.

FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT THE

GIANT MANAGEMENT COMPANY

Minnie is different. She lives in a very structured and controlled society. Children are given giants as servants when they are very young and then after years of time spent together, at age 12, the children have to relinquish their giant in a strange and very cruel ceremony. This town is located on an island which is regularly wracked with earthquakes. Humans live on this island, but giants live there too. In the past there have been years of dreadful wars. The humans have now taken over the island and enslaved the giants who are assigned to the children. Other 'bad' giants are forced to live in an inhospitable place on the other side of a high mountain range. Children are warned to never go there because these giants are extremely dangerous. The servant giants are assigned to the children because the Giant Management Company, who control everything, make use of a surprising discovery that if a giant is kissed by a child it turns to stone. Stone is a valuable commodity in this place because it is used to rebuild the town after the regular earthquake events.

Children learn the rules from a young age:

• Giants are your servants not your friends
• You must not love your giant
• Giants must never ask children to keep secrets
• Everyone should be happy at the Goodbye Ceremony. 
• Giants and children cannot stay together forever.
• Never go to the No-Go Mountains

Back to Minnie. She is not pretty. Her parents are poor. In fact she looks quite neglected. She is also very small and in constant pain. Twice each day she has to inject pain medications. Her father is working on ways to predict and stop the earthquakes but the authorities keep rejecting his plans. Oh, and you need to know Minnie has broken several of the rules - especially the one about loving your giant. Her giant is called Speck because she is unusually small for a giant (she is still quite enormous). As the story opens there has been one of the largest earthquakes ever. Minnie is not due to say goodbye to Speck for many months but the town rulers, have ordered all ceremonies to be brought forward to tomorrow. Minnie cannot bear the idea of turning her beloved friend into a stone statue. While playing a game, Speck has shown Minnie a route to safety. Minnie thinks if she runs away, she can delay or even stop the ceremony. Along the way Minnie makes two important new friends - a jackal she names Twist and a young rubbler named Robin. Rubblers are the lowest eschalon of this society. They dig through the rubble and assist with all the town rebuilding. It is back breaking work which even children are forced to do and their lungs are filled with dust and they live in poverty. 

Here are a few text quotes:

"Would future children of the island shudder a little too, when they passed Speck's statue. Would they look up into her stone face and know, or care, that she had looked after Minnie Wadlow, and swum in a lagoon for forty-five glorious stolen minutes. Or would they not even see her, would she just fade into the background, as many of the statues did after a while? How would they know that Speck liked watermelon slices, and broke a plate every day, and had a specially soft voice if Minnie ever cried?"

"Then she gently, put her hand on the top of his head. It was the first time she had ever touched a jackal. She let her hand stay there, and he allowed it. She took in the solidity of his skull, the warmth of his flesh, and the softness of his fur, all at one - all this strength and fragility under her fingers, and she was humbled by what he had done for her, after she had rejected him."

"There's a possibility of survival if you keep going. If you stay, you're going to get crushed. Dad always said, once things start falling, don't wait around hoping things will get better. They won't. Get out when you can."

The journey undertaken by these three is so dangerous and the final showdown and battle with the hunters intent on their capture will leave you reeling. I just raced through the final chapters - 41-53 desperate for that all important happy ending.

Publisher blurb: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Minnie’s island. Nothing, that is, apart from the earthquakes, which pull buildings and schools and houses down on a regular basis. Luckily, the island’s inhabitants have found a way to fix their crumbling walls: giants. Giants look after human children, like eleven-year-old Minnie. When Minnie turns twelve, she’ll kiss her giant, turning her into a stone statue forever. The stone will be used to repair buildings. And there’s nothing wrong with that either . . . or so Minnie thinks. But when a dreadful earthquake strikes, Minnie realises she’s not quite ready to say goodbye to her giant – not forever – not yet. So Minnie goes on the run, betraying her parents and everyone she knows. The secrets she uncovers on her journey threaten to pull everything down: and so begins a desperate race against time in which she will confront the truth about her island, her giant . . . and ultimately herself.

Despite the playful language and imaginative setting, this book packs some serious punches as Skinner tackles unnerving concepts head on. Providing an undercurrent throughout the plot are the ongoing implications of colonisation and totalitarianism, where in this unequal society giants are forced to live either as servants or are cast out to the No-Go Mountains. ... This may sound rather heavy for a book perfect for the end of Year 4 upwards, but in the big-hearted and wildly inventive hands of Skinner such themes are skilfully and subtly explored. It is love, however, that is the real driving force behind this story – particularly the love story between Minnie and her giant Speck. A mesmerising triumph, this book would enrapture a class as a read-aloud and has enough meaty themes to make a great whole class text. Just Imagine UK

This is a long book with over 390 pages but I almost read the whole story in one day!  YES it is that good. In fact this is going onto my list of top favourites. I expect to see this book on lots of award lists. The paperback is a really good price so I highly recommend you add this book to your library shelves today! Reading this book adults might think of the movie The Help. 

Take a look at all these book covers by Flavia Sorrentino. I am now very keen to read other books by Nicola Skinner.

Starboard Kirkus Star Review; Storm Kirkus Star Review

The Willoughby's Return by Lois Lowry

"Many years before - thirty years to be exact - Mr and Mrs Willoughby had embarked on an extended vacation (they used the Reprehensible Travel agency), leaving their four children hehind. They didn't like the children very much (and to be honest, the children didn't like them, either), and so it was not a tragedy for them to be separated. But it would have been illegal for them to leave the children all alone (the eldest Tim, was just twelve). To keep things on the up and up, Mr Willoughby had advertised for a nanny."

It is now thirty years later. So much has happened. Tim is the boss of a successful candy company, he has a son called Ritchie. BUT the US congress have just banned candy following lobbying by the American Dental Association. The other three children are now adults, living in other parts of the US and all three have happy, but very different lives. Mr and Mrs Willoughby have been frozen in the Swiss alps all these years but now they have deforested. They are still the most unpleasant people you could ever meet and show no remorse for their treatment of their children. It is time for them to return but so much has changed.

This book is such a fun romp but I do think you will enjoy it even more if you can find and read the first instalment before rejoining the mayhem of the Willoughbys.

Blurb from the first book: The Willoughby children—Timothy, twins Barnaby A and Barnaby B, and their sister Jane—are fond all old-fashioned things, but especially old-fashioned adventures. What they aren't fond of, however, are their parents. Truth be told, their parents aren't the fondest of them, either, and they're concocting an evil plan to get rid of their children once and for all! Both parents and children have plenty of dastardly ideas and tricks up their sleeves. The only thing they don't have is any idea of what lies between them and a happily-ever-after.

Blurb from the second book: Although they grew up as wretched orphans, the Willoughby siblings also became heirs to the the Melanoff candy company fortune. Everything has turned out just splendidly, except for one problem: Richie Willoughby, son of Timothy Willoughby, is an only child and is quite lonely. Winifred and Winston Poore have long admired the toys of their neighbour Richie Willoughby and finally befriend the mysterious boy next door. But just as Richie finally begins to make friends, selling sweets is made illegal, and the family's fortune is put in jeopardy. To make matters worse, Richie's horrible Willoughby grandparents—frozen atop a Swiss mountain thirty years ago—have thawed, remain in perfect health, and are making their way home again. What is the point of being the reclusive son of a billionaire when your father is no longer a billionaire What is the future without candy in it And is there any escaping the odiousness of the Willoughbys.

Listen to an audio sample here. 

The threads of the story, with various tales of parents gone missing, fortunes lost or never found, and good luck in the end, are gathered most satisfactorily and warmheartedly. Highly amusing. Kirkus

If you enjoy the two Willoughby books you are sure to also enjoy A Series of Unfortunately events and by chance I have just started reading Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker - a book that would be simply perfect to read before or after the two Willoughby books.

One special feature of The Willoughbys return are the fun footnotes which often reference contemporary culture especially because Mr and Mrs Willoughby have missed all the innovations of the last thirty years. Words like uber, google, Brexit, HBO, satellite radio, Twitter, FaceTime and Skype are so confusing.

The Tree at Number 43 by Jess McGeachin

Sam lives with his mum and grandpa in a busy city. It is noisy in the street but Sam and his grandpa have a special spot on the roof of their building where they can sit together and Sam can hear all about grandpa's life adventures. Sam especially loves to hear about the jungle with trees so tall they seem to touch the sky. From his travels grandpa has collected seeds. Sam decides to try a little gardening - all he needs is soil, water and sunlight and a lot of patience.

"Sam waited so long that he missed dinner and then dessert. He waited until the moon was high and his eyelids grew heavy and then ..."

There are no words on this page as you can see but something magical is happening and when Sam wakes up he finds himself lying under a huge tree. It has grown from the ground floor right up through the roof of their three storey building. So now on the roof grandpa and Sam have an even better spot to talk, and read and play card games with friends. The tree even provides delicious fruit which his mum makes into a strudel. Life at Number 43 is good UNTIL a letter arrives. Yes you knew there had to be a complication.

The letter looked "very official with curly writing and suspicious stamps." There have been complaints about leaves and wild creatures. Sam knows this letter needs a reply so he writes back explaining about leaves, and toucans and sloths and the friendly tiger not to mention the yummy fruit. The format of his letter is very special. But the authorities won't listen and a team of men arrive to cut down the beautiful tree. This is another wordless double page in the same form we saw previously at night with a silhouette of the tree again but this time we see it being progressively cut down. 

Luckily for everyone, though, Sam is a problem solver. His grandpa has more seeds and so this time Sam gives a little packet of them to each of his neighbours and before long ...

"A yew grew at number two, a pine at number nine, a gum at number thirty-one." 

The air is now filled with a different sort of noise - happy laughter, friendly roars and squawking birds.

The theme of urban renewal and greening a city is not original but this book is so charming especially in the way it demonstrates problem solving and community action all done using magical realism. It is such a fun twist to have the tree grow inside their building and it is so good to see the ways the family adapt to having a tree inside along with all those amazing jungle animals. 

Jess McGeachin adds some delightful details in his illustrations. There is a tiny spider and her web on the title page signifying patience; the moon moving through the night sky to show the passing of time; the bent floor boards in the kitchen which accommodate the tree trunk; plants growing out of the chimney pots; the evil face on the postage stamp; the repeated building silhouette page (the growing of the tree and then the removal of the tree); and we can see at the end people are have added flower boxes and are sharing fresh produce and games. The final small night time image on the very last page made me smile – I think if I was the book designer, I would have been tempted to use this on the final end paper.

Jess McGeachin is the author of Frankie and the Fossil; Fly (I love this book); Kind; Deep; and his latest book -  High. 

Companion books:

The Lollipop Tree

The Girl who planted Trees

The Secret Sky Garden

The Curious Garden

Thea's Tree

The Capybaras by Alfredo Soderguit translated by Elisa Amado

"A beautiful, simple, deep book about how accepting others 

can enrich us all."

The chickens are happy on the farm. Daily life is predicable and safe until ...  It is hunting season and a group of large capybaras need to find somewhere safe to live until the hunters leave. The chickens do not want these strangers to move in to their home. 

"There were lots of them, they were hairy, they were wet, they were too big. NO! There was no room for them."

The capybaras explain their perilous situation so the chickens do decide they can stay IF they follow the rules:

1. Don't make any noise
2. Don't come out of the water
3. Don't come near the food
4. Don't question the rules

The chickens do not predict, however, that their youngest chick and the youngest capybara will not follow the rules and that they become friends but this is a lucky thing because one night the vicious hunting dog arrives and the life of the little chick is threatened. When the dog is confronted by the group of huge capybaras the crisis is averted.

"Then everything changed." 

Originally published in Venezuela, this picture book is simple and fun enough for preschoolers, but could definitely be used to start some interesting conversations with older ones. The disconnect between the text and the illustrations questions the meaning of such words as “comfortable” and “dangerous”. Delightfully subversive. Kids Book a Day

This book was originally published in 2020 with the Spanish title Los Corpinchos. If you are teaching visual literacy with a group of older students or talking about book design this book would make an excellent text. The illustrations are black, white and brown with touches of red. On the page where the chickens explain "nothing out of the ordinary every happened" you need to take a close look at the farmer as he walks away from the chicken hutch. And the final page in this book has no words but is is clearly the beginning of another huge conversation between the farm animals and the capybaras. 

On its surface, Soderguit’s beguiling picture book offers a direct-enough message: find community in embracing others—even those that seem unfamiliar at first. Yet moments pop up where text and pictures seem at intentional odds, inviting readers to consider a deeper plunge. Aided by an ingenious use of the book’s gutter, the sparse text and wordless segments make this tale an unusually meditative piece of work. Similarly, the artwork shuns colour for the most part, evoking a muted spirit of optimism.  Purely exquisite. Kirkus Star review

Profound and remarkable. Waking Brain Cells

The Capbaras is published by Greystone Kids in Vancouver, Canada and it is an Aldana Libros book: Aldana Libros is an imprint of Greystone Kids that was developed by renowned children’s publisher Patricia Aldana to bring outstanding books to the English-speaking market, by international authors and illustrators who want to communicate their own cultural realities.    

I suggest this book would be an excellent one to purchase for your school library and I am so pleased it has a reasonable price at around $25 for the hardcover. If you speak Spanish take a look at this video and if you don't speak Spanish take a look to see inside this book. And here is another reading on vimeo. Read more about this production here. 

The Hans Christian Andersen nominee Ivar Da Coll from Colombia and Venezuela also has a series of picture books featuring a capybara character called Chigüiro and you can read more about Capybaras in this non fiction book:

We have a new picture book here in Australia - Egg by Claire Atkins published by University of Queensland Press - and this book would be the perfect book to read alongside The Capybaras. 

Read a review of Egg in Reading Time. And this piece from Paperbark Words and Joy Lawn. 

Alfredo Soderguit has illustrated over forty book. The Capybaras is the second book he has written and illustrated. I love seeing books from around the world. Here is the German edition of The Capybaras:

The Station Mouse by Meg McLaren

Publisher Blurb: Maurice is the Station Mouse, and so he must follow The Station Mouse Handbook:

Rule 1: A Station Mouse must remain unseen.

Rule 2: A Station Mouse must never go out in the daytime.

Rule 3: A Station Mouse must never approach the passengers.

Now, there's a reason why these rules exist: people do not like mice. And if Maurice breaks the rules, even to help a little boy who has lost something very important, there's going to be a price to pay…

This book has a delightful story and sweet illustrations filled with funny little details. Look for the book covers with titles such as 'Little Mouse on the Prairie"; "Of mice and Men pocket edition"; "Les Mouseables".  

Meg McLaren just keeps on getting better and better; this is my favourite of her stories so far. There are quirky little jokes, both visual and verbal wherever you look – even on the back cover. As well as creating superb characters, there’s an impressive sensitivity about everything she draws and she has an amazing eye for detail. Red Reading Hub

I would pair this book with:

The Lost Property Office

The library I visit each week adds small stickers to the front covers of their books showing the awards a book may have won. I find this quite delightful and often intriguing. Many school libraries would not have time to do this but as a library user I really appreciate seeing the myriad of awards awarded to children's books by different organisations around the world. Here are a few:

One of these awards, which is a new discovery for me, is the Bookbug Picture Book Prize.

The Bookbug Picture Book Prize celebrates Scottish picture books and encourages reading for pleasure. ... A free copy of each of the three books on the shortlist (are) gifted to every Primary child in the Bookbug P1 Family Bag. The winner of The Bookbug Picture Book Prize (us) chosen by children across Scotland, aged between three and seven years old, who vote for their favourite book through their class or at home.

Established in 2010, this is the eleventh year of Bookbug bags being distributed to children across Scotland. The selection of books is a year-long and robust process with an independent panel of experts shortlisting books for each of the Bookbug bags. For the P1 bag, the panel is made of up primary 1 teachers with extensive experience of working with this age group, a children’s librarian, children’s bookseller, parent and Bookbug coordinator, as well as experts from Scottish Book Trust’s Early Years team.  Panel members are asked to select books that will provide reading for pleasure while also being suitable for the age range.  Following the face to face panel, workshops take place in school classrooms across Scotland. This gives more primary 1 teachers and lots of children the opportunity to share valuable feedback on four shortlisted books to determine the final selection. Bookbug bags are then distributed through schools during Book Week Scotland in November. We do our best to ensure there is enough variety across the three shortlisted titles ​for every child to find a story they can engage with, have fun reading and enjoy.

The Station Mouse won the Bookbug Picture Book Prize in 2020. You can see other short listed books and winners here. 

Here are the short listed books and winner (This is a dog) from 2021:

The Ricker Racker Club by Patrick Guest illustrated by Nathaniel Eckstrom

Rules of the Ricker Racker Club

1. Be a boy
2. Girls can join but only on Tuesdays
3. Do something incredibly brave or kind at least once a week

Brothers Max and Ollie invent their club, the rules, the secret handshake, password and mascot - a turtle named Albert. 

Poppy, their sister, would like to join this club. She is a smart smart smart girl! She is just like the suffragettes of history with their slogan "Deeds not Words". Poppy watches more and more boys join the club. Each day she quietly follows rule number three. She gives her two brothers

• two scoops of her jelly and ice cream
• cleans their bedroom
• promises to eat their vegetables for a month
• and she gives them her tooth fairy money

In the fifth week Albert, the turtle mascot, wanders into danger. The five boys try to save him but it is clever Poppy who knows just what to do. Poppy does something incredibly brave. At last the boys can see Poppy should join their club - they even make her their Queen.

I don't know how I missed this Australian children's picture book in 2016. Sadly this book is now out of print but I am sure it will be found in many Australian primary school libraries. I wonder why it was not included in the CBCA Notables of 2017 and from there the short list? Yes it is that good.

I love that this tale has an olden-day feel to it--of outdoor adventure and acts of bravery and excitement … Kids Book Review

So much to like in this book; the rhythm of the text, the bountiful illustrations, the well defined characters and the strong messages of acceptance and empathy. Reading Time

Lamont have written a set of teachers notes. If you have a Story Box library subscription you can view the whole book. You can see other books illustrated by Nathaniel Eckstrom here.

The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Lowen draws cartoons. With a lot of practice he has become very skilled. He and his family live in a city apartment building. Across the hall lives a younger boy called Abe.  Abe likes to visit Lowen and watch him draw. Abe always has lots of questions and comments and suggestions but often Lowen just wants to get on with his work - alone! Lowen knows Abe loves twizzlers. Lowen gives Abe some money and tells him to go to the store and buy some. Abe is gone for a long time then Lowen's mum arrives with the utterly shocking news that Abe has been shot and killed.

Lowen is wracked with grief. He sees an advertisement for one dollar houses in a little town called Millville. The town are selling five rundown houses for one dollar each as a way to boost their falling school enrollments and as a way to add players to the various sport teams in the town.

"It seemed like a way out. If they moved, he wouldn't have to walk past the Siskins' door every day. He would no longer be tricked into thinking that Abe was going to pop out at any minute. He would no longer have to hear Mrs Siskin crying."

Dad is keen to move because he is training to be a doctor and wants to help people in less affluent areas. Mum is keen to move because she has a dream of opening a restaurant to sell Cornish pasties. Clem is open to the idea of moving because he loves sports and he thinks in this small town he can rise to be a star. Anneth, Lowen's sister, does not want to move. She will miss her friends and shops and social life.

The family make the move knowing there are conditions. After all how can a house only cost one dollar? How will the community receive them? Will Lowen ever recover? Can he take a risk and make new friends?

The house:

"The kitchen cabinets had doors, but they were ill-fitting, crooked. Two of the cupboard doors had come off ... the floor was a patchwork of bare wood and linoleum. ... They passed through the dining room, which had water spots on the ceiling and floor ... the bathroom had black grunge growing on the walls, and several of the shower tiles had fallen off."

The town:

"What was the word Lowen was looking for? Downtroddenness. Former stores and businesses were boarded up. And even those still in business ... were all in desperate need of paint. The spotty patches of grass in front of the stores needed mowing; the garbage needed picking up."

The mill:

"This spot afforded them the best view of the mill, or what used to be a mill. Here again, what had looked so proud and shiny on the website now looked decrepit. It was an enormous tangle of boxy structures, pipes, and vaporless smokestacks - a breathless giant."

Early one evening this week I picked up The Dollar Kids intending to read a chapter or two. I ended up reading late into the night and then I finished the whole book (400 pages) by mid morning.  This book engulfed me.

Here is an example of the graphic novel  pages by Ryan Andrews which appear in this book. I hesitate to call it a graphic novel because less than 20 pages use this format.

Jacobson insightfully examines the dynamics of small-town life and strategies for revitalization as well as the landscape of Lowen’s complex grief and survivor’s guilt. The story incorporates Lowen’s graphic-novel panels contemplating his feelings about his deceased friend, Abe,whom he calls “the unseen force,” …  A rich, thoughtful exploration of individual and community resilience. Kirkus

Jacobson manages to tell an excellently nuanced story of all sorts of after-lives—after death, after failure, after loss, afterwards.Bulletin of the Centre for Children’s Books

This was a great look at a different type of life that will be new and informative for many readers. The Grovers are struggling financially, although they were doing okay in the city. The family bonding because of the move was interesting, and the reality of setting up a restaurant was fun to read. The reaction of the townspeople was also intriguing, and the story moved at a decent pace. … the story of small town life is such a fantastic one that I can't wait to hand it to my readers. Ms Yingling

If I haven't convinced you to READ THIS BOOK! then take a look at this personal insight by Jennifer on the Nerdy Book Club page.

Listen to an audio sample here.  I loved a previous book by Jennifer Richard Jacobson - Paper Things.

I would follow The Dollar Kids with Each Little bird that Sings.

The King who banned the Dark by Emily Haworth-Booth

"There was once a little boy who was afraid of the dark."

The problem is this little boy was a Prince who one day becomes the King and on that day he decides to ban the dark.  His advisors tell him the people won't understand and that they will revolt but ...

"If you make them think it's their idea ... it might work."

So the advisors spread rumors - the dark is scary, the dark is boring, the dark is stealing your money and taking your toys. The propaganda works and eventually the people themselves demand a ban on the dark. Here is a wonderful opportunity to have a deep discussion with a group of older students about the role of propaganda and the way the King manipulates his people to follow his beliefs.

The authorities achieve 24 hour sunlight by building an enormous artificial sun. Here is another opportunity for a discussion with a group of students - what will happen to the people if it is always daylight. There is no night.

At first everyone enjoys the endless days. They even make special light hats but after a day or two everyone becomes so exhausted and so a few brave souls turn off their lights.

This is not allowed. To enforce the new daylight laws the king appoints Light Inspectors. People have to pay a fine if they dare to switch off. Of course even the King cannot sleep. The advisors suggest a big party might distract the people so they plan for a giant fireworks display.

"But the people weren't as silly as the King's advisors thought they were. Whisper by whisper they hatched their own plan."

I think you will have made the connection here - fireworks need darkness. The people unite and everyone turns off their lights and some daring citizens climb a wall and switch off the artificial sun.

"The sky went dark. The King shuddered.
'We must turn the sun back on, Your Majesty!' shouted the advisors. 'We must crush the upsrising! We must punish the people!"

I will leave you to read this book to discover what happens next.

Take a look at this review from The Bottom Shelf.

Emily Haworth-Booth has created a bit of a masterpiece here:an intriguing and compelling story that is complimented by delightful illustrations. Little Parachutes

This is a really fantastic and original story, that offers a fantastic moral lesson about balancing things out - after all how can we appreciate the light without darkness and vice versa? ReaditDaddy

You can see some of the preliminary drawings by Emily Haworth-Booth on the Klaus Flugge web site.

For younger students I would pair this book with The Emperor who Hated Yellow by Jim Edmiston.

Sonam and the Silence by Eddie Ayres illustrated by Ronak Taher

Powerful, emotional and stunningly beautiful. 

A picture book not easily forgotten.  Kids' Book Review

Music is forbidden, but that's when we need it most. 

But you can only hear music if you listen 

with all your heart. page 10

I am going to begin talking about this book by focusing on the musical instrument played by Sonam. There are much deeper themes in this book but I was so interested to make some discoveries about the rubab.  At the back of Sonam and the Silence book Eddie Ayres, who works for ABC Radio, says:

"Just think, without the rubab we wouldn't have the violin."

These words lingered with me long after reading this book, as did many other aspects of this moving and important story.

I have done a little preliminary research about the rubab. First off there are a few different spellings depending on where the instrument is found - rubab, rabab and rebab. The instrument that predates our modern violin was played with a bow. You can see it in action here. The original rubab comes from Afghanistan, it is a lute-like instrument and the word rebab means "played with a bow."

Music is all around us in the modern world. In supermarkets, in cars, through headphones on a bus, at concerts and in homes but in Afghanistan in from 1996 until 2002 music was prohibited. Eddie Ayres arrived in Kabul in 2015 to work at the National School of Music. This story of Sonam and her discovery of the power of music was inspired by his real life viola student.

When Sonam turns seven she must cover her hair and go off to work selling chewing gum to people travelling in cars. These are dangerous and desperate times. The market place is loud and noisy but amid all this Sonam hears a sound "that seems to come from the trees, from the earth, from the heart. A whisper."  She follows the thread of sound and finds an old man sitting under some trees - pomegranate and mulberry trees. In his hands he is holding a rubab.

"Music. This is what nobody in her country is allowed to hear. This sound which makes Sonam feel she is both up amongst the stars and deeper than than the tree roots, this is music."

The old man gives Sonam the instrument he played as a child. It is carved from a single piece of mulberry wood. Hearing the music, playing the music, gives Sonam hope and happiness but this is short lived. Her brother discovers her secret. He needs to protect Sonam. He takes away her rubab and forbids her to sing or hum. Sonam has lost her protection from the world. She becomes sad and withdrawn. Finally she decides to go back to the garden where she met the old man. He is gone but there is a  piece of fruit on the pomegranate tree. She gathers the seeds and goes home to plant them. Digging in her own yard she makes an amazing discovery. There is a wooden box hidden under the earth. It is her rubab.

I have found two very different sets of teachers notes for this book. Both are well worth exploring and will give you deeper insights into the themes and illustrations in Sonam and the Silence.

• Allen and Unwin notes
• Children's Books Daily notes

Magpies magazine volume 34, issue 1, March 2019 contains a wonderful interview with Eddie Ayres and Ronak Taher by Joy lawn. I was amazed to discover Eddie and Ronak have never met although did extensively collaborate on this book. Sonam and the Silence is an important book and an emotional and uplifting story. This book is one of the twenty CBCA Picture book of the Year Notable titles for 2019. Surely it must be selected for the CBCA Short list (announced 26th March). I would share this book with a group of older Primary students but it is included on the Grades 3 and 4 Premier's Reading Challenge list.

There is also an iTunes ebook version of Sonam and the Silence.

You could follow Sonam and the Silence with Ada's Violin by Susan Hood, Silence by Lemniscates or for an older class The Red Piano by Andre Leblanc.

Image source: https://glamadelaide.com.au/book-review-sonam-and-the-silence-by-eddie-ayers/

Strictly no elephants by Lisa Mantchev illustrated by Taeeun Yoo

I remember years ago we had a little book in our library called But No Elephants.   Reading Strictly no Elephants tonight I thought about this older book.  I also remembered a little junior chapter book called The pocket Elephant by Catherine Sefton.

All three books deal with the unlikely, but somehow delightful idea, of having an elephant as a pet and even better having an elephant as a friend.

A young boy has a pet elephant.  It is the day for a meeting of the Pet Club at Number 17. Sadly when the boy and his elephant arrive there is a sign on the door "Strictly No Elephants."  As they travel home they meet a girl with a pet skunk.  The pet club members also don't want to play with skunks even though this little skunk does not stink.

The solution - start your own pet club with a sign that says All Are Welcome.  And yes they all come. Such a variety of animals and their friends meeting in a wonderful tree house.

I love this line from the book which comes as the boy and elephant make their journey to the club meeting :

"He doesn't like the cracks in the sidewalk much.  I always go back and help him over. That's what friends do : lift each other over the cracks."

That's what friends do is a repeated refrain in this story which is about so much more than having an elephant as a pet.

There is even a song to go with this joyous book.  Here is a reading of the whole book.

Sweet and affirming. Kirkus

In “Strictly No Elephants,” a sunny, smart, tongue-in-cheek tale written by Lisa Mantchev, friendships are born out of mutual respect for the idiosyncratic choices of others.  New York Times

I absolutely adored seeing all the non-traditional pets. But my favorite part is the HEART of this book about fitting in. It’s a theme that any aged reader can relate too.   Nerdy Book Club

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

"Alice plucked a tulip from her pocket and bit off the top. She felt the petals pressing against her tongue; she could taste the velvet, the magenta of it all. She closed her eyes and licked her lips before biting in the stem. Not quite green but brighter, more vibrant; there was a song in that colour and she could feel it singing inside of her."

As the cover suggests this is a fantasy book and I think it is one fans of this genre will enjoy but you do need reading stamina.  If you loved the imaginative journey in The Phantom Tollbooth then this is also the book for you. On the down side this is a very long book (400 pages) and I did take more than a week to read it.  There are moments of delightful storytelling but I did want the action to move along a little more quickly.  When Oliver declares "We are currently at the entry of Slumber, which is just one of the sixty-eight villages we must travel through, and each village has its own very specific rules. We cannot break a single one if we are to find your father." My heart sank.  Sixty-eight villages.  I was not sure I had the fortitude to withstand the vagaries of so many different places and their different and hazardous rules.

The sentences I quoted at the beginning of this review come from very early in this story.  I missed the first page accidentally but when I read about Alice eating flowers I knew this was going to be a very different book. I went back and read that Alice herself has no colour.

"But then one day they realised that their baby, the one they'd named Alice, had no pigment at all. Her hair and skin were white as milk; her heart and soul were soft as silk. ... Ferenwood had been built on colour. Bursts of it, swaths of it, depths and breadths of it."

Alice thinks her father has left the family because of her disgrace.  Her mother has become unkind and so when Oliver Newbanks tells her he knows the location of her father and that she needs to come to his rescue her adventures truly begin.  Alice does not go to all sixty-eight villages but the ones she does visit are extremely odd such as Paper where her arm is bitten off by an origami fox.

I did enjoy watching Alice grow and gain self-acceptance as this book progressed but I wanted to know a little more about Oliver - his back story and motivation. Of course the ending is a happy one as you might predict and it was perhaps a little rushed but after all the turmoil of their journey across Furthermore it was good to reach the comfort of home.

After reading Furthermore you might like to read Wolf Wilder, Firegirl and for mature readers The Thickety.

You can listen to a five minute audio sample here.


Told in rich, luscious, clever prose by an omniscient narrator whose chatty asides warn and inform, Alice’s remarkable adventure transports her across bizarre landscapes where she eventually realizes how wonderful it is to be herself and to have a friend she can trust.

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Rules has at its heart a very difficult subject – a sibling with a disability in this case autism. This, however, should not deter you from picking up this beautifully written, sensitive and humorous story.

Catherine, our narrator, is twelve and all she wants is a normal life. This seems impossible at school, at the shops, in social situations and even in her own family with a brother like David who has autism. Catherine has spent years trying to teach David the rules of life… ‘chew with your mouth closed’, ‘sometimes people laugh when they like you. But sometimes they laugh to hurt you’ and finally the most important rule of all ‘No toys in the fish tank.’

David loves the story of Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel and even though he is now too old for this story, he recites the text word for word quoting snatches of dialogue between frog and toad. The familiar words of this much-loved story are a comfort to David in this world of confusion.

Life for Catherine consists of a new and potential friend next door Kristi, the school bully Ryan who seems to be friends already with Kristi and her blossoming friendship with Jason, who is a boy locked into a wheelchair, unable to speak. It is Jason who brings a layer of real humanity and humility to this story. Catherine also has two pet guinea pigs!

While this is not a book for everyone, I really enjoyed it and would think it would appeal to students in Senior Primary classes. Other books with a similar theme in our school library include I Nigel Dorking, A corner of the Universe by Ann Martin, Wish by Felice Arena and Looking for X by Deborah Ellis.

Finally, this is another one of those books from Scholastic with extras at the back including an interview with the author.