The Twin Giants by Dick King Smith illustrated by Mini Grey

This story begins on Mountain Number One.

"Once upon a time there lived two brother giants. Twin brothers, in fact, something that's rare among giants. When the first one was born, his giant father looked at the huge baby and said 'Isn't be e-nor-mous!' And when the second one arrived, his giant mother looked at the huge baby and said 'There's a-lot-ov-im!'"

This is how the boys were given their names - Lottavim (Lot) and Normus (Norm). The twins were best friends and alike in every way except when it came to food. Lottavin liked meat while Normus liked vegetables. After a wonderful childhood the boys finally reached their full height of eighteen feet. 

"It's about time I found a wife." They both said.

Now we move to Mountain Number Two and Mountain Number Three.

Lot goes to Mountain Two where he meets a giantess but sadly she is a vegetarian. On Mountain Three Norm also meets a giantess but she is a meat eater. The boys rush to swap places but because they look completely alike both giantesses say NO. 

Sadly they trudge onto Mountain Seven.

They do not want to fight over finding a wife so they head off to different sides of the mountain. Lot finds a beautiful giantess.

"She was almost as tall has him ... and her hair was corn-coloured and her eyes sea blue and her teeth pearly white. Lottavim stared at her dumbstruck". 

Georgina agrees to be his wife but what about Norm. When he sees Georgina he falls totally in love too.  Now we have a real problem. Two giants and one giantess. How can this be resolved? I am sure the happy ending will totally surprise and delight you. 

The Twin Giants will be treasured for years. It's perfect for reading to children, reading together, and then to read alone. The story, the language, everything, are perfectly pitched, and will never feel too babyish or too grown up. There's a gentle level of humour throughout (best summed up by the names of the giants), which puts a smile on everyone's face. It's a warm, cosy, and lovely book. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to love every last page of it. Highly recommended. The Book Bag

The Twin Giants was first published in 2007 so sadly it is long out of print, but you might find a copy in a library. It has been issued with three different covers. Listen to an audio sample here. I used to teach a unit of work to my Grade 4 groups about conflict resolution - this book would be a perfect one for that topic. 

Dick King-Smith served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War and afterwards spent twenty years as a farmer in Gloucestershire, the county of his birth. Many of his stories are inspired by his farming experiences. He wrote a great number of children's books, including The Sheep-Pig (winner of the Guardian Award and filmed as Babe), Harry's Mad, The Hodgeheg, Martin's Mice, The Invisible Dog, The Queen's Nose and The Crowstarver. At the British Book Awards in 1991 he was voted Children's Author of the Year. In 2009 he was made OBE for services to children's literature. Dick King-Smith died in 2011 at the age of eighty-eight. Booktrust

Eventown by Corey Ann Haydu

Elodee and Naomi are twin sisters, good friends and girls with so much in common but over the course of the next few weeks and months we watch them grow apart. The family have been living in Juniper but after a visit to Eventown they decide to move. There is a hint early on that the family need a new start, but you need to read the whole book to discover why.

Naomi is good at gymnastics and good at 'fitting in'. Elodee loves to experiment with cooking. She watches her sister and wonders why Naomi now copies the clothes and behaviours of her new friends. Why have they become so different?

Eventown is a very strange place - well as a reader you are sure to think it is strange - but it takes quite a while for Elodee to realise this. I think the turning point comes when the girls finally visit the town library. More about that in a minute. Before this scene we read that there are only three ice cream flavours which are on rotation; every garden in the town has an identical manicured yard with perfect rose bushes; there is no internet and no television; no cars; and it never rains and every day ends with a perfect sunset. In the music class at school the students only play one song - the same song - week after week and when Elodee questions this she seems to get into trouble with the teacher.

Now onto the library:

"Naomi likes books about animals and magic. I like books about people and food, so we go to the cooking section and the animal section and the fantasy section and choose titles that sound right. We have a mix of everything we love. ... We open one book each. 

I turn a page.

Then another.

Another.

Another.

They are blank.

I flip through the whole book. Every page is blank. It is a book of blank pages. A book of nothing. ... I pick up another book. Blank pages. Over a hundred of them."

Apart from all of this though, there is a deeply sinister layer to this story. Every member of the family has to go to the Welcome Centre. When Elodee has her turn, we discover this is all about telling stories - there are six stories. Your most scared moment; your most embarrassed moment; your most heartbreaking moment; your loneliest moment; your angriest moment and your most joyful moment.

BUT something goes wrong, and Elodee only tells three of her stories. AND even worse once the stories are told, the teller has no memory of them - the stories are lost forever. Why? 

Eventown is at times a heart breaking and difficult book to read. I did have to keep stopping to take a breath. I would recommend this book for mature readers aged 11+. I don't want to spoil the ending but the final reveal about why the family needed to move could worry or upset some readers. Having said that please do not skip to the end if you are reading this book - let Corey Ann Haydu take you on her compelling journey. 

Here are some text quotes to give you an idea about this story:

"I haven't thought to look around to see what else we aren't bringing, but do it now with Naomi, running from room to room to see what's left behind. Mom's not bringing her old-timey record player or all the records she's collected over the years ... She's leaving behind shelves of books and a bunch of framed photographs of the family ... She's leaving behind all our winter coats and hats and scarves, our silver sled and a painting of the sun that has been in our living room forever."

"When mum and Naomi get back from grocery shopping I get right to work, and the cooking comes easily. The instructions are clear, and following the recipe feels like a dance with the kitchen. The result is incredible. The chicken is golden brown, crispy on the outside and buttery on the inside. ... I've never made anything this delicious. ... The recipes I invented back in our old kitchen in Juniper were never like this."

"And we're hoping we can learn a little more about your life before today. Part of our welcoming you here to town is making sure you're able to start fresh here in Eventown. We want to help you say goodbye to everything that made life before hard ... "

Here are some quotes from the review by Betsy Bird for SLJ. Do click the link Besty's review is fabulous:

In Eventown by Corey Ann Haydu, you’ll find a marvelous defense of messiness, mistakes, and uncomfortable conversations. We all want to run away from our problems, but it’s like that old phrase says: Be careful what you wish for. ... Need a novel for 9-12 year olds that epitomizes the very definition of “foreshadowing”? Meet my little friend here. It knows that some of the most effective horror comes from the people we love the most. Elodee’s whole family has drunk the Eventown Kool-Aid without so much as a blink, but she doesn’t see that for a long time.

Betsy refers to this book:

Orphan Island

Publisher blurb: The world tilted for Elodee this year, and now it’s impossible for her to be the same as she was before. Not when her feelings have such a strong grip on her heart. Not when she and her twin sister, Naomi, seem to be drifting apart. So when Elodee’s mom gets a new job in Eventown, moving seems like it might just fix everything. Indeed, life in Eventown is comforting and exciting all at once. Their kitchen comes with a box of recipes for Elodee to try. Everyone takes the scenic way to school or work—past rows of rosebushes and unexpected waterfalls. On blueberry-picking field trips, every berry is perfectly ripe. Sure, there are a few odd rules, and the houses all look exactly alike, but it’s easy enough to explain—until Elodee realizes that there are only three ice cream flavors in Eventown. Ever. And they play only one song in music class. Everything may be “even” in Eventown, but is there a price to pay for perfection—and pretending?

Part mystery, part fabulism, with a dash of dystopia, this story is as layered and delicious as one of Elodee’s concoctions. At once enchanting, heart-rending, and bittersweet ... Kirkus Star review

Website for Corey Ann Haydu. I am keen to hunt out more of her books. 

Awards:

• A Kirkus Best of 2019 Selection
• A Junior Library Guild Selection
• An Amazon Best Books of the Month Selection
• A School Library Journal Best Book of 2021
• Edgar Award Nominee

Eventown reminded me of movies like The Truman Show; The Stepford wives and Pleasantville.

Companion books:

The probability of Everything

Right as Rain

The One and Only Family by Katherine Applegate

The 'voice' of Ivan as lingered with me for over 12 years since I first read The One and Only Ivan. I remember how shocked I was to discover that this story was based on a true story of a young gorilla captured in Africa, taken to America and eventually kept in a shopping mall as a curiosity.

By now Ivan has been living in a wildlife sanctuary although at the beginning of the book the only gorillas are Ivan and mate Kinyani. The other members of the troop will return but for now they have been moved while the gorilla enclosure is renovated. Kinyani seems to be putting on weight. Then their keepers give Kinyani and Ivan some toy dolls. Have you guessed - yes Ivan is about to become a dad. And if you have read the series you will know Ivan himself was a twin. Sadly his sister Tag died when the pair were first bought to the US but when this part of the story is mentioned in as a recap I was certain twins were on their way.

The aspect of this book that I truly appreciated is the way Katherine Applegate is able to, in just a few words, help the reader recall parts of the plot from the previous books. The School Library Journal reviewer agrees. 

Here are some text quotes to remind you of the way Katherine Applegate tells these stories:

"There was a time when I never dreamed I'd grow up to be a father. There was a time when I never dreamed I'd grow up to be a silverback. There was a time when I never dreamed I'd grow up at all. But the years passed and here I am. When time tells a story, surprises are the one thing you can count on."

"Though I was born in the wild, I've spent most of my life in the company of humans. The older I get the more I realise how much this has affected me. I am a gorilla, yes. But I am also something more. Or perhaps I am something less. ... But I spent almost three decades without seeing another gorilla. I lacked an instruction manual for how to be me."

"It's a baby. It's an infant gorilla. It's a son. It's my son. I let out a noise. I don't know quite what it is or what it means, but it feels like it's coming from somewhere deep inside me. ... I fall back on my rump. I stop breathing. Please, don't let me pass out. Kinyani nods, as if to say, surprise. There in the vet's arms is a second baby gorilla. A girl. Squirming and skinny and beautiful."

This newest book does not disappoint. I read the whole story in one sitting (254 pages). 

"A wonderful farewell tour for these endearing characters and the themes that they have come to embody so well: adversity, resilience, and hope." — Horn Book Magazine

This is a satisfying send off, and readers will want to reread the whole series to share the laughs and the tears surrounding this memorable band of buddies one more time. A must-read celebration of family, natural and found.  Booklist

The One and Only Family is the fourth and final book in the series that began with The One and Only Ivan winner of the Newbery Medal. The One and Only Ivan (2012); The One and Only Bob (2020); The One and Only Ruby (2023); The One and Only Family (2024). I do have to say I really prefer the original US covers.

The One and Only Ivan

When I wrote about this book I said: Books should make us feel things. Being sad is a real emotion and not one we should shy away from or avoid.  Ivan is a hero in the true sense of the word. 

He has wise words to share. At times this book feels like a verse novel.

Ivan

The One and Only Bob

The One and Only Ruby

A Secret Shared by Patricia MacLachlan

"A lie is deep and dark

tangled in my words -

my head

my heart

until truth shines it away - 

Leaving joy"

I think I would like to be part of this family. Mum writes for a newspaper each day. She aspires to be a poet but does not seem to realise, until later, that her writing is actually a form of poetry nor does she expect her readers to love her work. Dad is an art teacher and an artist. Mum has Irish heritage - her name is Una and dad has Italian heritage - his name is Giovanni Rossi or Geo for short. Ben and Nora are twins and they have a little sister named Beatrix but she is called Birdy. This story also introduces us to a wonderful teacher named Miss Schyler - the children call her the beautiful name of Miss Skylark. There is also a funny and friendly crossing supervisor named Billy.

All families have secrets I guess. If you watch those television programs such as Who do you think you are? or Long lost Family you've seen many variations on the life journeys of some children and their parents. Often these programs use DNA testing to identify connections between people and one of those tests precipitates the events of this story - A Shared Secret. Mum is keen to know about her heritage and so she has a kit. What she doesn't know is that Birdy has also spit into a tube and both these samples have been sent for testing. 

Here are a few text quotes (I read this book at midnight last night after only buying it earlier that day. 

"She is curled up with her stuffed horse sleeping peacefully. Her hair looks like gold in the nightlight. I think of Ben's dark hair, and mine."

"Until the problem is solved ... does it matter? Birdy is the sister you love."

"It's Father who has tears now. And it's Father who will help us all understand the truth about Birdy."

The Kirkus reviewer gives lots of plot details but it is a negative review. The cover is by Kenard Pak. 

I was in one of our most splendid bookstores yesterday at an event featuring Gabriel Evans. Naturally my friend and I continued to browse the shelves after the event. That is when I spied a book by Patricia MacLachlan (1938-1922) that I had not seen before. I am a HUGE FAN of her work. 

I have read so many books by Patricia MacLachlan but there are still a few I do need to find:

Kirkus review

Kirkus Star review

Singing with Elephants by Margarita Engle

 

Brilliant, joyful, and deeply moving. Kirkus Star review

Publisher blurb: Cuban-born eleven-year-old Oriol lives in Santa Barbara, California, where she struggles to belong. But most of the time that’s okay, because she enjoys helping her parents care for the many injured animals at their veterinary clinic. Then Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature moves to town, and aspiring writer Oriol finds herself opening up. And when she discovers that someone is threatening the life of a baby elephant at her parents’ clinic, Oriol is determined to take action. As she begins to create a world of words for herself, Oriol learns it will take courage and strength to do what she thinks is right—even if it means keeping secrets from those she loves.

The baby elephant mentioned in this blurb is a twin. An unscrupulous actor who seeks fame at any cost takes one of the two-week-old baby elephants away from its mother. Oriol is determined to find the baby. She feels the grief of the mother and remaining twin very deeply. Once she finds little Song (his sister is Dance) Oriol then needs to spring into action. She organises a petition and with the help of Gabriela Mistral letters are written to other famous actors and to the Humane society. There must be a way to save this tiny elephant and stop the cruel intentions which would force her to perform in unnatural ways. 

Here are a few text quotes to give you a flavour of this verse novel:

My bird name
musical and sweet,
is one I chose 
for myself, long ago, in Cuba
when I knew who I was
and how 
to speak.

ELEPHANT ANATOMY

Standing in front of Chandra

I'm stunned into silence.

Tree-root feet.

Half-moon toenails.

Map-of-India ears.

Paintbrush tail.

A snake-shaped nose

with forty-thousand

muscles.

Her fifty pound heart pulses with love

for her soon-to-be newborn.

She's been pregnant for twenty-two months,

due any day.

She needs to eat three hundred pounds of hay

every twenty-four houses.

When she moves

she's as graceful

as a swaying

ocean wave.

MY FUTURE IS BLURRY (extract)

Gabriela Mistral is right-

I cannot predict the future,

but I can imagine a time

when wild animals

are no longer held captive

My words and actions

have shown me what

is possible.

Maybe the will change

the whole world

someday.

You can read more text extracts here.

Add this book to your list of verse novels to share with young readers aged 10+ up to age 13. 

The book is rich with simple yet profound expressions of love, loss, heartache, and wholeness. As we learn along with Oriol, poetry is the soul’s way of singing, whether that soul is human or animal. This lesson becomes more apparent as Oriol’s connection to the animals she cares for grows stronger and stronger, in particular her relationship with a pregnant elephant named Chandra whose rhythmic sways and sounds remind her of poetry. Good Reads with Ronna

I met Margarita Engle at a USBBY conference a few years ago so when I saw this verse novel in The Little Bookroom (Melbourne bookstore) I grabbed it.

Have you heard of Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) - the first Latin winner of a Nobel Prize for Literature? I had not heard of her but there are details at the back of Singing with elephants along with one of her poems.

"I wanted to imagine how she might have influenced a child ... so I invented a Cuban immigrant girl who loves animals and nature as much as Mistral."

"She believed children deserved kindness, and her reforms of rural education became a model for all Latin America. At the same time she became a world-famous poet, and served as a diplomat, representing the government of Chile while living in various countries. .... (She) was an influential peace activist (and one) of the founders of the League of Nationals and later UNICEF."

Awards:

• Rhode Island 2024 Children's Book Award Nominee
• Bank Street 2023 Best Children's Books
• New York Times Best Children’s Books of 2022
• Kirkus Best Middle Grade Books 2022
• School Library Journal-26 MG Books for Latinx Heritage Month 2022
• Nerdies Award, 2022
• Cybils Award Finalist
• School Library Journal Mock Newbery Suggestions
• Kirkus Starred Review
• Junior Library Guild Selection
• New York Times review
• NPR Morning Edition interview
• Publishers Weekly starred review

Margarita Engle is the author of these (Summer Birds is a firm favourite of mine).

Foxlight by Katya Balen

"I feel like I'm looking at something I have known forever and something I don't know at all. It's like a golden thread of light is spinning out from my chest and right into the eyes of this wild creature 

and we are joined and connected by something fragile and strange and familiar. The fox is freedom."

Two babies are found in the wilderness near a home for abandoned babies. 

"Rey and I were found at foxlight. That's what Lissa tells us. Right at that very moment when quiet twilight met the dawn and the sun and the moon and the stars wove their own light together and the orange streaks of foxes could be seen brushing against the awakening sky. ... We were curled up small and quiet like question marks in a swirl of snow and orange fur and white teeth. Lissa nearly didn't see us because she wasn't looking for babies out there right at that wild untamed border."

Lissa is the gentle carer of young found children. Each of the other children has a story and each has been found with a note from their mother - all except Rey and her sister Fen (our narrator). 

On Sunday nights Zaki, Alex, Jasmine, Alice, and Robin write letters to their mothers. Lisa has given each of these children a middle name that links with the time they were found but Fen and Rey were not found with a note or keepsake from their mother. It is Lissa who names them Fen and Rey but they feel desolate every Sunday evening because they have no one to write to.

Let's just take a minute to notice these prophetic names. Rey made me think of the folktale name Reynard. And with Fen I thought of the fennec fox.

To comfort themselves the girls have created a whole imaged world featuring their mother. Every night they tell each other stories. It is a game they call "Let's play imagine". 

It seems a little bit trite to use this expression, but I thought of the words 'loose lips sink ships' when Rey and Fen overhear something said by an elderly man who visits to repair the broken fence after an attack by a fox who has killed one of their precious chickens. 

"That blinking woman used to feed them, the wild one, no shoes, wandered the wildlands with the rest of those nutters."

"There was a group of them once, load of blinking barefooters. Wilders, they called themselves. Living out there ... they thought they could bring it all back to life. Those lands been dead longer than I've been alive. ... No one comes back from the wildlands."

Go back to the quote at the top of this post. The girls, especially Fen, believe the fox can lead them to their mother. This woman described by Marl surely is their mother. The believe their mother is waiting in the wilderness for them to return. Finding their mother will give them answers to all their life questions. Taking very few supplies they set off walking into the unknown. 

This is such a different reading experience. The whole story has the feel of a fable. The name of the house hints at this:

"The house is called the Light House because it's the only flickering glow in a wild and empty land and everyone knows how to find it. Its light guides the mothers towards it so they can leave their babies safely."

The first night the sisters sleep outside and an animal, possibly the fox, ransacks their supplies. This broke my heart but then on the second night they find a small cabin. It has clearly been abandoned but it contains food, a can opener and a map! They discover that the wilderness contains many small houses or huts. 

The pace of this story is also interesting. The girls make their journey to find their longed-for mother but, apart from daily survival, there is no real urgency to their journey. I'm sure you have noticed most stories involving a journey or a quest have a layer of time - a deadline - which moves the plot along with a sense of dread that time is running out. There is no real deadline here except the girls' desperate search for answers and for the mother of their imagining. 

I also loved the way Katya Balen gave each girl a different personality - one quiet and contemplative and the other impetuous and boisterous. But then this changes and we see Rey express herself in an unexpected way. Fen finds herself alone. This was the part enjoyed because it was such an unexpected plot twist and because as twins these two girls feel like two parts of a whole. With one girl missing everything felt out of balance. I think I held my breath from pages 176 to page 212 (36 pages). 

"I feel so small and alone. There is not second heartbeat, no quiet wild sister. We have never been apart for more than minutes. I keep opening my mouth to talk to empty air. It feels like I have been ripped in two and my edges are jagged."

The writing in this book is so atmospheric. It is also interesting to think about point of view in a first-person narrative. I'm not sure I would read this book to a group of students, but it would be a beautiful one to read aloud in a family or to put into the hands of an avid reader aged 10+ especially a reader who is looking for a gentle, emotional reading experience.

Author blurb: Fen and Rey were found curled up small and tight in the fiery fur of the foxes at the very edge of the wildlands. Fen is loud and fierce and free. She feels a connection to foxes and a calling from the wild that she's desperate to return to. Rey is quiet and shy and an expert on nature. She reads about the birds, feeds the lands and nurtures the world around her. They are twin sisters. Different and the same. Separate and connected. They will always have each other, even if they don't have a mother and don't know their beginning. But they do want answers. Answers to who their mother is and where she might be. What their story is and how it began. So when a fox appears late one night at the house, Fen and Rey see it as a sign - it's here to lead them to their truth, find their real family and fill the missing piece they have felt since they were born. But the wildlands are exactly that: wild. They are wicked and cruel and brutal and this journey will be harder and more life changing than either Fen or Rey ever imagined ...

There is an almost mystical quality to this story ...  I found it compelling, and incredibly moving, and I cannot emphasise enough how utterly beautiful the writing is. ... there are no whizz-bang adventures or dramatic encounters with dangerous beasts or whatever. The challenges that face these two girls are more of their own making often, though it is true they are also battling the elements, which are truly wild and often brutal.  ... Perfectly engrossing and enchanting in equal measure.

Read October October also by Katya Balen.

October October

The Lorikeet Tree by Paul Jennings

Twins - are they always friends? Do they share interests and abilities? Not necessarily. Emily and Alex are twins but they are also very different from one another. Emily loves literature, writing and nature. She is afraid of heights. Emily anticipates consequences of the actions of others. Alex is fantastic at building and maths. He loves constructing crazy structures. He has the idea that his actions can make things change. This is an echo of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Little Match Girl. 

Five kittens are born to a feral cat under their house. Alex needs something to love. Emily knows a cat will mean trouble for the beautiful wild creatures, especially the birds, that have found refuge in the forest the family have created around their home. 

Years earlier their mother has died and now the twins have to cope with the desperately sad news that their father has an inoperable brain tumour.

The structure of this book is simply wonderful. Emily is writing a memoir as a school assignment and so each section is divided with a teacher feedback page which grades her work. The memoir format gives this book so much honesty.

This is a beautiful story told in a very unique way. ... With rich characters who reveal ALL their flaws, it’s the kind of book kids will read and remember forever. ... I am forever changed after reading it, and you will be too. Kids' Book Review

This morning I headed off to my local independent book store where I picked up a great stack of middle grade book and Young Adult. In my next post I will list all of the titles because they will be my reading for February.  

I couldn't wait to read this latest book by Australian master storyteller Paul Jennings. By coincidence I had read a review of this book this morning over breakfast also by coincidence this book was released today! As with other recent novels by Paul Jennings I was immediately engulfed in this story and yes, I read the whole book in one sitting - it felt like I stopped breathing!

Publisher blurb Allen and Unwin: A sister and brother face the hardest year of their lives and discover the healing power of nature in this compelling tale from master storyteller Paul Jennings. Emily loves the bush and the native animals on her family's reforested property, particularly the beautiful rainbow lorikeets that nest in one of the tallest trees. But then her father is diagnosed with a terminal illness, and Emily's world enters a tailspin. Her twin brother, Alex, refuses to accept the truth. His coping mechanism is to build elaborate additions to his treehouse in the superstitious belief that it will avert disaster - leaving Emily to deal with harsh reality on her own. When Alex secretly adopts a feral kitten, going against everything that's important to Emily, the siblings' emotions reach boiling point - with potentially dangerous consequences for them all. A moving story of family, loss and love, from one of Australia's most beloved storytellers.

The setting for this book is quintessentially Australian set in Warrnambool which is actually where Paul Jennings lives. But having said that I do hope this book reaches an international audience even though I imagine for the US market the book will probably be given a different title. I regularly read books set in Maine, New York, or Florida in the US and of course from many other places around the world. I think it is wonderful to read books set in other places and so I hope publishers will grab this book and make it available to readers (aged 11+) in the US, UK and beyond. Similarly readers from other countries may be unfamiliar with our lorikeet but again I am happy to read about birds we don't have here in Australia such as the hummingbird, woodpecker and chickadee. 

Image source: Moonlit Sanctuary (Victoria)

You can read more about The Lorikeet Tree on Paul Jennings web page and see the first draft of the cover (which I really like). 

Paul Jennings first wrote his short stories back in 1985 and they were splendid but if you haven't read these three more recent Paul Jennings books (yes he is famous for those terrific short stories such as the ones in the book Unreal) head out to your library now and grab them - and I do mean NOW

A Different Dog

A Different Boy

Take Two by J Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Take Two: A Celebration of Twins

This is another of the books I picked up at a recent charity book sale. As far as I can tell this book, from 2012, is still available and here in Australia. The price seems to range from around $30 up to $50. Luckily my mint condition copy, which I suspect has never even been opened, was just $1. I am excited to gift this to the mum and dad of twin girls.

I previously mentioned this book when I was talking last month about the Sydney visit by Sophie Blackall.

To those of us who are not twins, identical twins are most intriguing. I always wonder if they really have their own language and if they ever pretend to be each other? And then there is just the mere fact, identical, fraternal or sororal, it is interesting to imagine what it must be like to have a womb mate who moves on to be someone closer to you, more genetically like you than anyone else in the world and, if you are lucky, your best friend. Books for your Kids

There are 44 poems in this book organised into four categories - Twins in the waiting Womb; Twinfants; How to be One; and Famous Twins. Here are a couple that caught my eye:

Mirror Twin

I wave, you wave.

I smile, you laugh.

I wink, you blink.

You leave - I'm half.

Double Trouble

We both talk with our mouths full,

An ucky way to speak.

We both forget our lunches

At least two times a week.

We both are slow to get up,

We're late to go to bed.

we always find a reason

To stay awake instead.

There isn't any argument

That both have never tried.

But we protect each other

From anyone outside.

J Patrick Lewis is the author of over 100 books and he is a twin! Jane Yolen has nearly written nearly 400 books and 47 of them are poetry books. I imagine they had fun with their collaboration over this book and how thrilling to have Sophie Blackall as the illustrator. 

Some of these are out of print but here are some other poetry books by Jane Yolen I would like to see:

The Witch's Boy by Kelly Barnhill

 

Twins Ned and Tam decide to build a raft and head down the river to the sea. The boys are only seven years old and within minutes of the launch their raft disintegrates. Their father jumps into the river but only one twin can be saved.  The boys' mother is known as Sister Witch. She is the village healer but Tam is dead and that cannot be reversed. Hidden under the house is a jar of magic. Sister Witch does not want both of her sons to die so she invokes the magic and captures the spirit of Tam, stitching into Ned.

Ned survives the accident but he is deeply changed. He can no longer make sense of letters and writing and he suffers with a dreadful stutter. 

The family live in a small remote village located near a huge forest. People in the village believe there is nothing on the other side of the forest and that inside the forest itself there are dangerous monsters. No one dares to go there.

Meanwhile Aine and her father have moved into a remote part of this same forest. They have journeyed from the other side. Aine's mother has recently died. Her father has become almost a stranger. He wears a carved stone necklace and he is now a bandit with a huge gang of thieves under his command. Aine's father calls himself the Bandit King.

Now we need the prophecy - words uttered by Aine's dying mother:

"The wrong boy will save your life, and you will save his. And the wolf ..."

Reading a book like The Witch's Boy I just marvel at the imagination of a writer like Kelly Barnhill. My description of the plot so far only explains one of several story threads.  Click these review quotes to read more plot details then go out and find this book today! I highly recommend The Witch's Boy for all keen readers aged 10+.

The classic fantasy elements are all there, richly re-imagined, with a vivid setting, a page-turning adventure of a plot, and compelling, timeless themes. Kirkus star review

My students and I look to books to escape. We also look to books to entertain us, to keep us company, to make us laugh, to make us cry. We look to books to teach us empathy. We look to books to see others. We look to books to see ourselves. The Witch’s Boy does all of that and more. Ned and Áine’s story will be one that you will return to again and again. This is a book to treasure. Nerdy Book Club

The setting is exceptional: lush descriptions are flawlessly integrated, conveying a deep understanding of the natural world and the people, flawed and complex, who populate it.  Bulletin of the Centre for Children's Books

In 2017 I read and loved The Girl who Drank the Moon also by Kelly Barnhill so I was excited to read The Witch's Boy which is another utterly engrossing story with an absolutely perfect ending.

Catch me if I fall by Barry Jonsberg

I do enjoy dystopian stories and books that explore the idea of a stratified society and stories with twins have always fascinated me.  One of my favourite books that fits these criteria is Forbidden Memories by Jamila Gavin which is sadly long out of print. This book also made me think again about the book series The Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix which begins with Among the Hidden. In these books families are limited to two children and it is the third child who must remain hidden.

In the world of Catch me if I fall, families can only have one child unless there are twins:

"Then, about fifty years ago a law was passed that stopped any woman having more than one child."

Barry Jonsberg subtlety presents the reader with clues that we have entered the world of the future - a dystopian future damaged by climate change.

• Electricity blackouts are common as are cyclones
• Other kids in the class are fascinated by the idea of twins
• No one in the class has older brother or sisters
• Permission to play outside at school is determined by the temperature and there is a huge emphasis on applying sunscreen, wearing hats and clothing with long sleeves.
• Cars do not need human drivers
• Ashleigh and Aiden's family are incredibly rich but they grow their own food. In their house there is a library with over 12,000 books; a media room; and a huge temperature controlled swimming pool
• Books by Shaun Tan are considered "old"
• Flights across the country are regularly cancelled due to extreme weather conditions
• Only their school takes the kids to camp and the camp has armed guards and a high security fence

There are strange things going on here. Why are mum and dad so protective of the twins? What does Aiden learn from the wild girl he meets in the park? Why does Aiden need to go to a hospital clinic every few months? 

Here is the publisher blurb:

Ash and Aiden Delatour are identical twins, living a privileged lifestyle with loving parents. In a world that has fallen apart at the seams, they want for nothing. All they have to do is be there for each other, no matter what.  But after Aiden suffers a terrible injury, he isn't the same brother Ash always relied on. Something has changed, and it will lead to a discovery that will turn their whole world upside down. Allen and Unwin

I am listing this book as Young Adult. I do need to give a strong language warning. The publisher lists it as 10-14 but I am going to recommend this book for very mature readers aged 11+. The final scenes of this book are especially powerful and surprising.