Bye Bye Baby by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Do you remember the little book called "Are you my mother?" by PD Eastman? Every young child knows the baby bird will find his mum of course but the real fun comes from all the odd characters he encounters along the way.

This is exactly the premise of Bye Bye Baby. Our little hero has lost (or misplaced) his mother. Along the way he meets a cat, a teddy, a clockwork hen and an old uncle. All join him on his quest until disaster strikes. The baby crumples into a heap and calls out "I want my mummy!" At that very moment a mummy appears from around the corner and she is pushing a pram. With the rain falling everyone travels home to enjoy a warm bath, a dry nappy and a pot of tea with a ginger biscuit.

As they all sit by the fire the old uncle begins to read a story. "There was once a baby who had no ... daddy!" And off we go again.

The illustrations are so special. You can feel the cold of the rain, the roughness of the pavement and the warmth of home along with all the lovely little details that Janet Ahlberg adds to her scenes just like the ones in The Jolly Postman, Peepo and The baby's catalogue.

This joyous picture book should be shared over and over again with your little baby. The lines that match with the cover illustration are delightful : "There was once a baby who had no mummy. This baby lived in a little house all by himself. He fed himself and bathed himself. He even changed his own nappy." I do fear this book might be out of print but look in your library today you are sure to find it. My favourite character is the clockwork hen (cluck)! I also love the subtitle "A sad story with a happy ending."

Frindle by Andrew Clements illustrated by Brian Selznick

There are some books that I talk to students and teachers about every year or perhaps even every week! One of these is Frindle. As I have now said goodbye to my school library for a whole year I am working my way along my own home library shelves and last night I picked up this old favourite.

Surprisingly I have only read this outstanding book once but my memories of the teacher, the classroom, Nick the hero and of course the heartwarming ending have are still so vivid even after fifteen years.

Chapter two opens with the ominous words “Fifth grade was different. That was the year to get ready for middle school. Fifth grade meant passing classes. It meant no morning recess. It meant real letter grades on your report cards. But most of all it meant Mrs. Granger.”

Let’s begin with Mrs Granger. Just like my third grade teacher, Mrs Granger has two outfits – one is gray, one is blue. She never wears pants and even when the weather is extreme she does not sweat but it is her eyes that I especially love. “She was small as teachers go… but Mrs. Granger seemed like a giant. It was her eyes that did it. They were dark grey, and if she turned them on full power, they could make you feel like a speck of dust.”

Andrew Clements clearly loves Mrs. Granger and when he describes her reactions to the ‘war’ between this special teacher and Nick, it is her eyes that give the reader a real insight into what might unfold.

Mrs. Granger is a huge fan of the dictionary. Not as a book but as a place to expand our knowledge of words. As is often the way with my reading this has a link with my real life. Over the Summer I clipped a newspaper column about words from the Sydney Morning Herald by David Astle. He challenges his readers to gain a word each week (Oxford or Wordsmith).

When Nick tries to distract Mrs. Granger by asking where DO all the words come from, he does not expect to land himself a homework assignment. He does manage to sidetrack the next lesson with his oral presentation, but this is just the beginning of the battle. Nick is an ideas person and this idea seems brilliant. Invent a new word. The new word is Frindle. It is not in the dictionary (yet!) and so Nick finds himself going head-to-head with the formidable Mrs. Granger but along the way he will learn quite a lot about himself, discover new loyalties including the loyalty of his parents, gain a better understanding of the power of words, and he will even begin to realize the news media can have a huge impact on our lives.

If you have been reading my blog you will know I am a huge fan of Andrew Clements. One more coincidence. I saw the movie Hugo based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret last week – the author/illustrator Brian Selznick did the artwork in Frindle – I like connections like this. It is also quite odd and yet very exciting to discover Frindle warrants its own entry in Wikipedia. I will admit that when I finished reading Frindle last night I almost reached for my newest dictionary just to see if it contained this memorable word!

City of Lies The Keepers Book Two by Lian Tanner

How do you feel about trilogies and quartets? Ever since Harry Potter it seems so many authors feel compelled to write Book One, Book Two, Book Three and so on. In some cases the second book can be disappointing, so I have been holding on to this book, City of Lies, The Keepers Book Two, for about five weeks. I was very keen to revisit the world of Goldie Roth and her friend Toadspit but I was fearful of being disappointed.

Let me tell you right now this second book is even better than the first. I adore Goldie Roth. She is such a strong girl with a warm heart and an indomitable spirit.

When we left The Museum of Thieves Goldie had been asked to become the Fifth Keeper of the Museum of Dunt but this seems impossible after the hardships endured by her loving parents. Goldie sets out one evening to visit the museum to explain that she cannot become the fifth keeper. She is joined by her friend Toadspit and his sister Bonnie but a short distance into their journey Bonnie is kidnapped. This is not a random incident but part of a huge plan by the dreaded Fugleman as he plots to regain power in Jewel.

Lian Tanner has created an entire world in her book so vividly that the reader is swept up into the dangers, smells, and strange customs. Corruption and deception abound.

There were so many parts of this story that I enjoyed. The food of course. There is a scene when people throw food at a band of musicians including sausages, cheese, pies, a goose, cakes, oranges and a leg of roast mutton. “The meat was still hot and dripping with rosemary and olive oil. It smelt better than anything Goldie had ever smelled in her life.”

I also love the voice Goldie hears in her head. Advice, as a reader you know she must follow, but which she sometimes ignores at her peril. For me this gives the book an element of reader participation as I found myself ‘talking to Goldie’ urging her to listen.

Lian Tanner introduces an important new character in this book. A young boy called Mouse who is unable to speak. He tells fortunes using twelve mice who deliver scraps of paper that the boy assembles into a message. This idea seems so inventive. As does the idea of the ‘Imitation of Nothingness’ that Goldie and Toadspit used in the first book and now use again to save the life of Mouse when Cord, a mercenary, threats to throw the little boy to the sharks. There are times when I would like this skill. “I am nothing. I am the wind in the rigging… I am the smell of the sea. I am the taste of salt water… I am nothing. I am the memory of nothing. I am the smell and taste of nothing.”

The plot for this book is so rich and complex I know I have not told you even a tiny fraction of it. All I can say is grab this book quickly and read it. You will not be disappointed. Also take a look at the web site which adds to the richness of this series. One thing I have not talked about is the title. Lies play a central role in this story and the way these lies help Goldie and her friends is another wonderful aspect of this highly imaginative narrative.

Here is a great idea. Lian Tanner has a link on her web site of other books you might enjoy. I have read nearly all of them and thoroughly agree with her choices. You might also enjoy The rescue of Princess Althena by Kathryn England, the Bartlett series by Odo Hirsch, Sun Sword Trilogy by Belinda Murrell or the Percy Jackson books.

Twenty Thousand hits

Just wanted to say thank you for reading my blog - whoever you are?

Today I passed twenty thousand hits.
I started this blog in 2008 but I wish I had begun it so much earlier.
Why I love blogging about children's books :

It helps me to clarify my thoughts

It is so exciting when real authors read my comments and comment back

This is a fabulous way to keep a record of all the books I read.

I love to share books and so I now direct my students, staff and other people to my blog.

It is terrific to find all the things that relate to a book such as web sites for authors, pages of questions and videos.

With my Feedjit widget I can see that there are visitors from all around the world and this acts as a great incentive to keep blogging plus it makes me feel connected to the world and makes me proud of my little blog.

I use my blog to make other reading suggestions and this is useful for me too as I make connections between books.

I do think my critical eye has become sharper through blogging and I am certainly aware that I read in quite a different way as I think about how I might comment on a book as I am reading it.

Finally this is one way I can express my passion for all the amazing children's books available in our world today! And indirectly say thank you to their creators who have given me such riches.

I put a picture of Momo at the top of this blog because it is an allegory about time. We all need to make time for reading. I also put this because my blog is called momotimetoread!!

Thanks again for reading my blog

Momo.

The Heart of Glass book three in Tales from the Five Kingdoms by Vivian French

I am not going to write very much about The Heart of Glass Tales from the Five Kingdoms by Vivian French. If you have read the first and second books then you will already be hooked on this series and I probably do not need to convince you to read on. If you have not read the first two books you should do this before you pick up this book.

The Heart of Glass is another highly imaginative story. I marvel at the way writers like Vivian French can conjure such terrific characters, adventures and scenes.

In this third installment Marcus and Gracie have travelled to the Unreliable Forest of Flailing on a dwarf-spotting expedition. This should not be dangerous except that they have set out at a time of high activity in the dwarf world. Princess Fedora is about to marry Prince Tertius and the dwarfs have a huge order for gold. They are having some difficulty reaching this gold because time is short so the dwarfs have called on the trolls for assistance. In particular the dwarfs have called on King Thab and a bargain has been made. King Thab wants a Princess in exchange for supplying one troll as a laborer for the dwarfs. King Thab also wants power but so does Mullius Gowk who is in an Old Troll. Mullius is the last of the Old Trolls. “The High King of the Old Trolls had never known the meaning of the word mercy. He had lived for hundreds of years and had never once done a good deed. … after his death there had been stories … of his unrelenting cruelty and unceasing quest for domination.”

There is also a prophecy about power involving a Trueheart :

When Trueheart’s life in ended here
The High King’s heart will beat once more
And power come to those who reign.
A King of Kings will rule again

Trolls, dwarfs, Gracie (a Trueheart), bats, underground tunnels, greed, bargains and silly royalty are the perfect ingredients for a rollicking adventure. Good will of course triumph over evil but you will be so absorbed in the characters and twists and turns of the plot that by the end this hardly seems to matter.

As with the first two books in this series I read The Heart of Glass in just one sitting. It is good to see Vivian French has included a character list this time so you can keep track of everyone. I highly recommend this series for Middle Primary readers. Read an extract here.

Little Fur Book One from The Legend of Little Fur by Isobelle Carmody

This book has been our library shelves for quite a long time. I do recommend this series to our students from time to time but until now I had not actually read any. (I am never sure I should do this but it is impossible to read every book and I once heard Nancy Pearl say it is fine to recommend books you have not actually read yourself). By chance I found the CD of book two from this series at a sale and so today I decided to read Little Fur so A Fox called Sorrow on CD will make sense.

I love the writing of Isobelle Carmody and if you have read The Red Wind then you will be sure to make lots of connections with this earlier book Little Fur from the series The Legend of Little Fur.

From the opening lines the scene is set of a human world filled with destruction and a small forest of seven precious trees called the Old Ones. Little Fur is an elf troll and therefore of mixed blood. She is also a healer and protector of the trees. Various animals come to Little Fur for healing and she has a collection of poltices, salves and tisanes for this purpose. News reaches Little Fur that the humans are burning the trees. She realizes her precious Old Ones are in great danger. Little Fur needs to seek advice so she undertakes an extremely dangerous journey to talk with Sett Owl the wisest creature of the area. She is accompanyed by a crow and two cats. The owl advises her to find a mysterious creature living deep in a crevasse. So Little Fur has to continue her awful journey through the desolate human landscape. Making all this more difficult is Little Fur’s need to stay in contact with the earth at all times. She cannot walk on man-made surfaces like roads or concrete. Her powers and connection to the Old Ones will be lost if she breaks this contact with the earth.

I love three aspects of the story – the illustrations by Isobelle Carmody herself, the moments of extreme tension when Little Fur is attacked by dogs, trains, and trolls, and I especially like the vocabulary used by Isobelle Carmody. She certainly does not talk down to her audience with words like abide, craned, haughty, revulsion, befallen, interrogated and braided.

One of the best scenes is when Little Fur reaches the human cemetery. She has no real understanding of what she sees and cannot understand human speech but she is always in touch with the emotions of any situation. “All of the humans began to sing. The sweetness and beauty of their song took her breath away, but more than that, she was astonished to smell that, as they sang, their grief was gentled and lightened. It was as if their singing was healing them.”

Here are two quotes from newspaper reviewers which I think get close to the heart of Little Fur :

'Isobelle Carmody's Legend of Little Fur books evoke a dreamlike sense of warmth and tenderness.' Sydney Morning Herald

'Isobelle Carmody's impish, environmentally passionate character is completely convincing, taking readers into a world that's familiar, and yet in Carmody's hands, refreshingly original.' Sunday Age


Little Fur is a wonderful book. It is a fantasy but it is also a love story. Little Fur loves the Old Ones and this is what drives her desire to help her world. As in Max by Bob Graham – Little Fur is a small hero … and the world needs more of these.

There are four books in the Legend of Little Fur series and I look forward to continuing my journey knowing I am in the safe hands of a wonderful storyteller. I highly recommend Little Fur for Middle and Upper Primary readers.

Babymouse Queen of the world by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

If you love Olivia, Eloise, Junie B Jones and Billie B Brown then you must meet Babymouse. There are more than ten Babymouse graphic novels beginning with Babymouse Queen of the world! We currently have four from the series in our school library.

Babymouse is the quintessential outsider but she has big dreams. Once you realize her dreams are the pink sequences in these junior novels you will be able to sit back and enjoy the ride.

In Babymouse Queen of the world, Babymouse is desperate to be cool, to be like Felicia Furrypaws. Babymouse discovers Felicia is having a slumber party. How can Babymouse obtain an invitation? She tries food – cupcakes, she tries giving Felicia a brand new book, she tells Felicia a joke but none of these things work. Then comes the day the students need to hand in their book reports. We already know Babymouse is a keen reader, she has a huge pile of fabulous books beside her bed, she would prefer to read than do her homework and Babymouse is a library user as evidenced by her late library book which is trapped inside her locker – the door keeps getting stuck. Babymouse is faced with a dilemma similar to the one we read about in Billie B brown The second Best Friend. She can hand Felicia her book report and gain an invitation to the slumber party but what will she say to Wilson her best friend? He is expecting her to come over for a movie night.

My favourite scene in Babymouse Queen of the world is when Babymouse tries to decide what to wear to the slumber party. “She had to find the perfect outfit”. It made me think of Olivia trying on all those clothes.

I have read so many glowing reviews of the Babymouse series. The are filled with gentle humor and perfect endings. I think adults and younger readers would enjoy reading the Babymouse books together. There are so many references to movies, fairytales, everyday life and these are sure to make you smile.

My favourite in the series so far is Babymouse cupcake tycoon because it is about the library! Babymouse accidentally causes a huge flood and so all the students need to get on with some fundraising to replace the books by selling cupcakes. The student who sells the most cupcakes will win a fabulous prize. If you are interested in exploring a wide variety of advertising techniques with your students you should look no further than Babymouse Cupcake tycoon.

You can see a fabulous little video about the creators of Babymouse. Also Babymouse has a great web site but be warned the music might drive you crazy. I think students in Grades three and up will enjoy the Babymouse books. You can also read a great review here of another title from the series.