Heartwood Hotel: Family Forever by Kallie George illustrated by Stephanie Graegin

Bookseller blurb: Everything is humming at the Heartwood Hotel one year after the forest fire. Yet Mona the mouse feels like something is missing. Something besides the Golden Acorn—a legendary treasure buried and forgotten long ago. When a stranger turns up at the Heartwood with a map, suddenly the whole forest is taking part in a big treasure hunt and the hotel’s regular activities are turned upside down. But Mona has an idea to get things back to normal: throw a surprise birthday party for Mr. Heartwood! As the Heartwood attracts treasure hunters—well-meaning and otherwise—and as Mona's best friend Tilly seems to be pulling away, Mona feels like her plans are slipping through her paws! Who will find the legendary treasure? And what if danger finds the hotel first?

Opening sentences: "It was autumn once again in Fernwood Forest, and no place was cozier than the Heartwood Hotel. A silver moon hung, thin as a whisker, above the old oak tree. Golden leaves decorated the hotel's branches, and the delicious aroma of roast acorns drifted from within."

I actually squealed when I saw a NEW Heartwood Hotel book in Canada last month. Kallie George lives in British Columbia, Canada. I grabbed it with both hands, went back to my hotel and read the whole book straight through in one huge, delicious gulp! If you have not yet discovered this sweet series quickly add them to your 'to read' or 'to borrow' list. I am sure this series will be easy to find in many school and public libraries. Kallie George creates real tension in this newest installment as we watch Mona struggling to understand why her precious friend Tilly is so distracted and where is Mr Heartwood he needs to know some of the hotel guests are acting suspiciously. 

The writing in the Heartwood Hotel books utterly delights me:

"Branch Room 22 wasn't big. ... Still, the rooms had a view of the forest and enough space for a soft grass bed and a night table. Mona could see Tilly had plumped the pillows and readied a nutshell of hot water and honey-oat soap to wash with."

"Two hedgehogs were sitting on the couch near the hearth, chatting over cups of hot honey. Other guests drifted in and out of the dining hall, along with the delicious smell of breakfast - hot buttery acorn rolls, fried thistles and mushrooms."

"The room had a bed with a moss blanket and freshly stuffed mattress, a bathroom with a hollowed-out burl for a tub, and a balcony that was discreetly hidden by branches, for safety's sake. ... There were even complimentary acorn collies on the pillow."

This newest book has a slightly larger size. The new editions, which have different covers from the original ones, match this size but if your library has the original copies the two newest books will look slightly different on your shelves. You can see other books illustrated by Stephanie Graegin here.

Now there are six books in this series (the sixth book is not yet released):

A True Home (#1)

The Greatest Gift (#2)

Better Together (#3)

Home Again (#4)

Family Forever (#5)

A Brave Beginning (#6)

Cecily Sawyer How to be a spy by Iona Rangeley illustrated by David Tazzyman

"My name is Cecily Sawyer and I'm investigating the disappearance of Emmeline and Peregrine Sawyer. I know this city's mice are being used as spies 

and I know who kidnapped my parents."

Publisher blurb: Cecily Sawyer has spent the evening in the attic, training her pet mouse, Mrs Maple-Syrup – an unusually intelligent mouse, in Cecily’s opinion – when her parents disappear. Luckily, Cecily is more than ready to investigate such a thing. She has wanted to be a spy her whole life, and has all the spy handbooks, manuals and code-cracking kits a girl could need. But soon, Cecily discovers several very strange things in her city. She’s not the only spy out there – far from it, in fact. And Mrs Maple-Syrup is not the only unusually intelligent mouse…

I am not sure if this is a book that young readers aged 9+ will stick with - it has such a large cast of characters and I found the motivations of the adults, who used to belong to one organisation but who have now formed several spy agencies, very confusing. In the end I was also a little bit lost about who were the baddies. I did admire the perseverance of young Cecily and the way she used her knowledge gained from reading a large number of books about working as a spy. It was fun to read the scene when Cecily used the telephone box to transport herself to another place - you have probably seen this in a movie or on the television program Get Smart. In fact, the slapstick style of this book reminded me of a little of that show especially all of her gadgets such as a fire shooting pen and exploding cactus plant.

The organisation names were also a little confusing:

The Espionage Collective

The Intelligent Institute of Espionage and Counterespionage

The Counter Espionage Collective

The Nightcrawler Network

The United League of Reconnaissance

Cecily's books:

Espionage for School-aged Children

The Little Girl's guide to Forging your identity

Code-Breaking for beginners

The Little girl's guide to faking your death and evading your enemies

Manipulation and Intrigue

Surveillance made simple

The Little Girl's G

Thuide to scaling buildings and crossing borders

The Little Girl's Guide to plotting, meddling and coniving

The Little Girl's Guide to infiltration of a Crime Ring

The Little Girl's Guide to Common household poisons

The Little Girl's Guide to starting fires and winning them

So you're assembling a new spy organisation: What next?

You can read story sample here. This book is the first in a planned trilogy. 

Iona Rangeley is the author of this series:

In some ways the tone and format of this book Cecily Sawyer How to be a spy reminded me of this series. These are the newer covers but I do prefer the original ones:

The Hotel Witch by Jessica Miller

A fun, whimsical tale about love, family, determination,

and the power of imagination. Reading Time

Publisher blurb: Sibyl is the apprentice hotel witch at the splendid Grand Mirror Hotel. She is busy each day drawing useful spell patterns to keep the hotel guests happy: spells to shine shoes, spells to remove dust and spells to return lost belongings like hats and gloves to their owners. But Sibyl dreams of other possibilities – wonderful possibilities like her mother returning from the Black Mountains, and like Grandma letting her draw spell patterns from the Book of Advanced and Dangerous Magic. When Grandma gets stuck in last Tuesday, somewhere on the hotel’s thirteenth floor, Sibyl is left to take charge of all the hotel magic – and to solve a mysterious and perplexing problem. Can she find a way to open the Book of Advanced and Dangerous Magic? And will it contain the spell she needs?

Have you noticed that when you read a book about a young witch you keep anticipating that all her spells will go badly wrong and end in disaster. I certainly did that in this book and yes, that does happen a couple of times, but it is in a minor way even though Sibyl is so easily distracted. I cheered when Sibyl does make her wand work in absolutely perfect ways - some small and one, almost a case of life and death when the Shadowmancer takes nearly every shadow and Sibyl is left to fight this evil woman alone. The changing descriptions of the Shadowmancer are also perfect examples of foreshadowing.

Check out this interview with Joy Lawn and Paperbark words. I think readers aged 9+ will enjoy The Hotel Witch - it has 278 pages and uses a larger font. All the extra quirky characters are fun too - Ahmed the elevator attendant, Alphonso the hotel cat and Dora the concierge not to mention the crazy hotel guests. The hotel rooms are also quirky and fun to imagine. The way Sibyl finds the right spell is a delightful detail in this story and not one I have encountered in a story previously - I will leave you to discover this for yourself. You might need to purchase your own magic wand after reading The Hotel Witch - I would certainly like one.

Jessica Miller has written a wonderful story that will keep the audience captivated and enchanted.  This novel will appeal to those lovers of fantasy and adventure. The Hotel Witch is filled with excitement and mystery, friendship, love and self-belief. Read Plus

The Hotel Witch deals with themes of family and friendships, but there is a real focus on learning to work with the things about yourself that others may deem a flaw and how to use these things in a way to benefit you so that they turn into a strength rather than a flaw. This is a lovely, magical book about overcoming obstacles and accepting yourself for who you truly are. A must read for any magic lovers out there who are looking for a bit of fun. Story Links

I picked up The Hotel witch in a school library partly because I liked the cover, I do enjoy stories set in hotels and I recognised the author name because I previously read these two:

Elizabeth and Zenobia

The Republic of Birds

The In-Between by Katie Van Heidrich

when you’re in between where you want to be and where you are, when you’re in between what you previously had and what you so desperately want to have back, when you’re in between thoughts and feelings and wonderings of what’s even okay to think and feel, when you’re in between your parents, always of the mind that you should be on one side or the other, always of the mind that you should be in one place or another, but having to straddle multiple places at once, always in the messy middle of something, perhaps currently in the messy middle of the notoriously messiest years of adolescence, trying to figure out if you want to unload your mess on your friends whose lives aren’t as messy as yours—

Katie, her mother and two siblings are forced to move from their rented apartment. They find themselves in a 'long stay' motel. There are so many issues - it is one room, one bed, one tiny bathroom and this place means Katie now lives outside her school district. It is the second semester of seventh grade for Katie and the second semester of six grade for her brother. Their little sister is in her final semester at her elementary school. 

Until now Katie has had one best friend to rely on - Mia but that has now ended. We "traded elaborate notes, mutually overjoyed that we have each other, that we aren’t alone, especially considering we are the only two Black girls in this class."

Katie and her siblings spend every second weekend with their father. Life in his home is so different but there is no way they can spend longer there because mum will never give up custody. Oddly though, even though their father does have plenty of room, the kids share a pull-out couch in the guest room and two other bedrooms remain empty upstairs. Dad has a new wife and the house is kept spotless and the cupboards are full of supplies as though they are preparing for a future crisis. (Note there is a hint that his wife was a victim of modern slavery which is why I suggest this book is for readers aged 12+).

This book is a true story - a memoir - "In the early 2000s, thirteen-year-old Katie Van Heidrich has moved more times that she can count, for as long as she can remember. There were the slow moves where you see the whole thing coming. There were the fast ones where you grab what you can in seconds. When Katie and her family come back from an out-of-town funeral, they discover their landlord has unceremoniously evicted them, forcing them to pack lightly and move quickly. They make their way to an Extended Stay America Motel, with Katie's mother promising it's temporary. Within the four walls of their new home, Katie and her siblings, Josh and Haley, try to live a normal life--all while wondering if things would be easier living with their father. Lyrical and forthcoming, Katie navigates the complexities that come with living in-between: in between homes, parents, and childhood and young adulthood, all while remaining hopeful for the future."

Which cover above do you like? There is a great lesson here you could use with your students around their preference for one cover over the other. The publisher list this book for grades 5-8 but I think it will better suit a Young Adult reader aged 12+.

The In-Between is a verse novel so these lines are set out in free verse but when I copied them from my Kindle I was unable to retain that formatting:

As we tumbled out of the Mountaineer, which seems to be on its last leg, to stretch our arms and legs, to gather fast-food wrappers and empty soda cups in gas station plastic bags, to grab our bags from the trunk and make our way upstairs and to our door, an unexplainable pit appeared in my stomach and continued to grow as we climbed the stairs. And though I couldn’t have possibly known it then, I somehow felt that we were walking into a much bigger disaster than anything we’d already managed to survive.

It’s not so much that being here is the end of the world, but somehow the thought of going to school from here, the thought of carrying out the very normal routine that is going back to school from this rather abnormal place, feels apocalyptic.

It’s a notice reminding families that it is against the law to have your child enrolled at a school they are not districted for and that proof of residence can be requested at any point during the school year.

In my opinion, there are three kinds of teachers in this world: The ones who fly by the seat of their pants, whose classrooms always smell like last-minute, frantically made copies, the ones with meticulous plans who use every last second of class as if their very lives depended on it, and the ones who are clearly recycling material they “perfected” twenty years ago, who make minimal efforts to make class interesting or fresh.

But I know better than to think their relationship is all good. After all, they’re so, so different— even beyond the obvious, with Mom being Black and Dad being white ...

I pause and consider the weight of what I’m holding. A bundle of bananas. A gallon of milk. A loaf of bread. Sandwich meat. There’s more, and these are good things, I know, but somehow this just doesn’t feel right. After all, we’re still at this hotel and Dad is still going back to his house, the one that still has the two empty, unfurnished bedrooms upstairs. Perhaps there is more to this than I can possibly understand right now. Perhaps I’m missing the bigger picture or simply wouldn’t get it.

Her mother is Black; her father is White, and her stepmother, whose English is limited, is from Thailand. As her mother bounced between jobs and states in search of new opportunities, Katie strived to support her, suppressing her own emotions. But her mother’s avoidance of the reality that she cannot provide for her children makes it increasingly difficult for Katie to remain silent about her feelings. Complex character development will engage readers, and vivid descriptions of the physical landscape bring the text to life. Van Heidrich masterfully describes her childhood emotions as well her mother’s confusing choices and mental health struggles with compassion and nuance. Stellar writing, perfect pacing, and a sophisticated treatment of universal themes make this a must-read. Kirkus Star review

There are some discussion and extension questions on the publisher webpage. 

Companion books:

Shelter

Hold Fast

Paper Things

Earlier this year our Sydney Morning Herald had a feature story in their Saturday magazine about the people who use storage facilities and their reasons for leaving their possessions in these places - sometimes for many many years. Reading this broke my heart and then when I read Katie lost all her things when no payment was made for their storage my heart broke all over again. I would love to share some quotes from this, but I do not have subscriber access.

The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo illustrated by Julia Sarda

Begin here with this audio sample from chapter one. When you listen, you will hear the delicious language choices used by master storyteller Kate DiCamillo - beguiling brilliance, the porcelain of the skink, overstuff sofas strewn with cushions of green and gold, the room was fille to overflowing with light almost as if someone were ... pouring molten gold, perpetually occupied. 

Marta and her mother live in the attic of the Hotel Balzaar.

"And on the dresser was her mother's brush, and beside that was an envelope that was stained and worn smooth from handling. Marta's mother's name was written on the envelope - Elena Buchelli. And below her name was Marta's name - Marta Buchelli. The exact words Marta's father had written on the envelope were: And Marta Buchelli too, of course. How Marta loved those words: of course. Of course."

"It had been over a year since they had heard anything from her father. In the meantime, Marta and her mother had moved from one place to another, trying to survive."

 There are hints in the story that her mother, who works as a maid, is not really allowed to have her child living with her. Her father is missing. All Marta has that worn out letter. Almost every day her mother instructs Marta:

"You must be quiet, quiet, Marta. Like a mouse. Do not let yourself me charmed ... 'Say you understand, Marta,' said her mother. 'I understand,' said Marta. But she did not understand. She did not understand at all."

Marta lives in a small world. There is their attic room and the one hundred and twenty-eight stairs, the hotel lobby with a clock that has a cat chasing a mouse and a painting which seems to have one wing that looks like an angel. The hotel doorman Norman does acknowledge and talk to Marta but the receptionist Alphonse pretends she does not exist. Then one day a mysterious guest arrives at the hotel. 

"Right before the clock struck noon, there was a commotion in the lobby. A gust of cold air entered, and with it came an old woman dressed in red - red shoes, a red hat and a red dress. She was leaning on a cane, and on her should there perched a massive green-feathered parrot."

Marta will now break all her mother's rules because the old woman, who calls herself a Countess, invites Marta to come to her room. Marta meets her parrot named Blitzkoff. The Countess says he can speak but Marta never hears him instead the Countess tells Marta a series of six stories. At first it seems these stories are unconnected, and they all seem to be unresolved, but Marta listens carefully and you, the reader, will read carefully, because there are connections that can be made here, and the final untold story will be the most important one of all. 

Readers, too, will enjoy piecing together the connections among the stories and will be encouraged to seek deeper truths about people and the world around them. ... A delightful, thoughtful escape to a magical world. Kirkus

I am not sure I would use The Hotel Balzaar for a classroom study - it feels like such a personal reading experience but if you skim through these teachers notes from the publisher you will gain more insights into the plot and you will see some of the glorious art by Julia Sarda. If you are looking for a present for a keen reader aged 9+ pop this book onto your list - the hardcover edition with a dust jacket would be a very special gift. 

The setting for this heartfelt story is not specified but it feels like a European city and a time perhaps fifty or more years ago. This is the second of a planned set of three books or novellas called Norendy Tales. I previously talked about The Puppets of Spelhorst. The third book will be released next year. I love the way each book features a different illustrator - book one Julie Morstad; book two Julia Sarda. I wonder who will illustrate the third Norendy Tale? Every school and public library should add this set of books to their collection alongside EVERY book by Kate DiCamillo (you probably already know I am a huge fan). Here is a long video interview where you can hear Kate talk about her book. Read this review.

The Puppets of Spelhorst

The Hotel Balzaar uses the Countess for her storytelling prowess, consolidating all stories into her character. The Puppets of Spelhorst, in contrast, integrates a multitude of characters to tell stories. Even with these two different story telling mechanisms, the story within a story pattern is consistent between the two Norendy Tales. Both feature a plot arc stretched out from story to story to story, all culminating in one fell swoop with heartwarming endings. This strategy is extremely tricky to execute, particularly for the short format of middle grade reading material. The ease with which DiCamillo whips out these two editions reinforces why DiCamillo is the supremely successful queen of this genre ... In both of these books the illustrations are abundant and add intrigue and depth to the telling of the story; both the narrative and the images pull equal weight. Both titles, it’s safe to say, are true reader delights. New York Journal of Books

Where will you stay?

 

I saw this fabulous idea on Instagram today from The Book Wrangler.  It would be easy to adapt this for children in your Australian library - perhaps before the next holiday period such as our end of term one break in April when families are focused on holiday destinations including holiday houses and hotels.

Books in Mike's image, which you can see here, include Anne of Green Gables; Madeline; Winnie the Pooh; The Twits; Greenglass House; The Vanderbeekers; Mercy Watson; and A series of Unfortunate events. I am in awe of the way Mike took the trouble to include an image of the house and not just a book cover. 

Image source: Instagram The Book Wrangler

If you work in a school library you will find a wealth of ideas for displays and library lessons created by Mike Rawls - The Book Wrangler.

Here are the Australian and other favourite books I would include for a display like this. I imagine you could easily copy one image from each book to make the display even better. I extended the idea to also include hotels. 

John Brown and Rose live in a such a delightful cozy cottage. 

You can type each of these titles into my search bar to read more. A few of these are very old but also very special such as View from the 32nd Floor; The naming of Tishkin Silk; and The Sea-breeze hotel. The Best Hiding Place and Farmhouse are quite new. 

The Incredible Hotel by Kate Davies illustrated by Isabelle Follath

In a hotel every staff member has an important part to play in keeping an enterprise like this running smoothly. Of course you need a hotel manager, reception staff, a chef, waiters, cleaners, a bellhop and a busboy.  Stefan works at the hotel. In the staff hierarchy, Stefan is right down the bottom. He is a kitchen porter with duties from early in the morning until very late at night such as fetch and carry; mop and chop; and endless amounts of washing up but in his heart Stefan longs to cook. While he completes his mundane tasks he dreams of making splendid cakes.

Instead every day Stefan has to make the coffee, wake up the chef, take breakfast to the Butler Mr Starch and then late into the night continue to wash piles and piles of dishes.

Then comes the big announcement. the Duchess of Delaunay is coming to the hotel. She has the power to shut down the hotel.  Everyone must work to make the hotel shine. The Duchess loves profiteroles and so Mr Starch instructs Chef Zagat to create a profiterole tower - "the tallest, creamiest, most profiteroley tower in history."

I am sure you have guessed the plot line - disaster, no tower, Stefan to the rescue!  Yes this is predicable but the truly wonderful part of this story comes from the reaction of Chef Zagat. Earlier she banished Stefan from the hotel for daring to offer help with the tower but when he arrives the next morning with his magnificent tower and saves the day, the chef acknowledges her mistake and promotes Stefan to the role of pastry chef!

We can smell the caramel flavourings and hints of lemon polish. We can imagine the silent feet, and sparkling glass. We realise the layers of people who make this hotel so esteemed. Thereafter, we are party to the reality of these people, and invest in their experience, especially that of Stefan. The message of the story is subtle and clever. What a sumptuous picture book! Bookwagon

When you read this book make sure you look for the cat and the mouse who have their own story running along side the action.

I am making a collection of international picture books published recently like this one from February this year. My friend from Kinderbookswitheverthing has supplied me with a basket full of treasures from her wonderful school library so you can expect to see many more great picture books featured here in coming days and weeks.

I do enjoy books about hotels. Here are a few I have talked about on this blog:

The Sea-breeze Hotel

Vincent and the Grandest Hotel on Earth

Tales of Mr Walker

Hotel Flamingo

Heartwood Hotel series - A true home

Eloise

I mentioned the art of Isabelle Follath in a previous post about the book Joy.

Reading The Incredible hotel might inspire you to try making profiteroles.  Here is a recipe.

Image source Great British Food Awards

Vincent and the Grandest Hotel on Earth by Lisa Nicol

"It was as if the air around the hotel was the colour of honey. 

Some dream-like brew of sunshine and hope."

Vincent inherits a shoe shine kit from his grandfather. It seems to contain magic because on the first day, when Vincent sets up his shoe shine business at the market, he is spotted by Florence and his life changes forever. Florence invites Vincent to work at her hotel - the Grandest Hotel on Earth.

Florence is eleven, like Vincent, but she has an important and demanding job. She is in charge of the Grandest Hotel on Earth. When you read about this hotel I guarantee you will be desperate to stay there. Everything is utterly amazing and wonderful.

Here are some examples:
Rooms for guests as suggested by Rupert the concierge
The Inflatable Room
The Sparkles Room
Room of the Unexpected
Winter Wonderland Room
The African sky Room
The Anti-gravity Room
Le Pomme Frites Chambre - a small sliding door in the wall opens and you are presented with hot chips over and over again!

Transport
Tiny porter ponies "no bigger than medium-sized dogs - with spectacular feathered head-dresses and rainbow tails."
Jet Pack
Llama
Hot air balloon - the best way to arrive at the hotel

Extras
Every guest is given a pocket dog - Vincent names his Min.
There is an island with a colony of sloths. Guests can attend a "find you inner sloth class" at three pm.
Bowling alley, an ice rink and a roller ring
Enjoy a room full of pillows
Hot springs and slopes to Ski
Hang gliding and parachuting

In so many ways the Grandest Hotel feels just like the magic of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but there is also a poignancy to this story.  For Florence this is the burden of running the hotel and awaiting the return of her parents. She is lonely and longs for a friend. But it is Vincent who has the most serious problems. Life at home is terribly hard. His four year old brother cannot speak and seems to constantly scream. Vincent's mother and father spend all their time coping with Thom and it is difficult for Vincent not to feel resentful. The only way to calm Thom is to play classical music. If you read this book be prepared to find musical examples such as Bach's Cello suite No.1 in G Major and Eric Satie's Gymnopedie No1. 

Can you see some links between Florence and Vincent? Yes they both need friends. Yes they both are burdened with adult responsibilities. Then we discover Florence wears beautiful emerald boots that play classical music and there are plenty of fresh eggs at the Grandest Hotel. I am sure you can see these connections too but of course things do not run entirely smoothly for Vincent. He discovers there is a room in the hotel called Mirrors of the Future. Vincent is desperate to discover the future especially in relation to Thom and his parents. Zelda (the classical pianist who entertains people inside the hotel lift) warns Vincent "we can undo some things Vincent, but we can never unsee them. Remember that."

Vincent does look in to the future room. Not just once but several times. My heart almost broke for Vincent as I watched him struggle with the impossible task, he now sets himself, of changing the future.

I have read other books about hotels but this is one of the best. If you read the Heartwood Hotel series and are ready for more advanced story then this is the book for you!

Other stories set in hotels for older readers include:

Withering-by-sea by Judith Rossell
Floors by Patrick Carman
The Fish in Room 11 by Heather Dyer
The Big Bazoohley by Peter Carey
Moles by Andrew Strong
Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Huge thanks to Beachside bookshop for my Advanced Reader Copy of Vincent and the Grandest Hotel on Earth. This book will be available from 2nd July, 2019.

I give this book five out of five stars - yes it is THAT GOOD!

"Vast and soaring, the lobby was the most magnificently beautiful room he had ever stepped foot in. It was a seamless blend of inside and outside, a treasure chest of man and Mother Nature's finest ..."

Hotel Flamingo by Alex Milway

I adore books where a mess is cleaned up. Where order is restored out of chaos. Where everyone works together to transform a house, garden or in this case a hotel.

Anna has inherited The Flamingo Hotel. Sadly its glory days are long past. A new, more glamorous, hotel has opened on Animal Boulevard. Hotel Flamingo has no guests and all the staff have left. When Anna arrives there are only two employees left - a bear called T. Bear who works as the doorman and a ring-tailed lemur called Lemmy who works on the reception desk.

There is dust and dirt everywhere. The pool is broken, the sign outside has fallen down and the manager's office is filled with so much paper Anna can't even find a desk or a seat.  Every floor is wrecked.

"The tour started on the ground floor in the lobby. There was a restaurant which was filled with old crooked tables but no chairs. Next up was the Piano Lounge, with a carpet so dizzily patterned that it made Anna's head hurt. The piano was missing three keys and was out of tune, but at least there was a piano, thought Anna."

Anna puts out an advertisement for new staff.  She takes on:

• Stella Giraffe an expert handy woman
• Madame Le Pig a world-famous chef
• Eva Koala waitress
• Squeak a old mouse who works as the bellboy
• Hilary Hippo the cleaner - she is allergic to dust and fanatical about cleaning

This new crew transform the hotel but of course a disaster might be just around the corner especially when the health inspector arrives and when you have asked a group of flamingo's to perform in the piano lounge.

Guests begin to arrive including a group of cockroaches. Just like Mona from the Heartwood Hotel, Anna welcomes all guests. Later when pool water pipes are blocked Mr Roachford and his group come to the rescue as only cockroaches can. I love the fact that the cockroaches are heroes.

Hotel Flamingo will be be available from 7th February.

I can see this book will be the beginning of a series. The  cute map at the front of the book shows Fort Rhino, Zoozoo Theme Park, Lizard Beach and LeChat Shopping Mall. Perhaps each of these will be the setting for future installments. I highly recommend Hotel Flamingo as a terrific addition for all school library collections and as a gift for a newly independent reader. For me it is a ten out of ten book!

The obvious pairing for this book is the Heartwood Hotel series by Kallie George. If the size and format of this book appeals you could also look at the Claude series by Alex T Smith, Violet and the Pearl of the Orient by Harriet Whitehorn and Mango and Bambang by Polly Faber.  Alex Milway has made a trailer celebrating the cockroaches with a fabulous song you could teach your class. Here is another trailer without the song.


It’s full of joie de vivre, and I loved its story line of a little girl who creates jobs, works hard alongside her staff, welcomes the downtrodden, and triumphs in the face of adversity. Lil Blue Bottle

The tales of Mr Walker by Jess Black illustrated by Sara Acton

Look closely you can see the full title of this book is:

The Tales of Mr Walker - a hotel dog with a nose for adventure

A hotel dog?  In 2015 a dog called Mr Walker moved into the Park Hyatt Hotel. His original training was to be a Guide Dog but later it was decided "his larger than life personality was best suited to an ambassador role, where his affectionate nature would truly be able to shine."

There are four short stories in this book which would make a perfect family or class read-aloud. As the title suggests Mr Walker does have adventures:

Story One - Mr Walker at the Park
He is so excited to be going to a park with green grass, great smells and even other dogs. He doesn't find the park but he does make lots of new friends and begins to settle into his interesting life in the busy hotel.

Story Two -  Mr Walker and the Mystery Guest
A wealthy and very demanding woman arrives at the hotel as they prepare for an important function but for Mr Walker something does not smell quite right. Mr Walker needs to stop a possible
cat-astrophe!

Story Three - Mr Walker and the Garden Surprise
Mr Walker has an important role in a surprise marriage proposal but of course things do not go as smoothly as everyone hopes and Mr Walker needs to get everyone to look up because something bad is happening on the hotel roof.

Story Four - Mr Walker finds a Home
Well we know he had a home already but by the end of this last installment he absolutely feels as though he belongs at the Park Hyatt Hotel.

Image source: https://www.cachegram.com/u/saraacton_illustration

The illustrations in this book are just perfect. Take a look at all the books illustrated by Sara Acton. 

If you are looking for other books about animals, especially dogs, Jess Black has an impressive set of titles. 

If you like the idea of living in a hotel you should look for the classic books about Eloise and her amazing life at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Another special series also based in a hotel are the Heartwood hotel books which feature a wonderful mouse called Mona.  You could also explore non fiction books about Guide Dogs such as this one by Diana Lawrenson. Since The Tales of Mr Walker was published in 2018 I am hoping it will be listed in our CBCA Notable titles which will be announced in late February. The Younger Readers section always needs books that appeal to children aged 6-8.

Heartwood Hotel: Home Again by Kallie George illustrated by Stephanie Graegin

Home Again is the final installment in the Heartwood Hotel series. There are four books about this special hotel which is located inside a huge tree. One for each season. In this final book it is high summer and bushfires are a horrifying threat in the forest.

Early in the story another mouse arrives at the Heartwood. Her name is Strawberry and she has come from the Inn Between. I love the idea of the Inn Between "only the best hotel for mice and small creatures in the village! What a wonderful idea, to repurpose the in-between floors of a house and turn them into a specialty hotel. "  The Inn Between is reminiscent of the home created by The Borrowers.

"The furniture ... was made of things she'd only heard about. Buttons and bottle caps were balanced on thimbles for tables, and there were spools of thread for chairs. Another chair was made of the top of a wooden spoon - but an enormous one."

Mona is such a special mouse. Why? Because she is motivated by kindness. An injured fox comes to the door. Everyone is afraid but it is Mona who goes outside, sees his pain and then fetches ice tea to cool his wound and pillows to make him comfortable.  When the smell of smoke threatens to ruin their staff picnic plans Mona suggests an inside picnic which is just as much fun for everyone. Finally when Mona learns, after she and Strawberry have been evacuated, that Mr Heartwood is in danger because he has stayed at the hotel planning to fight the fire single handed. Mona knows she must help him so she puts her own life in danger and rushes back through the most dangerous part of the forest ready to help save their precious hotel.

Here are some teaching ideas for all four books in this series. Take a minute to explore the web site of the illustrator Stephanie Greagin. I highly recommend this series for young readers or as a class read-aloud. It is not often that every book in a series is equally good but I can say that about each book about the Heartwood Hotel.  Wish I was the right species to stay there one day!

Image source: http://www.heartwoodhotel.com/rooms.html

Heartwood Hotel : A True Home by Kallie George illustrated by Stephanie Graegin

I am so lucky that a friend with an amazing school library is happy to loan me her books. Last week she handed me A True Home - the first book in a four book series called Heartwood Hotel. Now I know why she was smiling!  This is SOME book. I loved it from page one to page 162 and I read it all in one sitting.

A plucky mouse finds her true home in this warm, 

winning tale. Kirkus

Mona the Mouse is lost in the forest. It is cold and raining. She stumbles upon the Heartwood Hotel -

We live by "Protect and Respect",

Not by "Tooth and Claw".

The hotel owner Mr Heartwood (a badger) takes pity on this small, wet, frightened mouse and agrees she can stay and work as a maid but only for a limited time. Mona is set to work with Tilly (a squirrel). Mona tries to be friendly with Tilly but in return all she receives is criticism and her bad tempered responses. Everyone is busy at the special hotel as they prepare for the First Snow Festival but the Mona learns there is huge danger lurking close by. It looks as though the festival will need to be cancelled.

Here are some story quotes to give you a flavour of this storytelling:

"With a squeak of wonder, Mona stepping inside to warmth, light, and the delicious smell of roasted acorns.  The room was large - very large for a mouse ... Across from the door was a small hearth, unlit but decorated with a garland of colorful leaves.  A mossy rug lay in front of it ... and from the ceiling hung rings of candles, casting a soft golden glow."

"Inside was another marvelous sight, and a much more lively one! Rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, hedgehogs, birds! Even a lizard. and largest of all, a badger."

"Against one wall was a table stacked with food: mushrooms, juniper berries, licorice rots, and acorns - oh the acorns! Mashed, steamed, fried, souped ... And in the center of the table, a giant honeycomb with cups beside it to scoop out honey to drink."

"Different guests prefer different sorts of bedding. Rabbits like dried grass or oak shavings. Squirrels like crumbled leaves and twigs. Birds like nests of moss, and moles dirt and some leaves."

Right from the beginning Mona shows good sense, courage and we know coming to this hotel is not a coincidence. She has a tiny acorn case with a engraving of a heart and this same symbol is on the door of the Heartwood Hotel.

I mentioned there are four books in this series and this is to match each season.  Book One - A True Home is set during Winter.

After you read A true home click here to see the series web site.  It is a real treat. You can book in to the hotel and complete a quiz to select the perfect room. So much fun! The publisher even sent his kit to their book reviewers. Inside was grass and bedding and two tiny pillows.

If you need more plot details read this review in Quill and Quire. Here is a conversation between Kallie George and Stephanie Graegin. Three books from this series are available on iTunes. I also found a site with ideas for going beyond the book and making the little hotel with props. I would follow the Heartwood Hotel series with the Poppy books by Avi, Tumtum and Nutmeg and the Bambly Hedge books.  I am also keen to read another series by Kallie George - see picture at the end of this post.

Mona the mouse is a character who starts off feeling scared, lonely and a little insecure, and ends up finding she's brave, courageous, a good friend, and strong in knowing who she is.  Mundie Kids