Giant by Nicola Skinner illustrate by Flavia Sorrentino

Dear Child,

Having a giant as your servant is an honor.

But it is also a big responsibility.

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

turning them into stone to rebuild our island.

Sadness is not permitted at the Goodbye ceremony.

Remember: they are not your family.

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

FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT THE

GIANT MANAGEMENT COMPANY

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

Children learn the rules from a young age:

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

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

Here are a few text quotes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Starboard Kirkus Star Review; Storm Kirkus Star Review

The King with Dirty Feet by Sally Pomme Clayton illustrated by Rhiannon Sanderson

Blurb from the illustrator web page: There once was a king who hated bath time so much that he never washed. He was a very smelly king! The king finally consents to bathe in the river but no matter how clean he is, his feet stay dirty. The people sweep away all the dirt in the land - but the air is choked with dust. The dust gets washed away but now the land is flooded with water. An enormous tapestry is sewn to cover the whole kingdom but now nothing will grow on the land... What is to be done?

This book would be a wonderful read aloud for Grade One or Two in your school library and it is available in paperback for a good price.  After reading The King with Dirty Feet you could explore folktales from around the world. I found this book yesterday in a display for Diwali - the wonderful Teacher-Librarian displayed a big selection of stories from India. 

Here is her list of Indian folktales:

• The Elephant's Friend by Marcia Williams

• The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin by Betsy Bang

• No Dinner! by Jessica Souhami

• Grandma and the Great Gourd by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

• Monkey by Gerald McDermott

• The Monkey and the Crocodile by Paul Galdone

• Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

• Under the Great Plum Tree by Sufiya Ahmed

• Once a Mouse... by Marcia Brown

• Pattan's Pumpkin by Chitra Soundar

• The Elephant's Garden by Jane Ray

• Jamil's Clever Cat by Fiona French

• Manu and the Talking Fish by Roberta Arenson

• The Tiger Child by Joanna Troughton

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has a number of useful Pinterest collections:

• Pourquoi Stories
• India
• Middle Eastern Picture Books
• Asian Stories and Folktales

Image Source: Rhi Sanderson

Here is the webpage for the illustrator Rhiannon Sanderson. The King with Dirty Feet is listed for the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge K-2. Here is a teacher activity set from the publisher. IBBY UK have penned a review. 

This new version of an old story is brought to life by an acclaimed storyteller so it is easy to hear yourself reading it aloud to a captivated audience while the colourful, detailed illustrations  show a different kind of king and kingdom to challenge the stereotype. The Bottom Shelf

There’s something comforting and timeless about folktales; I love the pure simplicity of the storytelling, while the deeper meanings and lessons within the narrative are always quite profound. Folktales are not only a wonderful way to teach life lessons, but they are fabulously entertaining and a sure-fire way to ignite a love of stories in young children. Reading Time

Companion book - not a folktale and not about shoes but instead this is about not taking a bath!:

This book might also be in your library:

Post update - this week (June 2026) I listened to the Teacher-Librarian reading The King with Dirty Feet to groups of Grade 2 students. It occurred to me that The King with Dirty Feet is also a book you could use with older students prior to reading Sparrow Girl as a way to initiate a discussion about consequences.

Sparrow Girl

Littlelight by Kelly Canby

apoplectic

When you read this book to a group of children everyone will learn a new word: apoplectic. It means overcome with anger or furious. 

In this book we meet the people of Littlelight.  Lets think about that name - they don't live in the light - their town feels like the Dark Ages with no access to rich language, off beat music, and interesting books.  Littlelight is grey place surrounded by high walls. The Mayor loves his high walls because they give him power over his citizens. On the other side of these walls - north, south, east and west, there are people who enjoy delicious foods, they dance to their own music, the speak different languages and they read books! As the illustrations clearly show these other people have colour in their lives.

In the tradition of The Emperor's new Clothes, it takes the action of one small child to reveal the truth. One by one a small girl removes bricks from the high walls surrounding the town. Going back to the word apoplectic the Mayor is now very mad in fact he is furious. He seems to convince the town's people that the small girl has committed an horrendous crime. But then the people remember their delight as they discovered the different foods, music, words and stories. 

"The people of Littlelight looked around their town, now full of colour and light and wondered what, exactly, they were meant to be angry about."

They do still have a problem with their Mayor (read dictator) but the ingenious people of the town solve this issue in a most satisfying way.

'This little book packs some serious themes about keeping an open mind, staying connected, limiting elected authority, and the power of one person to make a positive difference.' Magpies

Kelly Canby lives in Western Australia. Here are a set of teaching notes to use with Littlelight. See inside the book here.  This is one of those wonderful picture books you could share with young children and then explore in an entirely different way with a senior Primary group. Think about themes of control; intellectual freedom; misuse of power; conflict resolution; and propaganda. You might also have some fun with fluro paints. 

You could compare this book with:

The Wall in the Middle of this Book

Little Mouse and the Red Wall

Suri's Wall - perfect for an older group

Tillie and the Wall

The King who Banned the Dark

The Book Tree

Here are two previous books by Kelly Canby:

The Book Tree by Paul Czajak illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh

Nestled in the branches of a tree, Arlo opened his book and breathed in.
Beginnings were always the best part. They smelled as if anything were possible.

Contrast this with the words of the mayor:

Books are dangerous! I don't trust them. 
They act like seeds, which grow into ideas, and ideas turn into questions.

What happened? Well a book fell on the mayor's head. So now he aims to remove all books from his jurisdiction.  Every book in every library, every house, every shop.  All are destroyed - ripped into tiny shreds. Only one single page survives blown on the wind before landing in the mud.

Without books the world becomes a dismal place. No story time at school. No recipe books for restaurants. No theatre because there are no plays. Arlo needs to solve this problem. He draws some words into the dirt and bingo he realises he can write new books! He writes about giants, dragons, a magical swan and as he reads his stories aloud a sprout comes up - it is in the place where that one page was buried. The sprout grows into a magnificent tree filled with books. Unfortunately the Mayor walks past again and another book hits him on the head. He is furious and once again plans to destroy all the books but Arlo stops him. Arlo points out all the benefits of books in their town. Five star restaurants and theatre performances. And the mayor himself starts to read a wonderful book which captures his attention and delights him.

"Books did all of this?' the mayor asked, astonished.
'No' Arlo said, as he handed the mayor a freshly picked story. 'The book was just the seed."

An excuse for Czajak to share his love of books with children, this story’s optimistic view of creativity and resistance is fairly irresistible. Kirkus

The Book Tree eloquently captures society today,making it a cautionary tale as much as it’s an inspirational one. Rashin Kheiriyeh’s oil paint and collage artwork gives a lovely crispness to the work,and brings the books to life by making them stand out against the page. Mom Read it


I have said this before but there are some publishers of children's books who always deliver quality titles - Walker Books (Candlewick US), Nosy Crow, Gecko Press, North South, Andersen Press, Tundra Books, Tiny Owl, The Chicken House, Kids Can Press, Flying Eye, David Fickling Press, Lantana, and Barefoot Books - the publisher of The Book Tree.

You can see the book trailer on the publisher web page. Here is the web site for Paul Czajak and one for Rashin Kheiriyeh. You can hear Rashin talking about her work here. She has published over 70 books for children. There are some discussion questions for The Book Tree here.

I would pair The Book Tree with The Greatest Treasure of Charlemagne the King.

The girl who stole an elephant by Nizrana Farook

Chaya is a thief but she is a thief with a purpose and a good heart. She does not take things for herself she simply wants to help the people in her village - Serendib (Sri Lanka). Her friend Vijay has been attacked by a crocodile. Money is urgently needed so his leg can be saved so Chaya has taken valuable jewels from the Queen's bedside table and now she is on the run.

She tries to hide the jewels in a box made by her friend Neel. The box has a hidden compartment and this seems like the perfect plan but on that same day a young girl called Nour has convinced her wealthy father to purchase this box.  Now Chaya needs to steal it back. She takes the box but finds it is empty. Noor has kept the jewels.

Now the three children are thrown together as they are chased through the jungle riding on the back of the King's elephant which Chaya has also stolen. Near the end of their action packed and thrilling journey they make an amazing discovery about their tyrant King and discover a way the people in their village can enjoy a life with freedom and dignity.

This story has a great pace and strong sense of place and justice.

With themes of morality, friendship, teamwork and loyalty,this book will have wide appeal to middle grade readers as it incorporates tension and jeopardy in an exciting coming-of-age adventure. Book Trust

There are brushes with death, but great camaraderie too and it all ends with a much-needed righting of wrongs. Great stuff! LoveReading4Kids

I spent the entire book focused on the plot and the action,almost subliminally assimilating the smells, sights and sounds of each of the different settings. Madge Reviews

You can read the first 16 pages of this novel on the Nosy Crow page.  On this same link you can hear an audio extract.

I would pair The girl who stole an elephant with Tua and the Elephant for a younger audience or Lizard's Tale for an older audience.

Louis I King of the Sheep Olivier Tallec

Louis finds a crown and declares he is the king! On the title page he appears in his ermine cape with a scepter (tree branch). He sits on his throne (low fork of a tree) and observes his subjects. He dispenses justice, makes speeches, and goes hunting. King Louis I decides he should hunt lions but "since there were no lions in his kingdom, he would have them brought to him for his pleasure." 

Echoing Louis XIV of France,  Louis I lives in a grand place and his worker sheep tend his magnificent royal gardens which contain statues of Louis I and topiary forms in his image. He even meets with ambassadors from other lands (moose, penguin, tapir and raccoon). Louis I has now become a dictator - he orders his people to march behind him "in sheep step".

Then we come to the most chilling page of all:

"Next, Louis I decided that only the sheep who resembled him could live at his side. The others must be driven out."

Thank goodness at this point it is another windy day and his crown blows away. Oh no wait til you see where in lands!

The publisher and most reviewers list this as a picture book for young children but I think the audience that will really appreciate the power and leadership commentary afforded by the story should be much older children in senior classes aged 10+. Louis I King of the Sheep was originally published in French (2014 English Edition 2015 Enchanted Lion Books).  I looked for some teaching notes - I am sure there would be some produced in French.  Read more about Olivier Tallec here. You could also use this book with High School students - read the review below from Brain Pickings below which mentions deeper themes such as The Holocaust.

Tallec leaves it up to readers to decide how much of Louis’power trip is imaginary, giving them plenty of details to pore over while they muse.  It’s a political education—Schoolyard Politics 101—in a picture book, one well worth having on the bookshelf. Kirkus

As Louis I rises to power by nothing more than chance, he gradually transmogrifies into an entitled and arrogant tyrant. BrainPickings

Difficult to find sweeter and more tender than a sheep, you think. And yet! Give a little bit of power (or illusion of power) to one of these harmless beings, and you will see what will happen: authoritarianism, tyranny, segregation ... Fortunately, it is always possible to get rid of a leader, but will the one that follows necessarily be better? Actua Litte

I would pair Louis I King of the sheep with these books:

Disappearing act by James Moloney

Disappearing Act.  This book has it all!  An intriguing plot.  A very recognizable Australian setting. Magic and mystery. History and flashbacks. Love and loathing. Alchemy and science. Greed and the urgent search for truth and justice.  All of this is contained in just 181 pages!

Matt Cooper finds a book in a language he does not recognize with detailed drawings showing the process for a series of magic tricks. Matt tries out the tricks, simple ones at first, and discovers he has a talent.  When he visits a city dentist with his mother he sees an old man writing phrases in chalk on the footpath.  He has no idea what this writing says but he recognizes the letters from his magic book and so he takes a piece of chalk and completes the phrase (see below).  The old man is ecstatic.  "I've waited so long - a whole lifetime."

The next chapter of Disappearing Act sees the action switch to 1946.  We meet Mattheus Coperneau, a magician who has been given the honour of presenting a special performance before the royal family of Montilagus.

"Europe is not one country, but dozens of them.  Everyone has heard of Germany and France and Italy, but if you study the map closely you will see tiny specks among the larger ones, like pebbles in a rock wall.  These countries were never important enough to deserve a king and so they make do with princes.  That's why they are called principalities."

In a grand finale to his magic show Mattheus makes the Royal Sceptre disappear.  Naturally the second half of this trick should mean the sceptre reappears to the sound of great relief and applause but on this occasion the trick has failed and the sceptre is gone.  Magic is not to blame.  This is a crime but with no one else to accuse Mattheus is sent to the dungeon.  Chapters in this book now alternate between Australia 2011 and Montilagus in 1889.  At this earlier time Prince Edvord of Montilagus sees power coming from gold.  He enlists the help of a scientist called Joachim Tassisalus and an alchemist Augustine Rey.  Joachim knows alchemy is just trickery but the prince is determined there must be a way to turn ordinary metals into gold.

Look closely at these names Matthew Cooper and Mattheus Coperneau.  The story of Joachim and his love of Princess Agneta is also linked with Matthew Cooper but I don't want to go into these details and spoil the terrific twist at the end of this complex and highly rewarding read.

I will make one of my predictions that this book will be short listed for our CBCA awards in 2015. I do hope I am right!

Here is a set of teaching notes.  If you enjoy this book you might also look for The book without Words by Avi,   This book also reminded me of The Medici Curse. You can read more about James Moloney here.

Only the heart knows magic is real.