The Naming of Tishkin Silk, Layla Queen of Hearts, Perry Angel's suitcase, All the colours of Paradise by Glenda Millard

There are some books where the words are like golden honey spread onto warm fresh bread. That is how I feel about all four books about the Silk family by Glenda Millard. In reading order these, almost spiritual books, are The Naming of Tishkin Silk, Layla Queen of Hearts, Perry Angel’s suitcase and the newest title All the colours of Paradise.

In The Naming of Tishkin Silk we meet Griffin. At his naming ceremony his Daddy had said “We welcome you to the Silk family and offer you the name of Griffin William Silk. May you rise up on wings as the eagle and may your heart have the courage of a lion.” Naming page 63

Griffin has five rainbow sisters- Scarlet, Indigo, Violet, Amber and Saffron. Each child in the family has a special name day book with a cover carved by their father Ben and pages of paper made by their mother Annie. Layla is a very special girl who makes friends with Griffin after his first harrowing day at school. “It wasn’t Layla’s smile or her cheerful greeting or her blue, blue eyes or even her shiny black hair that made Griffin come out from under the tree. It was the daisy chain that she wore like a crown on her head…. ‘I’m pleased to meet you Princess Layla,’ he said gravely, offering his hand to the Princess. ‘I’m Griffin Silk.’” Naming page 19, 21

Another very special character in these books is the family dog called Blue. In the second book Layla needs someone special to take for Senior Friends day. She meets Miss Amelie and Layla is able to give this elderly lady unconditional love and happiness in the last few weeks of her life. “Blue saw Layla’s distress. He moved his head, left a warm patch on the old one’s lap for her and watched the comforting begin. He knew the girl was in safe hands. The old one had a kind heart. She had rescued him at birth; unwanted, deaf and the runt of the litter, and had treated him like one of her own ever since. And his boy was a fine boy. He too had loved him from the beginning. It was no surprise to Blue when Griffin put his arms around Layla.” Layla page 84

Finally in the family we have Nell, the most magical of grandmothers and a very special little foster boy called Perry Angel.

My favourite scenes in these books are the special picnic’s and breakfasts held under the Coxon’s Orange Pippin which is an old apple tree in the garden. In All the Colours of Paradise Indigo makes the breakfast and decorations. “Indigo’s world was sensational. Hanging from the stooping boughs of the apple tress were hundreds of tiny blue and purple paper cranes. Even the tiniest puff of wind made them sway gently to and fro. From a distance they looked like butterflies.” Paradise page 74

These four little books are written for very sensitive readers. They are filled with poetic language, love, sadness, laughter, beauty and warmth. These books should never go out of print and should be read by mature readers who love fine words and aspire to live in a world like The Kingdom of Silk. If you loved Sarah Plain and Tall (Patricia MacLachlan), if you cried in Sadako and the Thousand paper cranes (Eleanor Coerr), if you treasure Hana’s suitcase (Karen Levine), if Old Pig (Margaret Wild) touched your heart then these four books, by Glenda Millard illustrated by Stephen Michael King, are meant for you.

To quote Maurice Saxby who praises The Naming of Tishkin Silk “A poetic paean of hope offering home and sanctuary to troubled souls of any age and any generation. This book nourishes the soul.”

One final quote to show the honey of this writing. This is one of my favourite descriptions : “(The Silk Road) meandered between the paddocks, a generous ribbon of gravel with a mean smear of bitumen up the middle and dribbling off the edges. Clumps of blowfly grass and scaly grey lichens trespassed undisturbed on the road’s ragged borders.” Naming page 16

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart

Here is the sequel to The mysterious Benedict Society. The book reviews quoted inside the cover of this second installment really sum up this wild adventure. “There are plenty of clever twists and hair’s-breadth escapes.” This book certainly had me on the edge of my seat several times and I needed to keep reassuring myself that these children would survive even though some of the situations seemed so utterly perilous.

Before you embark on this series take some time to explore the web site it is marvelous. I took the challenge and found out I am most like Reynie!

Another great feature of this book is the way our four heroes are all growing up and learning new skills. Constance, the youngest, makes huge leaps in this second book and the sneek peek at the end promises more for Constance who will then be four years old. We also see the special friendship between these four friends grow and flourish. They all work so well as a team and have strong understandings of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Kate has also improved her bucket which is once again employed to rescue the children from dire situations.

Essentially in this adventure the children have to follow a series of very, very complex clues as they try to reach their beloved Mr Benedict. He is looking for a very rare plant called a duskwort which will cure Mr Benedict of his narcolepsy or sleeping problem. Of course Mr Curtain, the evil twin, is also after this miracle cure and so the dangerous chase is on. Mr Curtain’s Hench men, called Ten Men, are truly terrifying. They have briefcases filled with deadly stationery items such as pencil darts.

Of course I also need to mention Sophie the Librarian. “A cheerful looking young woman with lustrous blond hair and hazel eyes …. (then the ten men attack her) They made me unconscious… they did not understand how we organise the library…. I shouted at them as they left: ‘It is a free and public library! All you had to do was ask!’”

There is a great deal of recapping in this book so a reader could probably enjoy the story without reading the first installment but I am certain on reading book two everyone will then go back and find book one.

If you liked The series of Unfortunate Events then try this series. Next stop Book Three!

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

This is a very curious book. I am not sure if it really is aimed at Primary level and yet there is no reason why a Year 5 or Year 6 student should not read it. The whole book is written as a diary in a handwriting font and all in capital letters and at first I found this slightly annoying but once I was caught up in the story I hardly noticed.

Our hero Ryan lives in Skeleton Creek a place where something truly sinister has happened at the old disused gold dredge. The really intriguing part of this book is you can see it all for yourself. Ryan is stuck at home with a broken leg after his terrifying accident, but he manages to stay in touch with Sarah via email. Ryan’s gift is writing – he needs to write things down to make sense of them while Sarah needs visual clues and so she records everything on her video camera.

As you read this book you are directed to go to sarahfincher.com and using the passwords that are supplied you can join Ryan and Sarah as they try to solve this intriguing mystery which involves murder, ghosts and high-level corruption. So, this book becomes a real partnership between the characters, the reader and the internet. The publisher has a role too because you can't see the videos without the passwords and you need THE BOOK! to see these!!

"The dredge is a crucial part of the town's dreary past. It sits alone and unvisited in the deepest part of the dark woods. The dredge, we discovered, was a terrible machine. Its purpose was to find gold and its method was grotesque. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the dredge sat in a muddy lake of its own making. It dug deep into the earth and hauled gargantuan buckets of stone and debris into itself. Nothing escaped it relentless appetite. Everything went inside the dredge.... and then it was all spit out behind in piles of rubble ten feet high." page 20

Of course, I do need to add that this is just book one in a series and it does end on a real cliffhanger but I am very keen to read book two. Recommended for Senior primary readers.

Mr Chickee's funny money by Christopher Paul Curtis

We all dream about ways to get rich quick but what would you do if someone gave you a bank note with a one and fifteen zeros on it? It is a quadrillion dollar note. But is it real? Can Steven really cash it in?

There are some really fun little incidents in this terrific book. Early in First Grade Steven asks his teacher how big is a million. The teacher suggests the class collect bottle tops but she doesn’t realize the kids will all rise to this great challenge. After just six months they have collected 635,541 bottle tops. Their weight makes the classroom floor collapse! This causes the Principal to summon the teacher to explain… “The janitor assured me that the collapse of my closet floor into the Kindergarten room (unoccupied) has caused the death of at least two and a half million cockroaches. These disgusting and unfortunate insects have been using your project as an incubator for the past six months.”

Other terrific ideas in this story include a dictionary with attitude, very odd parents, an amazing vinyl record collection and the biggest dog with the biggest slobbery lick in the whole world.

Warning don’t read chapter 13 after eating a big meal. Zoopy the dog eats everything and I mean everything Steven can find in the kitchen and fridge.

Is the money real? Can Steven spend his fortune? The twists and turns of this plot will leave you breathless and like Agent Fondoo, from the treasury department, you might also be left trying to stick your tongue into your left nostril!

One other thing. Steven knows when he has pushed his dad too far because he has an excellent sass meter. I really like this idea.

I absolutely enjoyed the two other books by Christopher Paul Curtis that I read many years ago – The Watson’s go to Birmingham and Bud not Buddy but these are for very senior students. Mr Chickee’s Funny Money will be enjoyed by middle Primary readers especially those who aspire to become accomplished detectives.

How to save your tail by Mary Hanson

Once upon a time …. and they both lived happily ever after…. These are the first and last words of How to save your tail.

Storytelling and fairy tales are at the heart of the quirky little book with the intriguing subtitle “If you are a rat nabbed by cats who really likes stories about magic spoons, wolves with snout-warts, big, hairy chimney trolls… and cookies too”. The only thing missing from this little gem is a few cookie recipes. Those butter cookies with cream cheese filling and a sinful blend of spice, mint chips and sugar, sound delicious.

When Bob, the rat, is caught by two huge cats it seems his life might be about to end but Bob is a resourceful rat blessed with a great talent for storytelling. Using his stories based wildly on well known but very mixed up fairy tales, Bob charms his captors and in turn saves his own skin. Each story has a link to a member of Bob’s family and there is a helpful family tree at the beginning of this book so the reader can identify Bob's ancestors.

This is a book for children who really know their fairy tales such as Jack and the beanstalk, The three little pigs, Cinderella and The three billy goats gruff. The illustrations and final map all add to the fun.

This would make a terrific read-a-loud for children in Years 2-4. You might also look for Seriously Silly stories by Laurence Anholt and our new series Happy Ever After by Tony Bradman if the idea of twisting fairy tales appeals to you.

The seven professors of the Far North by John Fardell

There are lots of great books about megalomaniacs who plan world domination and who are thwarted by kids (for example The Mysterious Benedict Society) and here is another one that certainly does not disappoint. The 7 Professors of the Far North are indeed a collection of seven professors – six have good intentions for the world and one is an evil mastermind planning world domination via genetic engineering. The location for his evil experiments is the far northern island of Nordbergen located somewhere near Scandinavia.

Our hero, eleven year old Sam Carnabie, gets caught up in this wild adventure when he goes to stay with Professor Ampersand and his great niece and great nephew – Zara and Ben. Professor Ampersand is an inventor with terrific ideas which are not always entirely successful. My favourites are his cooking inventions. “I’ll boil some peas in a wee while”. Ten minutes later Sam uses the bathroom.

“Sam wasn’t surprised to find that the bath was positioned on a raised platform, an arrangement that, as far as he could work out, enabled old bath water to be used to flush the toilet. Nor was he surprised to notice that the shower cubicle had six water nozzles and three mechanical brushes arranged up and down the inside walls (He stepped into have a closer look but stepped out again hurriedly as the brushes began to move automatically). But he was surprised, when he started to wash his hands, to find dozens of tiny green balls cascading out of the hot tap. He yelled and unlocked the door as Ben and Zara came running. ‘They’re peas!’ said Ben. ‘Uncle Alexander must have put them in the wrong compartment.’ They tasted one. ‘Well at least they’re cooked’."

After the six professors are kidnapped by men in combat suits wielding laser guns, Sam, Ben and Zara must travel to the far north. For the journey they use a variety of transportation and are assisted by some very helpful and likable people. The initial journey is by a secret underground railway which is accessed via a shop that sells shoe polish with the delightful name Bright and Buffwelle.

This book is such a rich and rewarding story. The adventure is fast paced, cold (it is the Arctic!) and thrilling. The friendships are strong and loyal and there is heaps of good humour along the way. I thoroughly recommend this book for students in Years 4-6. Read more about the author here. I will certainly look out for the sequel - The Flight of the Silver Turtle.

The Billionaire's Curse by Richard Newsome

I think fans of Indiana Jones will love The Billionaire’s Curse even though it is quite a predicable story with a heap of loose ends and in spite of a fairly unappealing (to me) cover.

Our hero Gerald (awful name but it has an important family connection) suddenly becomes the richest thirteen year old on the planet when he inherits twenty billion pounds… a house in Chelsea, the manor near Glastonbury, shares in the family company – the inventors of the tea bag staple, an island, a yacht, an aeroplane and various artworks. Gerald also inherits two mysteries. He needs to find out who murdered his aunt Geraldine and who has just stolen the Noor Jehan, the most valuable diamond in the world, from the British museum.

This robbery forms the basis of the first chapter and then we switch focus to Gerald and his appalling mother and long suffering father as they prepare to fly to England for the funeral and more importantly the reading of the will.

The last third of the book is particularly like an Indian Jones thriller as our hero and his two friends solve a puzzle to find a missing casket which it seems is more valuable than the diamond. In fact the diamond is the key that opens this casket which is rumored to hold the Holy Grail. I guess we will discover more about this in the second installment.

There are some terrific descriptions in this book and I especially liked the Young Billionaire’s survival kit left to Gerald by his aunt. “He tore the flap and pulled out a small leather wallet. He flipped it open, let out a low whistle and counted out two thousand pounds in crisp new notes. He also pulled out a black American Express card, with a neat Gerald A Wilkins embossed on the front….. every young billionaire needs some walking-around money.” Page 79

The intrepid heroes find the clues lead them to an exclusive gentleman’s club in London. “The floor was an intricate parquetry in a pattern of roses and ivy. In the centre was an enormous green carpet with the letter R woven in red in the middle. Long-green-and-gold-striped drapes lined the tall Georgian windows, blocking all outside light…. The place reeked of a mixture of wood polish, stale cigar smoke and privilege.” Page 145

This book contains nothing new for readers of detective stories but it is still a terrific read, fast paced, funny at times, filled with coincidences and three very brave and resourceful kids who work really well as a team. There are also rats, some knife slashing, murders and a cast of characters most of whom are not trustworthy. I hope we can read more about the butler Fry in the second installment.

You can read more about the Australian author who I have just discovered won a huge prize for this first novel. The second book is not yet published but you should keep your eye on the author web site for more details. You can also read the background to the writing and character names.

You should read this book to find out about tea bag staples - this is such a hilarious idea but it is how the Archer family have made their fortune. This book will appeal to readers in Years 4-6.