The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell illustrated by Gelrev Ongbico

Feo shook her head: she couldn't speak.  The moments in which the world turns suddenly kind 

can feel like a punctured lung.  She stood in the marble hall and cried ...

We can take our fear back.  And I don't know if we'll win but we have the right to try.  

The adults, they want us to be quiet and careful, 

but we have a right to fight for the world we want to live in, 

and nobody has the right to tell use to be safe and sensible. I say, today, we fight!

The Wolf Wilder is one of those absolutely delicious books that is a true a feast for the reader.  This is also one of those books that I read late into the night, picked up over breakfast and raced home to finish.  This is a ten out of ten book.  You should rush out and grab a copy today.

This is the third book I have read by Katherine Rundell and I am now a confirmed fan of her work. Her writing gives a strong sense of place and you will fall in love with her central characters especially Feo or Feodora in this book.

Wolf Wilder is set in Russia.  A cruel General called Rakov is the commander of the Tsar's Imperial Army. He set to claim money for an elk owned by the Tsar and recently killed by wolves.

At this time in Russia wolves are taken as pets for the aristocrats.

"The captured wolves wear golden chains and are taught to sit still while people around them laugh and drink ... But a wolf cannot be tamed in the way a dog can be tamed, and it cannot be kept indoors."

Fedora and her mother are wilders.  It is their job to take rejected wolves, 'untame' them, teach them to survive in the wild. Feo has spent her whole life surrounded by wolves living with her mother in a remote cottage. Rakov arrives and he destroys everything.  Marina is taken to a prison in St Petersburg.  Feo is now on the run with three of her special wolves and a wolf pup.  It is cold and dangerous but she does enlist some loyal companions and you can be sure good will triumph over evil.

"We don't give them human names ... Wolves have their own names. They don't need ours.  So we call them by a colour, or description - like Tenderfoot."

The illustrations are a special feature of this book.  You can read more about their creation here.  You can hear Katherine Rundell reading from the beginning of her book.  You should also read this interview with Katherine about the inspiration for this book.  Here is the Kirkus review.

“A triumph! Exciting, moving, highly original, fierce, completely convincing”

 –  Philip Pullman 

The Wolf Wilder is one of the most beautifully written books I've read in a long time 

Here are some of the other covers.  Which one do you like?

I also love these descriptions of cold  :

"There were, in Feo's experience, five kids of cold.  There was wind cold, which Feo barely felt. ...There was snow cold, which plucked at your arms and chapped your lips ... it was Feo's favourite weather and good for making snow wolves. There was ice cold, which might take the skin off your palm ... Then there was hard cold. ... Hard cold could be cruel ... And there was blind cold. Blind cold smelt of metal and granite.  It took all the senses out of your brain ... "

Somewhere else by Gus Gordon

Today my friend from Kinderbooks and I went to a local bookshop to meet Gus Gordon and hear about his new book Somewhere else.

I have been a Gus Gordon fan for a long time.  Wendy is such a terrific book but it is Herman and Rosie that made me really fall in love with his style.

It is always special when an author explains the inspiration for a book and the time with Gus was made even better when he showed us his sketches and story draft.  This little video is a 40 second preview.  Here is a radio Adelaide interview.  Here is another interview on the author web site.  Gus spent some time in Paris and while he was there he sketched a picture of a duck standing outside a patisserie. This is just one of the fragments of inspiration that led to the book we saw today.

George is too busy to go exploring the world.  He has cakes to bake, a full ironing basket (really - take a close look at this page) and a yoga class.  His friend Pascal arrives and, even though he is a well meaning friend, there seems to be no way he can help George then they see an amazing poster in the newspaper.

Take a look at this long list of books with illustrations by Gus Gordon including some terrific Aussie Bite titles such as A Home for Gnomes.  He also illustrated one edition of the ABC Sing book.  You can read more about the plot here in this review from Kids' book Review :

Somewhere Else is a joyful book, with lovable characters and a beautifully-crafted message about both the thrill of travel ... and the just-as-good delight to be found in returning home.

You might also enjoy A wish for Wings that work, Ducky's Nest, Flight of the Dodo by Peter Brown and Duck by Randy Cecil.

Other things to know

• Gus loves end papers - so do I!
• Look for tiny details such as the vicuna in the Andes mountains and the narwhal in the Arctic.  
• There are little 'jokes' in this book to enjoy including one on the back cover but I won't spill the beans.
• Leigh Hobbs endorsed this book because he is a friend.
• Compare the Le Ballon poster colours with the page when George and Pascal begin their flight.
• Gus was a fan of Richard Scary as a young child and he also admires books like Harry the Dirty Dog and the work of Julia Donaldson.

Finally Gus did not talk about this but I do like the way he includes stamps.  Wish I had thought to ask why?  There are postcards and stamps in Herman and Rosie too.  I will make the bold prediction that Somewhere Else will be short listed for the 2017 CBCA award.  Fingers crossed.

Clair de Lune by Cassandra Golds

Sorry to have to say this again but this treasure is out of print!  A couple of weeks ago a mum called into our library with her daughter.  Clair de Lune was selected by the child and I mentioned to the mum that I had loved this book.  I recommended she might read it.  Sadly I do not know if the mum took my advice but when Clair de Lune returned I noticed our copy is really worn out.  The paper has gone yellow and the cover is about to fall off.  I felt sad that I had recommended a book in such bad shape and then I worried that I had been too hasty.  I read this book 12 years ago.  Perhaps it was not really special.

I bought our worn copy home,  set about finding a second hand copy (more about that in a moment) and then I sat down to re-read Clair de Lune.  And YES I loved it all over again.

Here is the blurb :

"Clair de Lune has lived all her life with her grandmother at the top of a tall, very narrow, very old building.  Her mother, a great ballerina, died on stage when Clair-de-Lune was a baby.  Ever since that day, Clair-de-Lune has not uttered a word."

I have no connection to ballet but oddly I gasped out loud when I read this interview with Cassandra Golds by The Australia Ballet. Cassandra tells the interviewer that as a child she loved the Lorna Hill books about the Sadler's Wells ballet - me too!  I still think about the way the girls went to little cafes and ordered 'ices'.  They sounded delicious but I still have no idea what they were.

Clair de Lune meets a special mouse called Bonaventure.  He is a dancer too.  He is also astute, compassionate, kind and determined. He introduces Clair de Lune to a reclusive monk and these two unique friends help Clair de Lune find her 'voice'.  You can read more of the plot here.

You might also enjoy The Tale of Despereaux, Ballet shoes by Noel Streatfeild and  Secret letters from 0 to 10,   Take a minute to read my review of another book by Cassandra Golds  The three loves of Persimmon.

Finally back to the adventure of buying a second hand copy of this book.  Cassandra Golds is an Australian author but I have located a copy in Indiana.  The book is on its way and I know this because it wrote me a letter :

"Holy canasta! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over 2 million books but you picked me! I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Mishawaka, Indiana already - the friendly people, the Hummer plant, the Linebacker Lounge - so many memories. I don't have much time to say goodbye to everyone, but it's time to see the world!

I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen) and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol' brewmaster have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am?

I know the trip to meet you will be long and fraught with peril, but after the close calls I've had, I'm ready for anything (besides, some of my best friends are suspense novels). Just five months ago, I thought I was a goner. My owner was moving and couldn't take me with her. I was sure I was landfill bait until I ended up in a Better World Books book drive bin. Thanks to your socially conscious book shopping, I've found a new home. Even better, your book buying dollars are helping kids read from Brazil to Botswana."

What is a child? by Beatrice Alemagna

One of the most important parts of this very special picture book is the dedication.  You probably mostly skip this part but here it is :

To every grown-up

who has never forgotten

their yellow dog.

Now watch this amazing animation by the author where she talks about her inspiration for this book.

Back to the dedication.  When you read page ten you can see the yellow dog.  I am an adult who has not forgotten her yellow dog.

My favourite page has these words :

"Children have little things, just like them: a little bed, bright little books, a little umbrella, a little chair. Yet they live in a very big world: so big that cities don't exist, buses to up into space and stairs never end."

Read this review to discover more about this very different, but important book.  It would be good to share this book with a group of older students and have them reflect on the meaning of each statement and then perhaps add their own wisdom.  This book would also inspire students to create art or portraits perhaps in the distinctive style of Beatrice Alemagna.

Each spread holds a bold portrait, accompanied by poignant and provocative text, which will resonate with the reader 

in more ways than one.

Foxy and Egg by Alex T Smith

Have you discovered Alex T Smith?  His books are fabulous!  You may already know how much I love the Claude series and I recently talked about Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion.  Now we have Foxy and Egg.  Adults may predict the ending but I guarantee little children will not - they will squeal with delight when Egg finally hatches - as all eggs must.

Begin with the first page.  We see a group of show girl hens with their tiny chicks and one little egg with slight cracks but not yet hatched. As the story opens  Egg rolls up to the home of Foxy DuBois - he "was utterly charming and always kind to strangers".  He invites her in for a BITE to eat. His home is filled with paintings of chickens and eggs.  The pair sit down to a feast of cakes, sandwiches and donuts.  "Egg wobbled with excitement."

Foxy suggests they play some games such as an egg and spoon race. "At the end of the night, Egg was in a complete spin!".  She settles down for the night in a cosy bed. Foxy's dreams are filled with egg recipes of every description but when he checks on Egg in the morning he is in for a HUGE surprise.

Foxy, himself, first appeared in a set of easy chapter books which we do have in our library.

We actually have so many books in our school library about foxes (and chickens).  You could easily spend a whole term reading them.  It would be fun to make a list of all the cunning ways foxes try to lure little chickens and all the ingenious ways chickens are able to avoid this fate. You could start with this collection from my friend at Kinderbooks.

101 books to read before you grow up by Bianca Schulze

One feature of this book that I really like are all the extra suggestions given with each title.  I have put three examples here.  The large image is the book you will find reviewed in 101 Books to read before you grow up and the smaller books are ideas for further reading. These recommendations seem to take two forms - more books by the same author and books with a similar theme, plot or setting.

I was pleased to see some of my favourite books included in this selection of 101 such as Stargirl, A long walk to water, Inside out and back again, Out of my mind, Number the stars, The Watson's go to Birmingham - 1963, The one and only Ivan, The Hundred dresses, Tuck Everlasting, From the mixed up files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, The Paperbag Princess and Because of Winn Dixie to name just a few.  The author is now based in Colorado but she was born and raised in Australia so you will find plenty of our terrific Australian books recommended in this guide along with US and UK titles.  You can read more on her blog.

As you can see in the sample page I included above for each title you can read a synopsis and a brief recommendation along with details of the suggested age, genre, publication date, page count and an extra fun fact about the author.  There is space on each page for you to add your own rating and notes.  The only extra detail I would have liked is a cover image but I guess copyright considerations made this difficult.  You can see below images of two other books I have that also make book suggestions.  1001 children's books you must read before you grow up and Book Crush by the wonderful Nancy Pearl.

Artie and the Grime Wave by Richard Roxburgh

"Artie stared vacantly at the incensed teacher, whose face was millimetres from his, and who breath was like warm gusts from a Tupperware container in which something had gone off a great many years ago."

"Mrs Meller had a mouth like a drawstring purse, which when angry, would snap into a hard little knot, but when talking about her favourite things, like conjunctions and prepositions, it would flap open and closed with dreary enthusiasm."

"With this the mayor began a sort of delirious waltz all by himself ... As he screamed the little pools of white foam that had gathered in the corners of his mouth atomised and sprayed all over the unfortunate boy's face."

Richard Roxburgh is an Australian actor and this might be why his first book for children Artie and the Grime Wave has attracted quite a lot of publicity and press coverage.  I have seen interviews on television, read long articles in the Sydney Morning Herald and followed his book tour on Facebook.

Artie and The Grime Wave is a funny book and a wild romp that young readers will enjoy I am not sure it totally warrants all this attention although there are some little gems in the writing such as those I quoted above and at times the story will make you gasp as truly horrible things happen to Artie and his friends.

Artie and his friend Bumshoe (Alex Baumschule) stumble upon a cave filled with stolen goods. Artie's neighbour's the Unpronouceable-enkos (real name Zatserklyannaya-Tsekmistrenko) have had their precious tortoise called Gareth stolen. Artie knows the police won't believe what he has discovered so he sets out with Bumshoe to solve this crime.

In this book you will find baddies who are truly bad - Mary (a man called Humphrey), Funnel Web (real name Reginald) and Mayor Grimes (a corrupt meat eater) - just to name a few.  You will also find unexpected heroes - Artie himself, his loyal and brave friend Bumshoe and Aunty Boy.

"Aunty-boy was about the same size across as she was up and down.  Always wearing brightly coloured clothing, she looked a bit like some body's balloon collection.  ... The problem was this: Aunty-Boy never, ever had a bath or shower, instead choosing to fling baby power over herself each night before bed."

Luckily in spite of these strange hygiene habits, Aunty-Boy is an amazing inventor.  You will cheer as she puts her Fartex 120Y to very good use but make sure you have a peg ready because the smell could knock you over.

Click each of the links below to read some reviews and an interview and perhaps learn a little more about the plot of this book.  You can also read Richard's views about the importance of libraries!

This is a fresh, unpredictable book that does not shy away from wedgie, fart, burp and snot jokes. 


Fans of Walliams, Ahn Do and the Griffith/Denton duo will delight over every detail in ‘Artie and the Grime Wave‘ and I am pleased to report that Roxburgh’s wry wit and sharp (possibly absurd?) mind is evident in every sentence and every deliciously gross illustration. 


After reading Artie and the Grime wave you might enjoy Angie's Ankles (sadly long out of print by Gary Hurle) which has similar tattooed baddies, Loot, No place for Grubs by Max Dann and Clever Trevor's Stupendous Inventions.