The Young Vikings by James Moloney

I am reading my way through the twenty CBCA Notable titles (Younger Readers) and I keep being surprised.  Here is a book I would probably not have picked up. I'm not really interested in Vikings and the cover doesn't appeal to me.  It is good to know I was wrong. This is a terrific action packed story filled with fierce battles, friendship and, the part I liked best, a hero who uses his intelligence.

"I was desperate to avenge my father's murder. I heard him cry for blood every night in my dreams. I wanted blood on my sword more than anyone. There in front of the young Vikings, I asked Torsten the only question that really mattered. 'Could we take on Bloodtooth's men in Belvor?"

I will use this quote to explain the plot of The Young Vikings.

Agnor Bloodtooth and his men have attacked the village of Moberg. Hauk and his young friends arrive home after a hunting trip and find all the adult males of the village are dead. The boys decided to avenge their fathers. To do this they begin to train with axes and swords but tempers and rivalries hinder their progress.  Hauk can see their plan will not work. He enlists the help of Torsten, a former warrior whose injuries mean he only has one leg. The boys do grow stronger and more skilled and eventually Hauk, himself becomes their leader, but really it will still be a battle of boys against men. Hauk has a better idea. The group should try to reclaim the village longboat - Sea Wolf.  This plan will take courage, problem solving, teamwork and trust.

The final battle scenes are not for the faint hearted but this is a Viking story so I did expect quite a lot of blood to be spilled before the Young Vikings could proclaim their victory.

You can read an interview with James Moloney here. From what I can discover this book may be the first in a series but this installment does have a satisfying ending. James Moloney has other books that I have enjoyed such as Swashbuckler, Buzzard Breath and Brains, and several Aussie Bite and Nibble titles. I especially enjoyed Disappearing Act and his After Dark title - The Pipe. I also recently read one of his YA titles - A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove.

If the topic of Vikings interests you or your readers look for these titles in your library:

For the youngest children I would begin with The Last Viking and The Last Viking Returns by Norman Jorgensen.

Then I would look for this very old book which is great fun:

For older primary students:

You might also look for the Viking Magic series by Anna Ciddor.

Brindabella by Ursula Dubosarsky illustrated by Andrew Joyner

"If Pender and his father had looked back, they would have seen that Brindabella was now standing at the open door. This was her time! She sniffed the air. She heard the rustling leaves high up on the hill. Hurry, Brindabella! Hurry! .. Out, out, away, away she went, far away and up the hill into the deep freedom of the bush."

The fierce love of the boy, Pender, is central in this story. He finds a joey kangaroo in the  pouch of her dead mother.  Finding a baby animal which has survived like this is sure to appeal to all young readers. Pender is living in a remote part of Australia. His father is loving but reclusive spending his daylight hours in his studio painting. Pender relies on farm routines and the companionship of his dog Billy-Bob.  Finding the joey gives Pender a new focus. He needs to make sure she is feed and keep her safe and he loves to draw sketches of her but he does know one day she must return to the wild.

It is easy to understand Pender's feelings and love towards Brindabella but Ursula Dubosarsky  also allows us to 'hear' Brindabella herself and she is quite a fiesty, confident and opinionated young girl.

"She knew that Pender cared for her, held her close, kept her safe, and fed her. But she didn't belong to him. She belonged to no-one but herself. 
'Why should he love me?' she asked, shrugging her shoulders. 'I don't love anybody.'
She thumped her tail in the dust, which rose in a puff. That was what she loved - her strong, beautiful tail."

This is a book in three acts - rather like a play:

Act One Pender - finding and raising Brindabella and happy times on the farm.
Act Two Brindabella -  the escape and new life in the bush learning to keep safe and make new friends.
Act Three Meeting again - There are hunters in the bush, Pender and his faithful dog Billy-Bob need to make sure Brindabella is safe.

The relationship between Pender and his father is a complex one. Their communication is limited and we are not told why his father becomes ill but an astute reader will recognise it is connected with grief.

Here are a set of detailed and very useful teachers notes written by Joy Lawn. Brindabella has been included in the CBCA Notables (Younger Readers) for 2019. On 26th March the six short listed titles will be announced. I hope Brindabella makes the cut. You can see some of the art by Andrew Joyner from the book here. I would recommend this book for children aged 8+ because there is a very tragic moment toward the end which may shock a younger child.

If you want to explore the idea of raising a young animal like Brindabella take a look at Sebastian lives in a Hat. Also below you can see the Polish edition of Brindabella. How exciting to see this book about the Australian bush reaching an international audience.

The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan

Everything is hard for Kasienka. She and her mother have travelled from Poland to Coventry in England. Mama hopes to find her husband who left the family. Kasienka is not hopeful. The first day of school is simply awful. Swimming is her only refuge.

The Weight of Water is a verse novel. I am a huge fan of verse novels.  Here are a few text quotes which show the power of this writing and give you a glimpse of the plot:

Pale
The brown children
Play with the white children
The black children
Play with the brown children ...

I'm not welcome to play.
The reason I'm too white.

No-one likes too white,
Eastern white,
Polish winter white,
Vampire fright white.

Teachers
Why can't they see what's happening?
Why don't they notice the looks,
The smirks, the eye-rolling?

And why don't they ask if I'm OK?
I'll tell them I'm not.


Wanted
Mama is wasting money
We don't have.
She prints posters
With Tata's picture on them
And the word MISSING.

She makes one hundred copies
On purple paper,
So people will notice them
Stapled to the trees
Around Coventry.

I wish I knew how I found this book. I keep a 'list' of books I see that I want to read. A local bookseller was offering free freight so I ordered The weight of water. This is a profound and moving story and one I would like to put into the hands of many Young Adult readers.

You can find a reading guide on the Bloomsbury web site. You can see some pages from the book here. This is a Young Adult title for readers 13+ - the themes and strong language are not suitable for younger students.

Narrating in image-rich free verse that packs an emotional punch, Kasienka describes what life is like for a new arrival while also exploring universal themes of abandonment, loyalty, bullying and first love. Kirkus

Shine Mountain by Julie Hunt

"But if the instrument could give, it could also take away, 

 and what it took was harmony."

I am reading my way through the CBCA Notables (Younger Readers). A few of the titles were in my local public library including Shine Mountain. How did I miss this one last year?

One of the things I love about reading is when a book is so inventive, so powerful and so unpredictable I just have to keep reading and reading. I started Shine Mountain one morning and devoured about a third. Then I had to go out but Shine Mountain was calling me home. I just had to get back into the world of Ellie and her friends (human and animal). I left everything when I came home and sat down to read right through to the end.

The opening scenes of Shine Mountain read like a movie. Pop is dying. Unfamiliar family members have gathered at the farm. Ellie and Oma know the time is close and so they are making their preparations. Late in the evening the shine-moth arrives.

"A slab of moonlight fell on Pop's bed and I saw the shine-moth land on the bedhead. It was still for a moment, then it opened its wings and began a slow, steady beating. Pop gave a sigh as the insect took over his breathing. He looked so relieved I thought he might die right then ... "

Pop still has a few hours left. The shine-moth grows bigger but there is time for Pop to write his will.  All of this goes along as expected with gifts for various family members but then Pop asks for a box which is under his bed. Pop asks the family to bury this box with him in his grave.

"I thought it was a little jewel box at first. It was a pretty thing with a pattern of leaves carved on what seemed to be the lid, but when Tod opened it I realised it was a button-box, a tiny concertina."

Pop plays a tune, sings a song and Oma joins in. They sing about Spring and the music seems to work. Plants start to grow, the ice cap on top of Mount Ossa begins to melt. Pop quietly dies and is buried along with the button box but the lawyer has a greedy eye. He sets off late in the night returning to the city on his horse but on the way he stops at the grave and digs up the button box. Ellie sees him but she cannot get close enough to stop him. The lawyer is drunk. There is an accident. The button box lies broken on the ground. Ellie knows there is a mystery about this old instrument but she has also seen the good effect it seemed to have on the farm and on her Oma. She picks up the pieces and organises for the repairs.

The dangerous thing, though, is that while the music of the button box can bring prosperity it can also bring terrible hardship. As quickly as things became good so they become bad. The heat ramps up. Crops die and Oma is failing. Ellie needs to set things right. She needs to take this button box back through the Palisades to Shine Mountain but this will be a dangerous journey in every way - physical danger of course but also the danger when she discovers the truth about her identity.

There is a link on the publisher web site (Allen and Unwin) to a set of very useful discussion questions to use with Shine Mountain.

I don't talk about covers often enough. I adore this one. It is by Geoff Kelly and he did the map too. I have said this before but I enjoy exploring maps.  Perhaps you have seen one of Geoff's earliest books - Power and Glory by Emily Rodda. It was an amazing book about a computer game. More recently Geoff did the covers for two new Paul Jennings books A different Dog and A different Boy.

Okay here is my BIG request/prediction/wish/plea/hope - Shine Mountain just HAS to make the CBCA short list. YES YES it is that good! If it is not on your reading pile go out and grab a copy now. Are you still with me?  Off you go and find this book - NOW! Fingers crossed for Julie Hunt.

I would link Shine Mountain with The Firework Maker's daughter by Philip Pullman.

I loved so many parts of this story: Luca's gift of weather making; the kindness of the wonderful Meridian and her ability as a Way-Lady; and the idea of map making using dust or dirt from your home. The descriptions are also wonderful. I can just see Harlan's shoes: "His boots had pointed toes and they were laced up at the side with leather thonging."

There are links in Shine Mountain with other books by Julie. An accordion (found in The Coat) and the coat itself worn by Harland: "He wore old-fashioned garb, a ragged frockcoat that hung on his thin frame and a wide hat that was turned up at the back.". If you look at The Coat illustrated by Ron Brooks it looks just like this. I asked Julie about this and she said she seems to have a 'thing' about concertinas, coats and white gloves. The white gloves are a reference to her book KidGlovz.

This is a mysterious magical quest for truth, identity, and reparation. It is designed to shine a light on the importance and necessity of stories handed down over time.  It is a movement of music in four parts. The story is made up of strands of the characters’ lives interwoven with the strongest strand being Ellie, in the middle, to hold it all together. Kids Book Review

Read my earlier post about Song for a Scarlet Runner also by Julie Hunt.

Here is a button Box concertina - click the link to hear it played.

Image source and video of this instrument being played: https://www.buttonbox.com/new-concertinas.html

Pigeon Poo by Elizabeth Baguley illustrated by Mark Chambers

I watched a young library user exclaim with delight when she spied this book in a school library recently. Pigeons and Poo - what's not to like!

"In a perfect town with tidy streets,

And flawless lawns with shiny seats,

A pigeon swooped and looped the loop,

And left behind a trail of ... "

The pigeon poo/poop lands everywhere. On people, umbrellas, dogs and flowers. It is time for the community to solve this problem but their invention means trapping the pigeon. This is sad and probably not a good solution. It takes the kindness and clever thinking of one little girl to come up a better idea - a pigeon nappy!  In America this book is called Pigeon Poop.

This is just a little book to read for fun. No deep messages just some clever rhyming and a few laughs. Pigeon Poo is not a new book (published 2012) but you might find it in a school or public library. Here is another terrific and recent book about pigeons which I enjoyed - Gary.

If you want some further laughs around the topic of animal poo take a look at these:

The Flying Orchestra by Clare McFadden

In memory of Glenda Higgs. 

A special teacher who gave the gift of music, with love, 

to hundreds of lucky children 

at Cooerwull Public School, Lithgow, NSW

“Music is important for the following reasons: it is abstract, it doesn’t mean anything outside itself. Music does not describe. Music does not narrate. Music does not tell stories. Music evokes. Music suggests, music implies, and music opens up the mind of a child in an extraordinary way. This abstraction about music is what offers a child the chance to move into a really special way of thinking.” Richard Gill AO


I heard some sad news today that a former colleague of mine had died. The friend who told me thought I may have seen a post about this on Facebook but I had to explain Facebook would only announce this for a famous person. Glenda was not famous but she certainly should have been. Under her gentle care hundreds of lucky Primary School children were able to listen, explore, create and perform music in every genre. Sadly not all children have access to music education. Primary teachers are generalists and many find teaching music daunting. Glenda had the ability, skills and opportunity to provide a rich music program way beyond any syllabus requirements. How lucky were all of those children. Along with lessons for every class in the school Glenda managed choirs, recorder ensembles, a string group and percussion bands.

Children performed at our school, in combined school ensembles in regional towns and in Sydney, at eisteddfods and one lucky group of string players, aged only 8-12, played on the stage of the Sydney Opera House - what an achievement.

One of my most treasured memories relates to a group of Musica Viva performers who came to our school and played Vivaldi Four Seasons (Winter) and then they invited our students to perform with them and this magical moment happened in my school library. The perfect venue.

Each year the Children's Book Council of Australia announce a theme or slogan as a focus for Book Week. Glenda happily composed songs for our school celebrations and I treasure my little cassette tapes of them. One year there was a television competition to sing and film "A Home among the Gum Trees". We didn't win but it was such a wonderful way to bring the whole school together through music. I know the children of Cooerwull Public School, who were lucky to have Mrs Higgs as their teacher, will have many other beautiful memories like these.

Every where I turned today I saw musical references. The thrift shop near my bus stop had a toy piano and violin on display in their window. I attended my own music ensemble lesson (yes it's recorder). Then this evening I found The Flying Orchestra. I had seen a recent post by The Bottom Shelf celebrating the reprint of this book in paperback. The Flying Orchestra was first published in 2010 and won the Crichton Award for new illustrators in 2011.

When you read this book it is good to have access to the related music tracks which are listed in the back of the book. What a beautiful way to introduce some exquisite music to a young reader. I'm sure Glenda would have loved sharing a book like this with her students. Here are a few examples:

The concert program is a busy one - a violin solo when someone misses their train
5th Movement 'Chaconne' from Partita in D minor for solo violin (BWV 1004) by Johann Sebastian Bach .
Listen here.

A symphony at the airport for a traveller coming home
1st movement 'Allegretto' from Symphony No. 2 in D Major (Op 43) by Jean Sibelius.
Listen here.

A concerto when someone stays awake all night thinking
2nd movement 'Andante' from Double Bass Concerto No. 2 in B minor by Giovanni Bottesini.
Listen here.

The Flying Orchestra always plays when a baby is born
Aria 'Schafe konnen sicher weider' (Sheep may safely graze) from Cantata (BWV 208) by Johann Sebastian Bach.  (This is one of my favourites)
Listen here.

The Flying Orchestra will play when someone learns to ride a bike
Waltz in D-flat major 'Minute Waltz' No 1 (Op 64) by Frederic Chopin.
Listen here.

They fly out to the country and play under a sky milky with stars
3rd movement 'Clair de lune' (Moonlight) from Suite bergamasque (L75) by Claude Debussy.
Listen here.

The music starts again, as beautiful as before, in all the places they have been
'The Lark Ascending' by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Listen here.

Here is a set of teachers notes. I do wish this book came with a CD but I did have fun sourcing some of the tracks for this post. If you are working with a group of younger students you might find these ideas useful. You can see some of the art from this book on the Book Illustrated site.

Here is another book you could link with The Flying Orchestra.

52 Mondays by Anna Ciddor

This book is based on Anna Ciddor's childhood memories. Anna, living in 1960s Australia, borrows a book from the library:

"Hitty, the life and adventures of a wooden doll."

Anna's love of this book and the doll called Hitty drives the plot as she searches every week at a local antique auction house for a doll like Hitty.  I was utterly convinced this was not a real book - but it is! It won the Newbery Medal in 1930. I think the real title might be Hitty, the first hundred years. It is  by Rachel Field. Perhaps in Australia it had a different title.

I think Anna would be thrilled to discover someone produced a sewing pattern for Hitty dolls and that you can even find Pinterest collections about her.

If you have an adult friend who was a child in the 1960s then this book - 52 Mondays would make an excellent gift. I have discovered Anna and I are almost the same age and because this book is based on her own childhood I recognised so many of these:

• Milk deliveries by horse and cart
• Birds pecking the tops of the milk to get the cream
• Vita wheat biscuits with butter and vegemite
• Deb mashed potato
• Green grocer shops where your purchases are put into paper bags
• That same grocer spinning the paper bag so the corners twisted into neat seals
• Listening to The Children's hour on the radio
• Cleaning the black board duster at school
• School milk
• Sewing at school
• Lollies from the milk bar - violet crumbles, lolly teeth, fruit tingles, and best of all lolly cigarettes

My favourite memory comes in Chapter 32 when Anna talks about putting a tennis ball into the end of an old stocking and hitting it against a wall while chanting a rhyme.

I am not supposed to include text quotes because I have read an Advanced Reader Copy of 52 Mondays but I cannot resist this line:

"Anna went on reading Hitty every moment she could. She tried to slow down and make the book last longer, but too many exciting things kept happening."

If you are a librarian or a Teacher-Librarian make sure you read Chapter 28. Memories of catalogue drawers, due date slips, book pockets and having a date stamped on your own hand!

The structure of 52 Mondays with Anna waiting for Monday each week when she can go to the auction house hoping to find an antique doll means the plot moves along at a pleasing pace and I liked the way each chapter reads as a distinct story. The addition of Jewish family traditions added to my interest.

This book is a companion volume to an earlier title by Anna. I had The Family with two front doors on my too read pile for over a year. I have not yet read it and now it has disappeared. Perhaps I gave it to a friend for her library. Now I will have to retrieve it. Oddly the reviews of this one wildly disagree about the audience. Sue warren of Just So Stories says 12+, Ms Yingling says it might not appeal to her Middle Grade students, and Megan Daley will or has used this with her Grade Six Book Club girls.

Anna loves dolls and doll houses. I was desperate for a dolls house when I was a child but I did have some very special dolls. Here is one of them: