Have you ever thought of Cinderella from the point of view of the mouse? No, not one of the sweet singing mice in Disney's version. Instead, from the point of view of a hapless mouse who becomes a steed for one night. What happens to the mouse after Cinderella gets her 'happily ever after'? Does the mouse get its own happily ever after?Carthick's Unfairy Tales had me chuckling more than once. Full of wit, with surprises lurking at every corner, each story was thoroughly enjoyable.Yes, I did get annoyed in places because of Indianisms that, for me, jarred with the retelling of European fairy tales. Even so, the book was so much fun that I kept reading, curious to know what would happen next and what new turn a well-known story would take.From "Goldilocks" to "Jack and the Beanstalk", Carthick twists seven familiar tales into new stories that resonate with anyone who has … [Read more...]
Tilly and the Time Machine
Just thinking about Tilly and the Time Machine makes me chuckle, even though I finished reading it a couple of days ago. It's been a while since I read such a lovely book written for seven-year-olds.Tilly's father is a scientist who works for the government. Unfortunately, it seems as if his work is below expectations, so they have to let him go.The way Tilly sees it, letting him go seems to be a good thing. He has more time at home, he doesn't have to go to work, and Tilly can do lots of fun stuff with him (like jumping out of her window for him to catch her) - particularly important because Tilly's mother died not so long ago.When Tilly's father invents a time machine, of course Tilly knows how far back she wants to go. Sure, she is supposed to be presenting the Victorian age in her school project, but the Victorian age pales in comparison with what Tilly has in mind. … [Read more...]
The Peculiars
Kieran is one of only two male Reception class teachers on the Isle of Wight.His days mainly consist of singing nursery rhymes, tying shoelaces, trying to locate who has had an ‘accident’ by sense of smell alone, and vast, endless mountains of paperwork. Author profile on GoodreadsAren't you interested already? Writing good author bios is an art. I remember the first one I had to write. I spent a day agonising over it and then asked my father to do it. He was much amused - I never ask for writing help - and he did it in three minutes.The Peculiars intrigued me for many reasons. The cover, of course, is lovely. Secondly, I do like Chicken House as a publisher. I like the fact that at the back of the book, they tell you which page to read to give the book a try. (I never do it, but I like the idea anyway.) And I love the three words they choose to describe the book. Hot Key books … [Read more...]
Paradise End
Especially when I'm struggling with my writing, I find myself wondering all kinds of things. What makes a good book? What keeps me reading? When do I roll my eyes at melodrama, and when do I have to swallow a gulp in my throat? Where are all these boundaries?Also, I'm a picky reader. I used to beat myself up about not finishing books, but I think somewhere along the line as a literature student, I realised that it was impossible for me to read everything I wanted to read. There were books I actually enjoyed but could not finish. Middlemarch comes to mind, but there were many others.When I started reading Paradise End by Elizabeth Laird, I was overly critical. There were parts where I got thoroughly annoyed with the protagonist Carly, but then, I warmed to her and to her story.And I realised yet again that for me, the greatest stories are stories of … [Read more...]
History Mysteries: The Last Tiger
The Last Tiger broke my heart.The thylacine - what a wonderful, curious animal. A pouched dog with a wolf's face. A dog with stripes. The Tasmanian tiger.At the Asian Festival of Children's Content last month, I attended a talk by the history hunter, Mark Greenwood. It was a talk that filled me up. His storytelling brought me so close to tears that I ended up impulsively buying a book of his. (I would have liked to buy them all, but my pocket didn't permit it.)Despite all the emotion that prompted me to buy his book, I somehow didn't end up reading The Last Tiger until yesterday. Perhaps that was to eke out the feeling of a special kind of storytelling, but also, perhaps I was frightened of being disappointed.I was not: I loved The Last Tiger. When I was about ten years old, I read an entire Childcraft encyclopedia, Nature in … [Read more...]
Boy 87
Boy 87 came frighteningly close to becoming too much for me as a reader. As I read on, there was one stage where I was filled with a sickening sense of dread. I remembered Chalkline, which I could not finish reading because it was so well told that the story was overwhelmingly traumatic for me - more than I could take. And then I also remembered The Bone Sparrow, a wonderful tale of war and hope.Boy 87 fits somewhere between the two. At the stage when I was not sure if I could read on, I quickly skimmed through a few of the concluding pages. Was Shif going to be betrayed? Was something terrible going to happen?I never do this. But the dread was so sickening that I knew I would not be able to read it if things grew more traumatic.Boy 87 is about 14-year-old Shif, who is put into prison - not for something he does but for something he is going to do. … [Read more...]
Kittu’s Very Mad Day
Packed with more characters than I could count, reading Kittu's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Mad Day is a crazy experience. Kittu's family is the most chaotic one in the world - and the description of the entire family ordering a meal made me chuckle because it is absolutely en pointe. I remember being embarrassed, nearly mortified, when I was with a huge group of friends and we simply could not make up our minds about what to order!But that's the lightest part of this review. What I liked most about the book requires a little background.Over the last couple of years, I have actively been searching for literature that seeks to be inclusive and diverse. In the beginning, I was impressed by the books I was reading. As I went on, though, I felt that children with disabilities were being included not in the spirit of inclusivity, but as what I found myself calling the … [Read more...]
A Library of Lemons
The cover of A Library of Lemons caught me with one line - 'The bittersweet story of a family lost in books'. A family lost in books. Like mine?A Library of Lemons was nothing like anything I imagined. Young Calypso lives with just her father; her mother died of ovarian cancer when Calypso was just five. Half-remembered moments fill Calypso up - moments of warmth, hugs and laughter. Moments when her father smiled more and did not work all the time.Above all, Calypso's father values inner strength. Inner strength is what makes it possible for you to live on your own, independent. If you have inner strength, you don't cry. You don't need a shoulder to cry on. And if the people you love die, you still carry on. You survive.These are truths that Calypso knows, even though her inner strength somehow keeps deserting her. Perhaps she is not strong enough.When Mae befriends … [Read more...]
The Bone Sparrow
'I wish this book had never needed to be written. I wish that the circumstances that led me to write this story had never occurred.'I close my eyes at the end of The Bone Sparrow, and I echo Zana Fraillon's words. I wish she had never needed to write the book.What do we know about the Rohingyas? What do we do when we read news about their persecution? We feel bad and we turn to something else. Maybe we share the news we read. Or maybe, if we come across something on Facebook, we put a 'sad' or 'angry' before going on to like someone else's post.The Bone Sparrow is written from the point of view of a young Rohingya boy, Subhi, born in an Australian refugee camp. Subhi knows his ba is coming back. In fact, sometimes, he even find little treasures his father sends to him across the Night Sea. One moment, you're chuckling at his little quirks - for instance, he has … [Read more...]
When She Went Away
I was a little sceptical about reading a book called When She Went Away. A book with a name like that could well be a melodramatic romance novel, which really is not my type. I typically don't even finish reading stories that are too melodramatic for me; enjoying them is a long way away. And I know because I've tried.The moment I read the first paragraph of When She Went Away, though, I knew it was not about a romantic 'she', but about Maria's mother who decided she'd had enough of living her life with her family and went away. That was when I was moved by the title. When Ammi went away, everything tumbled into chaos and had to be picked up bit by painstaking bit.The story filled me up with its twists and turns, its possibilities and surprises. Maria is not an entirely loveable character, but she rings true. When her mother goes away, she is torn between the desire to set things … [Read more...]