Interview With a Tiger & Other Clawed Beasts Too by Andy Seed and Nick East

Interview With a Tiger & Other Clawed Beasts Too by Andy Seed and Nick East

Published November 2020 Welbek

Blurb:

 If you could talk to animals, what would you ask?

'What are your top tips for catching prey, Tiger?'

'How do you help yourself to honey, Honey Badger?'

'Why do you howl, Wolf?

Get familiar with 10 fierce and furry beasts as they step up to the mic and share their habits, behaviour, likes and dislikes, favourite foods, and more. Each animal has its own story to tell... and its own attitude!

In this fun and fact-filled book, bite-sized text in a question-and-answer format is paired with colourful and engaging illustrations throughout, perfect for emerging or reluctant readers, or any young animal enthusiast who enjoys a bit of humour!

Features 'interviews' with a tiger, wolf, honey badger, giant armadillo, lion, jaguar, giant anteater, snow leopard, polar bear, and three-toed sloth. Plus, ideas for how to do your bit to help endangered species and their habitats.

What a great idea this book is, and what better way to find out about an animal…interview them!

At first glance you would be forgiven for thinking that this book was just a bit of fun, and while it most definitely is fun, it also contains actual facts about each animal.

There are ten animals in the book:

• Bengal Tiger
• Wolf
• Giant Anteater
• Honey Badger
• Jaguar
• Polar Bear
• Lion
• Giant Armadillo
• Snow Leopard
• Three-toed Sloth

Each animal has 4 pages of interview questions, and sprinkled throughout the humorous responses, we get the facts. The Lion for example has not seen the movie The Lion King, but we do learn that lions live in family groups called prides. Or that the tiger tried spots instead of stripes, but they didn’t suit him, and stripes are much better for hiding in long grass.

This book is proof that you can have fun while learning something at the same time.

There is also a ‘How you can help’ section at the back of the book, explaining that some of the animals in the book are endangered, and here’s what we can do to keep them around.

When the World Was Ours by Liz Kessler

When the World Was Ours by Liz Kessler

February 2021  Simon and Schuster

Blurb:

A powerful and heart-breaking novel about three childhood friends living during the Second World War whose fates are closely intertwined, even when their lives take very different courses. For readers of Private Peaceful, The Book Thief and Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl. 

Three friends. Two sides. One memory. Vienna. 1936. Three young friends - Leo, Elsa and Max - spend a perfect day together, unaware that around them Europe is descending into a growing darkness, and that events soon mean that they will be cruelly ripped apart from each other. With their lives taking them across Europe - to Germany, England, Prague and Poland - will they ever find their way back to each other? Will they want to? 

Inspired by a true story, WHEN THE WORLD WAS OURS is an extraordinary novel that is as powerful as it is heartbreaking, and shows how the bonds of love, family and friendship allow glimmers of hope to flourish, even in the most hopeless of times.

Wow, what a book.  I had been in a bit of a reading rut, struggling to really get into a book, but I read this one in two sittings…it would have been one sitting had I not started it at night.

Leo, Elsa and Max, three best friends living in Vienna.  They experience one of those rare ‘perfect days’ celebrating Leo’s 9^th birthday…and then the world as they know it changes, and friends become enemies. Leo and Elsa are Jews and Max is not.

The book follows these three characters on their separate, very different journeys through the years from 1936 to 1945.

I won’t give too much away, but the idea for this story came from the authors own grandfather.  He is the Leo in this story, and the chance encounter he had with a visiting English couple in Vienna turned out to change the course of his life.

This book is heartbreaking, so be prepared.  It is a story of the holocaust, and all of the horrors that surround that time in our history.  Not everything is explicitly explained, such as what happens to the Jews told to go to the left at Auschwitz, or what exactly Elsa’s friend Greta has to do, to get the extra food from the Nazi officers, but it’s all there.  

We get to see both sides in this book.  What is was to be Jewish, but also what it was to be a young German boy who grew up with one wish; to be part of the Hitler Youth.  Impossible to understand in hindsight, but how much did these young men really know about what being a Nazi soldier meant, in practice?

All of the darkness and sadness aside, this is also a story about family, hope and the memories of perfect days that keep us going, when the world is falling apart.

A must read. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read a review copy of this.

Little People, Big Dreams: Captain Tom Moore by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara illustrated by Christophe Jacques

Captain Tom Moore by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara illustrated by Christophe Jacques
Published November 2020 Quarto UK

Blurb:

Once there was a humble boy from Yorkshire called Tom, who was born with his feet firmly on the ground. His determination and courage saw him and his comrades through the worst crisis the world had ever known: World War Two. So when a new crisis struck in 2020, just before his 100th birthday, Captain Tom knew just what to do. Aiming to raise £1,000 for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden, his story soon became known all over the world, with people donating so much that he quickly raised over £30 million! Captain Tom's story shows us that, by coming together, we can dream bigger than ever, and that when the going gets tough, you just have to keep on walking. This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the Captain's life.

Due Jan 2021

Quite the quick turnaround on the publishing of this one! Books can take years to get published.  This one was written, illustrated, published and in stores within 7 months.  An extraordinary achievement, and the story of an extraordinary man. 

On 6 April 2020, aged 99, Captain Sir Tom Moore initially set out to raise £1000 for NHS charities, as his way of saying Thank You to all of the care workers who looked after him during his recent stay in hospital. He was going to do this by walking laps of his garden, 100, 25metre laps by his birthday on April 30^th.  He actually ended up raising £32,794,701 

I love the fact this has been published as part of the Little People, Big Dreams series. A series that has told the story of so many globally well-known people, David Attenborough, Mother Teresa and Elton John, as well as some lesser known, such as Louise Bourgeois or Zaha Hadid.  It’s a highly accessible series for young readers, and introduces even the youngest readers to interesting people in all fields.  I have had a customer flicking through the books, commenting that she didn’t know many of the names…I don’t see that as a problem, think that’s exactly the point.  Readers, even parents/teachers, are able to broaden their knowledge of remarkable people in a fun and accessible way. 

This man, Captain Tom Moore, did an amazing thing, during a time when the world was in crisis.  His achievement is current and because of that it will be a popular choice, and hopefully by finding this book, readers will look to the series for the other titles.  

Thanks to Net Galley and QuartoUK for giving me the opportunity to review this title

Hello Design by Isabel Thomas and Aurelie Guillerey

Hello Design by Isabel Thomas and Aurelie Guillerey

Published November 2020 Penguin

Blurb:

A design can be as small as a toothbrush . . . or as BIG as a skyscraper. Every design starts in someone's imagination - an imagination just like yours. Travel through one day and discover how the world around you has been designed - even though we don't always realise it! Question HOW everyday items have been designed, and WHY they look the way they do. Guaranteed to make you see the world a little differently, pick up your pencil and imagine your own designs. What will you design? With facts and questions to inspire all budding designers and get creative minds whirring - and featuring iconic designs from the enthusiasts at the V&A.

I have been waiting for this book to come out all year. I loved the sound of it, and it hasn’t disappointed me.

Engineering and design are a big focus in schools, but when we think of design, we might think of big or obvious things like cars, clothes and houses, when in fact, design is everywhere.

This book looks at the story of everyday objects, and makes you realise that designers have created pretty much everything around you. From your toothbrush, to your lunchbox, even this very book. 

The book is broken up into daily activities, and the elements of design are discussed.  Why something was made, who was it made for, how have designs may have changed over time.

There are also task/question boxes.  For example:

What differences can you spot between the way your home and your school are designed?

Design the perfect lunchbox or playground game.

This book is published in conjunction with the Victoria and Albert Museum, the world’s leading museum of art and design. At the back of the book there are Credits pages, giving credit to the actual designers whose items in the V & A collection inspired some of the illustrations in the book.

Cryptosight by Nean McKenzie

Cryptosight by Nean McKenzie
October 2019 Midnight Sun Publishing

Blurb:

What if you could see what is hidden?

Rafferty Kaminski is a 13-year-old who believes in facts. Not like his Cryptozoologist father, who searches for creatures not proven to exist.

When their father disappears in the Flinders Ranges, strange things start happening to Raff and his younger sister Zara. They learn that their father belongs to a secret organisation and they are suddenly being pursued by bunyip hunters.

Raff is drawn into the weird world of Cryptozoology as he and Zara follow 'sightings' of creatures around country Victoria. 

Will they find their father? And what is the ancient voice that only Raff can hear as they approach the Wombat State Forest?

This is a book about 13 year old Rafferty Kaminski and his younger sister Zara. It is a rollicking adventure, full of twists and turns…but it is also a story about something very old, something that has been hidden…something connected to Raff.

Let me start by saying, that I am a person who believes. 

I would like to believe that there may still be Tasmanian Tigers in existence.

I would like to believe that the gastric brooding frog is still living underground waiting for the right conditions to re- emerge.

Part of me would love to find out that yeti’s do exist, and that the loch ness monster is real…because I think there are plenty of things out there on the world that we don’t really see, and if we do get a glimpse, we can’t quite explain them.

So a book about a Cryptozoologist had immediate appeal to me.

Let’s start with Cryptozoology – a definition at the start of Chapter 1 says it’s the study of hidden things.

According to Wikipedia :

Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that aims to prove the existence of entities from the folklore record, such as Bigfoot, the

chup-a-cabra, or Mokele-m-bembe. Cryptozoologists refer to these entities as cryptids, a term coined by the subculture. Because it does not follow the scientific method, cryptozoology is considered a pseudoscience by the academic world:

And for those of us that need to know what pseudoscience is, according to Wikipedia again, it is, Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that are claimed to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method.

Now that we have that explained, let’s get onto the book.

Cryptosight, the title of the book, refers to the ability to see these hidden things.

At the start of the book we meet Raff 13, and his sister Zara 11.  They are camping with their Dad in the Flinders Ranges, their Dad, who just so happens to be a cryptozoologist.

Their Dad is not a normal Dad, and this is no normal camping trip.  Part of the reason for their trip was so that Raff and Zara could start some Cryptozoology training.  On day three of their training, their Dad takes them on a hike, to the middle of nowhere, and leaves them there. They have to find their way back to the campsite.

He leaves them with the five rules of survival, and its these rules that they fall back on more than once during the book.  

The five rules are:

Number 1: Always take a torch

Number 2: Always protect your family

Number 3: Wear clothes with lots of pockets

Number 4: Really looking for things is the only way to find them

Number 5: In case of emergency, leave back up in a safe place.

The siblings do make it safely back to their campsite, only to find that their Dad has gone, his bags are gone, all of his clothes,  everything.  Gone.

But...he did leave a note:

Dearest Raff and Zara,

I’m sorry to leave you so quickly, but time is of the essence.  A friend is coming very soon.  Please wait until he arrives.  I will be back before you know it.  Please keep going with your training.  This is very important.  I have to ask you not to ring your mother,  I can’t tell you why just now, you have to trust me.  I’ll see you in a couple of days.

Love always, Dad  (page 14-15)

This is where the adventure really starts for the siblings, where things start to get quite bizarre and at times, unbelievable, starting  when Zara realises she has left something behind on their hike, something that her Dad gave her, …he said it was very important, so now the pair have to go back and find it.  It’s here we start to learn a bit more about Raff and Zara, we learn that Raff is the more serious responsible one. He doesn’t believe in cryptology. Zara is forgetful, always losing things, but she believes everything her Dad believes in.

This important thing that Zara had to go back and find, is a rock, probably volcanic in origin, but seemingly ordinary.  What is very far from ordinary is that on this journey to find the left behind rock, a big black raven that stands in their way.   This, in itself, is not that weird or odd, the weird and odd part, is that Zara understands that the ravenn has a message for them, and that Zara can understand what the raven is saying

‘Beware of the three, beware.

One, face like the moon, looking for shine

Two, like a brolga, without the dance

Hands of three, the colour of setting sun.

Beware, beware, of the three.

Beware beware, Beware…’

Page 22

From here on it’s non stop action for the Raff and Zara.

They escape a ranger, that’s not really a ranger, but one of the Three.

Stowaway on a bus full of kids retuning home after a camp, get held in a police station and go home with virtual strangers who believe they have a river serpent on their property....could it be a real live cryptid?

But Raff and Zara do finally make it back home, only to be faced with one of the Three breaking into their house, so they make their escape, and stow away on a truck heading in the general direction of their grandfathers house,  a grandfather they haven’t seen for many many years.

All of the time getting more and more clues as to what has happened to their Dad…and also start to figure out that their Mum is not the laboratory scientist that she claims to be.

We do find out how important the 'ordinary' stone is, it’s a Sark, which helps cryptozooloigists keep track of each other, identifies someone who has seen a cryptid and when there is danger nearby.  The Sark, it the one thing that might save them, and answer some questions.

As I said at the start, this is also a story about something very old, something hidden.

Throughout the story there are paragraphs, told from a different voice, the voice of this something, passages from the point of a view of a creature. A creature that has been living underground. It has been asleep for a long time, but it has woken…it’s something that should not even exist.

Obviously I am not going to tell you what this creature is, or what other cryptids the siblings might come across in this book, where’s the fun in that.  You have to read the book to find that out…read the book and see if you just might be a believer too?

Hidden Planet by Ben Rothery

Hidden Planet by Ben Rothery
October 2019 Penguin UK

Blurb:

A beautiful crossover book for all ages, this is the book natural-history illustrator Ben has wanted to read since he was a child. Simple text will provide an insight into these lesser-known birds and animals - some endangered and some less so - told from the perspective of a detail-obsessed illustrator.

'This is my love letter to Planet Earth; a celebration of her hidden species, from the bold and the beautiful to the interesting but ugly. And while not a complete list, I hope that these few give a glimpse of the outstanding diversity of nature' - Ben Rothery

Animal lovers behold.  

This is an absolute beauty of a book.  

The book is impressive before you even open it.  

It's large (h378mm  x  w280mm )...and that lion!

I will admit to not having actually read all of the text.  I can't get past the illustrations, they're breathtaking, as you can see from some of the internals below.  There is a good deal of information in this book though, with each animal having 5-6 paragraphs of text, and because of the books size, I can just see kids, and families pouring over the pages on the floor or around a table.

There are plenty of animals you will already know and love (lions, zebras, koalas) and then there are some you may see and read about for the first time  (clouded leopards and pangolins).  There's also general information about a variety of animals under topics such as camouflage, dimorphism and hidden abilities.

Hidden Planet is the title of this book so the hidden theme runs through all of the sections in the book.  There's an introduction explaining this at the start of the book:

Hidden Planet

When we think of something as being hidden, we normally imagine a creature that is out of sight or cleverly disguised as something else.   Perhaps it is cunning, shy or sly.  Maybe it is small or comes out only under the cover of darkness. It may live deep in a rainforest or in a cave, bury itself in the sand or spend its life high in the treetops.

There are also hidden relationships between species that might seem otherwise unconnected.  For many years, humans have invented fantastical stories to explain these connections.  One more secret of Planet Earth can be found in the unexpected abilities and behaviours of some of the creatures we think we already know.

The creatures in the is book are hidden in some of these ways.

This book will appeal to animal lovers, art lovers, and lovers of beautiful books.  

If butterflies are more your thing, Ben Rothery has you covered there too...look out for Sensational Butterflies.

Many Windows: Six Kids, Five Faiths, One Community by Rukhsana Khan, Uma Krishnaswami, Elisa Carbone

• Many Windows: Six Kids, Five Faiths, One Community by  Rukhsana Khan, Uma Krishnaswami, Elisa Carbone
• 
  
• Published December 30, 2013 Napoleon and Co 

Blurb:
In the midst of global turmoil, with people of various faiths in major conflict, three friends—a Muslim, a Christian and a Hindu—decided to write a book. Many Windows is a book about young people who are friends despite their religious differences. It’s a book about celebrations, that ultimately celebrates community. Many Windows is a collection of seven stories about six children who are in the same class at school, two white boys, a black girl, a Chinese girl, an Indian girl and a Pakistani boy. They are not necessarily friends, but they all come together in one commnunity at the end of the stories. Each story in the collection centres on a different celebration within the faith of that child. In the appendix, each of the celebrations is explained in more depth, as it is celebrated within that faith community: Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism. Each story represents a window into the life of the child, or, from a different point of view, the child’s window looking out to the world.

This is a collection of seven stories about six children who are in the same class at school, two white boys, a black girl, a Chinese girl, an Indian girl, and a Pakistani boy. They are not friends, but they all come together in one community at the end of the stories. Each story in the collection centres on a different celebration within the faith of that child, and in the appendix at the back of the book, each of the celebrations is explained in more depth, as it is celebrated within that faith community: Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism.

Each story represents a window into the life of the child, or, from a different point of view, the child's window -- looking out to the world.

I loved this book, and I think it’s so relevant to most children’s school experiences today.  So many children in the one class with different beliefs and cultural backgrounds, but not necessarily having much understanding of what those faiths are like…or even what other families are like.

Let me start by saying that this is a tiny book, the story part of it is only 65 pages long.   It is published by a small publisher in the US, so just a heads up, to get it in Australia it is quite pricey. If you are an Ebook reader, it is available on kindle and much cheaper.

There are 7 stories in total, each story told by a different character, with one character having 2 stories, at the start and at the end of the book, bringing everything together.

Each of the stories focuses on a different child, and the more stories you read, the more the stories become intertwined.  Rukhasana Khan did not write all of the stories in the book, she wrote 5 of the 7, but I will look at the book as a whole.

Because each story is short, I won't tell you too much about them, I will just give a brief teaser to each one.

The characters are:

Natalie a Buddhist, she works in her father’s jewellery store, an Important part of her story is a locket...that we see again somewhere else in the book.

Jameel a Muslim,  his family is having a visit from his uncle, from Pakistan.  There is some secret about his uncle...no one talks about it, but will Jameel find out the truth?

Deepa is Hindu and Diwali is her festival. Friendship is a strong theme in this story. The one person Deepa normally celebrates the day with is not with her this year.

Benjamin is Jewish - his grandmother is in a nursing home...she doesn't recognise Benjamin or his family any more.  But something about seeing Benjamin play with his dreidels, sparks a memory in her, a memory of a family member who is no longer with them.

Stephanie is a Christian and It's Christmas Day.  In Stephanie's story we see all of the other characters come together.

I like that the stories aren't 'about' religion or culture, they are just stories about people, they don't stop and explain anything within the story, it's just ‘there'

They mention Ramadan, but they don't go on to explain what that is, Similarly with other aspects, Like the food, the Luddos in Jameel's story or puris and jalebi in Deepa's. 

Other things like the dreidels in Benjamin's story. They're an important element to the stories, but it's never explained what they are... So it makes the reader want to find out more.  

As mentioned earlier, at the back of the book there is more detail on each of the faiths, as well as the specific celebrations mentioned in the stories, so you don't have to go far to get the extra information.

TJ is the other character and he has the first and last story in the book, and his, for me, are the most powerful stories.

In the first story, and you get the feeling that TJ has a bit of attitude…it’s his first day in a new school, and he does not seem happy to be there.  When he gets pulled up by the teacher, she asks him questions about his behaviour like he has a choice…this isn’t something TJ is used to, and it throws him a bit. 

His new classroom is a No Put Down Zone, and this rule applies to the yard as well, so when some kids tease TJ at lunch time, he shoves one of them, gives them a bloody nose and ends up on the principal’s office.  When he explains that the kids were teasing him first, Mrs Williams says that’s unacceptable and they must apologise to TJ…

TJ is shocked that he was listened to, and that the other kids were made to apologise. TJ doesn’t get off lightly though, and he still gets detention…that’s OK by him though, it’s fair.

The book ends with TJ. We start where we began.  What I get the most from this book is that TJ is the character I want to know more about. As a reader we get a glimpse into his life, and it’s pretty bleak, I just want to know that he will be ok. All of the other stories are about family and faith, but not TJ’s. The contrast between his life and those of the other characters is stark. That's why his stories work so well starting and ending the book, it puts all of the other stories into perspective.

The strongest theme that I get from all of the other stories would be family.  Each character has a strong connection to family, and within that family they also have their faith, but for me family is the key.  It’s obvious from what we read about TJ that this is what he is missing, and there is hope that maybe the new friends he has, have gone some way to fill the emotional void in his life.

This book is exactly what the title suggests, a window into the lives of these children.  Yes, it is a book about culture and faith, but it's also about family, family histories, friendship and community...oh and basketball... basketball is another thing that joins these kids together...but you can read the book to find out more about that.