Materials from Oceania
Andy and Terry live in a 104-story treehouse. (It used to be a 91-story treehouse, but they decided it was still missing a few things.) It has a never-ending staircase, a burp bank, a deep-thoughts thinking room, Mount Everest, a mighty fortress reinforced with extra-strong fortress reinforcer, and a money-making machine.
When Akela makes his first trading voyage with his wise grandfather, he learns that it takes courage, knowledge, and wisdom to cross the Pacific Ocean in a sailing canoe without compass or chart. Includes historical note.
When Mae’s family moves from the country to the city, she is sad to leave behind her beloved backyard garden but before long, she finds a way to start a new garden.
Dingo leaves her sleeping pups with her mate and lifts her head to smell the air. Dusk is a busy time — the time for hunting. Softly and fleetly she runs through the forest, past a possum, a wombat, and kangaroos in the gully below. Now she climbs to the highest point and sniffs again, locating the scent of rabbits in the wind. Interspersed with text offering facts for curious readers, Dingo is a lyrical foray into the life of these fascinating wild dogs.
A very small boy in a bear suit and a very large bear in a boy suit share the fun of pretending, adventuring in the woods, and a honey sandwich next to a warm fire on a cold day. Which is really the boy, and which is the bear? It doesn’t matter—you are who you say you are. With minimal text and bold, dramatic illustrations, this picture book offers a thought-provoking take on identity and brings a fresh vision to the theme of finding connections hidden behind visual differences.
One day Dad comes home with one of those old cameras, the kind that uses film. But he doesn’t take photos of the regular things people photograph. He takes pictures of his keys, his coffee cup, the objects scattered on his desk. He starts doing a lot of things that are hard to understand, like putting items that belong in the fridge in the cupboard and ones that belong in the cupboard in the fridge. In a sensitive, touching tale about losing a family member to a terminal illness, Ross Watkins and Liz Anelli prove that love is the one thing that can never be forgotten.
In poetic language and soft watercolor illustrations, this gentle lullaby of a tale evokes a story about finding refuge.
When you live at the edge of the no-go desert, you need to make your own fun. That’s when you and your brothers get inventive and build a bike from scratch, using everyday items like an old milk pot (maybe Mum is using it, maybe not), a bent bucket seat, and bashed tin-can handles. The end result is a spectacular bike, perfect for going bumpetty bump over the sand hills, past your fed-up mum, and right through your mud-for-walls home.
Alice is 15, with hair as red as fire and skin as pale as bone. Something inside Alice is broken: she remembers words but struggles to speak them. Still, Alice knows words are for sharing, so she pins them to posters in tucked-away places: railway waiting rooms, fish-and-chip shops, quiet corners. Manny is 16, with a scar from shoulder to elbow. Something inside Manny is broken: he was once a child soldier, forced to do terrible, violent things. But in a new land with new people who will care for him, he spends time exploring on foot. And in his pocket, he carries a poem he scooped up. And he knows the words by heart. When Manny and Alice meet, their relationship brings the beginning of love and healing.
WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for September 2018.
Reviewed in WOW Review: Reading Across Cultures, Volume XI, Issue 2.
A collection of illustrated short stories, each one about the relationship of humans and the animals, both wild and domestic, that share the urban environment of the inner city.