Hey kids! Review your favourite books on Book Buzz

It’s not only us librarians that get to tell everyone about what we are reading.  We have an excellent page on the Kids section of the library webpage, called Book Buzz, that is just for children to post their own reviews of fantastic books that they are reading or have enjoyed.  All you have to do is go to the Book Buzz page, tell us your first name and your age, the title of the book and the author, and then tell us why you liked it.  You don’t have to write heaps, so if you just want to say something like ‘This book was great.  I liked the characters” or “It’s awesome! I stayed up all night to read it” that is absolutely fine.  The idea is to tell other kids about the book and make them want to read it.  This page is also good if you can’t find something to read because you can have a look at the books that other kids have reviewed and find something that you might like.  Reviews are also organised in genres such as Adventure, Fantasy, and Family so that you can pick a type of book that you like.

If you’re a teen, you can also post your own reviews on our teens page The Pulse.  If you click on the Read section and select Reviews you can post your own reviews, read reviews that others have written and look at some fantastic websites that also review books that you could read.

You can also comment on books that we review on the Library Blog by clicking on comments at the end of each post and typing in your name and comment.  We always like to know what people think of the books/music/movies that we recommend.

Great new picture books

Here’s just a small selection of some great new picture books that have arrived at the library lately:

Fearless is a new picture book by Colin Thompson who has written some very funny picture books for older readers.  It’s a book about how the names of people (and animals) sometimes don’t quite match their personality.  A family called the Claybourne-Willments, who should have been called the Smiths, get a little puppy called Fearless. “It seemed like a good name for him.  Except Fearless wasn’t.”  Fearless is a bulldog who has a “tiny, nervous brain” but a huge heart and loves everyone he meets. However, when a burglar breaks into their house can Fearless live up to his name and protect his family?  The story is hilarious and I loved the illustrations, especially the one when a fly lands on his nose.

I know there are plenty of fans of Jackie French’s fantastic picture book Diary of a Wombat, where we follow the life of Mothball the wombat over the course of a week.  Most of the Mothball’s week involves sleeping, eating, and looking for food but Jackie French’s words and Bruce Whatley’s illustrations make for a funny read.  I was excited to discover that they have just written a sequel called Baby Wombat’s Week which is just as good as the original.  This new story is told in the same format as the original, where we follow Mothball and her baby over the course of a week.  Baby wombat gets bored very easily and goes off in search of food while his mother sleeps, and he bumps into a human baby who becomes his friend and they play together.  The text is very simple and so a lot of the story is told by the pictures, making this a perfect picture book.  Much like Diary of a Wombat, this book will appeal to both adults and children.

Spot It! by Delphine Chedru is a new look-and-find book that is great for young children.  Each of the pages in the book is a colourful repeating pattern (flowers, trees, swirls) similar to a wallpaper design, but hidden in each page is an animal or object to find, such as a leaping dragon, a lost chick, and a butterfly with five spots.  There is only one thing to find on each page making it easier for younger children, but they are cleverly hidden amongst the pattern.  I like it because it’s something different from the  I-Spy books, but still challenging for younger children.