Review of The Book of Doors – Gareth Brown

Because some doors should never be opened.

New York bookseller Cassie Andrews is not sure what she’s doing with her life. She lives quietly, sharing an apartment with her best friend, Izzy. Then a favourite customer gives her an old book. Full of strange writing and mysterious drawings, at the very front there is a handwritten message:
This is the Book of Doors. Hold it in your hand, and any door is every door.

Cassie is about to discover that the Book of Doors is a special book – a magic book. A book that bestows extraordinary abilities on whoever possesses it. And she is about to learn that there are other magic books out there that can also do wondrous – or dreadful and terrifying – things.

Because where there is magic there is power and there are those who will stop at nothing to possess it.
Suddenly Cassie and Izzy are confronted by violence and danger, and the only person who can help them is Drummond Fox who has a secret library of magical books hidden in the shadows for safekeeping, a man fleeing his own demons. Because there is a nameless evil out there that is hunting them all . . .

Because this book is worth killing for.

The Book of Doors

Gareth Brown

Published by Bantam

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jacqui Smith

I find it quite strange that the second urban fantasy that has come my way recently also has the theme of magical books, although handled in a very different way. So differently in fact, that in some aspects this work borders on science fiction. I am not going to spoil the twist for you – it surprised me and that takes some doing.

It begins in a bookstore in New York city, where a young woman named Cassie is given a book by an elderly customer, who dies soon after. This is the Book of Doors, and it can take you places. Cassie soon discovers that there are other magical books, and that while some owners are benign, some not so much, and one person is deeply evil. It would be disastrous if that person gets hold of the Book of Doors, and much of the story is about preventing that from happening.

I am not entirely satisfied with the world-building here, especially the origin story of the Books, but the story rollicks along and there is no lack of action. There are intriguing characters and some unusual relationships. And it all makes for a fun and enjoyable story.

Review of Hairy Maclary and Friends: Meet theGang! – Lynley Dodd

Meet Hairy Maclary and his rollicking gang i! Who is covered in spots? Who has a low tum? And who is the roughest and toughest of all?

A tabbed board book all about rascally Hairy Maclary and his canine friends!

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy meets a lot of his friends while he’s out and about on a walk – let’s see what they all get up to.

Little fingers will have so much fun turning the pages of this very special board book, with its sturdy pages and illustrated tabs featuring each of the characters our raggedy rapscallion runs with – or runs from!

Meet Hercules Morse as big as a horse, Bottomley Potts covered in spots, Muffin McLay like a bundle of hay, Scarface Claw the toughest Tom in town, and other favourite characters from the best-loved series by Lynley Dodd.

Hairy Maclary and Friends: Meet the
Gang!

Lynley Dodd

Picture Puffin

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

A sturdy board book with tabs featuring all of the Hairy Maclary gang with the familiar descriptions of their appearance – Hercules Morse as big as a horse, Bitzer Maloney all skinny and bony, Schnitzel von Krumm with the very low tum! Each brightly coloured tab has the drawing of a character on it, making it easy to turn straight to their page to read the question of who it is. The tabs aren’t really designed for left-handers though – sigh.

The illustrations are framed in the colour of that pages tab and feature the well-known characters we know and love. The text is black and easy to read, standing out against a white background. The words are rhythmic and awesome to read aloud, while the pages are made of a thickened cardboard that won’t crumple easily, perfect for little fingers.

A must-have for any toddler!

Review of Anzac Ted; 10th Anniversary Edition – Belinda Landsberry

These days, Anzac Ted doesn’t score any votes at classroom Show and Tell, with his worn patches and missing parts. But when he belonged to Grandpa Jack, he travelled across the world to be a mascot for Anzac soldiers, giving them comfort, courage and hope that they would return home. Told with heart and sensitivity, Anzac Ted is a celebration of the Anzac spirit.

This special edition includes additional content such as a page of information on the history of the ANZACS and the shared experience of ANZAC and Turkish soldiers, as well as a ‘How to draw Anzac Ted’ activity page.

Anzac Ted; 10th Anniversary Edition

\Belinda Landsberry

EK Books

Supplied by Fantail Communications

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

A young boy has a battered old teddy bear that is missing parts and looks scary. He tries to clean him up before taking him to the classroom show and tell, but the other kids don’t vote for him as all they see is a tatty teddy bear. But they don’t know his story…..

His name is Anzac Ted and he was the childhood teddy of the boy’s Grandpa Jack. When Jack went off to fight with the ANZAC in WWi, Ted went too. He became their mascot and comforted the diggers, knowing they’d get home if they stuck with Anzac Ted.

The story is told in a cute poem, with each verse consisting of four lines and some clever rhymes. It has a fun, catchy beat that makes it a joy to read out loud. The text is solid black letters and easy to read against a solid background, mainly white or a muted colour. The illustrations are charming, very lifelike with a lot of details without being too busy. The colours are soft and restful, making the book perfect for a bedtime story. It has a good lesson about not judging things by their surface appearance and looking deeper to find their full story.

The back of the book has a page of information about the Anzacs and remembers the Turkish forces. There’s also a QR Code to scan to get a drawing of Anzac Ted to colour in. a gorgeous book that explains the Anzac ledged just in time for Anzac day. Buy it.

Review of Nova’s Missing Masterpiece – Brooke Graham; illustrated by Robin Tatlow-Lord

When Nova realizes the artwork she created for Dad’s birthday present is missing, her tummy flip flops and her heart ker-thumps. She and her dog, Harley, turn the house upside down, searching absolutely everywhere, but the missing masterpiece is nowhere to be found. Nova loses her temper but Harley remains calm and content. Can Nova learn from her dog, calm herself down and find her Dad’s present in time for his birthday party?

Nova’s Missing Masterpiece

Brooke Graham

illustrated by Robin Tatlow-Lord

EK Books

Supplied by Fantail Communications

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

Nova is panicking. She created an artwork for her dad’s birthday – it was her BEST WORK EVER and took he all weekend to complete – now she’s misplaced it and his party is in a few hours. With her dog Harley in tow, she searches for it. Nova scours her bedroom, dismantles the living room, and upturns the bathroom. Finding nothing, she roars in frustration before noticing Harley flopped on the floor panting. He seemed calm and content so she decided to follow his lead and do some deep breathing.

Not feeling so hot and bothered now, Nova and Harley keep looking. She tears apart the the kitchen but still nothing. Nova’s head pounds as she’s so annoyed and angry, but then she sees Harley lapping water from his bowl. This seems a good idea so she has “a drink to help her think”. Calmer, Nova and Harley head outside to look high and low but find nothing. Upset she can’t find it and her dad’s party is soon, Nova bursts into tears while Harley howls in distress. His howls give her a idea and she puts on headphones to listen to soothing music.

Will Nova find the missing masterpiece in time?

A fun story that teaches children about problem-solving and trying another strategy if the first doesn’t work. It emphasises the need to keep trying and not give up, while giving some useful coping strategies to deal with anger and frustration. The illustrations are vibrant and colourful, perfectly bringing to life Nova’s frustrations. Harley is cute too,

This is an ideal story to show how emotions can affect thinking and shows simple techniques that can help control them.

Review of Meow: A book of happiness for cat lovers – Anouska Jones (ed.)

No cat lover can imagine life without a feline presence. Meow: A book of happiness for cat lovers is a compendium of delightful quotes that capture the essence of this fascination. Some are by famous people (Mark Twain, Jean Cocteau, Ernest Hemingway) and others are philosophical, or light-hearted — all are memorable. Accompanied by beautiful and heart-warming photography, and now reissued in a high-quality paper gift format, this is a collection to truly treasure.

Meow: A book of happiness for cat lovers

Anouska Jones (ed.)

Exisle Books

Supplied by Fantail Communications

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

This book has stunning photos of cats on one page with a pithy quote on the opposite page.  The quotes are a mix of thoughtful and whimsical, but all define the essence of a cat and will make you smile. I like Patricia Hitchcock’s quote – ‘If your cat falls out of a tree, go inside to laugh’ – great advice so you avoid the look of contempt.  The African proverb ‘If stretching was wealth, the cat would be rich’ is so true.  Sadly, stretching doesn’t pay the rent so my lot continue to freeload.  The photography is amazing and you can almost feel the fur.

A must-have for cat lovers.

Review of Chugga Tugga Tugboat – Sally Sutton; illustrated by Sarah Wilkins

Chugga tugga tugboat, chugging out to sea,

Can’t you, won’t you, play with me?

No, I’m too busy with this tanker.

Splish splosh, wish wash,

TOOT TOOT TOOT!

Chugga tugga tugboat, chugging out to sea,

Can’t you, won’t you, play with me?

No, I’m too busy with this cruise ship.

Splish splosh, wish wash,

TOOT TOOT TOOT!

From cruise ships and tankers to yachts and barges, readers will love exploring the gorgeously detailed port and water scenes over and over again.

Sally Sutton knows the subjects little children love to venture out and explore in the world around them, and she also always knows just how to bring them back home again, safe for a snuggly goodnight. Her bouncy rhymes are huge fun to read aloud, and are so catchy that kids will quickly learn the words by heart.

Teamed with Sarah Wilkins’ stunning illustrations depicting a little boy at play at home, along with a bustling busy and a variety of vessels and water activities visible through the windows, Chugga Tugga Tugboat is a gorgeous companion to Crane Guy.

Chugga Tugga Tugboat

Sally Sutton

illustrated by Sarah Wilkins

Picture Puffin

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

A little boy stands at a window in his home watching a tugboat hard at work. The boy keeps asking the tugboat to play but he has to say no every time as he’s busy. There is an incredible variety of tasks this tough tittle tugboat performs; everything from guiding huge ships in to port, to rescuing yachties in stormy weather, even fire-fighting blazes on boats! The little boy is shown playing by mimicking the each of the tugboats duties until the tugboat is finally free to play with him…..

A delightful book with a cute story and lots of fun to read aloud. The text has a rhythmic beat and repetitious while sharing different things a tugboat does. The font is clear and easy to read, and the illustrations are bright, vivid, and very detailed. Perfect for toddlers fascinated with boats, this book is filled with many sailing vessels and has numerous water scenes to explore. A great addition to any toddler’s library.

Review of Butterfly Girl – Ashling Kwok & Arielle Li

Butterfly Girl is a charming and sensitively illustrated book about friendship and making space for animals, even in an urban environment. Olivia, who loves butterflies, has to leave her home in the countryside and move into a city apartment. Feeling lonely without her fluttering friends, she realises she needs to transform her bare balcony if she wants her friends to visit — and that turns out to be a great way to meet her new neighbours!

Butterfly Girl
Ashling Kwok & Arielle Li

EK Books
Supplied by Fantail Communications
Reviewed by Jan Butterworth
Olivia has an idyllic life out in the countryside with unlimited space and her butterfly friends that come when she sang and danced and whirled and fluttered and twirled. Then her parents spilt up and Olivia and her mother move to an flat in the city. Leaving her butterfly friends behind makes Olivia sad but her mum is positive that she will make new friends in the city. So they move to the new place and Olivia waits for new friends to find her. She waits and waits and waits some more.

On her balcony, Olivia tries singing to her butterfly friends and she danced and whirled and fluttered and twirled but they stayed away. Realising her drab, colourless garden had none of butterflies favourite things, she created a little garden to attract them. She then sang and danced harder and waited and waited and waited. Still they stayed away as the city was too drab and colourless for them.
Then a neighbour asked Olivia for help in planing a garden. Soon, she was helping more and more of her neighbours to pant gardens. Their building became a sea of vibrant colour in the drab, colourless city. Olivia now had many friends – but would her butterfly friends come back?

This is a charming story about perseverance and how sitting back and waiting doesn’t work; you need to work to make things happen and magic happen anywhere with a bit of imagination. It also shows that the smallest person can make a huge difference to the environment and the lives of others. The artwork is amazing; soft and restful colours and the illustrations tell the story well. There is a handy guide to creating your own butterfly garden in the back of the book. It has tips and tricks on how to attract butterflies. A cute story that has valuable lessons without being preachy.

Review of The Tw*t Files: A life of mistakes – no regrets – Dawn French

A hugely relatable, funny, honest and inspirational ‘memoir of sorts’ in which Dawn celebrates what it means to be gloriously, messily human.

When I was younger I wanted to be an interesting, sophisticated, semi-heroic, multi-layered person.

BUT. That kind of perfect is impossible. Being an actual twat is much more the real me. Sorry to boast, but I am a champion twat.

In The Twat Files I will tell you about all the times I’ve been a total and utter twat. The moments where I’ve misunderstood stuff and messed up. My hope is that these stories might fire up yer engines to remind you of just what a massive twat you also are.

Let’s celebrate and revel in this most delightful of traits together. That would be perfectly twatty.

Review of The Tw*t Files: A life of mistakes – no regrets

Dawn French

Michael Joseph

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Stephen Litten

Dawn French is an unabashed twat, and not frightened to say so. Most twattery is obvious only in hindsight: blowing vast sums on a vanity piece of clothing that will never fit or wandering around with one’s flies undone. Generally, a twat is blissfully unaware of their blunder (at the time). The ultimate prize winner is Robert Browning, who rhymes bat with twat.

Dawn provides us with numerous examples of her being a twat at various stages of life. The behaviour derives from a variety of reasons, with pride in some manifestation frequently taking the lead. This is sort of a given – this is a book about twattery. The anecdote about Dawn, Lenny and Dustin is truly epic. Three twats in one story. Brilliant.

The Twat Files is Dawn’s attempt to get people to accept that embarrassing blunders are normal. Certainly, they are not mundane. They are the stuff of anecdote and thus should be celebrated.  Especially if the joke is on oneself. Because people are going to laugh anyway. Dawn probably showcased most of this material in her stage show Dawn French is a Huge Twat. Please note the verb: “to be”, not “to have”.

I enjoyed The Twat Files. It’s a glimpse into a celeb’s life with the spotlight on their human frailties. There are a number of delightful line drawings (by Jessica Green) which add to the joy of the book.  Huge thanks to Penguin Random House for the review copy.

Review of Xander and the Pen: The Pen Series #2 – David Lawrence & Cherie Dignam

Xander buys a pen that gives him the power to improve his family’s fortunes, only to discover that power comes with its own problems.

Xander and the Pen is the story of a boy who loves to draw superheroes, and the pen he buys from a mysterious market stall. He soon learns that the pen has a magical whatever he draws, happens! At first the pen helps Xander improve his family’s fortunes, but there are many unintended consequences and soon everybody is angry at him.

\Xander sees that the power of the pen has changed him into somebody his sister and his friends despise. But how else to deal with the bullying Bruise Brothers and solve the mystery of the poisoned llamas? Can Xander win back the respect of his sister and friends without using the pen? Or will he succumb to the temptation of an easy fix?

Featuring hilarious illustrations, and with messages about bullying, family dynamics, disability and the environment, this is fast-paced, entertaining middle grade fiction that will resonate with kids everywhere. After all, who wouldn’t want to fix all their problems with the stroke of a pen.

Review of Xander and the Pen: The Pen Series #2

David Lawrence & Cherie Dignam

EK Books

Supplied by Fantail Communications

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

Xander is an ordinary kid with two hardworking parents and a sister in a wheelchair after an accident.  The family is scraping by, his father goes fishing to supplement the family food.  He’s also an amateur treasure hunter, scouring beaches with his metal detector and dreaming of the day he’ll strike it rich.Xander loves drawing and he’s really good at it – especially super heroes.  He has two close friends he hangs out with and entertains them by drawing funny cartoons of events that he wants to happen.

Every school has its bullies and the ones at Xander’s are the Bruise Brothers.  One day he draws a cartoon of them being defeated by a superhero and they are furious, waiting till after school to beat him up.  They chase him to a market in town where fog suddenly rolls in, hiding Xander as he escapes them.  He finds some money as he ides and then finds an antique store where he is drawn to a pen.  It’s the exact amount he found and he buys it before leaving the market to head home and try out his new pen.   Unfortunately the Bruise Brothers spot Xander and drag him into the disabled loos, where they beat him up and flush his new pen down the toilet. Once home, he discovered the pen was back inn his pocket and happily went about using it.

Xander soon realised that the pictures he was drawing with the pen were coming true, he decided to draw some good things happening – like his sister running again, his dad finding treasure, himself winning a math competition.  But these good thing had unexpected consequences – his sister moving away, the family letting wealth go to their heads and losing themselves, hurting a friend.  He needs to fix things – mend his relationship with his sister, get his family functioning healthily again, and get his friends back. Xander has to find his way back to who he was before he bought the amazing pen.

This book is an enjoyable read that will appeal to tweens.  The story is illustrated with clever cartoonish drawings of the action – like Xander had done them!  Really looking forward to more of this series!

Review of The Cat who Taught Zen – James Norbury

This is the tale of a cat wise in the ways of zen who hears of a solitary ancient pine, deep in a maple forest, under which infinite wisdom may be found.

So begins a journey of discovery.

Along the way he meets a vivid cast of animals: from an anxious monkey and a tortoise tired of life, to a tiger struggling with anger, a confused wolf cub and a covetous crow.

Each has stories to tell and lessons to share.

But after a surprise encounter with a playful kitten, the cat questions everything…..

Review of The Cat who Taught Zen

James Norbury

Michael Joseph

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jacqui Smith

“We do like the book. It’s really quite lovely. A keeper,” I wrote to my friend and so it is. This work is what the librarians call an adult picture book, an illustrated storybook that anyone of any age can enjoy. And the illustrations in this book are really quite beautiful.

The story is quite simple, yet deep in meaning. It is about a cat on a mission to find understanding. The cat is told of an ancient tree where one may find truth, and he sets forth to find it. On the way he meets many creatures and there are many lessons. Finally, one very important lesson… it was never about a tree…

There is a great deal of wisdom in this book, wisdom for anyone, whatever their beliefs. One can read it over and over and still find something new to learn and be inspired by. A book to be kept. To be left on the coffee table for anyone to pick up and enjoy. To be treasured.

Recommended.