Review of Father Christmas’s Fake Beard – Terry Pratchett

Have you ever wanted Christmas to be different?

Turkey and carols, presents and crackers – they all start to feel a bit . . . samey.

How about a huge exploding mince pie, a pet abominable snowman, or a very helpful partridge in a pear tree? What if Father Christmas went to work at a zoo, or caused chaos in a toy store or, was even, arrested for burglary!?

tt, for a festive treat like no other. These ten stories will have you laughing, gasping and crying (with laughter) – you’ll never see Christmas in the same way again.

Father Christmas’s Fake Beard

Terry Pratchett

Doubleday

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Stephen Litten

What do you do when the ideal replacement Father Christmas brings his own elves to the store grotto? Will Blackbury be terrorised by abominable snowmen? Will Amos Strong’I’t’arm win the love of Miss Fancy Ramble? These and other important questions are answered in this volume of collected stories by Terry Pratchett.

The stories in Father Christmas’s Fake Beard are a varied bunch. There are eleven of them, and the title story is first up.

It is told by office memo, introducing the current store Father Christmas and his little foibles. The best memo reads: “What’s gone wrong with the heating in the Toy Department? It’s like the North Pole up here!” I’ll leave you to guess where it goes to from there.

       Several are set in the northern town of Blackbury, which has none of that twee softness southerners display.

They span 25 years of Sir Terry’s career (1967-92), and while all had been previously published (by various publishers) sometimes titles have been added or changed to reflect need (Father Christmas instead of Santa Claus).

There is a definite growth in Sir Terry’s style in this collection. Hardly surprising as the first was published when the author was 19 and the last 44. But they are all humorous, if not downright funny. The stories are quite short, but they are leavened with illustrations. Speaking of these, Mark

Bench has done a good job and his style suits Sir Terry’s.

A great little collection to giggle over.

Review of Midnighters – Hana Tooke

A missing friend, a gothic city, a secret society full of wonder, invention and maybe a hint of magic . . . welcome to the world of the Midnighters!

Find the courage to be extraordinary . . .

Ema Vasková has always felt different. In a family of famous scientists, there’s not much room for superstition or omens – but they seem to follow Ema wherever she goes. It doesn’t help that she appears to predict events before they happen, and has a peculiar fear of shadows . .

When Ema is sent to stay with her eccentric uncle .in Prague, she fears she’ll lose the chance to ever fit in. But then she meets Silvie – a girl who finally sees Ema for the extraordinary person that she is. Soon the girls are meeting for secret midnight adventures, and facing Ema’s fears together.

But then disaster strikes. Silvie goes missing – and it’s up to Ema to find her. Now she must gather the courage to hunt the city, find her friend, and uncover the secrets of the one clue Silvie left as to where she might be – inside the mysterious Midnight Guild . . .

Midnighters

Hana Tooke

Puffin

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jacqui Smith

This was a strange tale; part urban fantasy, part steampunk, part murder mystery, set in Prague in 1889. At the centre of it all is Ema, a remarkable child in a remarkable family, who are all scientists. But Ema, the twelfth and youngest child, born at midnight on the twelfth day of the twelfth month, has yet to find her particular gift.

Left behind when her parents depart on a scientific expedition, she goes to stay with her uncle. She is befriended by the enigmatic Sophie, and embarks on a series of adventures across the city. It is however, when Sophie disappears that the real adventure begins, taking Ema into the mysterious Midnight Guild, a madcap blend of science fair and circus, hidden beneath the city. And to murder.

0It is, of course, ultimately a story about a young girl coming to terms with who she is and learning what her true talents are. There is an edge of not quite, maybe, supernatural about some of her abilities. Especially in connection with the number twelve.

I did enjoy the book, and I think tween-aged girls could really relate to Ema’s story, although I think more sensitive children might find parts it a bit scary.

I have a couple of questions though… There is a cat, which is always a plus, but I find it odd that the cat is a Maine Coon, since that breed originated in the US in the late 1800s, and would be highly unusual in Europe in 1889. There is also the matter of the 1889-1890 pandemic, which had reached Prague by December of 1889. But those are quibbles, and don’t detract from the story.

Review of A Load Of Bull – Amanda King

A stunning photographic book recording the extraordinary beauty of farm animals – cattle to be precise!

Amanda King grew up in Brisbane, Australia, and like so many young Australasians before her, she eventually headed off on her OE. On her travels, she met a Kiwi farmer, and ended up living on a farm in Canterbury, New Zealand, and falling head-over-heels in love with country life as well as the farmer!

Photography started off as a favourite hobby – a way to capture unique split-second scenes and make them last a lifetime. Her business really began when she decided to create a large wall print for her own living room. An opportunity arose to photograph a stunning highland cow. The resulting animal print became the focal point of the room and friends started requesting similar pieces.

This inspired her to head out and take photos of other rural animals. That led to a ‘hobby’ Facebook page. Unexpectedly, and very quickly, people started to respond to the images. Before too long, and much to her delight, Amanda found herself with a full-time business on her hands.

In this book she has collected her favourite prints and arranged them by breed: Angus; Belted Galloway; Bison; Brahman; Charolais; Friesian; Hereford; Highland; Jersey; Limousin; Murray Grey; Red Devon; Shorthorn; Speckle Park; Texas Longhorn; Wagyu; White Galloway; and Zebu.

Amanda also tells brief stories of some of these animals, their personalities, and how the shoot day went. As you may imagine, it’s not always entirely straightforward!

A Load Of Bull

Amanda King

Penguin

0Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

This is a book of photos of cows.  I can’t believe I enjoyed a book of photos of cows but I did.   I preferred the few colour photos over the many darker ones but they’re all spectacular works of art.

The photos are sorted by breeds and each has a brief explanation of it.  Each animal featured has their name displayed – some are amazingly descriptive; such as Don’t Mess With Me – and a short back story of how the photo came to be or an explanation of what was involved in its creation.

There are interesting tidbits of information given – I had no idea cows had a good memory and could remember people after years apart, or that bison don’t moo; instead they snort bellow, and grunt.  It’s also possible to read a bull’s body language to tell if he’s about to charge – of course it’s obvious but it never occurred to me to think about it before.

The book is hard cover and very heavy to hold.  It’s an attractive coffee-table book but I found it hard to read it for a long period of time, the type of the story wording is small and as the book was so heavy I had to lay it on a table and bend my neck.

This is an impressive book though. Not just gorgeous photos but interesting stories and facts. Try reading it – you might love it as much as I do.