Monday 19 November 2018

Stamp Safari Blog Tour



 Welcome to the Stamp Safari Blog Tour



About the book:



A tiny piece of paper from the year 2019 might not sound very interesting to most people. But Max and Oscar – Bluggsville’s sharpest sleuths – aren’t most people! Max has a hunch that this ancient patch of paper might be valuable, and extremely rare.

Max is right – this isn’t just any old piece of paper. It’s a strange, sticky thing called a postage stamp, and it’s more than 400 years old! It’s an exciting discovery, but before long, it leads Max and Oscar into some very sticky situations… 


Our review:
Book 3 in the Max Booth Super Sleuth series, we jump right into the action. Max finds a strange little sticky piece of paper among some of the junk Jessie, is curating for the Bluggsville museum.
Set in the future 2424 in Skyburb 6, a floating city in the sky, we journey with Max and his robot dog on the hunt to discover the origin of this mysterious sticky picture paper. What follows is a roller coaster adventure, with Max and Oscar weeding out the clues.
We especially loved how the mystery was solved. It spoke deep to our seriously nerdy sci fi/mystery loving core, and also tugged a little on our heart strings.

Cameron's writing style is instantly engaging and my 7 year old daughter and I were riveted to this book. Weighing in at 130 pages with its larger print and fun illustrations, I'm certain kids approximately aged 7-9, who are ready to move on from series like Zac Power, will really love this futuristic sleuth series. We certainly want to back track to read the first two books.







About Cameron:

My writing career started at the age of 18, when I wrote a story about a high-school computer hacker. No one wanted to publish it. Then I wrote a poem about a piano-playing monkey. No one wanted to publish that either.


Worried that no one would ever publish any of my own books, I became an editor so that I could interfere with the books of others. Then, in 2008, a lovely publisher asked me to write a book about the Beaconsfield mine disaster. That was the beginning of a new direction - writing for the classroom. And now, with the publication of the Max Booth Future Sleuth series, I'm excited to be writing for an even wider audience. I hope you enjoy.




Hop on over to the blog tour below, for more zany adventures....

Monday Nov 12 - Wednesday Nov 21
PLUS!
Monday Nov 12
Wednesday Nov 14
Thursday Nov 15
Friday Nov 16
Monday Nov 19
Tuesday Nov 20
Wednesday Nov 21
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Friday 29 June 2018

Finding Granny

Welcome to the last stop on the Finding Granny Blog Tour




 by Kate Simpson

 Kate is children's author and podcaster based in Sydney, Australia. Her debut picture book, Finding Granny, will be in bookshops in July 2018.


About The Book

Every two seconds, someone in the world suffers a stroke.

In Finding Granny, that someone is Edie’s beloved grandmother. When Edie comes to the hospital, she is confronted by the physical changes in her grandmother: muddled words, a crooked face, a woman confined to bed. This isn’t the ‘playtime, bedtime, story-time pantomime Granny’ that Edie knows. But when her mother takes Edie to watch one of Granny’s art therapy sessions, Edie starts to understand that the Granny she loves is still there. 

Our Review
 Edie's Granny is loads of fun. She's never one to shy away from the odd bucket of slime and when there's ice cream on offer, Granny is the first to share.



So when something happens to Granny, and she has to go to the hospital, Edie is convinced the lady who can't talk like Granny, or walk like Granny, can't possibly be Granny. 


 
Edie is even a little scared of Granny, until Mama shows her all the wonderful ways Granny is learning to do things again.

In this heartfelt picture book, Kate Simpson touches on a topic which so many young children face. When an illness like a stroke, causes changes in a much loved family member.

With the beautiful water colours by Gwynneth Jones, we watch as Edie and Granny come to find the common ground again.

A place where they understand the world will never quite be the same, but they can navigate the changes with love and compassion.

This book reminded me of when my own Grandpa had a stroke, and the changes I witnessed as a child.
A book like this would have given me such insight into his daily struggle, but also the wonderful blessing of still having Grandpa with us, no matter how different life had become.

I highly recommend this book for any little folks who have family enduring the life changing effects of stroke....

Bravo to Kate and Gwynneth for tackling this difficult subject.

And don't forget to drop by Kate's website, 



And jump back to the other stops on the tour.

Sunday July 1 - Saturday July 7
Monday July 2
Tuesday July 3
Wednesday July 4
Thursday July 5
Friday July 6

Sunday 29 April 2018

Trouble In Toon Town by Maura Pierlot





About the Book
Title: ​ The Trouble in Tune Town
Author: ​Maura Pierlot Illustrator: ​Sophie Norsa Target:​ 6+
ISBN:  ​9781925545333  ​
Hardback RRP: $​24.95

Description:
Joint Winner, Best Children's Illustrated E-Book in the IPPY Book Awards 2018
 Meg is Tune Town’s best music performer, but she’s having trouble rehearsing. So much trouble, in fact, that the notes have run right off the sheet! Can Meg find the notes in time for her big concert? Or are they closer to home than she thought? A colourful book for music-loving-and-learning kids of all ages.


Our Review

Right off the bat, or should I say baton, the sketch and water colour images in this delightful picture book really give it a melodious feel. Illustrator Sophie Norsa has created a color filled feast of musicality as we learn of Meg's dilemma. Her notes have gone missing, they've stepped of the page causing musical machinations in tune town.



As every child learns, when first starting out, music and making it doesn't come easy. It takes hours even years to get it right. Meg feels her song is all wrong, so she gives up. The notes take it personally and try to find a new home, but they just don't fit in anywhere.
Eventually the conductor suggests Meg hum. The notes hear her tune, like they're being called home. On with the show, Meg takes a big step and makes melodies, regardless of them being prefect and the trouble in Toon Town is finally relieved.

Maura Pierlot's words are peppered with musical jargon and along with giving the reader a fantastic visual of how notes work on the page.
I read this to my six year old, who thought it was interesting and entertaining, having very little musical knowledge, I'm ashamed to say, since her mother can sing and spent years learning piano.

Ms Pierlot has also provided a grand glossary of all the musical terms, which was extremely helpful when discussing with my little one.

I highly recommend this beautifully created book to any young budding maestro, or perhaps those who've never been exposed to the wonderful world of music. 

About the Author: 

Maura loves words and has been writing ever since she can remember. Her children started music lessons at an early age, but never really enjoyed practising their instruments, often becoming frustrated when they couldn’t play the right notes. Maura thought learning a song should focus less on playing the notes correctly and more on experiencing and enjoying the music. This was the inspiration for The Trouble in Tune Town, Maura’s first picture book, and its heartfelt message: If you’re having fun, then you're playing all right. Maura also writes for the stage and for young adults. Over the years, she has crafted news and information as a medical journalist, magazine editor, small business owner, marketing consultant and ethicist. She has a PhD in philosophy and enjoys talking about big ideas. Maura lives in Canberra with her husband and their three children, now teenagers. She loves the touch and feel of books, old typewriters, thunderstorms and cheesecake. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, and travelling to new places. She tries to learn something new every day, but to make it fun.

About the Illustrator 

Sophie’s artistic talents were soon discovered by New Frontier Publishing, as a work experience student there. She has written and illustrated her own book, Lisa Absolutely Loves Art, and her illustrated work for Yellow Dress Day put her on the shortlist for the 2013 CBCA Crichton Award. Her other illustrated works include Matilda Saves Santa Claus, Emilia Mouse, Elephant Kitten and Where Do Teachers Go at Night? Sophie enjoys playing across styles and mediums of illustration.




Don't forget to jump on and check out the tour...


Sun Apr 22 - Sat May 5
Mon Apr 23
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Fri Apr 27
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Sun Apr 29
Mon Apr 30
Mon Apr 30 Facebook Event Party
Facebook.com/groups/thetroubleintunetownevent
Tue May 1
Wed May 2
Thu May 3
Fri May 4
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