Angie's Reviews - See Hear

See Hear
By Tania McCartney
$24.99, hardcover, EK Book

“Listen with your eyes, listen with your eyes, and sing everything you see.” It may seem an odd admission, but these lyrics from the kids’ song, I Can Sing a Rainbow are up there with my favourites. As a child (and still now) that linking of sight and sound struck me as both delightfully nonsensical and perfectly logical. The pairing works well in See Hear, too – in quite a sensory-embracing way, with simple, onomatopoeic adjectives by Tania McCartney and sweet, soft, watercolour illustrations by Jess Racklyeft. See Hear is a follow up to Smile Cry. Both books have employed a clever ‘flip’ feature, meaning they can be read in either direction, with ‘See’ on one side and ‘Hear’ on the other, meeting in a kind-of tie-in / baton-handover in the middle. This novelty factor and the evocative sensory words (‘hot pan sizzles’) are strengths, but readers will get the most out of this book (a lovely list of sounds and sights, essentially) by using it as a starting point to explore the world around them, and more specifically, the endless ways and words that can be used to describe it.

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Angie Schiavone has a Master of Arts in Children's Literature and is the former children's book reviewer for The Sydney Morning Herald. She has been a judge for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, a restaurant reviewer and editor for the Good Food Guide, and a cookbook editor. She's also a mum to two book and food-loving kids.   

If you are a SCBWI member and have a new book coming out soon make sure you CLICK HERE to submit your book to Angie’s Reviews.

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Angie's Reviews - Grandma Z

Grandma Z
By Daniel Gray-Barnett
$24.99, hardcover, Scribble (Scribe Publications)

The outrageous title character of this eye-catching debut picture book is a contender to join the ranks of such memorable figures as Nanny McPhee and Mary Poppins. She has a quirky, commanding presence – she’ll take her grandson (Albert) on spectacular adventures but always deliver him home safe – and she’ll fulfil his most absurd and delicious wishes – and ride a motorbike, to boot. The striking contrast between this and Albert’s strict, neat-freak parents (who think socks and toast are suitable birthday fanfare) is fun in its hyperbole and perfectly matched by the illustrations, which are full of movement but unexpectedly stick exclusively to a bright orange, blue, black and white colour palette. It makes for a striking risograph-like look, and has a nostalgic, retro feel – a little ‘Moomin’, perhaps. The story is an appropriately imaginative endorsement of the liberating power of imagination, which is Grandma’s true gift to Albert. The only question is… is it Grandma Zee or Grandma Zed?

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Angie Schiavone has a Master of Arts in Children's Literature and is the former children's book reviewer for The Sydney Morning Herald. She has been a judge for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, a restaurant reviewer and editor for the Good Food Guide, and a cookbook editor. She's also a mum to two book and food-loving kids.   

If you are a SCBWI member and have a new book coming out soon make sure you CLICK HERE to submit your book to Angie’s Reviews.

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Angie's Reviews - Missing

Missing
By Sue Whiting
$17.99, paperback, Walker Books

Missing persons is a difficult subject matter in more ways than one. Not only is it heavy and heart-
breaking, but from a narrative point of view, it can be difficult to stop the story from getting bogged down and for the plot to stall. There are no such issues however in this early-YA novel by Sue Whiting, in which the mother of seventh grader Mackenzie da Luca fails to return from a working trip to Panama. Chapters alternate between a Sydney setting, from around the time Mackenzie’s mum goes missing, to present time when Mackenzie and her father fly to search in Panama. The sense of possibility in the Panama chapters provides balance for the more passive Sydney chapters and the hopelessness felt as Mackenzie tries to continue on with school and life in general, all the while internally speculating about what’s happened to her mother. There’s interaction between the sections too, with one providing insight into where Mackenzie and her father end up, emotionally and in their thinking. The picture Whiting paints of Panama is convincing, too (although note, I like her, have never been there!). A compelling read.
 

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Angie Schiavone has a Master of Arts in Children's Literature and is the former children's book reviewer for The Sydney Morning Herald. She has been a judge for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, a restaurant reviewer and editor for the Good Food Guide, and a cookbook editor. She's also a mum to two book and food-loving kids.   

If you are a SCBWI member and have a new book coming out soon make sure you CLICK HERE to submit your book to Angie’s Reviews.

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