Moon Cow

Another stunning picture book by the ever-imaginative, highly talented, award-winning author Kyle Mewburn.  Simply gorgeous with beautiful and evocative illustrations by Deidre Copeland. Awards will follow for this, I have no doubt. Truly beautiful.
Beattie's Book Blog

When Milly the cow looks up at the moon she knows it must be lonely, so she decides to keep it company. The other cows think she's crazy, but Milly continues trying to win the moon's friendship. But this is harder than Milly thinks. After all, how do you get the moon to share its secrets with you? This is a beautifully written picture book from the author of Hill and Hole and NZ Post Award-winning Old Huhu. In simple but elegant language, Mewburn tells a funny and whimsical story about friendship and finding where you really belong. Deidre Copeland's stunning illustrations bring Milly, the moon and the nighttime landscape to life.

Poppies Hamilton

Dinosaur Rescue

Arg has a real problem and has to solve it before someone gets chomped! He has to stop and angry T-Rex from destroying his village. This is another hilarious tale in the Dinosaur series filled with great pictures, blood curdling screams and chomping Gurg in half and spitting him out! All the fun and silly antics boys love. Arg finds it hard being the only boy who has evolved in his tribe and sometimes his big brain gets him into heaps of trouble! He wants to wear clothes – his mother doesn’t understand that, his dad tries to understand him but hopes he will grow up like any other Neanderthal. Yet when Arg meets Skeet an evolved talking T-Rex the fun begins. A great read!

Stego-Snottysaurus is funny with big drawings throughout. I loved the part where Arg lost his balance and toppled over the edge. The only thing he could think about was ‘at least the bear can’t get me now.’ How wrong he was! The flu is causing all sorts of snotty problems for Arg and his tribe; it is terrible flu that has hit their valley. But Arg is horrified when he discovers people flu can be deadly to dinosaurs.  The dinosaurs will be doomed if it reaches the secret valley! This would have to be Arg and Skeet’s biggest adventure yet saving the dinosaurs from people flu, and not to mention their snottiest!
Boys especially will love this adventure tale and of course dinosaurs are always popular even a dinosaur that might just catch the flu! Enthralling, easy to read – a real winner!

bugreviews

Hester and Lester

Thumbs up to this celebration of creative kids exploring the outdoors. Young Lester is bored with playing on his own and is rather glum. His big sister, Hester, helps Lester to discover his imagination and their world becomes a shared adventure. Together they build a castle amongst the trees. They dig a moat and fill it with ferocious beasts. Then they make a drawbridge wide enough for a dozen horses. Their kingdom expands as their inventive story unfolds. Harriet Bailey's illustrations are a superb partnership with the author's text. Earthy, autumn colours match the natural materials the children use in their play world. Larger-than-life snails become a troop of soldiers in suits of armour. Bamboo sticks line the ramparts as mighty cannons. Hester and Lester sweep leaves of gold from the forest floor to fill the castle's treasury. The family dog joins in the fun and games until it's time for tea. A warm-hearted story that should encourage youngsters to play outside. The quality hardback publication is a bonus.

Jean Bennet bookrapt

Charming story written by experienced and award-winning Kyle Mewburn, and illustrated by Harriet Bailey. Harriet was the very talented winner of the Storylines Gavin Bishop Award for Illustration which was highly contested by many amazing illustrators. So it's very exciting that we're publishing her first book. When boisterous big-sister Hester finds her pernickity little-brother Lester sitting sadly in the forest, she's keen to put things right. Making a little brother happy isn't always easy - even with a very active imagination! But as they embark on an imaginary adventure, Lester learns something important. Hester and Lester is about the power of imagination, and a special sibling bond. It's a lovely story - the children are completely engrossed in their imaginative play building a castle out of bits and pieces in the back yard. So engrossed, that they see the castle as real and see themselves as being right in it. Harriet's illustrations bring this to life and show us the magical world of Hester and Lester's imaginations. Delightful.

wheelers books

DO NOT PUSH

Do Not Push, a fun to read book for the younger reader. I would say best suited for maybe ages 6+ and am delighted to say this is the first novel(ish) kind of book my master 9 has read alone and actually finished. He has learning difficulties so the story line appealed to him, he found it interesting and easy to read and I am very proud of his accomplishment - reading the whole book in 4 days.
The topic of the book 'Do Not Push' posing the question: "If you found a big red button in the middle of a forest, would you push it? Even if it said 'DO NOT PUSH' in big red letters?" lead to quite a family discussion, with some interesting answers in deed. Apparently I am less likely to take a risk than the rest of the members of my family, and would not push any random button whether there was a sign or not. Miss 5 would push the button, but if there was a sign then nope she wouldnt. The male members of my household (young and old) would all push the button no matter what,
The story, despite its level of realism definitely has a hidden message/lesson to be found within its pages, and I am glad that master 9 picked up on that message.
A really great read, that I am sure most would enjoy. I enjoyed reading it and thought it really was a good wee book.

www.kiwireviews.co.nz

Three cheers for No-ears!

Poor No-Ears the Elephant is a bit different. Instead of having lovely big elephant-ears, he's stuck with tiny little things on the side of his head. The other elephants make fun of No-Ears, but his other friends in the jungle try to help out. However, after ears fashioned from feathers, leaves, fur and other materials, No-Ears is ready to give up and go off to live on his own, he's so discouraged. But when the great-grandaddy bull elephant is trapped under a pile of rocks, No-Ears is the only one who can get in to save him. Three Cheers for No-Ears is a lovely story. Simple, with a nice message, it doesn't have so many words per page that your littlie will get bored, and it has fun stuff like feathers and giraffes to keep them entertained. The illustrations are fabulous, with bright colours and engaging pictures on every page to draw in young readers and listeners

Maree Field Southland Times

Three Cheers For No Ears is a book about sad elphant who gets teased because his ears are so small. Because of this none of the elaphants will be his friend he makes friends with all the birds. But one day something happens which makes him realise that having small ears isn't so bad. I think it is a nice story because it lets people know that being different from others is a good thing and that we are all special in our own way.

Reviewed by Sam - Lawrence School's Crafty Crew

Daisy's Maze

This is by Hanna from Grade 3 at Sunnnybrae Normal School.
Daisy was a pretty mouse who lived in a tall tower. Her friends stopped visiting her because they got too tired climbing the stairs to see her. This made Daisy unhappy and lonely. Hanna thought that this was a good story, especially for juniors. She liked the maze at the end of the book

Daisy the mouse lives in a tower, surrounded by a maze. Whenever she invites her friends to tea, they are grumpy and exhausted by the time they navigate the maze and climb the tower. Unfortunately Daisy doesn’t realise this and decides to cheer them up by making the maze more difficult and the tower higher. This results in her frustrated friends failing to arrive. Daisy goes down to look for them – guess what happens to her? In the end, of course, the friends are able to once again enjoy each other’s company – but Daisy has learned a lesson. This light, entertaining story is considerably enhanced by the imaginative illustrations done in watercolour, pencil, acrylic and collage, using Adobe Photoshop. The pictures offer a whole new layer of entertainment if the reader studies them carefully. There are lots of appealing little extras to be spotted in the backgrounds – such as the penguin sailing past Rangitoto in a boat made out of paper with German text on it. Best for sharing with children of about four to six. Kidsbooksnz

Hill & Hole

Hill and Hole were best friends. Hill likes being a hill, and Hole likes being a hole. But sometimes they dream of swapping places…
Have you ever had that feeling that it might be fun to be something or do something else? Kyle Mewburn's wonderfully original story explores that theme with two very unlikely characters - Hill and Hole.
Kyle has produced another excellent philosophical book that will encourage 4-8 year old children to think about wanting what you don't have. Teachers could use it to explore the Health theme of being happy with who you are. The illustrations are a perfect fit for this picture book.
Maria Gill Kidsbooksnz

Old Hu-Hu was always going to be a hard act to follow for Kyle Mewburn, but this is, in a completely different way, and with completely different illustrations, by a different illustrator, Vasanti Unka, every bit as good. The overall effect, is similarly philosophical. While Old Hu-Hu's message was about coping with death and loss, this one's message is about wanting to be something one is not, something other. "Hill and Hole were best friends" begins the simple text. They admire each other's strengths, Hole asking Hill each morning what he can see, and Hill asking Hole each evening what he can feel. Hole tells Hill about the sunrise, Hole tells Hill about the earth's breathing. When they ask Mole to change each to the other, so that Hole becomes Hill and vice versa, each is extremely happy with the new point of view, for a while. Then they ask wind to reverse the effect, but as Wind tells them, "Sometimes it's easier to do things than to undo them once they're done" and Wind can only do half of what Mole did, and the two exist side by side as a plain, and they are happy, watching the sun rise together, and feeling the earth breath together .. for a while. With beautifully minimalist text and illustrations which I find difficult to describe, but which suit the text perfectly, this is another stunning book, with a beautiful dedication from Kyle Mewburn: "for Marion, my Wind and my Mole"
Malcolm storytime books

A crack in the Sky

Nine year-old Conor is a likable boy. He cares about his hard-working mother and never complains that everything they own is second-hand. He can hardly believe his luck when he see a new, red sofa floating in the estuary. But is it really good luck?
The next morning Conor wakes with a stuffed-up nose, itchy red eyes and a cough. It's the start of the weirdest time of his life. He meets strange people in an environment that challenges his understanding of the world. Nothing seems to make sense. Where are they? Will they be there forever? The unlikely friends join together in a struggle that stretches them to the limit of their endurance.
Readers will stay hooked as they search for clues to find out what's happening to Conor and his companions. A fascinating, inventive story for 8-11 year olds.
Jean Bennett, Weekend Sun

A Crack In The Sky is a neat wee novel for children starting to read bigger books. The chapters are relatively small so kids may just read one or two chapters at a time and then go back to it later. This story has happy and sad parts to it. The problem arises one day when Connor realises he's no longer at home, he's in a strange land with people he doesn't know, but somehow when he starts talking to them he suddenly remembers everyone's names. Connor then sets off for discovering where he is, how he got there and how he can get back to his Mum.
This story is very involved and keeps the reader wanting to know what happens next. But is there a happy ending??
I will be recommending this to others.
www.kiwireviews.co.nz

Pop Hooper's Perfect Pets - Scruffy Old Cat

Nat came and helped Tilda find Pickle and the bracelet and made friends. Tilda found out that Pickle liked swimming in her pond and that Pickle was a bit like Nat. Nat fixed the flying fox and Tilda decided to keep Pickle. It was cool when Nat and Tilda and Pickle went in the flying fox box together. It was funny when Tilda tried to make Pickle go to sleep in her drawer!!
Reviewed by Joshua Thompson (age 7)

Awesome! At first I thought this book looked boring but I'm not a cover reader you know so I read the first chapter and I couldn't stop myself. Before I knew it I was at the end.
Katia Kennedy (age 7)

Old Hu-hu

A complete package this one : a beautifully produced hardback with sumptuous illustrations and a heartwarming tale about life and death. Rachel Driscoll's painterly illustrations and Mewburn's moving prose capture the emotions of a young hu-hu beetle who can't believe his fearless friend, Old Hu-Hu, has died. Eventually, little Hu-Hu-Tu realises that Old Hu-Hu lives on within him and he has to treasure the memories of his friend flying to the moon, riding a dog and taking a centipede in a boxing match.

Graham Hepburn Canvas

A treasure appeared in my mailbox today - Old Hu-hu written by the irrepressible Kyle Mewburn. ... though I always have an unquiet murmur in the back of my mind when I see animals with human characteristics (have you ever seen a hu-hu bug with a moustache?) ... I'll forgive this as the overall emotion and depth of the book is taken to a new level with Rachel's beautifully crafted illustrations. A labour of love I'd say, from both the author and the illustrator. There are not many books on this topic and I think it's been dealt with beautifully... with not a mention of God or Heaven in sight.

NZBooksforkids.blogspot.com  

Duck's Stuck!

With Duck's Stuck! this team has produced another lively picture book somewhat reminiscent of the traditional tale The Turnip. However, there's a twist in the tale here. Greedy duck has spied an open sack of grain in the shed and squeezed his head through a crack in the planks to feast on the unex­pected bounty. Alas, he cannot pull it back and one by one, the other farmyard animals come along to inspect the situation.

This is a story that reads aloud well, there's a cadence to the language which rolls off the tongue satisfyingly and will lead to many re-readings. Perfect for pre-schoolers. A great addition to home and library collections.

Ellen Carter, Magpies

Duck smart. Duck clever. Sees hole. Smells food. Sticks in head. Gets stuck. Stupid duck. In a nutshell, this is the problem faced by our duck and all the farmyard animals try various methods to resolve the problem. As is often the case, it is the meek that inherit the earth, and it is a rat that comes up with the final solution, and is amply rewarded for its good sense. Echoing the brevity of the duck's quack, language here is reduced to its essence as the focus of each sentence highlights a dramatic moment in the ongoing resolution of duck's dilemma - a delightful play with patterns of language.

John McKenzie Reading Time

The Eleventh Sheep

WHEN SIAN CAN'T SLEEP SHE counts sheep from one to ten, then she counts them again. She never counts the eleventh sheep. One night the eleventh sheep jumps into Sian's dreams. Then each night Sian and the eleventh sheep have fun together... But the eleventh sheep dreams of being back in the fields with the other sheep. With some rhyming text, delightful full colour pictures and an enchanting little story, this hard cover picture story book will be loved by children as young as three. It gives you a lovely warm feeling as you read it.

This is a perfect bedtime story and a wonderful stimulant for discussion on dreams with a humorous ending.

Joan Steinman Ballarat Courier

For anyone who has trouble sleeping this early childhood book should appeal with its emphasis on the's' and 'ee' words and sounds that provide a link to numerical concepts. Sian cannot sleep so sHe calls on rollicking ruminants to help her. The occasional rhyme, tongue twister and onomatopoeia ensure that this is a read aloud shared experience picture book between adult and young child. The illustrations use big images with a bright colourful palette depicting the narrative without too much confusion. A dream sequence moves into familiar fantasy territory and at the end, there is a cute twist.

Helen Martin Reading Time

No room for a mouse

No room for a mouse is a wonderful, beautifully designed picture book created for children by a writer and illustrator of talent who have applied themselves to delighting their audience, rather than sending their own talents for a run around the park Wondering why there are so many empty rooms in the house he shares with his mum, a boy invites a bunch of increasingly weird people home. Mum - whose distracted personality is perfectly pinpointed by her polka dot dress ­is too busy working for the pigeon post to notice, until the house is full and there's no room for the mouse. Author Kyle Mewburn gets the tone of playful nonsense perfectly without a forced note, while Freya Blackwood's skill and delicacy make her very special indeed. If there is a message in this book, it is about that rare commodity, generosity of spirit, but it is so much a part of the book's texture (and one suspects its creators) that it is never difficult to swallow.

Meg Sorensen, Sydney Herald

No Room For a Mouse is wonderfully crafted nonsense that echoes the easy, playful inventiveness of an earlier generation of children's writers. It has an internal logic that renders mum's eccentric activity and the various bizarre circumstances of the people's homelessness as perfectly natural, not to forget the curious cast of house guests and their daffy names.

And there is Freya Blackwood's illustration that captures superbly all the bedlam and whimsy in Christopher's house. Crowded rooms everywhere yet every person a distinct individual engaged in their own activity. Amidst the chaos, the fussy, intent image of mum amusingly oblivious to it all. Like Christopher, little readers will wander wide-eyed across the pages lighting on all the different activity and wondering where it will all end up.

Kevin Steinberger, Magpies

Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck!

This story is about a situation familiar in most families: the small boy who flees when his aunt arrives, demanding kisses. When the sloppy kisses come (Kiss! Kiss! On the left cheek. Kiss! Kiss! On the right cheek.) Andy thinks to himself Yuck! Yuck! On each weekly visit he finds a better hiding place - the pig pen, the chicken coop, under the house - but Aunt Elsie always lures him out. Then Aunt Elsie falls off a camel in Australia and breaks her leg. Andy waits in vain for Aunt Elsie. Finally she arrives - on crutches. Andy runs to meet her and gives her two big, sloppy kisses. Picture and text combine perfectly in a single narrative drive. The deceptively simple illustrations are a skilful mix of pencil drawings and collage (using photos and fabrics) with some digital detailing done by computer. (Aunt Elsie's dresses - in colourful floral fabric - are particularly impressive.)

Trevor Agnew, Magpies

Ant's Pants

Slightly carnivalesque in its humour, this story tells of the mayhem that is caused when Ant's mother buys him baggy pants, the fanicest pants he had ever seen, but when he sneezed, the pants fell down to his knees. Misadventure piles on misadventure, and both Ant and his pants undergo a transformation. The end may leave you splitting with laughter. Inconsequential perhaps, but no doubt aspects of the tall tale may well amuse the emerging young reader.

John McKenzie Reading Time

The bear in the room next door

This story is going to cause some knowing looks from quite a few mums and will sound alarmingly familiar for many dads. Josh is a brave young lad. Not only is Josh very brave but he is full of great ideas and has a huge curiosity. One night as he is curled up asleep in his bed he is woken by a loud, grumbling, growling sound. Josh quickly realises there's a bear in his parents' bedroom and they might need saving. But this bear is almost as clever as Josh and Josh has to devise and revise a very cunning plan to catch the bear and save his parents. Deborah Hinde's colourful illustrations are very appealing and capture Josh's personality perfectly. This is an amusing picture book that gradually escalates until it reaches the amusing (and surprising?) climax which will leave young readers giggling but also included is a twist in the tale.

Marlborough Express

The Hoppleplop

In this delightful fantasy designed to stimulate the imagination, careful examination of the final illustration reveals that all is not what it seems. The ironic relationship between image and narrative comes to the fore as we learn to doubt the voice of the narrator and the concept of normality! The illustrator has precisely captured this play on expectations. The cottage gardens are suggestive of utopia. Butterflies flutter and a dog lazily sleeps on a lounge chair. But there are unsettling details as we begin to read the illustrations: caterpillar handles, mushrooms growing through the floors and (surprise) a magazine entitled Saurian Way! That's just the beginning ... This is a good introduction for the middle school child to begin to acquire new skills in decoding picture books using such ideas as intertextuality, irony and double coding. Highly recommended.

John McKenzie Talespinner

Addressing the reader directly, the writer invites us into his house on a search for a missing Hoppleplop. Every room is visited and in each a different creature is revealed all enjoying themselves in various ways. Some are quite ordinary like a sleepy cat but others quite extraordinary - the Ooblangitan from next door and the Gobbling which came down in a thunderstorm and moved in some years before. This is a wonderfully imaginative story with plenty more ideas to discuss in the illustrations.

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