Here are a few recent favourites :
- Isabella's garden by Glenda Millard illus by Rebecca Cool, Walker - cumulative rhyme a la the house that Jack built - This is the soil, all dark and deep, in Isabella's garden... Gorgeous bold colour naive illustrations, wonderful language These are the flowers that waltz with the wind that ruffles the buds, all velvety-skinned... http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/Isabellas-Garden-9781921150333
- A book by Mordecai Gerstein, Roaring Brook Press - a clever picture book about a family that live in the pages of a book and wake up when the book is opened - ah, but what is their story - each character tells a different one and it includes the reader - wonderful. Sorry, no NZ edition, you'll have to borrow it from NLNZ http://www.natlib.govt.nz/cis-online-request or get it through Amazon.
- The rabbit problem by Emily Gravett, Macmillan Children's Books - another brilliant, inventive picture book by Emily Gravett - no two are the same - this is as a calendar, telling the story month by month - the book even hangs vertically from a hole like a calendar, of one lonely rabbit, joined by another and then nature takes it's course with a rabbit explosion neatly illustrating the Fibonacci sequence. Each month includes an element of "ephemera" - an invitation, a knitting pattern, a ration book.. and an amazing pop-up at the end. http://www.emilygravett.com/
- Grace by Morris Gleitzman, Viking (Penguin) - a story told in the first person by Grace, a Australian girl whose family belongs to a religious sect which is becoming increasingly strict and controlling. When Grace's father starts to rebel he is separated from his family, and Grace has to find a way to bring everyone back together. She is a redoubtable character, speaking in the language of her religious upbringing, trying to make sense of what she has been taught. The book opens "In the beginning there was me and Mum and Dad and the twins. And good luck was upon us adn things were great and talk about happy families, we were bountiful. But it came to pass that I started doing sins. And lo, that's when all our problems began." Read more here http://www.morrisgleitzman.com/books/fst_grace.html
- The hunger games by Suzanne Collins - intermediate up, un-put-downable novel based on the desperate premise of teenagers fighting for their lives in "televised games" in a future world - I didn't think this was a book for me from the sound of it but is great - strong characters, fast moving plot - I can't wait to read the second in this trilogy. http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/the_hunger_games_69765.htm
- The disreputable history of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, Hyperion - strong female character who resents the "old boys club" at her boarding school and cleverly infiltrates and undermines it, risking relationships in order to assert her own individuality - clever, funny, readable. I've done posts about this book earlier in this blog. E. Lockhart has a great website http://www.e-lockhart.com/ and here is a link to a video of her acceptance speech for the Michael Printz award http://blog.booklistonline.com/2009/10/20/e-lockharts-2009-printz-speech/
I LOVED The Hunger Games and immediately read the sequel which was also fantastic! I recommended it to a year 10 student and he agreed that it was a must read.
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