This month I have a few awesome junior and teen novels as well as a stack of picture books that I will be reviewing. In the meantime I am reading a lot and loving what is coming out in Australia over July and August. There really is something for all ages, some I cannot share until nearly the end of the month but in the mean time I have a mixture of new and old books to share with you.
It’s School holidays here in Australia but storytime has still been happening at most branches of our library. Yesterday I had the privilege of taking a preschool session and we had so much fun. I had some really lovely books about bears that I wanted to read to the children so that is why I chose this theme.
I have noticed there are a lot of children’s books being written for children and teens about women who have contributed to society both in the past and presently that are due to be published or have recently been published. So, when I came across Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World at the Library in the form of a picture book I had to bring it home for a read and review. I am not a feminist as such, but I do think that both Women and Men should be celebrated.
When you take the time to open a book, you never know just what you might get. It seems like a simple story on friendship but then you’re delighted to discover it is more than that. It’s about middle graders who put others ahead of themselves, it’s about reaching out to the community to give back, and dynamics between people. It’s also about the journey of self and discovering all that you have to give is so much more than you ever imagined.
I wasn’t sure what this book was exactly going to be about, apart from a Sloth Who Came to Stay of course. I could only imagine that there would be an element of slow to the book, I did not expect there to be such strong and emotive message for adults. Although I am not a mamma it certainly illustrated to me how our busy, fast paced lives that we continue to fill, shape how we are as a family (not just those with children) and dictate our lives. It takes something, like the Sloth in this picture book, to make us stop and realise just what we are bypassing when we are speeding around. There is so much to see, appreciate and love when we are reminded to take our time.
When you open a book and before you even get to the first chapter you read a statement that says “No chickens were hurt during the course of writing this book, because chickens are good and we LIKE chickens” you know the book is going to be a little bit quirky and a lot of funny.
