One of the things I enjoyed about this installment in the Silverwing saga was the fantastical nature of the plot. The earlier ones were just slightly...moreOne of the things I enjoyed about this installment in the Silverwing saga was the fantastical nature of the plot. The earlier ones were just slightly off on the believable aspect, but because this one delved into a whole new world where anything could happen (and frequently did), it did not jar with me. Griffin's personality also struck a chord, I think because he was so different from his father. Indeed, the only thing that really bugged me was the corny nature of the ending (the sacrifice bit). Also, it seemed to be planning for another series?(less)
I was shaking with excitement when I first put my hands upon this wonderful book. Not only am I all but obsessed with lemurs, but I also have a fascin...moreI was shaking with excitement when I first put my hands upon this wonderful book. Not only am I all but obsessed with lemurs, but I also have a fascination with animals and fairy tales. If you sat down and tried to write a book perfect for me, you could not do any better then Terryl Whitlatch and David Michael Wieger. After all, how many books do you see with aye-ayes?
The gorgeous illustrations, of course, have the most instant appeal. This is no thin picture book, but over 180 pages long and nearly every double page spread contains at least one delightful picture, filled with breath-taking detail. The turning of every page is a delight, and every time I study a picture there are new, exquisite details to be seen and more exotic creatures to be discovered. I just wish there was a list at the back or somewhere on the internet so that I could confirm my identifications of some of the more obscure species.
The story itself is equally delightful. It has a simple, fable-like quality that I enjoy immensely and matches well with the pictures. It tells the tale of Katook, a young lemur that is exiled from his troop for discovering what he shouldn't. He then sets out on an epic journey that takes him through a wide range of habitats and meets all sorts of quirky and intriguing characters, including Quigga, a somewhat arrogant Quagga. The two become good friends, and the ending hints at more to come.
This is a book I would dearly love to read aloud (had I anyone to read it to). Children today need more tales like this - a beautiful book, a charming story and some powerful and important messages about friendship and family. It also brings awareness to some of the animals we have lost, and some that we will lose if we're not careful.
Everyone, young or old, that loves animals, NEEDS to own this book. (less)
This is a cute and appealing story about a brave young bat. Shade is a runt - bullied by his peers and very lucky to have survived his early days. How...moreThis is a cute and appealing story about a brave young bat. Shade is a runt - bullied by his peers and very lucky to have survived his early days. However, he has a stubborn determination and courage that refuses to relent. He also is a little too curious for his own good. When, in an attempt to impress his fellow newborns, he impulsively decides to see the sun, it brings destruction and much danger down upon his community. The bats have been engaged in a centuries long way between the birds and the beasts, a war in which they refused to take sides and were banished from the day. Now, even the night has become deadly to them. When he is separated from his flock, Shade makes some unlikely allegiances - first with the brightwing, Marina and then with the fearsome tropical bats, Goth and Throbb. Danger, betrayal and the bitter bite of winter threaten him at every turn.
Oppel has captured the world of the bats in exquisite detail and great thought. His tale is limited (mostly, there is one mention of "yellow") to their monochromatic world where sound is important a sense as sight and being part of the colony is of great importance. He shows a strong understanding of animal behavior, and whilst his bats (and other animals) do behave in somewhat a humanized manner (the owls have fire, for example), it was never enough to bug me. He has created a charming fantasy world and I look forward to exploring it further.(less)
The continuing story of Shade Silverwing - this time taking him south to the rainforest,putting him in the hands of the humans (and their diabolical p...moreThe continuing story of Shade Silverwing - this time taking him south to the rainforest,putting him in the hands of the humans (and their diabolical plans) and once again bringing him in contact with the cannibal bat, Goth. A cute adventure story, with some rather dark moments and interesting characters.
But one zoological fact bugs me no end - the insistence that owls hibernate - owls DO NOT hibernate!
This delightful little book was a fun read. With its charming illustrations and entertaining text, it certainly kept me entertained. Vernon has a quir...moreThis delightful little book was a fun read. With its charming illustrations and entertaining text, it certainly kept me entertained. Vernon has a quirky sense of humour, funny without resorting to "toilet humour" and also engages in clever wordplay. Nurk's amazing adventure was a pleasure to read. Although the plot did feel rather linear - with few twists and surprises and not a great deal of tension. But there were some little quirks to liven it up. And the illustrations brought the story alive.(less)
What more suitable place to read this novel than while on holiday in Fiordland? Whilst reclining in the beanbags in Milford Lodge, watching the rain s...moreWhat more suitable place to read this novel than while on holiday in Fiordland? Whilst reclining in the beanbags in Milford Lodge, watching the rain stream down outside - the dark shapes of the beech trees rising in a perfectly penetrable wall, and above them sheer and rocky cliffs, streaming with waterfalls. This was my world as I read this, and this also is the kea's world.
For those not informed on New Zealand wildlife, the kea is the only alpine parrot in the world, and one of the most intelligent non-primate species that there is. This novel is rather like the Watership Down of my country (except not quite as famous). My copy originates from its first publication - in 1982, but Temple has since re-released it with a few of the facts updated as people learn more about the behaviour of these extraordinary birds. Although no dates are given, I believe this story is set in the 1870-80s or so, when farmers started colonising the valleys around Milford, burning the native tussock and replacing it with their more sheep-edible grasses. It includes the keas first experiences with human-kind, and also includes numerous extinct birds - and no mammals.
Like most realistic animal-protagonist books it is exceedingly sexist. All the main characters are male, and the role of the females seem to be to coo and beg at the more dominant males. This is excuseable - it is true kea behaviour, after all. It follows similar structures to most realistic animal books - the main character is exiled for getting a little too bolshy and trying to take on the dominant cock, with his friends he travels across the mountains to find a new home for himself, but alas, the new home has no kea and they're all males, therefore no matter how suitable (kea-kind) it is, they cannot remain there. They search, in vain, having amusing encounters with kakapo (which were plentiful at the time) and kaka. It is not a new storyline at all, but the richness of the writing, the personality of the characters, the complexity of their world all weaves together to create a captivating and spell-binding story. Added in, of course, is the fact that they are birds and the whole flying adds a new dimension (literally) to the plot. I am working on my own, rather more contemporary, kea novel and this has been something of an inspiration. My female character is going to much stronger, however!(less)
Entertaining enough for me to finish, but not an overly great read. The characters seemed a little one dimensional - brave feline, sly/brainy jay and...moreEntertaining enough for me to finish, but not an overly great read. The characters seemed a little one dimensional - brave feline, sly/brainy jay and foolish frog (sound a little familair? It's like a furry Harry Potter). I felt sorry for Gilbert, his entire presence in the plot seemed to be to bumble around, make an idiot of himself and get mocked by all and sundry (ok, so he's more a Neville than a Ron). Plus there is no way you could disguise a frog as a chicken! Why did the jay with her awesome powers of illusion not simply make them invisible or look like something else? In fact, there were numerous situations in the tale where the simple use of her abilities could have saved them from a world of hurt.
And why did the frog not ride on the cat? Tree frogs are tiny - a hopping frog could never keep up with a running cat. Ultimately, I felt the author treated the animals too much like they were people in strange bodies than if they were actually animals. And what's with the cat spending so much time awake? And not eating the bird (or for another matter, the frog). Actually, now that I think about it - for most of the book, nobody but the frog ever ate anything.
And this is the second book I've read in a row about a persistent bounty hunter that just won't give up! Seriously, getting tired of the being-pursued-across-the-world-by-villain-that-can-find-you-ANYwhere... (At least in the previous one he had more justification than just money, surely even the money isn't worth risking your life for).
Cute, but aimed at the 8-10 market and doesn't stand up to too much analysis by the older more cynical reader. A couple of nice, if rather predictable twists, and one quite irritating one. I'll let you figure out which is which.
I *might* see the movie. I think that would work better.(less)
This was highly enjoyable animal novel in the spirit of Watership Down. It is not a cute-animal-story-for-children story - for the life of the rats is...moreThis was highly enjoyable animal novel in the spirit of Watership Down. It is not a cute-animal-story-for-children story - for the life of the rats is brutal - filled with cannibalism, violence and rape. The rat society and the ways in which they and the human world interact were interesting. This is the story of Twisted Foot, a mildly deformed Watcher rat who realises that there is a way out of the miserable life of servitude in their tiny colony and strives to escape it. The story is a very simple one - with no unexpected twists or turns and it could have done with a bit more tension. It is a short novel, that could have been fleshed out and made more visceral and the climax was rather... non climatic and rushed, as though the author was in a hurry to get it finished. Like most animal novels, all of the main characters are males and the females do not get referred to by name until about halfway through, and even then are just minor characters in the plot.
Still, highly enjoyable and convincingly written.(less)
What a delight! I loved the informative nature of this, and there were a few bits of slightly adult humour (pukekos are polygamists, and did anyone el...moreWhat a delight! I loved the informative nature of this, and there were a few bits of slightly adult humour (pukekos are polygamists, and did anyone else notice there wasn't a MR Flicktail?). Also, the biological humour. Not to forget the Sally Sutton not only manages to teach children some interesting facts about pukekos, but also educates them on the dangers of littering, without ever looking like she's trying to teach them anything,
And then there's the illustrations - its no secret that Dave Gunson is one of my favourite illustrators, and his quirky characters truly bring this story to life.(less)
A delightful little story - the illustrations by Donovan Bixley are sublime and there are some very clever bits (I particularly liked the boy who used...moreA delightful little story - the illustrations by Donovan Bixley are sublime and there are some very clever bits (I particularly liked the boy who used long words he didn't understand in incorrect context) along with a charming cast of characters - particularly the gutsy Cecelia. Alas, this tale was let down rather by its pacing. After a fairly slow build - with some nicely imaginative bits, it felt like Falkner was rushing it towards the end in an effort to get it finished. The climax is pretty lacklustre and the grand review - not exactly a surprise. Give how clever Falkner's teenage books are, I was expecting something a little more.
However, for the intended readership (8-12) it is the perfect length and written with enough little quirks and charm to keep the young reader reading.(less)
Despite a love of animals, I've always been a little scornful of the "cat/dog that changed my life" books. Everyone's pet has a story, I thought, that...moreDespite a love of animals, I've always been a little scornful of the "cat/dog that changed my life" books. Everyone's pet has a story, I thought, that doesn't mean I want to read it. Anyhow, this title was free for a wee while and I figured I would give it a go. It sounded entertaining enough, and the dog is really cute. And I shall say - it had me hooked - I'm not normally much of a non-fiction reader, but I could not put this book down. I really enjoyed reading about Wallace's exploits, about the sense of helplessness from having adopted this poor, broken dog and then the sense of fulfillment when he became the dog that he should have been from the start. Wallace is certainly a charmer! The writer has a self-deprecating sense of humour, and a skill at focusing on just the right things - and despite a bit of repetition (I believe these were originally magazine editorials, hence the constant reminders on the size of the apartment, etc), her writing style was very engaging.
I only have one complaint about his book, in fact, and that is the editting. It's shocking, considering that this is not a self-publised title, but was released in book format via Random House and has been formatted in ebook by professions. They got the formating right, I'll give them that - but throughout the book there are words missing, badly editted sentences and the occasional wrong word used. No spelling mistakes that I could pick, but some of the sentence structures are a bit deformed. This distracted me rather from the charming plot and made me read and re-read several sentences, frowning as I tried to fix it in my head. And with the author reminding us frequently that she's an English Major and takes creative writing classes - you would think that someone would have picked up on these minor but irritating errors before it went to eprint.
Anyhow, grammatic niggles aside, I really enjoyed this book and I think it ended on a good note. Whilst the additional extract from "Rex part 2" made for very interesting reading, I think I would rather their tale ended, for me, on a happy note. Not with the animal dying, which seems to be the finale for most of this genre, but with the dog really living.(less)
This was a charming little adventure novel, aimed at a fairly young age group. So, I suppose my average rating is mostly due to the fact that I am an...moreThis was a charming little adventure novel, aimed at a fairly young age group. So, I suppose my average rating is mostly due to the fact that I am an adult reading something aimed at probably the 7-10 age range, perhaps the sort of book that a girl could move onto when she was bored with the Rainbow Magic series. I do not feel it had so much boy appeal, although it does have a male character, it's a little too "clean". The story itself is very basic - which is probably why I compared it (lightly) to the RM books - a young girl finds herself trapped in a "Game" within the world of Gondwana, a land based on the once-continent. However, the animals she meets with along the way are not quite your typical Gondwanan creatures - well, some are, but others (like the weta) are somewhat over-sized. Anyhow, to get home she must play the game which involves going on a sort of scavenger hunt (where the boy, Meg, helps her solve all the clues) to find a number of gems. Once they find them, she has to take them to the center of Gondwana before sunset - which is a bit weird because time flows differently in Gondwana. The tale held few surprises, although some of the animals were pretty nifty, and in fact the only bit that DID surprise me was when the girl decided they should chop off the weta's leg. Seemed rather brutal to me. All up, I imagine it would be a perfect story for someone 7-9 that liked shorter, whimsical reads.(less)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It hooked me in from the start, and kept me entertained - and guessing, all the way to the end. I even laughed out lou...moreI thoroughly enjoyed this book. It hooked me in from the start, and kept me entertained - and guessing, all the way to the end. I even laughed out loud at some of the jokes - loving the doggish slang. The language is perfect for the narrator - a little ruff around the edges. His "voice" was perfect, and felt very true to his breed, and species. The characters were great, and behaved in a manner that was (almost) entirely believable.
In this sort of novel, it's usually cats that solve the mysteries. It's nice to see dogs getting a chance - especially since they have one severe limitation that cats don't - they're generally trapped inside their yards. (less)
This delightful little book proved to be a quick and engrossing read. Its combination of survival and of the growing friendship and trust between man...moreThis delightful little book proved to be a quick and engrossing read. Its combination of survival and of the growing friendship and trust between man and dog, is both heart-warming and inspiring. This is fiction, but it is fiction with a basis in fact, and could indeed be the explaination between how the dingo came to Australia. The combination of short chapters and fast paced storyline make it both an appealing story to read aloud, and also one that should be enjoyed by the more reluctant reader.
(Review book supplied by Harper Collins via Booksellers NZ)(less)
This is a cute story, with simple but endearing illustrations. Alas, it seemed too heavily flavoured by Redwall to truly capture my full attention. Th...moreThis is a cute story, with simple but endearing illustrations. Alas, it seemed too heavily flavoured by Redwall to truly capture my full attention. The story is fairly standard - a heroic Spearhog, Herod (which I think is supposed to be a porcupine, although they are neither related to hedgehogs nor can fire their quills, so maybe not) and his elementally-skilled mouse companion, Clove, are set on finding a hidden temple whilst being pursued by angry rats. Despite the fact that the rats are following them in a destructive, cannibalistic wave, Herod deems their mission more important than the lives of many poor forest dwellers tht get caught up in it, along the way (including a village of colourful birds). This viewpoint is later changed, and Herod certainly proves his worth.
Anyhow, the other two characters are a mouse, Durbin, and his hedgehog friend, Morro. These two are a destructive force of their own, as Durbin tricks his naive young friend into disturbing the lives of the poor villages as much as possible - from wanton vandalism to thievery. When they stumble upon Herod and Clove, Durbin develops an interest in the young mouse maid, and persuades his gullible friend to join him - first in finding them and then in joining their party. Along for the ride is a bold and brash young squirrel, and his "dragon" companion. The rats are suitably nasty, and also relatively bumbling, a few reasonable tacticians and our band of heroes would have been dinner. There is also, of course, an open ending to lure readers into buying the sequel.
One thing I did find quite off-putting was the typos, always a challenge in self-published novel - there were various places where words were missing, or quotation marks, one "you're" instead of "your" that made me shudder, and the author appears to lack the ability to spell "entrails" consistently - getting it right on 1 out of 3 occasions (also "endtrails" and "endtries"). Thus the novel could do with another, more thorough, proofread.
Overall, a cute read for Redwall fans who are mourning the lack of further stories, but no real surprises and I found the irresponsible nature of the main protagonist somewhat off-putting. I know it is supposed to show his impulsive, feckless nature, but I could not help but feel terrible for the poor lady whose crop he demolished and the following trail of destruction. He does, however, show a certain growth in maturity as the story progresses.(less)
A candid and easy read that gives an interesting insight into a way of life that most of us would consider if not reckless, than at least uncomfortabl...moreA candid and easy read that gives an interesting insight into a way of life that most of us would consider if not reckless, than at least uncomfortable. The Ottley-Karena family certainly do seem to flourish with the simpler things in life - no mention of television or playstation - or even the internet, amongst these pages. No, these children live a life more like their ancestors - living off the land, learning through experiences not wikipedia and developing stronger, caring relationships with the animals and the land around them.
It is a beautiful book to look at - large size, with a rather cute and well dressed long-haired boy on the cover - well dressed despite the fact he's holding a chicken by its feet. Inside the text is large and easy to read, and the pictures are glossy and plentiful - even if they do not always directly relate to the story that is being told. The book is entirely in present tense, which is a little confusing because it is, of course, about past events, and obviously much of it has been written in consultation with the family themselves - for there are many mentions of "Peter says..." or "Welly says..." This, I feel, hindered the narrative somewhat, but I quickly got used to it.
The events in the families life are a bit harrowing at times - and Colleen (the mother's) practice of explaining the risks and then letting the children make their own decisions seemed actually quite a sound one. As long as they were not going to get themselves killed (and they didn't), it puts them in control and ultimately teaches them responsibility. Peter's accident whilst horse mustering was about as harrowing as this story got. Otherwise, it seemed pretty lightweight, almost romanticised. The relationship that the family have with horses was a lovely one - the way the horses trust them and they treat them with all the respect they would honour a treasured friend. Learning about their horse-"breaking" (it's whispering, really), was truly heart-warming.
I believe this would be a good book for the younger reader, as the writing style is fairly simplistic and given that the majority of the family are children, it is one that might open the city youth of today to a simpler, less materialistic way of thinking.
Reading copy provided by Booksellers NZ, courtesy of Harper Collins.(less)
This was a delightfully gross little read - so gross in fact that parts of it made me feel a little nauseated! And when I say gross - I'm talking dino...moreThis was a delightfully gross little read - so gross in fact that parts of it made me feel a little nauseated! And when I say gross - I'm talking dinosaur poop and brontosaurus farts - all the things that little reads will love. Throughout this charmingly disgusting novel are the absolutely wonderful illustratrions by Donovan Bixley, along with some fascinating dinosaur facts and other things.
And hey - they gave velociraptors feathers (like they should have) and made them one of the good guys. Pretty cool stuff and great for those young boys that are reluctant to read and want something quick, funny, action packed and filled with nose picking, tooth chewing, scab sucking delight.(less)
I am quite a fan of Des Hunt, and have read all of his books to date. This is the latest, and it is set in the wilder parts of Wellington. Throughout...moreI am quite a fan of Des Hunt, and have read all of his books to date. This is the latest, and it is set in the wilder parts of Wellington. Throughout the book, Hunt subtly educates you about New Zealand history (ie: Wahine disaster) and conservation whilst also engaging the reader in a well paced adventure story. This story does not move at such a frantic, heart-racing pace as some of his other books, and the climax is more emotionally tense rather than filled with action, but it is a highly enjoyable read. Recommended for boys aged 10+ that like a good, real life adventure story. This one is also suited to girls, and actually has a female protagonist in it too - although she behaves in a manner that is somewhat selfish in parts of the book.(less)
Another adorable tale from a wonderful duo. Sally Sutton's highly entertaining - and actually rather informative (who knew that long tail bats actuall...moreAnother adorable tale from a wonderful duo. Sally Sutton's highly entertaining - and actually rather informative (who knew that long tail bats actually disconnect their ear bones?) tale is illustrated throughout by Dave Gunson's charming illustrations. This is a wonderful tale for any child learning to read - probably ages 6-8. I know I would have loved it at that age! Heck, I highly enjoyed it today.(less)
Loading...
