la lecture

I don't know about you, but I believe one of the best things about going to France is THE BOOKS.* And behold my haul.

As you can see I was quite reserved, really. I shopped in Bordeaux at an enormous (absolutely staggeringly big) bookshop (i got lost once) called Mollat, in Les Enfants sur le Toit, a children's bookstore in Montmartre, and at Chantelivre in the 6th arrondissement.
  

• Cupidon Power by Luc Blanvillain, published by l'école des loisirs (MG), in which a young boy has the magical ability to make people fall in love with each other – but he can't benefit from it himself.

• Dysfonctionelle by Axl Cendres, published by Editions Sarbacane (YA). Fidèle has a pretty crappy home life – Dad back and forth from prison, Mum from the psych ward – but she's clever, and so goes to a posh school in a nice suburb. I'll take a torn-between-two-worlds story ANYDAY.

• La pyramide des besions humains by Caroline Solé, published by l'école des loisirs (YA). This one was recommended to me by Coline Ribue, a publicist at l'école des loisirs who was kind enough to meet with me and chat all things book – answering all of my questions about how 'surely france respects books above all else' and hearing back that actually, like here, kids books get pretty overlooked in terms of reviews in mainstream media ...more about this another time – and she walked me around Chantelivre, the indie bookshop right next door to the office. This YA novel is about a reality TV show based on the idea of Marlow's hierarchy of needs. I'm going to have to read it to understand more...

• Quand le diable sortit de la salle de bain by Sophie Divry, published by Notabilia (adult fic) about a young woman, unemployed and bogged down in her novel. I try not to think about this one being too close to home. Sophie, the character, has a personal demon called Lorchus, so we're different that way.

• C'est chic! by Marie Dorléans, published by Seuil Jeunesse (picture book). It's about a merchant who can't shift his wares, until one day he gets a touch of heatstroke and begins pitching very strange goods: coffee shoes and rain carpets?? And the snobbity rich folks, well they think these things are just so unique!

A closer look at all things chic...

Isn't it magnificent?

• Le merveilleux dodu-velu-petit by Beatrice Alemagna, published by Albin Michel Jeunesse (picture book) and which is about a little girl who just wants to get the best present for her mother's birthday – better that anything her sister could get...

 I couldn't not buy the Beatrice Alemagna, even though she's pretty often translated into English – and this title is already, it's called The Wonderful Fluffy Little Squishy – but I had read an article about this one last year, in which Beatrice was asked (I believe) to redraw a scene in which a butcher brandishes a bloody, dripping knife at our little main character Eddie. American sensibilities etc. I don't know if she had to censor it in the end, but I know I wanted the bloody knife version for myself.

I'm excited, though a little overwhelmed, at all the reading-in-a-second-language I'm about to do. I'm trying to improve my French from basic-conversation-fluent to something a little more nuanced and sophisticated. Books is the answer, I think.

Do you read in foreign languages? How do you source your books? Do you feel, like me, that we would all benefit from an increased amount of works translated from other languages in this country? How can we make this an affordable process?


 *croissants, baguettes and rocamadour cheese obviously a close, tied, second-best.

August

In August 2009 this blog was born. I was reading The Ask and the Answer.

On this day in 2010 I was singing along to Darren Hanlon's latest (at the time) album.

Around this time in 2011 I was reading Yellowcake and enjoying some MWF sunshine.

In 2012 I  was being brief (though excited) about books, and keen to hear The Futureheads' acapella album, RANT.

August last year... who knows, really... But I had been to see Joan Baez (has it really been a year?!) and was soon to muse on the cost of books.

Skipping to the present day...

AUGUST 2014

Four months (almost to the day) after being retrenched from my in-house editor job, I am cheerfully living the #rockstarfreelancelifestyle, editing picture books for Little Hare and proofreading whatever comes my way.

I have also returned to my original career as a children's bookseller! I like to think of it as working at the coal face. Excitingly, this includes visiting local primary schools...

And there's time to read.

The protag has already eaten at least one "simple meal".

I loved it. In spite of this cynical review.

Some pop-lit-psych as an entree to understanding literacy.

And the end of August is bringing SPRING to Melbourne. It's (starting to be) T-shirt Weather!

my teacher is a monster

Published by: Little, Brown

Definitely my favourite picture book this month*. You may have already read some of Peter Brown's books, actually:

Mr Tiger Goes Wild 

Children Make Terrible Pets

The Curious Garden

If you have, you'll know that not only does he use colour brilliantly and offer a out-of-the-box perspective on the world, but you will also be prepared for all the laughing.

The premise of My Teacher is a Monster is pretty clear from the cover: Bobby's teacher Ms Kirby is a MONSTER. She roars and stomps and is not impressed with paper aeroplane flights in class.

For Bobby, the weekends are bliss. Until the day he arrives at his favourite place at the park to find MS KIRBY SITTING RIGHT THERE.

Without spoiling the rest for you, let's just say that, luckily, our friend Bobby is polite. Also that appearances can be deceiving and you must never judge a book by its cover. (Except this book, because its cover is wonderful.)

An excellent book to read out loud: perfect for classrooms of children, or while sitting on the couch with one or two kiddies, or reading to your grown-up colleague at the bookshop while they try to serve customers.


*I work at a bookshop again!

what's a memory?

It begins:

There once was a small boy called Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and what's more he wasn't very old either.

Have you read it? This most beautiful story is about a little boy who lives next door to an old folks' home, and whose favourite old lady there - Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper - has lost her memory.

He asks all the people in the old folks' home, What's a memory?

Their answers are cryptic, ethereal, esoteric, even contradictory. It's something that makes you laugh, something that makes you cry. It's something as precious as gold. But, armed with their advice, practical Wilfrid sets off to gather some memories for Miss Nancy, because she has lost her own.

Perfectly written by Mem Fox, this one will break your heart in the best way possible. Wilfrid Gordon might seem to approach memory loss and Alzheimer's disease in a naive, childlike way - and he does! - but this book shows the wonderful way that some memories don't have to stay lost, the way objects can be significant and imbued with meaning and just how important it is to make connections with other people - and not just those from your generation. This is how stories are made, and so I hold Wilfrid Gordon close to remind me.

But don't forget the illustrations! You couldn't if you tried... Julie Vivas is some kind of magical watercolour genius. Her pictures bring the story to life in a way that I don't believe anyone else quite could. And it's not just this book, but the others too: The Very Best of Friends, Let the Celebrations Begin, The Tram to Bondi Beach, and of course Possum Magic*. I love her soft colours and distinctive style, I love the droopy socks, I love her chooks.

I don't remember first being read Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, but my childhood edition has an inscription:

 To dear Kate
Happy Christmas 1985
Love from Mum and Dad

Meanwhile, pictured here is a first edition copy of this, my favourite book. I was given it as a present for my recent, milestoneish birthday by some wonderful friends. It's an old memory, now wrapped in a new one.

*Possum Magic and I are the same age and, as such, share a strong connection ... though Wilfrid Gordon is my true favourite.

butch aggie

night noises, written by mem fox & illustrated by terry denton (originally published 1989)

do you remember this book? i adore it*, because it combines two of my favourite things: old people and dogs.

the old lady, lily laceby - of droopy stockings and whispy hair - is snoozing by the fire and dreaming about her past. meanwhile her dog, butch aggie, is hearing some strange noises coming from outside - but lily laceby doesn't wake up.

if you haven't read it, please don't worry - lily laceby does wake up and the night noises are just all of lily laceby's friends and family coming to wish her a happy 90th birthday!

yesterday we celebrated my little granny's 91st birthday with homemade curry for lunch and a pink cake and heated discussion about politics and a game of croquet on the lawn (the little granny got quite ferocious and competitive).

and my parents' youngest dog - our very own aggie - has some of these:

*in spite of the font used on the cover...

fairytale 2.0

little red: a fizzingly good yarn, rapunzel: a groovy fairytale and cinderella: an art deco love story by david and lynn roberts (anova)

they've been unavailable for a little while, but i'm so glad to have these three kooky fairytales back in stock. they're so wonderful and offbeat: in little red the small boy, when confronted by the granny-swallowing wolf, offers his attacker some fizzy, burp-making drink. in cinderella a leek makes a limousine and the ugly sisters do the charlston. and in rapunzel (my favourite) our heroine is locked in a flat high in an apartment building where she listens to david bowie and the prince is in a band. if you've got any small people to shop for - these are brilliant.

his bobness : live in melbourne

the two men sitting behind me at rod laver arena discussed the furore that followed dylan going electric at newport in '65, but of course his tour in australia in '66, well there's just not a lot written on it...i love a dylan tragic. they were out in force at the rod laver arena last wednesday.

papa bear and i just hoped bob would sing something we could recognise. he did. in his own special way: a voice that sounds like he's gargling whiskey and gravel, a spiffy suit and hat and a couple of rockin' dance moves. i swear it's contrariness that sends his songs spinning in a new arrangement every year. highlights for me were tangled up in blue and simple twist of fate. they were closer to the originals and the band didn't bang on too loud or too long.

rod laver arena sucks though. bob was just too far away. so impersonal. and chilly. i don't think i shall go there again. it had none of the ambiance of other old rocker concerts i've been to.

did i say that bob was far away? (click to enlarge) though the lighting was fantastic, in the absence of screens (damn your contrariness bob!) his silhouette was uplit and projected large onto the back of the stage - i could philosophise on the many meanings behind this, and interpreted from this, larger-than-life, a false modesty, ...

he finished the evening with forever young. a beautiful song, which is now a fab children's book with great illustrations, full of references to his songs and his life. perfect for the offspring of dylan tragics.

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay forever young

trailer for the book:

reviews of the concert here and here.

yippee calloo callay!

hooray for shaun tan - what a clever man to win an academy award for his film of
the lost thing
this makes me tres happy and proud.

review : 13 Words

13 words, lemony snicket and maira kalman (harper)

this book contains thirteen words. they could have been chosen at random - thirteen flips through the dictionary, thirteen finger jabs at thirteen words (with your eyes closed for extra random choosings) for these thirteen words could hardly bring a story together...could they?

they can!

what do a convertible, a baby, a haberdashery and a mezzo-soprano have in common?

the answer is lemony snicket.

the bird is despondent. the dog wants to cheer the bird up. when cake doesn't seem to work completely, they have to come up with something else. a goat in a spiffy jacket is there to help out.

"Do you know what's great?" says the goat.
"A hat. Nothing cheers folks up like a hat."
"That's a swell idea," says the dog.
"Let's go someplace we can buy a hat."

the story is delightfully silly, but also very lovely. adults will get just as much - if not more - enjoyment out of it as children. i actually haven't yet read this one to a child, so am not sure how they will respond. there is a clever use of repetition and it reads very well aloud (i read it out to myself). there is also a pondering, philosophical feeling to it and surely we will all recognise ourselves in that despondent blue bird.

it's beautifully produced. the illustrations by maira kalman are simply spectacular with many, many references to artists and literature (most that i don't recognise specifically but in a hazy i'm sure i saw that in a painting at the musee d'orsay/national gallery/tate modern kind of way, but what fun to work it out over time) and the colours! oh the colours! it's a treat for the eyes.

this review makes me happy. i think 13 words should have instant classic status also. and i felt the same about the composer is dead (which i talked about here and here a little bit too).

children make terrible pets

children make terrible pets, peter brown (little, brown)

i loved peter brown's 2009 the curious garden (inspired by the new york highline, a disused railway now a community garden) and this newie children make terrible pets is just as charming. lucy the bear is just lalala-ing through the forest, practicing her twirls when she comes across a little boy. instantly enamoured, she sweeps him up and takes him home. 'squeaker' she calls him, for he makes a funny squeaking noise. lucy's mum does not think children make good pets at all, but lucy is determined to keep squeaker. there are gorgeous double page illustrations, kind of retro and sepia-toned, and full of energy. lovelovelove.

adventurous chickens

wendy, gus gordon (viking)

wendy is a chicken with dreams. she dreams of daring feats, adventure and fame.

after she dings her beak falling from the high wire (a rope strung above the farmyard) she meets a circus bear in the hospital and goes on to be the amazing flying chicken at monty mcfloos mostly spectacular travelling circus!

but will wendy be able to cope with the pressures and the reality of fame? or will it all end in disaster?

i love the sepia-tone "photos" of wendy doing her daring deeds. and all the little details in the background - signs and little animals and all that. this is a lovely book. and so funny.

thanks to jen for bringing this one back to my attention. i have strung up a high-wire at home and am training little sophie, peggy, joan and pearl in the circus arts. so far all they can do is flap their little wings, peck the side of the box and poo in their water.

three new favourites

review : mirror

illustrated (or should i say built?) in jeannie baker's iconic collage style, this is a beautiful picture book to take time over. there are two stories and the book opens - now, how to describe this? - you open the book. on the left hand side there is the story of an australian family as they pass a regular day: breakfast, shopping, dinner, bedtime. on the right hand side is a moroccan family as they do the same. the little boys from each family wear a red top. the dads are in blue. everything is mirrored, but reflecting the different cultures. it's lovely - the moroccan landscapes in particular.

i could pour over jeannie baker's books for hours. years, even. as i read through her incredible where the forest meets the sea (1988) and window (1991) now, it is hard to believe i have been looking at them so long. and that i can still find new details every time.

mirror is published by walker books.

an ode to capitalism

denver, david mckee (andersen press)

excuse me while i saliva VOMIT on this book.

denver is the story of a philanthropic and generous billionaire (called denver) who lives in the manor house and employs all the townspeople to do things for him, like clean and cook and drive his car and scratch his bum. but he's not a money-grubbing miser at all! denver loves to paint: he's an artiste! denver himself is a colourful chappie with a snappy suit and a hat. the townspeople have naive, wide-open eyes as though drugged or hypnotised. denver pays his slaves-aka-employees well and treats them nicely and everyone in town loves him and loves each other and everything is hunky dory.

until one day some scheming, trenchcoat-wearing, man-in-shadow, evil communist comes along and slyly, quietly, poisons the minds of the townspeople - why should denver have so much, while you have so little? so they revolt and denver is so unhappy that they've turned against him that he divides his wealth equally between everyone and leaves town.

denver finds another town and paints all day and his paintings are so popular that it isn't long before denver is filthy rich again. BUT! the greedy townspeople back at his old town have squandered their new-found wealth. the town is falling down around them; they're alcoholics, insane, turned to prostitution and gambling.* they need denver back to restore order and make their lives good again, through reaganomics and the trickle-down effect.

so denver thus returns, takes his rightful place at the top of the pyramid and his minions fall back into place in their orderly and obsequious proletariat bottom of the heap, where they should be.

THE END.

david mckee is the author of many, many books - including that lovable patchwork elephant elmer. you can read the blurb from the book here.

*poetic license; interpreted through illustrations, not text.

UPDATE: reading another review of this book, i felt i must share this line from denver that i had forgotten between vomiting all over the bookshop floor in disgust and getting home to relay it to you (canNOT believe i forgot this one, it was the worst bit of the whole sorry story). this comes at the very end of the book: ‘As for the stranger, he’s still wandering around breeding discontent. If he comes your way, don’t listen to him’. yikes.

daniel handler is lemony snicket

(and evelyn waugh is a man and miles franklin is a woman)

what a nice morning to get up and then get to know one of the funniest writers of the decade - thank you to the rejectionist for this interview.

i loved the series of unfortunate events A LOT because of their fast-paced and hilariously funny stories. i will have to admit to reading number 13 standing by the bookshelf in a glasgow waterstones, my umbrella dripping a puddle onto the floor because i was too cheap to buy a copy even though i really wanted to know what happened to the baudelaire trio and who the heck was the real VFD.

the composer is dead is another classic snicket - you can read my review here. i particularly love the opening:

'the composer is dead.

"composer" is a word which here means "a person who sits in a room, muttering and humming and figuring out what notes the orchestra is going to play." this is called composing. but last night, the composer was not muttering. he was not humming, he was not moving, or even breathing.

this is called decomposing.'

curiouser and curiouser

isabella's garden by glenda millard and rachel cool (walker)

this is a sweet book about the life cycle of a garden, based on the old childrens' rhyme 'the house that jack built'.

"these are the seeds

that sleep in the soil

all dark and deep in isabella's garden"

BUT!

even though the illustrations are in wonderful colours - the plants and birds etc, we all here at the shop are troubled (and some of us a little frightened) by the weird children in the book:

all white,

all rosy cheeked, and

all with either blue or green eyes.

i don't understand! they all look the same!

what did you get for christmas?

if you were a 10 (or 8 or 9 or 11 or 60) year old in melbourne this christmas, chances are you received a copy of either jen storer's brilliant tensy farlow and the home for mislaid children or richard newsome's equally brilliant the billionaire's curse. both books flew off the shelves where i work. (if you don't know where i work: it's a fab little independent bookshop in one of melbourne's inner suburbs that has more cafes per capita than anywhere else i've been...which are all shut today, except the crap one. i'm not happy.) but back to the books. i suppose it didn't hurt that everyone who works here (including me!) absolutely loved these titles.

don't know anything about them, still?as i said back in august, tensy farlow is what might have happened if anne of green gables had had a baby with lemony snicket which was then raised by j.k rowling. a couple of angels are on earth trying to locate mislaid baby tensy - now a ballsy and clever 10 year old - who has no guardian angel. with some delightfully evil baddies, a creepy orphanage and a lot of charm, this book is in my 2009 top ten.

the billionaire's curse is the story of gerald who inherits a billion dollars from an old aunt in london but then discovers that she may have been murdered and he must solve the mystery of her death, find the missing diamond, avoid the man who smells like bleach, all with the help of a pair of wisecracking twins. a rollicking adventure.

other books i've been recommending like a madwoman:
- the ask and the answer, patrick ness
- tomorrow, when the war began, john marsen (in preparation for the movie!)

- dreaming of amelia, jaclyn moriarty

- the magician's elephant, kate dicamillo

- oscar wilde's stories for all ages, stephen fry (ed.)

- wanted: the perfect pet, fiona robertson

- 3 little culottes, sylvie chausse

- elephants, a book for children, steve bloom

books i gave as gifts:

harvest: a complete australian guide to the edible garden, meredith kirton

the truth about melody browne, lisa jewell

stardust, joe kanon

spud: the madness continues, john van de ruit

a man dressed in a wolf-suit...

now that's the kind of mischief i like seeing in public!

let the wild rumpus start!

i can't put it down.

dave eggers has written a novelisation of the screenplay of the classic picture book.

his max is a high-energy, imaginative and confused boy whose family life is less than perfect. he escapes in a boat and finds himself on an island with a bunch of beasts as ready for madness hilarious rioting as max himself.

so far it is spectacular! magnificent! it basically just tickles me pink. one brilliant line, max is standing on top of the kitchen counter, howling like a wolf while his mother stands below becoming more and more angry with her out-of-control son. she tells him he's too old to be on the counter. he looks down at her: "you're too old to be so short! and your makeup's smeared!...woman, feed me!" (p.73)

i'm loving it. proper review to follow...

an alison lester collector

(mama bear collects the lester, evil sister and i used to force littlebro to tell us repeatedly that alison lester was his favourite author bahaha)

running with the horses, alison lester (penguin/viking)


this is a beautiful fictional story about a little girl (nina) who, during the second world war, had to make a wild escape with her father and a friend from their spanish riding school in vienna. they had to ensure the safety of the last four stallions from the school. nina adores the old cab horse zelda and begs her father to let her come along. Her father knows the treacherous ride they are about to make, isn't sure that zelda can make it. but he loves his daughter so much he allows it. and old zelda certainly has a lot of pluck in her. all this, and accompanied by beautiful alison lester illustrations, black and white sketches in front of coloured backgrounds.

it made me misty-eyed, i assure you. a story for horse-loving girls. and everyone else. and in case you are worried, it has a happy ending.