The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl

22 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Junior Fiction Tags: , , ,

Published: 1st November 1978Goodreads badge
Publisher: Puffin
Pages: 32
Format: Paperback
Genre: Junior Fiction
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4 Stars

The Enormous Crocodile is incredibly hungry-and incredibly greedy. His favourite meal is a plump, juicy little child, and he intends to gobble up as many of them as he can! But when the other animals in the jungle join together to put an end to his nasty schemes, the Enormous Crocodile learns a lesson he won’t soon forget.

I reread this book not that long ago and it is a lot longer than I remember it being. I was thinking it was a picture book but in reality it’s like a long book but in the style of a picture book, 32 giant pages with pictures but the length of a kid’s paperback in terms of words. Not that it isn’t still incredibly enjoyable and fun, but I was surprised. It’s quite wordy but despite this it isn’t a complicated story or overly detailed.

I love the crocodile’s plans to eat children. His cunning ideas would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the meddling animals getting in his way. I love a villain being a villain because they want to, no justification or backstory.

Once again the downfall is telling people your plans and think they won’t dob on you. In Dahl’s world the animals can talk to the humans and it’s a great parallel universe where nobody uses that to their advantage except to warn people about being eaten. There are also a lot of human activities right on the edge of the jungle so maybe that could be something they improve in the future after this determined crocodile’s schemes?

Blake’s illustration are classic as expected. The text fill up a lot of the page but the pictures integrated well around the text. The crocodile’s disguises and hiding places are clever and Blake balances larger scenes and simple pictures well.

There is a level of disbelief as with a lot of Dahl’s books and I like that it is clearly one bad crocodile that needs punishing, not all. There is balance and Dahl is clear that this one specific croc is naughty, not all crocs are children eaters (something I think Jaws could have tried).

This truly is a book that blurs the lines on whether it’s a picture book or not. There’s a lot of pictures, but there are also a lot of words so brace yourself going in that is isn’t the quick read you might be planning for.

You can purchase The Enormous Crocodile via the following

QBD | Angus & Robertson | Blackwell’s

Dymocks | Wordery

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

A Kids Book About Being Non-Binary by Hunter Chinn-Raicht

17 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Non Fiction Tags: , , , , , ,

Published: 1st January 2021Goodreads badge
Publisher: A Kids Book About, Inc.
Pages: 64
Format: Paperback
Genre: Junior Non-Fiction
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4 Stars

A Kids Book About Being Non-Binary by Hunter Chinn-Raicht“To be non-binary for me means I am not a girl or a boy, I am somewhere outside of that.”

A glance at what it means to be outside of the gender binary. What does being non-binary mean? For some people, the question and its answer may be new or a little confusing. It’s okay to not know what it means!

That’s where all good conversations start. The journey to understanding starts with an open mind and an open heart. 

The book is mainly about Hunter’s story and their journey, but it also lets the reader know that sometimes people are outside the rules of male and female, or pink and blue. And being able to express yourself is great and they deserve to be celebrated.

There is an intro and an outro for the grownups about what the book is for and where they can go from here if they need to. It’s a great, very simple explanation that doesn’t overload the reader with information, simply introduces the idea to the reader that there are a range of people in the world.

It lets readers know there’s freedom in not fitting into the box other people tell you you should fit into. Having the words to describe yourself is great but it’s ok if you can’t find your words yet either.

With a little bit of history thrown in to remind you that there have always been non-binary people, and a quick break down of current society expectations, it remains Hunter’s story and an easy, child friendly way to introduce the term non binary and why a person might use it.

You can purchase A Kids Guide to Being Non-Binary via the following

 Dymocks | Booktopia

 Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

I Don’t Want to Read this Book Aloud by Max Greenfield

11 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: , , , ,

Published: 19 September 2023Goodreads badge
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Illustrator: Mike Lowery
Pages: 40
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★  – 3.5 Stars

Nobody in the world actually enjoys reading aloud, do they? Impossible! After all, any number of terrible things could happen: you might come across a word you don’t know how to pronounce. Or get distracted by a volcano eruption and lose your place. Even worse, you might accidentally hear the sound of your own voice!

With a nice plaque on the first page telling us this book is meant to be read aloud it then begins the story of someone who emphatically will not read it out loud.

In a meta kind of ‘this is not the song this is just a tribute’ you don’t know what the book is the narrator doesn’t want to read aloud, but the story we do get is enjoyable and clever. Their pontifications and protestations are great and I loved how the text and formatting worked together to help exaggerate the woes of our narrator.

Obviously, if you do choose to read this aloud it is super fun. The creative format and fonts let you play with pronunciation and emphasis, and the interaction between the narrator and the literal elephant in the room is a great way to have a conversation without it being to the reader directly.

The illustrations and the layout is bright and colourful, there are a lot of busy pages that are reminiscent of a kid illustrating the various issues they have and it matches the voice perfectly. It’s easy to picture someone standing before you proclaiming how they will not read this book aloud and the various reasons why.

For those who may be wary or unsure about reading aloud this is a great book to help quell any fears. As our narrator works through their issues (both serious and humorous) it shows that reading out loud can be fun and not as intimidating as it first appears.

You can purchase I Don’t Want to Read this Book Aloud via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy

08 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Junior Fiction, LGBTQIA Tags: , , , ,

Published: 1 October 2019 (print)/1 October 2019 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/Harper Collins
Pages: 273/6 hours, 20 minutes
Narrator: Phoebe Strole
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Contemporary Junior Fiction
★   ★   ★ – 3 Stars

Patricia “Sweet Pea” DiMarco wasn’t sure what to expect when her parents announced they were getting a divorce. She never could have imagined that they would have the “brilliant” idea of living in nearly identical houses on the same street. In the one house between them lives their eccentric neighbour Miss Flora Mae, the famed local advice columnist behind “Miss Flora Mae I?”

Dividing her time between two homes is not easy. And it doesn’t help that at school, Sweet Pea is now sitting right next to her ex-best friend, Kiera, a daily reminder of the friendship that once was. Things might be unbearable if Sweet Pea didn’t have Oscar–her new best friend–and her fifteen-pound cat, Cheese.

Then one day Flora leaves for a trip and asks Sweet Pea to forward her the letters for the column. And Sweet Pea happens to recognize the handwriting on one of the envelopes.

What she decides to do with that letter sets off a chain of events that will forever change the lives of Sweet Pea DiMarco, her family, and many of the readers of “Miss Flora Mae I?”

This book was enjoyable, had a few issues, but for a book kids will read it was a nice story. There was a lot of diversity and insights into being a kid, body issues and friend dramas, as well as big family changes.

Being in year seven I think Sweet Pea is around 13, which explains the lack of critical thinking and the impulsive actions. But while she is sensible in some areas, and has a well-rounded view on others, she is still quite selfish and judgemental of those around her. Having a character like this is good because why should a kid be perfect when they are still growing, and hopefully this story is the start of her growth. She has a lot of important things happening in her life and her good intentions don’t always work out.

One things I thought was curious was there are no consequences for Sweet Pea hiding her father’s important mail or deleting phone messages. I felt that was the wrong message to send that even if Sweet Pea felt bad, no adult found out what she did and even when it was clear there would have been major consequences nothing seemed to come of it.

Opening all the mail was magically forgotten about too, as was reading everyone’s private letters to Flora Mae and then resealing them (perfectly somehow) and sending them on. Even though there are consequences for the ones she does deal with, it was a weird thing to leave unmentioned.

The way characters are described aren’t blended well, there is a lot of “there is a guy behind the counter, he looks like this and is wearing this” but imagine this for every person Sweet Pea sees. It’s takes you from the story a little, especially in audio form when you stop to describe someone then the story continues. It shows off good representation and shows diversity, even if it’s a one off background character, but the writing needed to make it more streamlined.

Another unrealistic thing is I cannot imagine her school calling her Sweet Pea, even if it has Patricia on her forms. What kind of awkward thirteen year old wants everyone calling her Sweet Pea, I feel that is prime humiliation, even in a small town and a small school. She can’t be awkward and anxious while also being on having everyone call her a personal nickname.

Strole does a good job as narrator, I liked her voice for Sweet Pea and aside from the clunky descriptions I fell into the story easily.

Overall I liked the story, even with the flaws. Murphy writes these characters who are imperfect and finding their way in the world. It’s a bold adventure and a lot of change for Sweet Pea but one I think would resonate with a lot of kids around the same age.

You can purchase Dear Sweet Pea via the following

QBD | Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

 

 

Points of Departure by Emily O’Beirne

03 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Aussie YA Challenge, Australian Women Writers, Young Adult Tags: , , , , , , ,

Published: 15 June 2016 (print)/28 June 2022 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Ylva Publishing/Tantor Media, Inc
Pages: 274/8 hrs and 43 mins
Narrator: Angela Dawe
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
★   ★   ★ – 3 Stars

In this young adult novel, best friends Kit and Liza have been looking forward to this trip forever.
Five girls, five tickets overseas. It’s exactly what they all need after the final slog of high school. But when Kit’s suddenly forced to drop out, Liza’s left with three girls she barely knows. 

There’s Mai, committed only to partying. There’s Tam, who already has her doubts about leaving her sick father behind. And there’s Olivia, so miserable about screwing up exams she’s not even sure she wants to get out of bed, let alone on a plane. Meanwhile Kit’s stuck working double shifts to pay off a debt, wondering if she’ll ever get it together.

All Liza wants from this trip is to discover a new version of herself. She just hadn’t planned on doing it without Kit by her side.
And they’re all learning that travel isn’t just about the places you go, but who you’re with at the time.

I am no stranger to having a subpar narrator for audiobooks, it’s rare but not unheard of. There have only been maybe two books I couldn’t listen to at all because of the narrator, other times there are narrators who aren’t great at the start but I can get used to by the end of the book. This one, however, annoyed me right until the final minutes. The nasal imitation Australian accent was bad enough when there was dialogue, but the fact the rest of the book was spoken in an American accent was annoying. The main things I kept thinking were why was an American narrating this Australian book and why would you switch between accents?

When I had a small whinge online I did see one response that said audiobooks should be narrated by people who are the nationality of the characters, which would be ideal, support local talent and all that, but if we can’t have that at least can they be vetted that they can do a decent Australian accent that doesn’t make you cringe every time a character spoke? I have to be careful here and not spend the entire time ragging on the narrator, it’s probably not her fault, but it goes to show that the narrator can influence a book’s enjoyment.

I enjoyed that the characters were older teens; they’d finished their schooling and were looking at their open ended future trying to decide what to do with the rest of their lives. It was a great dynamic having the five of them plan this trip with really one person being a key connector between them all. When you remove that connecting point it was interesting to see the interactions these near strangers have as a result.

The story follows multiple points of view but the problem is some characters are a lot more interesting than others. I liked Kit’s story best, and I enjoyed Olivia and Liza, but overall it was a little bit boring. Maybe not boring exactly, but definitely slow. And considering I never got used to the narrator I was very conscious of not letting it impact my enjoyment. Even with an Australian narrator I feel it would still have been slow, under developed, and slightly repetitive.

With multiple points of view you got a little bit of their lives, but their narrative voices mixed together. Kit’s story was the only one that felt separate and her voice unique, and not only because of her isolation at home made her easy to identify. Keeping track of who was who was easier by remember their one defining narrative feature – Liza was a former runner, Olivia worried about her uni scores, and Tam had a sick father. There wasn’t any other way to distinguish them and their voices were non-descript, I don’t think I even got a picture of any of them in my head. The similarities in written voice especially between Liza and Olivia weren’t helped by ?? barely altering her voice either as she switched between the two, and there was definitely an imbalance between perspectives. Olivia and Liza dominated, Kit did as well, Tam barely gets a look in so much I kept forgetting about her, and poor Mai didn’t get a voice at all.

The exploration of European countries, hostels, different approaches and appreciations to each country was a nice insight into how to travel around the world (and how easy it is to jump from country to country when you aren’t girt by sea). Seeing each girl grow and develop friendships through the book and overcome their insecurities, find themselves, and work out who they want to be was nice too.

Overall a nice read, probably one that could have been expanded further in terms of character and balanced better in terms of pace, but it was enjoyable and an interesting look at the older side of young adult and teen lives: not quite complete adults but not bound by schoolyard antics.

You can purchase Points of Departure via the following

Blackwell’s | Wordery | Angus & Robertson

 Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

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