71 Sheep Try Soccer by Pablo Albo

22 Jan 2021 2 Comments

by Amy in 5 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: , , ,

Published: 1st October 2017Goodreads badge
Publisher: Berbay Publishing
Illustrator: Raúl Nieto Guridi
Translator: Michael Sedunary
Pages: 36
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★   ★  – 5 Stars

Sheep aren’t exactly renowned for their organisation skills, so when 71 sheep arrange a game of soccer, things are always going to get interesting. When their ball gets stuck in a tree, how will all the sheep cooperate to retrieve it? And when an unexpected danger presents itself, how will the sheep organise themselves to stay safe—and finish their game of soccer?

I don’t know what kind of story I expect from this title but I loved what Albo has created. When 71 sheep decide they want to play soccer not much will stand in their way, and if there are interruptions, they will adapt and reconvene in the best ways. This is a translation from the original Spanish and the fact it is so funny and the humour remains is a testament to Sedunary’s skills.

There’re only a few words in this story but not much needs to be said to gather meaning and the illustrations add another layer of storytelling. Guridi has done a great job capturing the quirkiness and the humour of the book; the absurdity of the story is amazing and seeing it play out in pictures makes it that much more enjoyable. This is definitely a book where the illustrations are as important and as enjoyable as the words and the experience of them together only builds up your delight as you read, eager to find out whether the sheep will ever get to play their game.

One of the best things I did was pick up this book because it was absolutely fabulous to read. It is funny, clever, incredibly absurd but also entirely brilliant.

You can purchase 71 Sheep Try Soccer via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Angus and Robinson

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

BLOGMAS Day 20: Favourite Picture Books featuring Amy from Lost In A Good Book

21 Dec 2020 Leave a comment

by Amy in General Tags: , , , ,

I teamed up with Jess from The Never Ending Book Shelf to talk about our favourite picture books s part of her Blogmas celebrations. Have you read any of these delightful stories? Also you should check out her blog because not only is her entire Blogmas content awesome, the rest of her blog is fantastic.

Jess's avatarThe Never Ending Bookshelf

Today for Blogmas I’m teaming up with Amyfrom Lost In A Good Book to talk about our top five favourite picture books. Amy runs an awesome book blog (so make sure you check it out) talking about a wide range of books across almost every genre and age group. Amy is also a qualified librarian and has written a really good introduction about the importance of picture books, so read on more to learn about picture books and our all time favourite picture books.

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An Aussie Day Before Christmas by Kilmeny Niland

18 Dec 2020 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Australian Women Writers, The Picture Book Corner Tags: , , , , ,

Published: 1st October 2010Goodreads badge
Publisher: Scholastic
Illustrator: Kilmeny Niland
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

It’s the day before Christmas in Australia and Santa is in a tizz! So much to do — prezzies to wrap, the ute to check and eight ‘roos to choose. But not everything is going to plan. The helpers have gone and the ‘roos can’t be found! What will Santa do now?

I was sceptical when I picked up this book but I was pleasantly surprised and found I really enjoyed it. The narrative is written with the same poetic style as the original Night Before Christmas, but Niland brings an Aussie feeling to the story which worked surprisingly well. This is a sequel of sorts to Yvonne Morrison’s An Aussie Night Before Christmas which Niland illustrated.

One of the things I enjoyed was that the story is Australian without being over the top Australian. Niland uses Aussie language and Aussie slang without the full on cringe that some books cause when the use over the top words and phrases that don’t even sound natural to Australians. Classics like brekkie, dunny and other Aussie slang make an appearance but Niland’s illustrations add an explanation element without distracting from the story for those unaware of the meanings or intentions.

With roos instead of reindeer more Aussie nicknames come forward, and even by now I hadn’t grown tired of the Australianness of the story. You can always tell when an author tries too hard but Niland balances it well between a fun Christmas story while also having it tolerable to read aloud and not be so filled with slang that it becomes incomprehensible.

The illustrations are cute and I loved the design style used for not only Santa and his misses but also the native animals and the Australian environment. Through the rhyme Niland captures other elements of an Australian summer Christmas with the mention of blow flies, cicadas and the Aussie salute. A few Australian places are mentioned which adds some local identifiers and it was great to see Santa get ready for the big night with his summer gear on.

This is a fun and uniquely Aussie story that is also familiar as it lines up with the well-known classic. It’s fun to read aloud as you get caught up in the rhythm and with the use of the Aussie language you get to have a bit of fun with it as well. It’s also a great way to show off how Santa gets ready for his big night.

You can purchase An Aussie Day Before Christmas via the following

Amazon

A Very Quacky Christmas by Frances Watts

11 Dec 2020 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Australian Women Writers, The Picture Book Corner Tags: , , , , , ,

Published: 23rd October 2017Goodreads badge
Publisher: ABC Books
Illustrator: Ann James
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

Samantha Duck is getting ready for Christmas and her friend Sebastian thinks she’s silly. After all, he says, Christmas isn’t for animals. But Samantha knows that Christmas is for everyone and sets out to make sure that all the animals have a very quacky Christmas (and a tortoise new year) 

This is such a cute book. Samantha Duck is trying to spread the Christmas cheer for all the animals but is constantly being reminded by her friend Sebastian that animals don’t do Christmas. I liked this because even though Sebastian keeps telling Samantha that she shouldn’t be doing Christmas, he still helps her make decorations and presents. I also loved how they go around and collect things from other animals who want to help like eggs and wool, and it is a lovely story about how even the simplest gesture can mean a lot.

The illustrations are adorable, James has done a brilliant job. I loved the designs on Samantha and Sebastian, and having a visual as Samantha decorates and they create their presents was a great bonus of enjoyment on top of an already sweet story. The water colours and roughly lined illustrations of the characters and scenery works well and they alter between full pages and smaller drawings with the text sharing half the page. The colours bring a feeling of nature as well as the summer Christmas atmosphere which we definitely need more representation of.

There is so much heart and determination Watts has put into a seemingly simple story but is also filled with its own bit of Christmas magic and it is a truly special little Christmas story.

You can purchase A Very Quacky Christmas via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Angus and Robinson

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

How to Hide a Lion at Christmas by Helen Stephens

04 Dec 2020 Leave a comment

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

Published: 4th October 2018Goodreads badge
Publisher: Alison Green Books
Illustrator: Helen Stephens
Pages: 40
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

A charming holiday picture book about a girl, her pet lion, and a Christmas adventure.

Iris and her lion go everywhere together. But when Christmas comes and the family is going away, Mum says the lion must stay behind. After all, you can’t take a lion on a train. Luckily the lion has other ideas. He sets off on a festive, snowy adventure to find Iris—and almost bumps into Santa Claus!

This is the Christmas edition of How to Hide a Lion and in this story we see Iris face the challenge of hiding her lion once more because lions can’t go on trains and therefore cannot come with them to visit Auntie Sarah.

It’s a very sweet book. It’s fun to see Iris attempt to hide her lion but can’t quite make it work. Iris’ lion doesn’t want to make her sad by being left behind so he sets off to join them on their Christmas. Having not read the original book or others in the series first I was slightly underwhelmed, but I’ve since read the first book which is more substantial and this makes this a nice addition to the series of Iris’s numerous adventures of having to hide her lion.

You don’t need to have read the original per se, it’s easily accepted that Iris has a lion and no understanding of how this came about is required, but I did feel like it was missing something. Having now read the original story I can see the themes Stephens uses here which connect it to the original. But even beyond that, there is a sweet story about a lion not wanting his friend to be lonely and setting off to make sure she has a nice Christmas, albeit with a few mishaps on the way. It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.

I enjoyed this because there is a lion in it, which is an easy way to gain my approval over anything, but beyond that it’s also a nice, fun story. Stephens’ illustrations are bright and colourful, the mixture of full page and small illustrations suit the story and helps convey the narrative being told. Her style is simple but still full of detail, and the scenes through the book tell their own story.

I think I will have to track down more of Iris’ adventures because seeing the humorous and creative ways she tries to hide her lion, I’d love to see more of her attempts and see what mischief they get up to in the meantime.

You can purchase How to Hide a Lion at Christmas via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Angus and Robinson

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

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