Moto Mike the Motorbike by Deano Yipadee illus. Bruce Potter. Pub. Scholastic, 2024.

Nee Naw the fire engine and his friends plus granny and her goats are having the annual Pumpkin parade.

Farmer Tom fancies his chances of winning and carries his large pumpkin on the back of his tractor.

At the bridge over the river the tractor comes to grief with farmer Tom hanging precariously off the bridge by his trousers. Calamity.

Then a friend of nee Naw’s, the impressive blue Moto Mike the motorbike comes to the rescue.

Great illustrations from Bruce Potter add to the rhyming musical text of Deano Yipadee.

Download the song and you can sing it yourself.

Great fun.

Gracehopper by Mandy Hager. Pub. One Tree House, 2024

When I was sent this excellent young adult novel about identity and self esteem, I read the title and thought of Grasshopper, a character in the old TV show Kung Fu. Amazingly there is a martial art aspect to this novel with the main teenage character Grace, drawing strength and advice from the teachings of Bruce Lee.

The start was weird as Grace aged 18 years waits at the railway station and a man comes up to her with a suitcase and asks her to mind it. She is reluctant but the man runs away and the suitcase starts to move by itself. You will have to read it yourself if you want to know why and you will not be disappointed.

The main character is Grace and she is of undoubted Asian extraction and wants to know more about her history but her mother Katherine refuses to talk about it, suffers badly from depression and has attempted suicide. All Grace knows is that she was born during the 1999 Jiji earthquake in Taiwan and her father is dead presumably in the earthquake. Grace agonises about who she is, who her father is and is Katherine her true mother.

Katherine took Grace to New Zealand after the earthquake and settled with Claire, Katherine’s mother and Gran to Grace. She is the strength of the family, is a chain smoker and her death precipitates a decline in Katherine and opens the door to Grace’s past and that of Katherine.

Anya, Katherine’s mental health adviser works to solve their problems with the help of Anoop, Grace’s martial arts teacher and mentor. It is very difficult for all characters

The secondary plot but most interesting is that of the relationship between Grace and Charlie, a dwarf with a strong hang up about being a little person but a determination that it should not dominate his behaviour. He is studying how dwarves were treated in art particularly in the paintings of Velazquez.

Charlie and Grace met on Grace’s first day at school and there are frequent flashbacks to their history together. This part of the novel is superb and my favourite area by a long chalk and you will like it too. From the start I wondered to what extent their relationship would develop but you can find that out for yourself by reading this novel.

As always Mandy Hager’s writing is superb. The dialogue is sharp eg Grace says to Charlie about his attitude to being a dwarf “As long as you wave that Little person flag, it’ll keep you small”. And descriptively Charlie and Grace look down on the harbour from a headland in Khandalla to the “gunmetal coloured sea”.

If you miss this gem you will kick yourself, and look for it in the awards list later this year. Outstanding.

New Zealand’s Endangered Dolphins by Maria Gill. Illus. Marco Ivancic. Pub. White Cloud Books, 2024

Whenever I review a non fiction book I compare the information and arrangement of information with online sources to see which is better in terms of subject matter and age appropriateness. In this picture book about two endangered New Zealand dolphins – popota (Maui) and pahu (Hector’s) this book wins hands down.

These are two of the smallest dolphins in the world at between 1.2 and 1.6 metres long. Their brains are 15-60 times bigger than a shark so they are smart and they sense things with an echolocation system which tells them how far away objects are and even if another dolphin is pregnant, has just eaten or is frightened.

Both dolphins like to swim in pods with the Poto being located off the west coast of the North Island and Pahu mainly off the east coast of the South island but you can read the rest of the information about them when you get this excellent picture book for primary intermediate and even high school readers.

It also tells of marine sanctuaries and what we can do to help save them as well as the dolphin’s structure in comparison to other larger dolphins.

Marco Ivancic’s diagrams, photographs, maps and illustrations enhance the excellent information and easy text of Maria Gill. An award winning non fiction book if I ever saw one.

Andy & The little Rimu Tree by Hydie Balle-Hands, Illus Nhat Hao Nguyen. Pub. Beau Books 2024.

Andy is a little upset when his parents go out but he is left with a capable nanny who has a special little rimu tree.

She tells Andy that the rimu tree will grant him three wishes as long as Andy believes in his heart that the wishes will be granted. Andy is a believer and when he lies down to rest he and his dog Archer are whisked away on a ship only to discover that a sneaky prate has legged it with his rimu tree.

What is Andy and Archer going to do? fortunately they meet some fairies called Tipodes who are guardians of the Forgotten island where the pirates have taken the little rimu tree. Will they get it back?

Well illustrated with the Tipodes a highlight and the surprise ending will have you guessing. Good read-a-loud as well.

Faelan The Wolf Bk3. Faelan the Fearless by Juliette MacIver. Pub. Scholastic, 2024

Faelan the wolf is one on the best characters I have read about in a children’s book. He is brave, fearless and different to the norm. A wolf who loves music, plays the harp, is selfless, is a vegan and is best friends with a chicken and a skunk.

This last book in a trilogy ties up all the loose ends from the first two books which are also reviewed elsewhere on this blog. Questions like Who is Faelan’s real father? Is it Varg the beast from a rebel wolf pack? and if he is not Varg’s son then who is and does he pose a danger to the pack?

With the death of Bardolf who will become pack leader? Weylin or somebody else? Will Avian and Faelan free the chickens from man and take them to the promised land?

The conclusion to this story is stunning but not surprising considering Faelan’s character. Don’t miss this easy to read adventure, it’s one of the best of the year.

How to Be a Cat by Juliette MacIver, illus. Carla Martell. Pub. Scholastic 2024.

This is a sequel to award winning picture book Duck Goes Meow also reviewed elsewhere on this blog, as duck continues his quest to become a cat.

Mama cat teaches her two kittens plus the duck to wash their fur, to climb a tree using their claws, to stalk and pounce and hiss but when the trio meet some rough looking big cats, Duck begins to wonder whether he is a cat.

Mama calms Duck down and says he has all the skills necessary to be a cat and not all cats are the same. When he snuggles into mama’s fur with the other two kittens guess what noise he makes? read it and find out.

Carla Martell’s illustrations capture all the cat moments and Duck is a delight. Great rhyming text that makes this a great read-a-loud book for juniors

A hug So Tight by Holly Melville-Bell. Pub. Twig 2024.

Lenny the Loris announces at the start of this excellent picture book for primary and intermediate kids that he is “Here to teach you something new! how to talk to other people using only your hands”.

He is not a very well behaved young loris and other animals in the forest are “scared stiff of his crazy mischief”. he drops an old meatball on Benny the bear cub, he sticks Riley raccoon to a tree with blue gum, he throws sally the Spider at Elly the Elephant but comes unstuck when he throws a rotten plum at a baby monkey. Read it and see what happens. How will Lenny’s bad behaviour be rewarded.

While the treatment of bad behaviour is a major theme of this story which the author deals positively with the major theme is sign language.

The animals in the story sign 5 big words during the action – baby, Mother, Sorry, Love and Escape. try to find them in the story and learn how to do them at the back of the book.

A unique picture book that will help children understand and learn sign language. The illustrations are superb with Lenny adorable but my favourite was the mother monkey at the end. We all need a mother like her.

Bubbles the Zooting Tooting Manatee by Minky Stapleton. Pub Scholastic 2024.

A manatee is an aquatic mammal that was once mistaken by sailors as a mermaid. It inhabits tropical areas especially around Florida and it eats the sea grass which unfortunately creates gas in their intestines and makes them fart. Hence Bubbles.

Most young lady manatees control their farting so that they have Elegance, Finesse and Serenite and they can glide , sashay and pirouette but not Bubbles. She wants to be different. She wants to use her farts to make he speed. She wants to zoot and squee much to the chagrin of her mother and the aunties.

Then she hits an old turtle and enough is enough. But a crisis is at hand involving an alligator when zooting and squeeeing is going to prove helpful. read it and see what happens.

Delightful pink illustrations and lots of farting. kids will love it.

In the back there is some information about manatees. They speak French you know.

This is the Ship That Jack Built by Peter Millett, Illus. Sam Caldwell. Pub. Buster Books 2024.

Jack wants to get the gold back that the rat stole on the ship he built then in turn is nabbed by the cat, the squid, the whale the seal and the crab before being taken ashore by the turtle.

Of course there is more to it than that and it is told in rhyming text as a parody of the old English nursery rhyme The House that Jack Built.

The question is will Jack get his loot back?

Cleverly told by Peter Millett whose other books are reviewed on this blog and superbly illustrated by Sam Caldwell who captures all the action and the characters as the loot changes hands.

Released on 11 April this would make a grand edition to the school library and the home for juniors and primary school students.

Take Me To Your Leader by Leone Agnew. Illus. Paul Beavis. Pub. Puffin, 2024.

Ashton Hill primary school has 17 students of which Lucas, his sister Ellie and friend Harriet are students. The Minister of Education Mrs carter decides to close the school down and the children want to protest.

Their teacher Mr Ngata tells them protest will fall on deaf ears and any petition will be put on the scrap heap. Lucas wants to persist and so does his friend Harriet.

While flying a kite marked with high-viz tape in the evening causes a fuss when a local chicken farmer Mrs Jones reports a UFO in the area and it is printed in the national newspapers. Tourists start clambering into the town poking their cameras and noses into recycling bins almost like they were hoping to find dead alien bodies.

Lucas, Harriet and co promote the alien theme in the hope that it will create jobs and people will stay in the town of Ashton Hill and the school will be saved. Lucas has another reason to stay as his father is buried in the town and he wants to keep in touch. Will it work? read the book and find out..

Very funny in places and other issues like the treatment of battery chickens, vegetarianism, climate change, government responses to protest, school closures etc come into the story. The kids also use a blog, Twitter and other social media to promote their actions.

A modern story and great read -a – loud.