The Midnighters by Hana Tooke. Illus. Ayesha Rubio. Pub. Puffin, 2022.

One of the most unusual novels I have ever read, it’s not quite realism, it’s not quite fantasy but it is both of these. Set in the magical city of Prague with it’s spires, it’s bridges and its mechanical clock this novel takes you beneath the city to the dark magical world of the people that live after midnight.

Ema Vaskova was born at midnight on the twelfth day of the twelfth month at the same time as her grandmother Liliana died. She was one of twelve children-5 sets of twins and the oldest sister Frantiska, the only non twin, who takes responsibility for bringing her up.

Now Ema is twelve and she is sent to live with her uncle in old Prague where she meets a girl hanging upside down like a bat with a round face, round eyes and silver hair called Silvie. Ema lives in a state of impending doom, has a scientific mind like her other family members, has the ability to go unseen, people don’t notice her, and has a skill of being able to read people’s faces and know when they are lying.

Silvie sees Ema for what she is and tells her “nothing is impossible with a little imagination” and encourages her to have “less worrying and more daring.” Silvie tells Ema of a world beneath the city of Prague where the midnight Guild meet and react, and it is a strange world indeed. How will Ema cope? Then Silvie disappears and evidence of a murder starts to emerge. Where is Silvie and if there has been a murder who is guilty?

This is a novel about difference and in the words of the author Ema is an Enigma and quite possibly neurodivergent. This novel is not for everyone but readers of fantasy who love detail will love it to bits. I did.

Each chapter contains an illustration by Ayesha Rubio at the top which helps the intrigue and sets the scene for the action. A very nice package with short chapters and nearly 400 pages. You have never read anything like this before.

Leilong’s Too Long by Julia Liu, Illus. Bei Lynn. Translated by Helen Wang. Pub. Gecko Press, 2022.

Leilong is a huge green brontosaurus with a gentle smile and a caring manner.

He takes Max, Maggie and Mo to school along with their friends and they love it. Leilong causes quite a few problems with traffic and he is so big a swipe from his tail can demolish a house. He weighs as much as 5 elephants and several bridges have already been damage.

Leilong likes the children but he is not all that happy with the job. The school worries about the damage too. He has to go but what will Leilong do now? Read it and find out.

Unusual illustrations of city life are a highlight of this picture book done in water colours and dark outlined pencil. Lots of smiles on the faces of the children.

Original story from Taiwan that readers will enjoy especially juniors. A classy package

Colour the Stars. Taea nga Whetu by Dawn McMillan, illus. Keinyo White. Translation Ngaere Roberts. Pub. Scholastic, 2022.

The 10th anniversary edition of this classic picture book for everybody with Maori language translation and stunning new illustrations.

Isaac and Luke are friends but Luke is blind and has no understanding of what colours are. Isaac takes Luke on a walk so that he witnesses yellow of the sun, the green of a fern leaf, the brown of the earth, the red of blood from a stubbed toe and the blue of the sky.

Luke in turn teaches Isaac the sounds of nature because this is his world. “when you can’t see, you have to listen”. At night when it is black, Luke knows all about black, Isaac and Luke get to know what the stars look like. A sensitive and moving story.

Valuable not only as a story to describe difference between sighted and unsighted but also to appreciate the Maori language

What Colour is the Sky? by Laura Shallcross. Pub. Beatnik Publishing, 2021

Pihoihoi watches the sunrise in the meadow and ponders “what colour is the Sky?” Hedgehog thinks it is brown, Hare says Blue, snail says grey, mouse says green and frog asks What is Sky?

This picture book for juniors and pre school is about difference. We all see things differently but with these creatures there is an explanation in the back of the book.

This excellent picture book is also about the natural world and this is enhanced by the big illustrations of the creatures mentioned. Hare is incredible but all the creatures are superb.

This is the author’s second picture book after the award winning Hare & Ruru also reviewed on this blog.

A great addition to any school library and in the home.

A Quality product.

Oli and Basil. The Dashing Frogs of Travel by Megan Hess. Pub. Hardie Grant, 2021.

This is a very classy picture book about difference and cooperation. Oli and Basil are as different as chalk and cheese and neither knows that meeting the other will change their lives completely.

Both frogs live in stately homes in Paris but they have never met. Oli is an inventor who likes to pull things apart and to create things that move. he is working on a jetpack. Basil is totally different but does have an interest in balloons and flying things. Both are frustrated with their lives.

Then they enter a contest to make a Pig Fly. There is a lot of competition and both lose out to a hedgehog but they meet and decide to work together as a team. Check this superbly illustrated picture book and see how they get on.

Basil and Oli are excellently portrayed and the illustrations are full of ideas and things to look closely at. See if the pig ever does fly.

This is the first in a series titled The World of Claris. Oli and Boris do meet Claris she is a rather chic French mouse, see how they get on.

Lisette’s Green Sock by Catharina Valckx. Translated by Antony Shugaar.

Lisette’s Green Sock by Catharina Valckx. Translated by Antony Shugaar. Pub. Gecko Press, 2020.

If I wanted a go to a picture book to cheer me up, this is the one I would read. It’s about individuality and difference and how everybody can use things in a different way. In this instance it is a green sock and a very comfortable looking sock it is too.

“On a bright sunny day, Lisette goes out for a walk“. She passes her mum reading a book. Lisette and her mum both wear head scarfs, which I like, and they both are birds, probably chickens. Lisette finds a single green sock, likes it and puts on her left foot although it ends up on her right foot by the time she gets back home again.

Bert the rat likes the sock too but he prefers it as a hat. Tim and Tom cat find the other sock and Lisette and Bert give chase but they throw it on the river where fish finds it. What do you think fish will do with it? read it and find out.

The illustrations are superb, the colours are pastel, the characterisation inspired, and it can be used as a read aloud for juniors. Quite simply the best picture book this year. Don’t miss it.

Wayside School. Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar, illus. Tim Heitz.

Wayside School. Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar, illus. Tim Heitz. Pub. Bloomsbury, 2020.

This short, easy to reader novel for primary and intermediate kids is crazy from the first to the last page. It is funny, it is serious, it is absurd, it is honest and it is always entertaining.

Wayside School is in a 30 story building. The headmaster is wacky, the teachers are eccentric and the pupils have every quirk and difference that society can muster. Still they get on well together with a lot of tolerance of each others behaviour.

Mrs Jewls class want to know what a million looks like so they start collecting toe and fingernails in an attempt to get a million. Will they do it? Then a large dark cloud they call the Cloud of Doom settles over the school and doesn’t move.

The cloud affects everybody’s behaviour and culminates on the day that the Ultimate school test finishes. Totally bizarre but very entertaining.

Tim Heitz’s illustrations help you picture the characters and the action.

Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones by Steff Green, illus. Bree Roldan

Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones by Steff Green, illus. Bree Roldan. Pub. Obscura, 2019.

Little Grim is a freak and he knows it. His dad is the Grim reaper and he wants little Grim to go to school but little Grim is going to face rejection and hostility because of how he looks, and what happens when he touches things.

He runs to the graveyard where he feels at home and he meets Suzie who introduces him to others who have been rejected and bullied. Together they work on a mural about their lives.

Beautifully illustrated with a great last line “When “freaks” become friends we have way more fun”.

A sophisticated picture book with the theme of difference for everybody  especially those who are bored with reading.

Along Came a Different by Tom McLaughlin.

Along Came a Different by Tom McLaughlin. Pub.Bloomsbury, 2018.

This outstanding picture book discusses racism, prejudice and difference in the most simplest of ways – using colours and shapes.

The Reds are first on the scene with their red hats, songs and apples. Then came the yellows with their bananas and they didn’t like the Reds because their hats were too pointy and music too loud. They divided the territory up, then the Blues turned up with their bow ties and twangy guitars.

Nobody liked each other and things got sillier and sillier. So they drew up rules. Being friends was banned.

Something has got to give and then something really different shows up. See what they do.

Superb illustrations using colours of course with large written text some of it in dark black for emphasis.

Excellent read aloud and superb message. Why can’t we all be friends?

How To Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather.

How To Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather. Pub. Walker books, 2018.

The Salem witch trials of 1691 make some of the most sordid reading in American history. Cotton Mather was a leading instigator in these trials, this novel is written by a descendant Adriana Mather and the main character in the novel is teenage girl Samantha Mather. It’s a family affair.

Samantha and her step mother Vivian sell their New York apartment to pay the medical expenses of Samantha’s father who has mysteriously gone into a coma. They move to Salem and stay in a house once owned by Samantha’s grandma that she didn’t know about.

Samantha is a difficult girl she has an affinity for sarcasm and doesn’t have any friends. Why is this? Her first day in the old house results in mysterious happenings, secret rooms, things that go bump in the night.

Her first day at Salem high school is no better, she makes enemies of a group of black clad girls called the Descendants who are related to the witches of 1691. They threaten her and say she is cursed. Then Samantha meets handsome boy Elijah who is a ghost and only she can see and hear him. He tells her to leave or else, but Samantha is built of sterner stuff and is not intimidated by the threats. She should be. Elijah tells her that when one of each of the main families involved in the original trials is in Salem a curse is invoked and the death rate mounts. Can the curse be broken?

A fascinating read that sheds light on the Salem trials and likens them to modern day bullying. Not a lot of laughs in this novel that has the power to scare the s**t out of you but fortunately there is a touch of romance to lighten the mood.

Superbly written and structured in 47 short sharp chapters so that you can read it in short bursts like I did. Senior secondary but I suspect younger readers will clamber to read it as well. It will do them no harm.