Weekend Reads: 7 December 2024

Bridge to Anywhere.  

Written by Sarah Milne. 

Illustrated by Laura Bee.  

Beatnik Publishing, 2024. 

ISBN 9781991165787. 

Aotearoa. 

Family connections. A bit of fantasy. Mention of death and loss. 

It's ok. Nothing great. Heading towards twee. 

Possible reading companions: 

• North an South by Sandra Morris. 

• Hanukkah Upside Down by Elissa Brent Weissman and Omer Hoffmann. 

• Milo Imagines the World by Matt De la Peña and Christian Robinson. 

• Papa Brings Me the World by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw. 

We Disagree. 

Written and illustrated by Bethanie Deeney Murguia. 

Beach Lane Books, 2020. 

ISBN 9781534438804. 

Rhyming text. Dialogue in speech bubbles. Friendship. 

Possible reading companions: 

• Two Rabbits by Larissa Ferenchuk and Prue Pittock. 

• Friendship is Like a Seesaw by Shona Innes and Írisz Agócs. 

• A Better Best Friend by Olivier Tallec and Antony Shugaar. 

• Sun shower by Melinda Szymanik and Isobel Joy Te Aho-White. 

Deadly Animal Atlas: amazing facts, fold-out maps, and
life-size surprises. 

Written by Camilla De la Bédoyère. 

Illustrated by Dusan Lakicevic and Alex Sotirovski. 

Lonely Planet Global, 2024. 

ISBN 9781837582624. 

So much to discover and explore. 

Possible reading companions: 

• The World's Most Atrocious* Fearsome Animals: or are they? by Philip Bunting. 

• Lifesize Deadly Animals by Sophy Henn. 

• The Not Bad Animals by Sophie Corrigan. 

• Critters of Aotearoa: 50 bizarre but loveable members of our wildlife community by Nicola Toki  and Lily Duval. 

5,000 Awesome Facts (About Everything!): updated and expanded! 

National Geographic Kids, 2024. 

ISBN 9781426376139. 

From spies to survival. Sharks to Aliens. 

This went down a treat with my fact-fan great-niblings. 

Possible reading companions: 

• The Bedtime Book of Even More Impossible Questions: adventures for curious minds by Isabel Thomas and Margarida Esteves. 

• Name That Thing! stretch your brain power with 20 picture quizzes by Garth Moore and Ryan O'Rourke. 

• Everything Under the Sun by Molly Oldfield 

Australia's Baby Animals. 

Written and illustrated by Jess Racklyett. 

Affirm Press, 2024. 

ISBN 9781923022812. 

Australian. 

Cute and informative. 

Possible reading companions: 

• Remarkable Animal Stories: form New Zealand and Australia by Maria Gill and Emma Huia Lovegrove. 

• Ninja Bandicoots and Turbo-Charged Wombats: stories from behind the scenes at the zoo by Hazel Flynn. 

• Lifesize Baby Animals by Sophy Henn. 

• Born to be Wild: how baby animals survive and thrive by John Woodward, Caroline Stamps and Sanya Jain. 

Galápagos. 

Written by Tom Jackson. 

Illustrated by Chervelle Fryer. 

Introduction by Steve Backshall. 

Dorling Kindersley, 2022. 

ISBN 9780241528068. 

Galápagos is the subject of so many nature documentaries, but this book adds to that. 

Possible reading companions: 

• Welcome to New Zealand: a nature journal by Sandra Morris. 

• Weird and Wonderful Nature by Ben Hoare and Kaley McKean. 

• Darwin's Voyage of Discovery by Jake Williams. 

I Wonder. 

Written and illustrated by Philip Bunting. 

Walker Books, 2024. 

ISBN 9781760657802. 

Australian. 

A quirky collections of questions - but no answers. 

Possible reading companions: 

• We, the Curious Ones by Marion Dane Bauer, Deepti Nair, and Hari Panicker. 

• I am a Story by Dan Yaccarino. 

• Mr Santa by Jarvis. 

• Do You Wonder? by Wallace Edwards. 

Apples not Orples: a rule-breaking counting book. 

Written by R. A. Stephens. 

Illustrated by Carmen Dougherty. 

Wombat Books, 2024. 

ISBN 9781761111693. 

Australian. 

Puns. Word play. Beginning algebra. A winning formula! 

Possible reading companions: 

• One Is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre and Jeffrey Sayre. 

• P Is for Pterodactyl: the worst alphabet book ever by Raj Haldar, Chris Carpenter, and Maria Tina Beddia. 

• Are You Big? and Are You Small? by Mo Willems. 

• How Many Mice Make an Elephant? and other big questions about size and distance by Tracey Turner and Aaron Cushley. 

Sparks of Imagination. 

Written and illustrated by Stephen Hogtun. 

Dorling Kindersley, 2024. 

ISBN 9780241661888. 

Anti-device, pro-reading - and preachy. 

If the message was 'use your imagination', I wouldn't have a problem, but this is pretty heavy-handed, and polemical. 

Possible reading companions: 

• This Is a Window by Lauren Paige Conrad. 

• This Is NOT a Polar Bear! by Barry Timms and Ged Adamson. 

• We Know a Place by Maxine Beneba Clarke. 

• Ronan the Librarian by Tara Luebbe. Becky Cattie, and Victoria Maderna. 

The Forever Garden. 

Written by Laurel Snyder. 

Illustrated by Samantha Cotterill. 

Schwartz & Wade Books, 2017. 

ISBN 9780553512731. 

Intergenerational friendship over a garden, and passing on the shared knowledge. 
Possible reading companions: 

• A Hat For Mrs Goldman: a story about knitting and love by Michelle Edwards and G. Brian Karas. 

• Old Friends by Margaret Aitken by Lenny Wen. 

• Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten by Bob Graham. 

• Harry and Walter by Kathy Stinson and Qin Leng. 

• My Poet by Patricia MacLachlan and Jen Hill. 

• City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems  and Jon J. Muth. 

• Secret gardeners: growing a community and healing the Earth by Maija Hurme and Lina Laurent, Jen Pulju Porter and Sofia Karlsson. 

• Khalil and Mr Hagerty and the Backyard Treasures by Tricia Springstubb  and Elaheh Taherian. 

The Seal on the Beach. 

Written by Mara Bergman.

Illustrated by Brita Granström. 

Walker Books, 2024. 

ISBN 9781529505795. 

A lost seal is tied in with Maggie's mum and baby brother to come home from hospital. Poignant. 

Possible reading companions: 

• Rosie and Tortoise by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks. 

• Stranded by Linda Jane Keegan and Isobel Joy Te Aho-White. 

• Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. 

There Are No Ants In This Book. 

Written by Rosemary Mosco. 

Illustrated by Anna Pirolli. 

Tundra, 2024. 

ISBN 9781774881163. 

A fun way to learn about different species of ants. 
Possible reading companions: 

• The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants by Philip Bunting. 

• Bum Or Face? by Kari Lavelle. 

• Ugly-cute: what misunderstood animals can teach us about life by Jennifer McCartney.