Karl's Reading List

Published as an audiobook by Hodder Children's Books/Hachette Children's Books, 2013. Narrated by Jan Francis. Book 8 in the 'Famous Five' series. Preceded by ' Five Go Off To Camp. ' Followed by 'Five Fall Into Adventure.' Originally published 1949. In this entry, set in Spring (my favourite season), the four children and Timmy get permission to go on a cycling trip on their own, when Uncle Quentin has mistakenly double-booked himself elsewhere. They are only given permission because Timmy is 'such a good guard dog', but of course, the 1940s were a different time, when this sort of thing was probably seen as a little safer than now-a-days?? Of course, very quickly the five get caught up in a mystery, this time through association with a strange boy they encounter, named Richard. When I first heard Richard's name, I laughed to myself and wondered whether Enid Blyton had run out of names, seeing as how Dick (one of our main four characters) is...

Published by Pan Macmillan Publishers Australia: Sydney, Australia, 1992 (1991). Keith is an optimist. His parents are 'misery guts': always depressed, weighed down by life. Keith wants to cheer them up, but his attempts to do so all backfire - who would have thought that painting their fish and chip shop bright orange to surprise them wouldn't bring them great joy? This odd little book is my first exposure to Morris Gleitzman, an author who has always been on the edge of my radar but never made it to the reading stage. It's fun, and silly, and pretty much the way I assumed Gleitzman's books would be, from the reputation he has. The story is broken into two halves: half one is Keith trying to cheer his parents up while living in England. Half two takes place when the family has moved to Australia, and now Keith is trying to protect his parents from finding out about the Australian dangers that surround them, fearful that if they learn about poisonous spiders, jellyf...

Published by Victor Gollancz Ltd: London, 1974 (1963). First published 1949. I first read this story as a kid, and have fond memories of it. It is also very weird, something that Elise pointed out as well. This is the only book I have read (so far) of Robert A Heinlein, and yet I know by reputation that he was a prominent science-fiction writer in his day. This book, first written in 1949, is certainly of its day. We get a Mars with canals, native plant and animal life, and a sentient Martian species with ruined cities on the surface and still-thriving (if less populated) sections underground.  Our main character, Jim Marlowe Jr, is a teenager living in South Colony. He has befriended a local 'bouncer', a basketball-sized Martian creature that can perfectly mimic what it hears, parrot-like, and also has some level of intelligence. 'Willis', as Jim calls the creature, is a hugely important part of the plot, helping Jim and his friend Frank get out of numerous scrapes, as...

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc: London, 2000. First published 1998. Ages ago I saw the film that this book was based upon. Except for the physical appearance of the main character (who in the book is quite fat but in the film is portrayed by a young, slim Shia LaBeouf) the film turns out to be quite faithful to the plot. That makes sense, because the plot is one of those intricately constructed ones where there are a number of factors that all come together at the end - think of the way the movie Signs makes sense of every character quirk and random non sequiturs in the final showdown with the alien. Holes includes a lot of back-story, interspersing it with the 'current' events, and each event and quirk from the past (a family curse, the family name, onions, etc) all come together at the end to help resolve the plot. So, its an interesting story. I wouldn't say I was 'gripped' while reading it, but it still gives that sense of "oh, clever!" at the ...

Published by Imagine That Publishing Ltd: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2020. Omnibus edition featuring: 'I Love You SO Much, Grandma' by Susie Linn and (illustrator) Gail Yerrill; 'Can You Count the Stars?' by Susie Linn and (illustrator) Gabi Murphy; 'I Love You Because...' by Susie Linn and (illustrator) Gavin Scott; 'Daddy Loves Me' by Georgina Wren and (illustrator) Gabi Murphy; 'Mummy Loves Me' by Georgina Wren and (illustrator) Gabi Murphy; 'Goodnight, I Love You' by Oakley Graham and (illustrator) Gareth Llewhellin. This is a selection of six short picture books that work well together (although I believe each is available individually), and fit the theme of being short bedtime stories for young listeners.  All of them are very wholesome and loving, and three focus in on specific family members: Daddy, Mummy and Grandma (Poor Grandpa, Uncle, Aunt, Sister, Brother, Cousin etc get neglected). They are sweet, and show good bonds between the f...

Published as an audiobook by Hodder Children's Books/Hachette Children's Books, 2013. Narrated by Jan Francis. Book 7 in the 'Famous Five' series. Preceded by ' Five on Kirrin Island Again. ' Followed by ' Five Get Into Trouble. ' Originally published 1948. Well, originally we thought this entry in the series was going to be set at a summer camp or something similar. However, in a far more straightforward interpretation of the title, book 7 of the Famous Five series has our heroes go off to pitch some tents and do some camping. The main adult in this story - only there to provide an excuse for four children going to a remote area for camping - is Mr Luffy, a 'master' from Julian and Dick's school, who is almost as absent-minded as George's father, but far more friendly. Mr Luffy, an avid insect-collector, has come to camp on a remote moorland in order to look for bugs, and has agreed that the children could come along and camp with him. V...

Published by Scholastic Children's Books: London, 2007. The title is a pun! I didn't pick up on it right away, but it totally is! Here Lies Arthur is a retelling of the Arthur legends of ancient Britain, from the perspective of Gwyna, a young girl who becomes the assistant of Myrddin (Merlin). But rather than tell the stories in a 'straight-forward' way, Here Lies Arthur creates whole new versions: deconstructed, demythologised, and with Arthur nowhere near as heroic or noble. In fact, the Arthur of legend is shown to be a creation of Myrddin, who tells tales of Arthur's exploits to build him up and make him seem more heroic, hoping to unite all of England behind him to drive out the Saxon invaders. The 'real life' Arthur of the book doesn't deserve this praise; he is violent, stubborn, set in his ways and only out for his own rewards.  Other characters too are reimagined. Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere) is a 'pale heron' of a woman, whom Arthur never rea...

Published by Dragon Brothers Books, 2020 (2017). Audiobook released 02-10-21. Narrated by the author. Book 1 in 'The Dragon Defenders' series. Followed by 'Book 2.' This is definitely a children's book, with its short chapters, simple plot, the decision of the main characters to purposefully side-line their parents rather than getting their support in dealing with the main issues, and its mild obsession with getting shot in the butt. It is also the first book in 'The Dragon Defenders' series, and one that impresses me by not having any other title than 'Book 1' and the series title! I believe the rest in the series have similar titles... wow. The author, James Russell, is a New Zealander and narrates his own book - it was quite odd to hear a Kiwi accent the whole way through the story, though I suppose Elise is more used to that than I am due to my narrating most of the books we read together. He reads it fairly well. The story revolves around two ...

Published by Hodder Children's Books/Hodder and Stoughton: London, 2017. Book 1 in the 'Toto the Ninja Cat' series. Followed by 'Toto the Ninja Cat and the Incredible Cheese Heist.' If the title didn't clue you in on it, this is a strange book.  I like a lot of strange books, so that's not necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately, in the case of Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape, it feels like author Dermot O'Leary is trying just a little to hard to be weird. For example, Toto is introduced as a normal cat, who then says that she is blind, and whose brother (Silver) then says 'but you're a ninja, so it doesn't matter.' Why make her blind at all, if (as the plot shows) it doesn't matter at all that she is? She can still 'see' most of the time, and her ninja skills overcome anything that would potentially be an obstacle for a blind cat anyway! It might be simply because Toto is apparently based on O'Leary's own...

Published as an audiobook by Hodder Children's Books/Hachette Children's Book, 2013. Narrated by Jan Francis. Book 6 in the 'Famous Five' series. Preceded by ' Five Go Off in a Caravan. ' Followed by ' Five Go Off to Camp. ' Originally published 1947. The interesting thing about this entry in the Famous Five series is summed up by a comment Anne makes towards the end of the story. As things are wrapping up, she tells the rest of the group that she is happy the adventure is almost over, and that she didn't even realise they were having one for most of it. Out of the series so far, this entry has perhaps the best balance in this regards. The second book, Five Go Adventuring Again , tried a similar slow-burn approach to the story and still held our interest, but seemed to be waiting for a revelation to come, whereas the third book, Five Run Away Together , simply made the heroes miserable until they did what the title suggests they did! In Five on Kirri...

Published by Cape Catley Ltd: Whatamongo Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound, 1991. When I was in primary school, I remember reading Uncle Trev stories; I guess there was a book of them in the school library. I have an Uncle Trev of my own, who is also a bit of a storyteller, so this book must have struck a chord with me. Having found this copy at a book sale somewhere, I began reading it quite some time ago with Elise. Then, I 'stole' it away to school, where I used chapters of it to help craft a new Level 1 (Year 11) English course that was focussing on Kiwi identity. For the rest of this year it has been sitting on my desk at work, so when I packed up for the year, I brought it home and finished it off myself. The set-up of Uncle Trev is very simple: a nameless young narrator, living in the 1930s or 40s, often sick at home, is regaled by the tall tales of his Uncle Trev. Uncle Trev will have some farfetched idea that will make farming life easier, or some farfetched adventure involvi...

Published by Puffin Books/Penguin Random House: Great Britain, 2013 (2009). Book 5 in the 'Percy Jackson' series. Preceded by ' Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth. ' This final book in the Percy Jackson series does all the things final books should: it turns into an epic battle, it has some (mostly minor or villainous) characters die, and it wraps up the major story-arcs while allowing some characters to have room for development in the future. Knowing that there is a number of other stories featuring Percy Jackson following this series, it makes sense that another 'Great Prophecy' is also featured near the end of the book. In being all of these things, the story of The Last Olympian is in some ways the most predictable of the series: we know that Percy will face off against Kronos. We know that Grover and Annabeth (and in these later books, Rachel) will also have a part to play. We know that some people will die. We know (well, assume, but come on, i...

Published by Mallinson Rendel Publishers Ltd: Wellington, NZ, 2000 (1996).  Omnibus edition containing stories first published 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991.  Lynley Dodd stories are very cute and a huge part of any New Zealander's childhood - at least, I remember them from mine. The chance to now introduce them to Ezekiel is sweet, although at the age he is, we need to keep the pages at arms length to avoid unnecessary 'rippage.' This omnibus edition contains six stories, each giving a sense of the general Hairy Maclary vibes: detailed and subtly kiwi illustrations, good poetical story-telling with some good use of alliterative or onomatopoeic elements, an impressive vocabulary for a children's book (eg. bumptious, bustling, cacophony, caterwaul...) and a light touch of humour. The stories are easy to read for little kids with short attention spans, but also interesting enough that slightly older kids would appreciate them as well. The six stories in this volume a...

Published independently, September 12, 2024. eBook edition. My third LibraryThing prize, The Curse of the Smoky Mountain Treasure is the most professional-feeling read I've received so far. The version I read may not have had a cover attached to the pdf file, but - I mean, look at that! That looks pretty profesh too, right?? The story is well written and lightly-comedic; Kevin's mother has just remarried, and he now has a step-dad and step-sister, Anne. However, the celebrant at the wedding stumbles over the fact that Kevin has kept his old last name, and Kevin inadvertently becomes "and uh, um... Kevin." This, sadly, fits with Kevin's persona. He is a little bit glass-half-empty, and isn't quite sure what he thinks about the new family dynamic. He is even less sure about the 'familymoon' vacation the newly formed quartet are going on, considering it is camping and hiking, something that neither Kevin or his mum have any experience with, but that Kevin...

Published as an audiobook by Hodder Children's Books, 2013. Narrated by Jan Francis. Book 5 in 'The Famous Five' series. Preceded by ' Five Go To Smuggler's Top. ' Followed by ' Five on Kirrin Island Again. ' Originally published 1946. Done with Paddington for now, this became our next 'dishes audiobook', and our first Famous Five book in two years (wow, time flies)! Five Go Off in a Caravan is a simple set-up, with the four kids and Timmy - wait for it - going off in a caravan together for a holiday (what a surprise!), yet the story surprised us by introducing some quite intense elements, even for a story in this series! Making friends with a boy - Nobby - who has grown up in the circus, our heroes must deal with Nobby's evil 'relative' Uncle Dan, as well as Dan's associate Lou. Dan and Lou are extremely unpleasant, both in appearance (this book does continue the unfortunate habit of having the kids decide the villains are evil ...

Published by Puffin Books/Penguin Group: London, England, 2013 (2008). Book 4 in the 'Percy Jackson' series. Preceded by ' Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse. ' Followed by 'Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian.' I finally found a cheap copy of this book to add to my school library shelf, and - home sick for a few days - picked it up and raced through it. As book 4 in a series of 5, it is obvious that things are building towards the epic conclusion. Kronos (like the Voldemort of this series) is taking form and will soon be free to wreak havoc on the world, Percy's nemesis Luke continues to be a hindrance, and - at the end of the book - Percy turns 15. Considering that there is a prophecy that most characters believe refers to Percy, saying that when he turn 16 terrible things will occur, this is also significant. In this particular entry, Percy and his friends must journey into the Labyrinth of Greek mythology, searching for the inventor Daedalus who the...

Published as an audiobook to YouTube by InkReads, Feb 24, 2022. Narrated by InkReads. Originally published 1958. Book 2 in the 'Paddington Bear' series. Preceded by ' A Bear Called Paddington. ' Followed by 'Paddington Helps Out.' After enjoying the first Paddington Bear book while doing dishes, Elise and I decided to move on to the second one. Rather than finding another Stephen Fry narration, though, we stumbled across this version, read by a YouTube called InkReads. She has a very gentle reading voice, which did make certain parts harder to hear whilst doing dishes, but also has quite a lot of variety in the voices she uses, and her take on the characters, though quite different from Stephen Fry's, suited them beautifully. As in the previous volume, chapters in More About Paddington each follow Paddington Bear getting into some sort of misadventure, only for things to eventually turn out better-than-expected for him. Whereas the first book (after a few c...

It's been a while since I've acknowledged Ezekiel, so here is another list of picture-books we are reading to him, most of which he is enjoying quite a bit. Now that he is beginning to 'interact' with things a bit more (he's almost a year old!!!), you will notice that a lot of these books have a common element... Karl's List: Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct - Mo Willems. Published by Hyperion Books for Children: New York, NY, 2006. This one is almost a cheat. I have known about this book since it was first published, and love its humour, so recently purchased a copy just so I could read it to Ezekiel and put it on this list. I've only read it to him once so far, and probably won't read it to him much until he's a little older, but I like it, and so here it is! The basic story of Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct is that Edwina is (surprise) a dinosaur who doesn't know she is extinct. She is friends ...

Published by Little, Brown and Company: New York/Boston, 2016. This book was lent to me by a student, which is the first time I've had that happen! Thanks, Savana! I became interested in reading this story when I saw the first trailer for the upcoming movie version . That trailer, almost completely dialogue-free, seems to imply a beautifully animated and heart-warming story about a robot befriending wild animals and creating a home on a forested island, told entirely visually and musically. The book (as well as the second trailer ) have a lot more dialogue in them, and although I can confirm that the story is a good one, I do also kinda want to see that dialogue-free arthouse animated film. However, although I wanted a dialogue-free book, the book I did get was a sweet story, with some great messages in it. Roz is a robot that accidentally washes up on a small island after a shipwreck, and slowly adjusts to life on the island. To begin with, the local animals think Roz is a monster...

Published as an audiobook by HarperAudio, April 21, 2005. Narrated by Stephen Fry. Book 1 in the 'Paddington Bear' series. Followed by 'More About Paddington.' Originally published 1958. Elise and I both love the Paddington movies. We've seen the first two, and are hopeful that the third will also be worth a watch. So, after getting into the habit of listening to 'light' audiobooks while washing the dishes, we decided that this first Paddington Bear book would be worth a go. Happily, we can report that the book, like the movies, is a mix of light-hearted whimsy and awkward scrapes for our hero. A trip to the seaside, or to the shops, can result in Paddington bumbling into a situation that escalates out of his control. More so than in the movies, Paddington also occasionally does something that he realises may get him into trouble on purpose(!) , although he still always has the best of intentions in mind. There is a real pattern to these episodes, as things ...