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Nicely produced picture book

28/5/2015

“The Stingray Sandwich” by June Allen
illustrated by Polly Whimp

The story is about two stingrays that glide along one day, one top of the other, and pick up hitchikers along the way. It is a picture book for children of about 4 – 6 years old.
The pictures really make the book, a combination of colour and monotone, illustrating the variety of under-the-sea characters that appear in the book. They give the sea creatures character and personality, and reflect the action in the story. All the pictures are laid out well with the text, and the book is nicely produced.
The story introduces a number of characters that you may find in the sea – a good zoology lesson (I learned what butterfish look like). The story floats along like the stingray, and is a happy tale about sea creatures helping each other along.

Note: June Allen is also Author of The Little Glow Worm Who Couldn’t Turn on His Light, reviewed last year. See in archives, September 2014

Review by Annie Whiterod

Title: The Stingray Sandwich
Author: June Allen; Illustrator Polly Whimp
Publisher: Kwizzel Publishing.
ISBN: 978-0-9941095-6-9
Available: from the publisher – [email protected]

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International flavour

18/5/2015

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Season of Salt & Honey
Hannah Tunnicliffe

The Author, Hannah Tunnicliffe, is a New Zealander who has lived in several other countries and, fittingly for a book titled Season of Salt & Honey, there’s something of an international flavour to it.
The novel is set in Washington State, USA. The character and her family at the centre are Italian and Sicilian – transplants to America who find their cultural traditions are not always appreciated fully by longer-established “merigans”. The love between a young couple, Francesca (Frankie) Caputo and Alex Gardner, is not approved by all –
“When we get married I’ll be a Gardner…People won’t know I’m Italian.”
That’s good, right? You always say people judge you when they see your name…You can be American.”
It’s not quite the Romeo and Juliet story over again, but Frankie and Alex’s union does come to a tragic end; and when it does, feelings between the families deteriorate even further.
Then comes the appearance of another group of people – among them a black-haired, tanned man from New Zealand and his daughter Huia. The fact that Jack is a Kiwi isn’t important in any way to the story and, from this side of the world at least, it seems a little contrived – designed perhaps in order to attract readers in this country.
There’s a theme of food throughout -
“Love and food: the Italian equation for bliss.”
In this case, though, the bliss is cut short and the planned menu for the wedding is not used. Many other meals are described quite fully and the book includes several recipes, mainly Italian – Pitta Mpigliata, Affrogato, Polpette al Sugo, Nzuddi, Spring Risotto, Banana Bread, Lingua di Suocera, Rosolio alle Erbe, Pasta alla Norma.
Season of Salt & Honey is a well-produced volume with an attractive cover. A continuity problem made me go back and reread one chapter, but otherwise it’s a story that’s worth reading.

Review by Paua Blue

Title: Season of Salt & Honey
Author: Hannah Tunnicliffe
Publisher: MacMillan
ISBN: 978-1-74261-241-6
Available: Bookshops

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A pleasure to read

6/5/2015

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Sleep Sister
by Karen Breen

This is by far my favourite book I’ve reviewed for this site. Sleep Sister is a beautifully written and enthralling debut novel about family, trust, loss and grief.
The novel unravels in a non-linear fashion, with chapters pieced together of poignant vignettes over a 7 year period following the death of the family’s youngest son. Each character’s thoughts and feelings are explored in response to this and other significant developments in their lives caused by the tragedy, particularly the young sisters during their teen years. This structure is sustained masterfully from beginning to end, with Breen maintaining a strong hold on the tension and knowing exactly when and what to explore in the narrative.
   Breen’s prose has an almost poetic feel to it, with details and descriptions hitting the right balance between acute observations and flowery language. It is evocative and succinct enough to create the novel’s mood and feeling as early as the first few chapters of the story – for example, using the smell of wallpaper to embody the unfamiliarity of moving in to a new house when the families merge into a new life together as The Duggans. Indeed, Breen’s exquisite observations are so precise that you learn most about the characters through their actions and behaviour rather than dialogue. This is employed expertly right from the beginning, where the awkwardness of the merging families is hinted at by saying the girls “don’t call him Brian, they just think it” in regards to the title they give this sudden father figure in their lives. Such small details show the divide between actions and thoughts and the filtering of our emotions we do in an effort to please others.
   Family dynamics is a main subject in the novel, showing how we both react to and are changed by significant events in our lives (particularly difficult moments of loss and grief). In this way, it also touches on the overlapping of behaviour that is learned and instinctive. This is explored in the family’s fractured reactions to Davy’s death (both short and long term), but also in the developing femininity between the sisters and their mother, and how their own relationships with men are both directly and indirectly influenced by watching Lynette. That Breen is able to write about such complex relationships so astutely is alone worth reading the story for.
   Sleep Sister is everything a breakout debut novel should be; original, captivating and stirring up excitement for me to read more of Karen Breen’s work in future. I struggle to believe this is a debut novel, as the writer is clearly one who has a natural understanding of language and authentic voices, making writing like Sleep Sister a pleasure to read.

Review by Jemma Richardson

Title: Sleep Sister
Author: Karen Breen
Publisher: Eunoia Publishing
Available: Bookshops

Comments

Nicely produced picture book

International flavour

A pleasure to read

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