Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

Source: www.goodreads.com

It's the Christmas holidays and Ellie and a group of friends decide to go on a camping trip before school starts again. All goes well and they spend an enjoyable few days in a nearby mountainous area. When the return however, they find that their hometown has been invaded and all their friends and families have been captured. Together, they fight for survival as they try to discover the fates of their families

What makes this book stand out is the way it demonstrates how adversity can bring out certain remarkable strengths in the characters.

Courage
Having lead relatively safe and sheltered lives, Ellie and friends now have to deal with living in a country that has been invaded. Suddenly, death becomes a very real threat for all of them and they face it with remarkable courage.

After Lee gets shot, a normally timid Robyn faces the challenge of protecting her injured friend with surprising grit and determination. Although she is known to be squeamish around blood and needles, she administers painkiller injections for Lee without batting an eyelid. Homer also demonstrates tremendous tenacity, stepping up as their unofficial leader to provide the direction the group needs in challenging situations.

Resourcefulness
Having to rely on themselves, Ellie and her friends are forced to source for their own food and supplies. Knowing that they need to plan for their survival for an indefinite period of time, they start to ration their food supplies. In addition to scavenging from the houses in their neighbourhood, they also learn to have the foresight to plan for the long-term and start rearing chickens and growing their own vegetables.

We also see how innovative they can get, thinking of ways to get themselves out of difficult situations. One fantastic example is how Ellie, Robyn and Homer rescue an injured Lee using a truck with a shovel. Throughout the story, they also have to come up with numerous ingenious ways to evade soldiers and gather information about their families and the invaders.

Love
Instead of staying holed up in the wild countryside where they can remain undetected, their love for the families drives this group of teenagers to continue to venture into town to find out about the safety and living conditions of their families. They do this in spite of numerous run ins with soldiers of the invading army, risking their lives time and time again.

At the end of the book, we also see Kevin's love for Corrie when he drives her to the hospital after she gets shot. Unwilling to abandon her, he does this despite knowing that he will be leading himself straight to the enemy.

This book also provides a channel for teenagers to explore themes and issues related to war. While listening to news about the war on the radio, they find out that the motivation behind the invasion is "reducing imbalances within the region". Robyn then begins to empathise with the invaders, saying that there "doesn't have to be a right side and a wrong side."

Similarly, in order to escape from a group of soldiers, Ellie blows up a ride-on mower which kills two soldiers. After this incident, we see her facing feelings of guilt and she starts to question herself:

"Had I killed out of love of my family, as part of a noble crusade to rescue friends and family and keep our land free? Or had I killed because I valued my life above that of others? Would it be OK for me to kill a dozen others to keep myself alive?"

This can lead readers to ponder upon the following:

Can attacking another country ever be justified?
Can killing another person ever be justified?

With an exciting and fast paced plot that is full of suspense, this book is definitely an addictive read. The characters are well developed and engaging which draws readers in to be part of their adventure. This is a book that both adults and young adults will enjoy and I look forward to reading the rest of the series!

The Paper Bag Princess - Written by Robert Munsch & Illustrated by Michael Martchenko

Source: http://childrensbooksguide.com/classics/the-paper-bag-princess

The Paper Bag Princess introduces readers to a delightful twist to the classic princess fairy tale. The story starts off like many other fairy tales - the beautiful Princess Elizabeth is going to marry a prince whom she loves very much. However, this is where the similarities stop. Elizabeth's castle is attacked by a dragon and this time it is Prince Roland who gets kidnapped. As all her clothes have been destroyed, Elizabeth puts on paper bag and bravely goes off to save her prince. She hunts the dragon down and outsmarts him into exhaustion. When Prince Roland sees her, however, he tells her that she does not look like a princess and asks her to come back when she is dressed like one. In response, Elizabeth calls him a bum and decides not to marry him after all.

What makes this book special is the way it challenges social norms and gender stereotypes. Instead of the princess being the damsel in distress being rescued by her knight in shining armour, this story shows that the princess can be the one saving her prince too. By following the adventures of a heroine wearing just a paper bag, little girls will also see that they do not have to look pretty all the time.

Another interesting point in this story is how Princess Elizabeth defeats the dragon. Without physically harming the dragon in any way, Princess Elizabeth cleverly tricks the dragon into tiring itself out. This exposes young children to the idea that wit is stronger than brute force and that violence is not necessary to save the day.

The illustrations help to bring out the narration of the story. Each page is accompanied by an illustration portraying the emotions and actions of the character at each point in the story. Princess Elizabeth is illustrated with singed hair and a charred and dented crown. This further enhances the idea that she is a brave and intelligent heroine regardless of how she looks.

This book is an enjoyable read despite not being written in a rhythmic way. It also provides a fun and easy way to start children thinking and discussing about gender roles and the perception of beauty. Many children will also love the humourous way the story is told which will make for an engaging read.

The Gobbling Tree - Written by Mark Carthew & Illustrated by Susy Boyer

Many children who love to play outdoors have had their ball or some other toy stuck in a tree. In The Gobbling Tree, Mark Carthew tells us about a tree that won't give them back!

Source: http://www.newfrontier.com.au/

Zac is out playing cricket one day and his ball gets stuck in a tree. Soon, all his friends come to help Zac by using their own belongings to get his ball back. However, the tree gobbles all their stuff up and soon all of them have something of theirs stuck in the tree - even his friend Simon climbs up into the tree and gets stuck! Fortunately, everything eventually gets blown down by the wind. We see that Zac has not learnt his lesson, though. At the end of the book, Zac is out playing cricket again and once again, his red ball has found its way into the tree.

This book is full of rhyme and rhythm which helps make reading aloud to children fun. The use of sound effect words and exclamations also help to add to the excitement of the story. This story also fosters imagination and a sense of adventure. Mark Carthew personifies a tree and takes a regular, everyday occurrence and turns it into a fun-filled story.

Susy Boyer's use of bright vivid colours helps to further capture the attention of children. Her illustrations compliments the narrative well and helps in storytelling. By giving the tree a huge smiley face, young readers are further encouraged to imagine the tree to be a greedy and mischievous creature who gobbles up anything that comes its way. Zac and the other characters also have rather exaggerated expressions and this can help children to relate to the characters' emotions and empathise with them.

This book's catchy rhyming narrative coupled with its bright and cheery illustrations makes it an excellent book to read to a small group of young children. Parents or teachers can easily turn it into a fun and interactive storytelling experience.

Watch Jimmy Giggle reading the book here!

Belonging by Jeannie Baker

Source: http://www.jeanniebaker.com/

Belonging is a wordless picture book which follows the life of Tracy through the view from her window. Through the illustrations on each page, we see the growth of Tracy from a little girl to a woman. She is usually seen in the garden through the window and personal items on her windowsill help to portray which phase of life she is going through.

Through her window, we also get the see the neighbourhood she grows up in and its progress over the years. We see how the residents of the neighbourhood take charge of the street they live in, changing it from an industrialised landscape full of concrete buildings to a place full of lush vegetation.

When Tracy is just a newborn baby, the garden of their home looks dry and does not have any plants. The surrounding buildings are run down with graffiti on the walls and in the distance, all we see is a concrete jungle. Not many people are seen along the streets as well.

Source: http://gatheringbooks.org/2011/04/12/home-window-jeanniebaker/

Amid this heavily industrialised urban landscape, Tracy's neighbour can be seen planting a small plant in his garden. His garden flourishes over the years and when Tracy is 6 years old, he gives her a plant. This could have had a life-changing impact on Tracy as in the subsequent years, we see her cultivating her garden which continues to blossom.

Source: http://www.jeanniebaker.com/

Over the years, we also see Tracy's neighbour actively trying to change the landscape. When Tracy is 8 years old, he plants a tree in the public area opposite her house. 2 years later, he participates in a "Reclaim Your Street" campaign. By this time, many people have started spending time outdoors interacting with one another. We see other residents starting to play a more active role as well with more people planting plants and the street is transformed into a communal recreational area.

Source: http://www.adelle.com.au

When Tracy turns 16, plants have even been planted along the main street and a park has opened in the distance. By the time she gets married at 22, the whole neighbourhood is teeming with vegetation. Finally, we see Tracy having a baby of her own and by then, the plants in the neighbourhood has become such an integral part of the lives of its residents.

Source: http://gatheringbooks.org/2011/04/12/home-window-jeanniebaker/

This book subtly drives a powerful message that development and industralisation often harms the land we live in. As people living in this land, we must take the responsibility to restore it. Jeannie Barker portrays how a community can make a huge positive impact on their neighbourhood by being actively involved in bringing about change. We also see how an individual's efforts can influence a community by seeing how Tracy's neighbour, by giving Tracy a plant and planting a tree in a public space triggered a change in Tracy as well as the other residents in the neighbourhood.

In this book, each page is a collage which Jeannie Baker has done using real plants. This is particularly heartwarming as in this era filled with computer-aided graphic design, Jeannie Baker proves that there is still a place for the more traditional art forms. With the use of natural textures, she creates wonderful works of art which continues to touch the hearts of readers.