Dim's Write Stuff

Strange things can occur around a full moon. So, it's little wonder the nephew of Uncle Larry experiences a questionable episode at that time after said uncle bestows him with a bevy of birthday undies (aka underwear). How he then becomes The Underwear Wolf is the basis of this wonderfully witty and winsome new picture book by Gideon Sterer and the ineffable Charles Santoso . Our young wolf-to-be is like any youngster; when faced with stern instructions about when and how to don his favourite pair of underwear, he blithely interprets them to suit his own impetuous nature. Thus, a furry pair of undies is worn on a ... full moon despite instructions not to.  What follows is an hilarious romp through the suburban streets by the light of the moon, not as a young boy rather as a large-eared, hairier than a thousand hamster s, werewolf. Seemingly under the whim of the moon, our hairy monster takes off with grunts and growls and an uncontrollable urge to rampage his neighbourhood stre...

Mouse is perhaps one of the most beguiling pervaders of FOMO you're ever likely to encounter. He resides in a cosy house in a field as big as the entire world within the warmly hued pages of Where The Heart Is   by uber-talented Shirley Marr and Michael Speechley . And fortunately for us, is brave enough to share his tale about friendship and loss and fear of missing out. Each autumn Mouse farewells not just the summer and its lively glow but also those friends he made then: the Monarch butterflies, the swallows, the geese. All depart to mysterious southern climes much like we humans seeking solace from winter's grim countenance. When the last leaves settle and the last wings flutter out of sight, everything is still and empty, like Mouse's heart . He yearns to seek the wild wide blue skies for himself so packs up his things and sets off, after lunch as it were. At first the thrill of something new, heading into the unknown is the adventure he always thought he wanted a...

Alishba The Great could be a tale touted as moral-driven and whilst helpful notions of self-belief and esteem feature on every page, this picture book by Faeza Samnakay and Sam B , is in fact a delightful and colourful ode to finding one's inner strength and siblings. Alishba hails from a land of antelopes, elephants and passionfruit vines. From the first glowing illustrations depicting Mt Kilimanjaro, we might deduce it to be Tanzania. She is as vibrant as the colours shown to depict her, bold, bouncy and well educated. As she grows, we learn about four precious gifts her family bestows upon her. I personally think her most obvious gift is her nurturing family but more about that later ... From each of her parents and brothers, Alishba receives a cape, each a different colour, a tangible, solid reference to the aphorism that accompanies it: Care, Courage, Determination and Flair.  Her relatives take great pains to explain what each truism means for her and any future she forges ...

One can be transported in many ways: A familiar scent, a tune well-loved, a donkey. Stories, artfully composed, are stupendously capable of transporting us in ways often difficult to fathom. The stories that flow from Suzy Zail's pen are such transports. Art, a deeply nuanced way of portraying story, is another. A New Kind of Beautiful is Zail's latest YA offering that embodies both; the art of storytelling within the story of one girl's relationship with art, told with casual yet carefully considered care and creativity.  Paige is a high school student with clear plans for her future. She exalts in art and is determined to clinch the Year 10 Art Prize; an accolade she believes is her conduit into an elite art school in New York. She is an accomplished artist creating real-life paintings with intense polestar focus. She also has Stargardt disease; a rare, chronic, degenerative eye condition causing severely reduced central vision. In what feels like less than a blink of ...

Picture books about parenting and the unfathomable love and connection between a baby and their mother occupy more space than is often available on bookshop and bedroom bookshelves. So, I was suitably intrigued to see how Learning You By Heart by Sarah Wallace and Michelle Conn tackled this reoccurring well represented subject. Happy to report, with remarkable heart and toe-warming joy. Sung in beautifully metered rhythming verse, this sweet picture book hooks from the start. A mother whispers gentle aphorisms of love to her young baby. She's loved them from the start but knows that life evolves thus recognises the need to learn her child by heart, so that they might always be with her. A heart melting proposition that immediately warms to parents sharing this story with their children and those children snuggled down beside them. Good move on behalf of the creators. I've yet to meet a youngster who doesn't possess some curiosity about themselves and their existence, bl...

One is never too old, nor delightfully too young, to widen one's knowledge of the natural world. Especially when that natural world is a veritable ocean of wonders and mysteries and ... cetaceans! Following on in his exquisitely illustrated and concisely factual picture book series, What's That? Myke Mollard has triumphed with his latest volume focusing on our own hemisphere of whales, dolphins and porpoises. Each category of these ancient ocean dwelling mammals is divided into clear sections and this is where realisation spawned into renewed understanding (for me!). That a toothed whale and porpoise are one in the same, that there are several species of dolphin whose appearance is similar but habitats and behaviours differ and that the roto-tail jump is a unique signature move for the Striped Dolphin.  Introductory information about each species found in or around Australian waters and coastlines is revealed in compact paragraphs. Tantalising titbits are showcased in floatin...

One of my all-time absolute Aussie animal favourites is the dingo. It is often also one of the most misaligned of native Australians thanks not to its reputation or standing as an apex predator but because of our own human occupation of its territories. It's time to get a more realistic appraisal of this fascinating wild canid which is exactly what Dingoes Up Close  by Jane Forge does. This no-nonsense non-fiction picture book doesn't mess around with text boxes and flashy fonts. It delivers straight forward, easy to read facts in clear narrative blocks. Serif font is used to describe the dingo's history, introduction to Australia, habitat and unique behaviours. Uncommon words are capitalised and bolded for emphasis and focus.  Particularly interesting are the explanations of dingo human interaction. First Nation groups were as important for the welfare of the dingo as the dingo was for them. The relationship between some indigenous groups and dingoes was almost spiritually...

It's interesting the number of kids' stories I'm encountering of late addressing social issues surrounding AI and tech advancements. It's little wonder actualisation of this concerning reality is becoming more subject-worthy in kids' lit. Ask any older Gen Alpha or Gen Zer how they feel about the advent of these often-invasive AI platforms and you might be surprised by their response. Middle grade and young adult author, Emily Gale takes this premise and massages it into an action pumped adventure taking us into The Wild Unknown . Incredulously, some 11 or so years ago, I penned a virtual reality YA short story set in 2040. That date seemed eons away at the time but it's the exact decade Eddie and his mate Kit find themselves in The Wild Unknown;  2045 to be precise, but a skip and hiccup around the future corner! It's an interesting future, too. Sophisticated AI tech dominates human existence, dictating outcomes wherever possible, guiding humans who appare...

Several years ago, one of the punchiest, high-powered middle grade fictions I've ever encountered fuelled my interest and reading appetite. Two Wolves by Tristan Bancks gave young readers a crime-based thriller firmly centred around two young children, Ben and his seven-year-old little sister, Olive. Roll forward five years (12 real life ones) and another action infused, edge-of-your-seat drama that will keep kids reading long into the night punches in with,   Raised By Wolves . Although featuring the same Silver family members , Raised By Wolves reads successfully as a stand-alone novel with only a smattering of discreet references to the former that never slacken the pace. Olive is now 12 and fighting her own inner two wolves; the need to know if her errant, criminal father loves her or not with the urge to cut him loose forever. Ben meanwhile is on the precipice of graduating Police Academy fulfilling his desire to fight crime; an ironic twist of fate considering his family m...

One of the most seemingly benign 'firsts' a parent and their child have to face - the first hair cut ... in a salon - is often fraught with some of the most intense emotions. Fear, confusion, grief, all the indescribable fears toddlers and youngsters encounter are distilled into this gorgeously rendered picture book, Max And The Haircut . The title sets the premise straight away, suggesting that the act of getting a hair cut assumes an entity too overwhelming to name.  By his own admission, Max's mane needs taming and at first a trip to Wendy's Hair Salon with his mum seems a fun interesting outing. The trouble is, the salon is too bright and noisy and full of sharp, spiky objects . Doubt grows faster than Max's curls. What is normal and accepted for us from learned experience, the odd smells, curious sounds and intrusive atmosphere, quickly overwhelm Max as they do many young children. Despite Wendy's gentle assurances that the all-encompassing aprons and shar...

When nonsense invites silliness, silliness begets joy. And joy is one of the best things we can feed to our young folk. Unfettered amusement is exactly what you're served in James Foley's , Oh No!   I'm no grammar junkie but as a writer, I do adore a good dollop of onomatopoeia. Oh No! not only promises this from the very first end papers, it delivers it on every single page. Which is great for ramming home the meaning behind this multi-syllabic device, but also achieves the penultimate objective of any picture book, repeat read throughs. Every splish, splash CHOMP ! is accompanied by the query of ' What's that noise? ', because these onomatopoeic words describe sounds which set the scene for the aforementioned silliness and invite further investigation.  It all begins with rapturous applause, or rather a pageful of clap clap clapping for an elephant with a very special cake. Sadly, things soon spiral into a vortex of catastrophic mishaps each more ludicrious ...

When an adult picks up a junior fiction chapter book and is transported back to a time when nothing else mattered but page turning until the end, you know you're on a winner. Why? Because for me, that time, when I was so utterly absorbed by books my surroundings, time and even food failed to penetrate my intense committment to story, was one of the most joyous in my life.  The Silver Series of chapter books aimed at youngsters between the ages of five to nine not only fuelled that transportation, it actually made me feel like one of those book-loving kids again; like I was nine. This cleverly curated ensemble of engaging stories for kids however is first and foremost that; for kids not a wannabe kid again! And it does so with carefully considered intelligence. So far, I've enjoyed the first three. All sport bright inviting covers, clear theme discriptions and ... joy of joys ... rounded edges! I'm not sure why I like that but feel sure kids with differing tactile sensitivi...

When I was a kid, Mum and Dad ordered in a magnificent, leatherbound, two volume set entitled, Singer of the Bush and Song of The Pen; a collection of poems, verse and short stories by Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson. Like many others, I went on to love several of the well-known and well-worn classics. I never made it through every single poem. I still have the two giant tomes. They represent keepsakes and a slice of history. Imagine if other young readers, curious crafters of words and themes they are only just becoming acquainted with could have their own slice of this history. Meet Banjo Paterson - in board book form. Presented in hard cover, thick paged, glossy full colour, this introductory series to the amazing works behind one of Australia's best-loved poets comes to vivid life. Edited to be read in one sitting, these make familiar classics less wieldy and supremely more accessible for both carers, parents, teachers and the little ones they are reading with. Waltzi...

The term umbrella can mean many things. Ostensibly, protection, shelter, inclusion, unification. All admirable qualities, ones that entice a visit within. Trouble is, not all umbrellas are of equal size. Not all possess the capacity to encompass those that perhaps are in greatest need of them. And yet, as is oft the shared human condition, we all at some point crave to fit under that mantel of shared connection – to fit in. And those that appreciate this inherent desire better than any other are children. This is the core of Niki Foreman and Binny Talib’s stunning new creation; an exploration of a young person’s observation of their social standing, their subsequent efforts to change it and their eventual realisation of self. Characterised by a non-gender specific child, the realities of not quite fitting under the umbrella is apparent from the get go. Our main character has but their robust raincoat and desire to join those comfortably already under the umbrella, noticeably withou...

By now, most of us have heard of the Easter Bilby. A cute long-eared, pointy-snouted, nocturnal marsupial native to Australia’s arid lands aka the Australian Easter Bunny. But when a trio of young desert dwelling birds encounter their very first bilby, they are in need of a bit of convincing that this critter is not in fact EB Og. And who better to persuade them than Bilby himself. In lilting rhyming verse, Bilby escorts his curious companions through an intriguing list of his best qualities. What makes this adventure so alluring however, is the choice of descriptive wordplay Janeen Brian employs to do so. Bilby’s eyes become his peepers , two tall pink straight-ups are his ears and his scratcher-scritchers …? Well, you be the judge. Clues are secreted in follow-up verse as Bilby explains what each of these features help him do, eat, and shelter from. The results are both delightfully informative and hilariously goofy. I will never be able to look at my dogs’ wagging tails again ...

Connections. I like the serendipitous ones the best. Unplanned, organic, braided by curiosity, like mindedness or rapt admiration. Which is how I embarked on a fascinating exchange with Dub Leffler , book illustrator, animator, mixed media artist, storyteller and foremost, proud Bigambul man. I knew and had admired Dub’s work from books co-created by industry mates of mine but the artist’s true identity remained a mystery to me, one I’ve only began to appreciate through his daily social media story shares. Visual musings. Sneak peaks, Animations camouflaging a more encompassing tale, too abridged for the small screen. It felt like I was glimpsing something slightly off stage, in the wings, waiting full exposure … I recognised part of what I saw, faces and images that seemed poignantly familiar. More than drafts and spreads, these late night, early dawn reveals were the heartbeats of a soul of a story soon to become a stirring new picture book, The Drover’s Son. Penned by Leah Pur...

Hi guys! Remember me? The part-time blogger (what’s a blog?), erstwhile reviewer. This post title sounds like a new novel, doesn’t it? I wish it was. Truth be known, not a lot of new words have been written this year, either as a burgeoning story, or blog post, or even in my diary. It’s just been one of those years. We’ve all had ‘em. But about this (as yet) unwritten novel … Let me explain. An Apology Remember how it was one of those years? Loss, shock, anger, frustration. Realisation, resignation, enlightenment, hope. A veritable rollercoaster of ups and downs and those horrid tummy-turning tight bends. I normally don’t mind an adrenaline filled experience but 2024, seriously! So, the gazillion reviews I’d hoped to clear this year got somewhere left behind in the G force of life. Apologies to the creators, publishers, publicists and me who expected more. But ... ‘Sometimes not getting what you want is the best luck of all’ A Promise It’s not all gloom and doom, though. Far from it. ...