Dim's Write Stuff

We're doubling down on reptilians today, both of which continue to create rapturous wonder in young hearts and minds. Dinosaur In My Pocket by Ashleigh Barton & Blithe Fielden In a clever incongruous coincidence, James loves two things beyond all else: dinosaurs and miniatures. His collection of both is vast and impressive but lacking a Triceratops. So, when on his school excursion to the museum the perfect Triceratops is spotted, James is besotted. Except, he can’t afford it. After a little light-fingered acquisitioning, the wee dinosaur is escorted back to school in James’ pocket, then home then into his bedroom. Only, dino is not so wee after all. With each passing moment, the dinosaur grows as does James’ shame and guilt. The beautiful thing about this tale is how the crime is uncovered simply because it can no longer be concealed or confined. Lies, guilt, misdemeanours; all have a way of amplifying if left unchecked. When James’ parents discover his dinosaur, they d...

Charlie lives in a regional Australian town with a colourful past. Charlie also has synaesthesia. To describe her as supersensative is not quite right. She just senses things differently, intensely. Days of the weeks have colours. People have auras and sounds have scents.  She's accustomed to her unique ways of perceiving the world, it is after all all she has ever known. But when Japanese exchange student, Kenichi is relegated to her dead brother's bedroom for part of her new school term, Charlie's senses intensify to the point she begins to suffer flashbacks accompanied by violent and unpredictable visceral reactions.  Despite Charlie's determined stance to keep Kenichi, aka Ken, at arm's length (loving the Japanese culture is her mum's jam not hers), they soon come to realise they are inextricably linked not only to each other but to unravelling a puzzling mystery surrounding the infamous Cowra Breakout.  Sandy Fussell has a natural flow and rhythm to her st...

Katrina Nannestad has well and truly cemented her position as one of Australia’s most accomplished historical fiction writers with her latest novel, Silver Linings . Most of us are aware that clouds have them, silver linings that is, but what exactly do they mean and do they really exist? Nettie Sweeney sure thinks so. Nettie’s story, set in the 1950s, reads as a middle grade novel yet champions Nettie Sweeney as the young protagonist who has just started primary school. Nettie’s tender years, beguiling naivety and childlike foibles are neatly offset however by the fact that she is the fourth daughter of a farming family with the ability to write and think beyond her years. Couple this with the assured determination of a person set on visiting the moon and you’ve got a character exploding with charm, wit and wonder. In short, Nettie is larger-than-life adorbs! Nettie’s singular desire is for a mother to love and cuddle having lost hers at birth. Her dreams come true in the shape o...

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a Towles fan. Such eloquence of expression is truly spell-binding. This is undisputedly an adults' novel but I'd recommend it for YA readers, as well. Here's why ... Towles writes with such wit, intelligence, compassion and sophistication, to experience one of his novels is less of a reading event rather an exquisite pilgrimage into a world so beautifully crafted and portrayed, so cleverly multi-layered, it's an effort to farewell it. Admittedly, the following does not reveal a great deal about the plot. I'll leave that for the back cover blurb. It's the purpose of the thing that truly resounds.  The Lincoln Highway exhibited elements of The Outsiders and The Rain Man for me but all encapsulated in its own big, bold, unique personality. And just like these two former tales, larger than life characters dripping with charm, tragedy and heart-hugging humour steal the show; characters so finely honed, their hurts and happy moment...

I’m a well-known advocate for the ability of picture books to relay messages of the heart, heavy and often indescribably unbearable ones, like grief. Mizuto and the Wind is such an example, a worthy conduit of emotion that is indescribably, beautiful. Because beneath the mantle of poignant suffering, there is a persistent uplifting whisper of hope. Gifted wordsmith, Kaye Baillie drew inspiration for this stirring story after learning about a real-life Kaze no Denwa – Wind Phone – erected by Itaru Sasaki as a place of respite and recovery. Following the Great East Japan earthquake and subsequent horrific tsunami in 2011, Sasaki made his Wind Phone accessible to anyone who might benefit from visiting. Tragedy often has the most benign and banal beginnings, which describes the morning Mizuto’s father farewelled him, leaving for work, never to return. Following the catastrophic destruction of the seaside township of Otsúchi, Mizuto and his mother are themselves swept up into an ocean...

The alluring title and intricate cover design of this novel provides instant grab but it’s the immediate saturation of raw authentic atmosphere that really pulls you into Salama’s story. Debut author Zoulfa Katouh pours her heart and soul into Salama but does so with enough measured restraint and humour to ensure this exposé of Syria’s present day atrocities appeals not only to adult readers but also its intended YA audience. And, it’s an allure that lingers all the way to the heart touching end. Salama is a young Syrian girl living in Homs, a city located on the Orontes River in western Syria. A city razed to the ground by Syria’s ugly ongoing Civil war. She lives amongst the destruction surviving on less than nothing, enduring nerves more frayed than the fabric of any remaining normality. Every ounce of energy is directed into maintaining the welfare of others, namely those brought into the local hospital in which she works to be cobbled back together again. She mends, stitches, s...

This adult fiction review is sneaking in because it encompasses so many of life's most endearing, harrowing and heartbreaking moments in one glorious golden family-orientated glow, that I believe its appeal is further reaching than just as an 'adult read'.  So here we go ... The hardcover art of this novel portrays a duality of summer nonchalance and flamboyant gaiety, a bit like a freshly shaken frozen margarita. But don’t let that fool you for beyond the dancing title belies a story with substantial heart and a unique poignant jocularity for which author, Steven Rowley is renowned. There is nothing feeble or wanting in The GUNCLE rather it exudes a sticky kind of specialness that adheres to your innards in the most glorious replenishing way, as opposed to a need-to-retch-it-out way. It's summer in California, a land of 360 days of searing sunshine and infinite possibilities. It’s taken less the four years for former TV sitcom star, Patrick O’Hara to acclimatize a...

Forever. A notion that suggests everlasting, enduring conditions or effects. But haven't we been told that nothing is forever? Be that as it may, the good folk at Forevability ably headed by Tabitha Page believe that sustaining hope for those whose forever-afters may appear more bleak than others is something worth pursuing.  Their mission is to: support, understand, empower and teach by offering people with various health conditions, disabilities and mental disorders a veritable library of hope beautifully encased in a huge (and growing) collection of children's books. The titles range from picture books, early readers, middle grade fiction and young adult fiction. There are even a few cross over 18+ selections. Each genre is subdivided into subject areas that address certain conditions: mental health, disabilities, own voice, grief, medical procedures, anxiety and so on. The titles are carefully curated to match the subject area and offer visitors an amazing cross section o...

Twelve-year-old Matthew Corbin is your regular pre-teen boy living in an unspectacular cul-de-sac deep in British suburbia. The major difference between him and the other inhabitants of Chestnut Close however is the state of his red-raw hands and tortured mind and the fact that he barely steps outside his terraced-home second story bedroom. Matthew is afflicted with severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD and can barely function as a result. From his fishbowl vantage point, Matthew keeps track of his neighbours, dutifully recording their every movement, their comings and goings, and their habitual rituals in his notebooks. In this way we are introduced to the residents and their characteristic irks and quirks from the get go in a way that is both intriguing and comical. Matthew’s observations allude to his condition; he is both analytical and detailed in his approach. The orderliness of his notations suggest a mind used to repetition and accuracy, an intense desire to ‘get things r...

It’s always a joy to see your story in print. For the most part, this happens in English. If you are really lucky, your books are distributed around the globe throughout an atlas of countries. If you are blessed with great publishers and savvy International Rights agents, your beautiful works are ultimately translated so that kids in countries like China and Hong Kong gain full benefit of your stories in their own language. I'm feeling very blessed and more than a little moved to have my first published picture book, The Fix-It Man now available throughout China in simplified Chinese. This is the language of my ancestors (on my father's side) and whilst I'm a poor example of retaining ones mother tongue, it fills me with quiet satisfaction that a story I made is now in the language that in part made me.  This simplified Chinese version released in July 2021 in China. It is part of a 5 book pack set containing a curated selection of ‘healing picture books’ originally publ...

I don’t usually do a lot of second-book-in-the-series reviews because, well life being too short and book shelves being too full and all that, but this follow on story by Nat Amoore warrants a megaphone of praise all on its own. The Power of Positive Pranking is a not just the second in a series about the antics of a bunch of upper primary school scallywags, it’s a standalone rib tickler packed with tidy trays-full of heart, subterfuge and oh yeah...good old fashioned PRANKING!   We’re back at Watterson Primary School, breeding ground of some great characters like Tess and Toby from, Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire . This time the focus is on Casey Wu and her secret band of fellow pranksters, Cookie and Zeke aka the Green Peas, a name that can be interpreted in multiple ways but essentially is a club of pre-teens dedicated to the art of pranking for the greater good. So what does this oxymoron actually mean? As with its predecessor …Positive Pranking’s chapters are defi...

Toby and Tara’s story of friendship and finding ones true self exudes the same mellow warmth as a beach sunset. It is at once familiar, comforting and intensely personal. Set in one of Australia’s eastern coastal townships during the last summer of the 1970s, this tale chimes with voices so authentic and true, you’d swear you were 12-years-old again, well if you were my age. Younger readers will not have any trouble relating to Toby and Tara either regardless of a storyline that is void of distracting mobile phones and addictive devices because Peter Valentine Fenton’s characters behave and react in immediately recognisable ways.    Toby is excited to be spending the summer holidays with his father at an old family-favourite holiday haunt by the bay. He’s waited for ages to smell the salty brine of the sea again and reconnect with his recently newly-wed father. Toby’s expectations are sky high and orbit around his choice to move from his mother’s house to live with his dad...

Australian Children’s Laureate for 2020 / 2021, Ursula Dubosarsky , has penned another absorbing junior fiction tale that embraces imagination and compassion. Dubosarsky’s work is generally infused with wonderment and just enough magical conjecture to keep young minds guessing. Pierre’s Not There is no exception.   Fast paced and alluring, Pierre’s Not There begins in a harbour side suburb of Sydney. While Lara’s mother is tasked with cleaning the house, Lara explores the grounds and meets a beguiling little lad named, Pierre. His odd dress and exuberant manner does not dissuade Lara from befriending him especially after he reveals his strange and terrible story to her about his family who were eaten by wolves! Lara is intrigued and moved to help this boy seemingly all alone in the world who proclaims he must find his grandmother. But how? Pierre convinces her to join him in his quest the only way he knows how to, via a beautiful antique puppet theatre. If she agrees to ...

As opening lines go, this one has a doozy. So the premise is; young reclusive teen, never the class favourite, sees a dead man in the local lake. Or does he? We are left hanging on that particular ledge but not for long. Burton's direct narrative and crisp style soon acquaints readers with 15 year-old Shaun's mining town home, his dust-covered school and the people who matter most to him: his best mate Will, the girl he's sweet on, Megan and his over-worked widowed mother. There's one person whose presence, like the undercurrent of a riptide is never seen but keenly felt, and ripples throughout this tale adding a delicious air of tragic mystery and meaning,well two if you also count the man in the water. Shaun is a awkward teen with no clear ambition other than to shake the grief and confusion of losing a parent that has settled on him. He is part of his school's celebrated debating team but knows that if it weren't for Megan's adroitness and Will's wit,...

I am a staunch believer in normalising life and keeping it as real as possible for kids. I endeavour to present these convictions through my own picture books, daring to tackle subjects that many adults may argue have no place in picture books. Yet as these superb examples demonstrate, desperately hard to accept subjects, namely loss and grief can be beautifully dealt with in ways that enlighten, embrace and evoke calm. Love and loss are irrevocably linked. They represent life. What better topic for small humans to encounter in picture books? Tree Lynn Jenkins and Kirrili Lonergan’s Lessons of Lac series is handful of simply executed but powerful exposes into the lives of the LACs (aka Little Anxious Creatures) and the Calmsters (aka their friends who counterbalance concerns with gentle advice and abundant support). In this episode, Loppy the LAC relies on a giant Tree as a place to practise mindfulness and entreat calm especially when he is worried or upset, like before taking a...