Dim's Write Stuff

This trio of gift ideas neatly summarises the Silly Season, don’t you think?! The Book of Not Entirely Useful Advice A F Harrold is known for his poetic turns of phrase and deeply emotive narratives. He credits stroking his long wild beard as a way to churn out ideas. Well, he must have one very smooth beard for this book of not entirely useful but unarguably hilarious advice is brimming with more fun and folly than you can fit in a bathtub. In fact it virtually runneth over with rhyme, witty word play and enough nonsensical verse stories to keep the most ardent young poetry-lover glued to its pages. Harrold’s worldly poetic inscriptions of advice are thoughtfully grouped into common sections, presumably to keep things orderly and understandable. And that’s where any pretence at seriousness disappears with section subtitles that read like this: Advice mainly relating to food, ducks and dessert . Or … Section 2: Advice mainly relating to animals, giants and the natural world. Kid...

Music Is there a young somebody under your roof with a passion for reality? Then I recommend you scoop up this little non-fiction wonder, Music . Released by What on Earth Publishing , this resplendent encyclopedia of music is just one of the many non-fiction titles this company specialises in all designed to engage (a child’s) natural curiosity and passion for learning . And they are simply astounding. Music is a fold-out graphic history of music which means it can be read from cover to cover as a normal book, but each page is actually a concertina fold which when unfolded spreads out into an engrossing timeline 2.5 metres long! This musical odyssey begins with an overview of the world allowing readers to gain a sense of time and place that is all encompassing. Time is measured in the religiously neutral but same timeframe as BC, BCE and CE (AD) and begins with ancient music from prehistoric times. It’s a fascinating journey and one I am certain adults will want to experience ...

It’s hot enough in Queensland to melt the antlers off a reindeer right now. And at the risk of creating another distressing metaphor, so too are the days  melting away faster than a soft-serve ice cream on a hot afternoon, sigh…Which is why we have not one but three fabulous Christmas reading gift recommendations today, all guaranteed to warm you within but keep your festive-cool chilled and relaxed. Santa Jaws Mark Sperring and Sophie Corrigan’s Mince Spies was a Christmas treat to be relished. Their 2020 Christmas offering, Santa Jaws , is just as enticing, albeit slightly more sinister sounding. I love how Sperring twists a beloved theme, spices it with some clever word play, and laces it all together into a delightful mix of rhyming verse and subversively silly and sensitive scenarios. Shelly Shark’s altruistic intensions bring unexpected joy, then suspicion, then alarm, then pure exuberance for one very stalwart little squid named, Sid thanks to his unmitigated belief i...

The Grandest Bookshop in the World It’s something I’ve always wanted to do – live in a bookshop and be surrounded by the magic of words and other spellbinding things, like cake. Siblings Pearl and Vally Cole are living that dream. But it’s not just any old bookshop; it’s the Cole’s Book Arcade in Melbourne. Their fantastical story germinates from their father’s own stirring rags to riches tale and meanders closely to the actual chronological time line of the eccentric Edward Cole, founder of Coles Book Arcade in the late 1800s. The key thing to remember be you staff, family member or patron of the Arcade is that buying a book is secondary to enjoying your visitation. Customers are encouraged to relax, read, dine on tantalising fare, wander through the exotic gardens harbouring monkeys, or perhaps select a curious toy for a well-behaved youngster. These fascinations really did exist and in the Cole children’s thrilling tale form the critical backdrops to their chilling (fictional) a...

Tree Beings Every single thing about this exquisite publication is tactile bliss. Sliding ones hand over the luxuriant cloth cover is akin to stroking the paperbark of a Maleuca. The subject matter is not only detailed in informative and meaningful text but shown in sumptuous detail, so authentic to the colour and texture of real trees, you’d swear illustrator, Sandra Severgnini has merely included close up photographs. But nothing is merely as it seems in Tree Beings . Every square inch of this book is teeming with movement and a multitude of secret tree-life waiting for keen young eyes to discover. Even the front cover hides at least 70 images within the stately image of the book’s name sake. It is truly beautiful. And purposeful too. Raymond Huber has gathered an inspiring clutch of tree wisdoms, scientific facts and real-life historical events together that marvellously present the majesty of trees, their plights at the hands of heedless humans and their absolute importance to...

They say large overwhelming tasks are best tackled in small meaningful mouthfuls. I say this approach should also be applied in generous dollops to all things Christmas. From menu planning and execution to home decoration, from salutation spreading to the all-important gift selection, my recommendation is to go in well-armed with list-making materials and a calm uncluttered mind, perhaps accepting the odd recommendation or two to help the selection process. Throughout the month of December until Christmas Day, I will endeavour to deliver a new, tantalising and truncated sample of some highly recommended Christmas stocking stuffers – a la kids’ book style. And fret not if they don’t make it under the tree in time…these are gift ideas that can be shared any time of the year in my book. Nine Open Arms As the translator of this Dutch novel explains, Nine Open Arms is indeed a story built like a jigsaw and told in stages . Like a jigsaw puzzle one is compelled to move around from s...

‘ What does the fox say?” Well, in the case of Pax, the red fox, it’s more about what he feels, thinks, smells and reacts to that relays his emotions in such a tangible way, you’d swear you understand fox language. That is one of the most magical things about Sara Pennypacker’s , Pax , along with the charming splatters of illustration throughout by Jon Klassen. Peter is a young boy on the cusp of teenage-hood living alone with his father only he is not quite alone. His closest companion is Pax, a young fox he rescued as a kit. They share a relationship closer than the traditional boy / dog connection that endures the occasional dissent of Peter’s father. Virtually inseparable, Pax enjoys a solace and calm in his human boy’s world that engulfs Peter’s heart just as securely. It’s a bond seemingly unbreakable but is dramatically tested one day when Peter’s father enlists and is summoned to war. This story begins with Pax’s jettison from Peter’s car and … his life after his father in...