Review: A Twisted Tale Anthology

The Twisted Tales were first recommended to me by one of my ChocLit (book club) readers a couple of years ago. 

She suggested we get them for the library, and that was an exceptional success. They were very literally never on the shelves and in high demand in our reserves.

At the time, I admit, I was a little baffled. I mean to say, fairytales? For secondary kids? Now that I’ve had the delight of delving into this anthology, I can totally see the appeal.

This is the first anthology based on the successful series and is a collection of short stories written from a ‘What if...’ angle.

Using Disney fan-favourite movies as their foundation, writers (of other stand-alone Twisted Tales) have brought together some highly entertaining hypotheticals.

Review: Bedtime Stories

If you're looking for some brilliant stories to read aloud at bedtime, or for independent reading, then Bedtime Stories by RA Spratt is a great go-to book.

It's a spin-off from the popular weekly podcast, Bedtime Stories with RA Spratt (check that out here).

In Bedtime Stories the book, you'll find 25+ short stories to enjoy.

There are tales shared by RA Spratt's character Nanny Piggins, and featuring another of her characters, Friday Barnes (in the case of the purloined pudding). 

Re-tellings of myths and legends (Medusa) are mixed with fairy tales (The Ugly Duckling), contemporary stories (A Tall Tale About Bees ... And Alien Invasion), and history (The True History of Marie Curie).

There's also a short pronounciation guide which can be checked before, during or after reading aloud (words like Sheherazade). Plus a map and a couple of recipes.

12 Curly Questions with author Chemutai Glasheen

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
From the time I was about 10 years old, I would pick up a newspaper and go straight to the notices page. I loved reading the obituaries of strangers. I look back and wonder if it was to confirm that the ones I loved were not in them. I was always fascinated by how someone’s life could be summarised in a few words. Maybe that is where my love for short stories began.

2. What is your nickname?
Tatai. My youngest sister couldn’t say Chemutai and so she would say Tatai. It has stuck with my family.

3. What is your greatest fear?
Being cold and having no control over it.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
I invite you to approach new worlds and extend compassion.

Guest Post: Shaye Wardrop on The Magic Of Anthologies

Anthology is a big and kind of intimidating word, but if you swap it out for “a collection of stories”, it doesn’t seem so scary. And that’s really all they are — collections of stories or poems (or even art and songs).

Anthologies come in lots of different forms, and this is part of their magic. They might be themed, have one or multiple authors/creators, have stories that are linked and/or connected, have short stories, short-short stories, poetry or a mix of them all.

Review: A Whole Lot of Lemonade Jones

A Whole Lot of Lemonade Jones by Davina Bell and Karen Blair, is a collection of three short stories about a mischievous six-year-old girl.

Lemonade Jones lives with her mum, dad, and baby brother Walter. She has a big personality, and you can expect the unexpected when Lemonade arrives on the scene.

The three stories are about everyday events, with somewhat unforeseen results.

The First Day Back is about Lemonade's first day at a new school for grade one. Lemonade is confronted with a new teacher, old and new classmates, and a bunch of new rules that she isn't sure she agrees with.

In The Zoo That Comes to You, Lemonade puts her own unique spin on her birthday party. Being dissatisfied with the lack of exotic animals brought to her house for the celebrations, Lemonade finds a way to dress up the family dog and cat, and disguise a parrot to appear more like a bat. And when the pirate rat gets loose, chaos ensues.

Review: Weird School

Is your school weird? Do you have a weird teacher? Is your playground strange?

I guarantee nothing at your school could possibly be weirder than Wally Park Primary, the weirdest school in Australia.

From alien students to uniform providing trees, the meanest principal in the world to kids who can change into animals, Wally Park is like no other school EVER!

Damian Callinan delivers giggles galore in this brilliant junior fiction book, which is actually a collection of short stories. Each one about Wally Park Primary, and all linked so by the end you feel like you've read one connected story.

Review: Off the Map

Collections of short stories are not published frequently enough to satisfy those who love compact reading. Scot Gardner’s gripping collection in Off the Map, will surprise and satisfy even the most discerning reader.

One thing that connects these life situations is the setting. Each story is a profile of a young person on the cusp of adulthood, some dilemma they are experiencing or some wisdom that they will gain. In many, there is an unexpected twist which you won’t see coming that will throw you off balance, in a good way.

Filled with life lessons, these superbly structured stories mirror the Australian landscape and all its beauty and challenges, which are also reflected in the characters’ lives.

Trying to list the themes that are covered is like presenting a list of a restaurant’s menu.

Review: The Book of Hopes: Words and Pictures to Comfort, Inspire and Entertain

The Book of Hopes: Words and Pictures to Comfort, Inspire and Entertain is all about possibilities and hope for the future. 

That's what Katherine Rundell wanted to focus on right now, when the world is in upheaval.

Rundell is a bestselling author (Rooftoppers and others), and she contacted her writing and illustrating colleagues and invited them to participate in this compilation.

More than 100 people have contributed, and the book amounts to almost 400 pages of uplifting short stories, poems and illustrations. 

One of my favourites is The One-Hundred-Year-Old Gardener who plants strawberry seedlings, looking forward to turning them into jam by her next birthday.

There's also Lockdown Cat Haircut, where a young child amuses herself with the neighbour's cat, and The Hope-o-potamus, who learns that although the journey may be tough, you should keep going because persistance can pay off.

Review: Brain Freeze

Much-loved children’s author Oliver Phommavanh delivers fun, funny, silly and entertaining in this fabulous collection of short stories to freeze your brain with wacky deliciousness.

A super-competitive chess game, a slushy slurping competition with freezing consequences and acts of kindness when you’re living in the middle of a pandemic. 

If you’re looking for wacky, fun and entertaining, delivered in short snippets, Brain Freeze is for you!

The blurb describes this book as a collection of stories featuring characters who are trying to step up and be brave, and that theme really does shine through.  

Review: The Puffin Book of Big Dreams

The Puffin Book of Big Dreams: Stories to Spark Your Imagination was created to celebrate Puffin’s 80^th birthday. 

New and much-loved stories and poems, and short stories by children sharing dreams about what they long to become, makes up this amazing collection.

Every page encourages children to use their imagination to soar high; to become what they dream of being. And that a little bit of mess can inspire the most unexpected ideas.

Diverse in every way – culture, language and themes, gather together in clusters under six banners of Dreams: Dream Wild, Dream Bold, Dream Far, Dream Brave, Dream Kind and Dream Forever.

Review: Total Quack Up Again!

Following the side-splitting Total Quack Up! Total Quack Up Again! is full of ducks and other animals, jokes, nose-picking, lots of fart stories, a potty stuck to a bottom, dog food in party pies, another prize-winning story by a child, and lots more!

I read The Duck Pond by nine year old Coby Sanchez first. I wanted to see what kind of story written by a child could stand beside the work of so many outstanding writers for children. I was not disappointed!

Children (and adults that love kids books), prepare to be entertained, shocked and surprised. This short story collection is full of funny, gross, hilarious, improbable and unbelievable stories that will have children aghast by the concentration in one volume, of stuff they love to read about.

Writers have been chosen to present their funniest work here. Included are Nat Amoore, Adam Cece, Felice Arena, Jules Faber, Tim Harris, Kim Kane, Belinda Murrell, A. L. Tait, Adrian Beck, Shelley Ware, Nova Weetman and special tips for writing by Jacqueline Harvey to wind it all up. There is also an About the Authors included which gives readers more information about the chosen contributors.

Illustrations (with lots of ducks) by Jules Faber add delight to an already delightful compilation. For those who enjoyed and passed around their copy for others to enjoy, here is another gift for you. For those who didn’t give the last edition to their children, here’s your chance to get their noses stuck in a book and off their iPads.

As with the earlier collection, all royalties go to Dymocks Children’s Charities.

Read Anastasia's original Total Quack review for the first collection for extra laughs.

Title: Total Quack Up Again!

Author: Edited by Sally Rippin and Adrian Beck

Illustrator: Jules Faber

Publisher: Penguin Random House, $14.99

Publication Date: October 2019

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781760893583

For ages: 8 - 10

Type: Anthology

KBR Recommends - Funny Bones!

It's here! Funny Bones hilarity anthology is in my clutches and this mammoth tome is every bit as fab (actually, more) than I knew it would be.

Edited by Kate and Jol Temple, and Oliver Pommavanh, this brick-like collection is an absolute stunner - and very best of all, 100% of royalties go to War Child Australia.

A sensational Christmas stocking stuffer (just make sure your stocking is HUGE!), the book is in stores or online now. And be sure to look out for my whackadoodle story about a bunch of rabid Helper Monkeys! Meet Harry, below.

- KBR Founder, Tania McCartney

Winners: Alex Rider

And our lucky winners are...

Julie Murphy, VIC
Kirsty Polujan NSW

Congratulations!

You have each won an Alex Rider prize pack each containing signed copies of the first three titles in the series plus a signed copy of the latest release Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz, Secret Weapon.

We hope you get a real thrill out of this prize!

Thank you to ALL who entered.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the next exciting installment of the Alex Rider series, coming soon.

Giveaway: Alex Rider

'One teenage spy. Seven adrenaline-charged, detail-filled short stories. That's Alex Rider: Secret Weapon.

Anthony Horowitz previously declared he was finished with the adventures of Alex Rider, but found himself drawn back to Alex's world.' KBR review of Horowitz's latest Alex Rider release, Secret Weapon by Sarah Steed.

Allow yourself to be drawn back into these thrilling tales, too 

Thanks to the dynamic people at Walker Books Australia, we have two incredible prize packs to giveaway each featuring signed copies of the first three books in the series plus a signed copy of Secret Weapon!

To enter, simply tell us in 25 words or less what your dream adventure activity is.

Review: Alex Rider: Secret Weapon

One teenage spy. Seven adrenaline-charged, detail-filled short stories. That's Alex Rider: Secret Weapon.

Anthony Horowitz previously declared he was finished with the adventures of Alex Rider, but found himself drawn back to Alex's world.

In fact, another novel in the series is expected. And for super fans, a television series is being made of book two, Point Blanc.

Until then, we have seven stories set in and around those previously published books. Three of them are brand new. Others you might have read online, or somewhere else, before.

The stories may be short (as in not novel length), but some are more than a single chapter's worth.

The first opens in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Another features tea at the home of MI6's gadget geek, Mr Smithers -- all is not as it seems.

Review: Total Quack Up!

What an entertaining collection! These eleven stories are a Total Quack Up! thanks to all the talented writers that have contributed to this collection. All royalties will go to Dymocks Children’s Charities. 

It’s the ideal pick-up and put down book for junior readers - especially the reluctant ones. The titles are crazy-funny, and reflect what’s to follow. But be prepared to be surprised!

Dreamed of being a superhero? Deborah Abela shows that even when your dream comes true, the best laid plans can cause a hiccup. 

Ann hated her name so she chose a new heroic one to adopt. Being eight years old doesn’t signify perfection although that’s what the new Ann – Arabella Von Champion, believed. But Ann’s superhero persona gets more than she bargained for.

Review: A Miniature Christmas

Are you ready to get in the Christmas spirit? Here is a lovely collection of Christmas short stories, compiled by Beattie Alvarez at Christmas Press, all around the theme of ‘miniature’.

Miniature has been interpreted in varying and delightful ways, with stories of fairies and elves, goblins and genies, mice and even little figurines.

There are stories by some of Australia’s most loved story tellers, including Oliver Phommavanh, Pamela Freemen and George Ivanoff, as well as some fantastic stories by lesser known up and coming Australian authors.

Review: Love Ya Work!

This impressive collection by award-winning author, activist and humanitarian Clancy Tucker, features unpublished short stories and personal anecdotes from his journey through life ‘on the run’. It includes some bush poems that have appeared in previous publications such as Gunnedah Hero.

The stories provoke laughter and tears. They are diverse and full of atmosphere, and draw you into the settings so well-described I felt I was reliving the times. They contain romance, family conflict and resolution, love, and life-changing random acts of kindness by, and to, strangers and others, such as in The Five Dollar Circus.

Many of the true stories are taken from Clancy’s own life experiences, as are the anecdotes that he relays with such confidence and strength of memory, which shows the impact those experiences have had on him. Other stories are simply stories. Each has a specific theme that reflects the human and inhuman side of life.

Review: Laugh Your Head Off Again and Again

 Kids will love these crazy, unbelievable, zany stories as much as the previous Laugh Your Head Off, and Laugh Your Head off Again.

This third, absurdly funny collection of nine stories by children’s favourite authors, entertain with amusing, sometimes ridiculous, always inventive, side-splitting tales.

There is a wide variety of subjects and themes found here. The book opens with Andy Griffiths’ ultimate shower experience gone wrong. Gruesome but imaginative is a different take on the story of the three pigs by R. A. Spratt. John Marsden presents a Choose Your Own Adventure with Captain Cook, and Alex Ratt reveals the humiliation, digs and puns that come with having the surname Chicken.

Review: A World Full of Animal Stories: 50 Folktales and Legends

A World Full of Animal Stories: 50 Folktales and Legends is a beautiful book.

Kate McAllister has compiled stories from cultures around the world: Ghana, Peru, Norway, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Japan, Tibet, and many more.

Each story is labelled with its country of origin, and is presented with a complementary picture.

The stories are all under three pages in length, some as short as one page, so they can be read quickly and should be suitable for most independent readers.