Micro Reviews 78 and 79

 

The Lost Whale by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (Harper Collins Children’s Books)

Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave with Tom de Freston (Orion)

Another two books, ostensibly for children, that I’ve read recently are by authors I read and enjoyed last year. Both are beautiful books with the illustrations perfectly complementing the text and working to move the story along rather than just depicting the written words.

The books very much wear their hearts on their sleeves and social issues/mental health plot lines are prominent in both and for me they just about stayed  ‘good books with a message’ rather than being ‘issue books’ hung around a narrative.

The Lost Whale follows a young boy as he is sent from the UK to his grandmother in California after his mother is hospitalised. While there he becomes fascinated with the grey whale migration and one whale in particular.  As well as Rio’s personal circumstances the book also has a strong ecological message and talks about climate change in a sensitive way.   

Leila and the Blue Fox is ostensibly about Leila, who lives with her aunt and cousin, visiting her scientist mum, Amani, in Norway for the summer. The blue fox of the title is an arctic fox who walks from Norway to Canada in 76 days, and who is being studied by Amani as this migration is unusual.

Just as with the Lost Whale there is much more going on in the book and as well as the ecological themes of global warming and melting ice caps, other issues covered include being a refugee, having a family torn apart, having to leave your own country and the power of social media.

I think that with both of these books you spot more of the underlying themes the more world experience that you have and that the stories are great in themselves, I very much like how important the illustrations are to create physically beautiful books.

Micro Reviews 76 and 77

 

The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown (Hachette Book Group)

I think that someone made me aware of the first book in this pair at some point last year so I was aware of the book but when Kentishbookboy said that the 2^nd book was on his Christmas list I decided it was time to have a proper look at them.

I’m so pleased that I did – these are just wonderfully gentle books that have some huge messages to share with readers, but these are woven into the plot so naturally that it isn’t until you close the book you realise just how profound the books are.

In book one there is a shipwreck and a robot, called Roz, somehow survives and washes up on a remote island where she boots up in to life. She is a complete innocent at first and slowly starts to work out how to survive, despite the harsh conditions and unfriendly animals already living on the island.

There is lots of peril, lots of learning and also lots of happy events as Roz finds her place on the island. The final adventure is incredibly gripping but as this sets up book 2 I’m not going to talk about it and give away the details.

In a gentle and natural way the book is about loneliness, prejudice, fear, finding a home, being different, and how your family doesn’t have to be traditional. The sequel includes these themes too, along with the dangers of unrestricted use of AI, grief, and depression. But again you don’t realise this until after you’ve shut the book and start thinking about it.

I like that the idea that Isaac Asimov’s laws of robotics are obeyed in this story even as we suspend belief in that Roz doesn’t need to top up her charge at any point…

I adored these two books, and the short chapters made them ideal for reading whilst in the queue for rides at Disneyland Paris – huge thanks to Norfolk Libraries ebook offer which meant I could download the 2^nd book in France as soon as I’d finished the first one!

Time flies (like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana)

 

Ooops another whole month has flown by without me posting or reviewing anything.

October was actually a really quite month for me, I didn't read very much at all - I was too busy soaking up the last sunshine of the summer, seeing friends and then spending a chunk of half term with Kentishbookboy at Disneyland Paris.

None of the books I read last month really jumped out at me that much, and as I like to shout about books I love a month of silence seemed a good option.

Lots of people are taking part in "Non-fiction November" and unwittingly I seem to be embracing this as I can't find a novel to lose myself in and everything I've finished recently has been either for children or non-fiction!

Some of these recent books have started well or have really made me think about the content so hopefully reviews will be forthcoming...