Meet a daring young detective, a dancing, prancing cow, and a guardsman with a very pressing problem in a sparkling selection of summertime books from an Australia-based children’s publisher, New Frontier Publishing. New Frontier was established in Australia in 2002, with the motto ‘to inspire, educate and uplift children,’ and its UK list, which was launched in 2017, is set to hit almost 100 titles by 2020 and has expanded into early years titles with a new Catch A Star imprint.
Age 3 plus:
Ron the Royal Guard
Deano Yipadee and Paul Beavis
Desperate times call for desperate measures in a picture
book simply ‘bursting’ with fun. Deano Yipadee, the Kiwi king of comedy and music, is
guaranteed to have little ones laughing all the way to the loo in a playful
story starring a palace guardsman caught short on sentry duty.
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| FULL OF FUN: Deano Yipadee |
Ron is the Royal Guard at the palace where he looks after
the royals while the corgis run and play.
And there’s nothing Ron likes better
than a cup of tea… in fact, sometimes he can down as many as three cups before
he starts his shift. Now Ron is supposed to stand still all the time but one
day, he finds himself in a spot of bother. He needs a wee and he really, really
needs to go to the loo. Can the corgis help Ron, and fool both the spectators
and the Queen? This gleeful rhyming tale, illustrated by Paul Beavis, a
former animator with the BBC and Channel 4, will delight readers both young and
old as Ron plays out his canine caper.
Beavis’s big, bold illustrations, filled
with colour and rich detail, capture all the anarchy of the story and will have
youngsters giggling… and demanding an instant re-read! And everyone can join in the madcap fun by scanning in a QR
code to sing along with the rhyming verse.
(New Frontier Publishing, hardback, £11.99)
Age 8 plus:
Scoop McLaren: Detective Editor
Helen Castles and Beatriz Castro
There’s evil about in Higgity Harbour and two determined
young detectives are on the case! Welcome to the world of detective and newspaper editor Scoop
McLaren and her trusty reporter friend Evie in a thrilling new mystery-cracking,
all-action series from Helen Castles, a real-life roving reporter for an
Australian newspaper in New South Wales.
Full of fun, adventure and clever detective work, the series
follows the two fearless girls as they strive to keep the residents of their
seaside village informed while using their sleuthing skills to solve some
incredible (and tricky!) mysteries along the way.
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| HEADLINES: Helen Castles |
Thirteen-year-old detective and reporter Scoop McLaren loves
writing and created her own online newspaper called Click! Her dad (who runs
his own newspaper too) taught her that delivering the news is an extremely
important job because people rely on them to keep them properly informed.
People also come to Scoop when they need help because apart
from being an editor, she’s pretty good at investigating and solving mysteries,
and her best friend Evie also happens to be an accomplished Girl Scout and has
a brown belt in karate, making her a handy person to have around. What do you do when an evil newspaper editor wreaks havoc in
Higgity Harbour, your quiet coastal town? Sonny Fink writes online news that is
uploaded at one minute past midnight every night. The news is always scary and if
Sonny predicts it, it seems to happen every single time… like the time it
rained frogs and nobody could leave their house.
Scoop and Evie set out on a mission to discover everything
they possibly can about the nasty Sonny Fink and solve the mystery. Expect mischief, mayhem, and lots of brilliant detective
work as Scoop and Evie make front page headlines!
(New Frontier Publishing, paperback, £5.99)
Age 7 plus:
Eco Rangers: Pelican in Peril
Candice Lemon-Scott and Aśka
Do you fancy exciting adventures with two young animal fans
who meet amazing animals, solve mysteries, and get down to earth with nature? Meet Ebony and Jay, two dynamic eco rangers with a love for
wildlife and a nose for trouble, in an action-packed series starring two best
friends who rescue and rehabilitate sick and injured wildlife, and help out at
their local conservation centre.
Fun and feisty, the two youngsters love helping others and
looking after the environment , and in each story, they meet new animal
friends, solve mysteries and learn more about nature.
Eco Rangers is the imaginative creation of writer Candice
Lemon-Scott, an Australian author and trained wildlife carer whose quirky
style, fast-paced narrative and originality has a special appeal for reluctant readers.
Ebony and Jay love helping others and looking after the
environment. In each story, they meet new animal friends, solve mysteries and
learn more about nature. Meet the Eco Rangers and dive into their brand new
adventures!
Ebony is twelve years old and likes spending time in nature,
rescuing animals or riding her bike to go off on an adventure. She’s super independent,
but sometimes jumps right in without thinking and gets into trouble!
Jay is Ebony's friend and next-door neighbour. He’s eleven
years old, likes making jokes and has a bit of a sweet tooth, especially when
it comes to cake! He also loves nature and helping out at the wildlife hospital
where he looks after animals and makes sure they are safe.
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| QUIRKY STYLE: Candice Lemon-Scott |
In their first adventure, Pelican in Peril, the famous Eco Rangers rescue a
frightened-looking pelican covered in fuel and know immediately that something
terrible has happened. Why is the sea full of petrol and where is it coming
from? As the Eco Rangers start investigating, they end up getting into big
trouble.
And in the second Eco Rangers adventure, Microbat Mayhem, Ebony
and Jay, are having lots of fun at the local adventure park but when they find
two abandoned baby bats, they rescue them right away. Then they discover more
microbats inside an old rollercoaster ride. Can the Eco Rangers save the creatures
in time before the ride is destroyed?
Packed with the spirit of adventure and important
environmental messages about caring for our endangered world, and with vibrant
artwork by children’s book illustrator Aśka, these books are ideal reading for
animal lovers and young eco warriors from every corner of the planet.
(New Frontier Publishing, paperback, £5.99 each)
Age 3 plus:
Leaping Lola
Tracey Hawkins and Anil Tortop
Get ready to romp, stomp, thump and thud with an
irresistible dancing, prancing Jersey cow called Lola! Author Tracey Hawkins and Turkish-born illustrator Anil
Tortop work their magic on a delightful picture book starring a fun-loving calf
who likes nothing better than to dance the night (and day!) away.
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| MAGIC: Tracey Hawkins |
Lola loves to dance. She flounces and bounces all day long, and
now she’s busy practising for the Black and White Ball. However, there’s one
big problem… Lola is a brown Jersey cow, not a black and white cow. Can a
clever disguise help Lola to enjoy that longed-for spin on the dance floor?
Hawkins’s playful rhyming story leaps from the page as the little
cow with more than her fair share of joie-de-vivre refuses to be ruled out of
her big chance to shine on the dance floor.
Add on Tortop’s accompanying gallery of vibrant and richly
detailed illustrations which are the perfect match for Lola’s high-octane
antics, and a story which promotes inclusivity, family and friendship, and
children will be taking their own giant leaps towards following their dreams.
(New Frontier Publishing, hardback, £11.99)
Age 3 plus:
Can You Find 12 Busy Bees?
Gordon Winch and Patrick Shirvington
Discover some amazing creatures and fascinating plants… and
learn to count at the same time! Following on from their award-winning Can You Find Me?, author
Gordon Winch and illustrator Patrick Shirvington give youngsters a stunning
close-up of nature in a new picture book brimming with spectacular depictions
of wildlife and their habitats.
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| BUZZING: Gordon Winch |
As children enjoy a subtle lesson in counting to twelve,
they are also transported into the world around them, from magpies on the lawn
and butterflies fluttering through shrubs to owl chicks sheltering in a tree
and grubs chewing holes in leaves.
Winch is one of Australia's best loved children’s authors
and his simple, flowing story is brought to life by Shirvington’s
pastel-coloured palette of atmospheric and eye-catching illustrations which
enhance the magic of the natural world.
Can You Find 12 Busy Bees? is a fun and innovative way to
introduce the youngest children to the wonders of nature that lies all around
them while teaching them important numeracy skills. The perfect counting book for your own busy bees…
(New Frontier Publishing, hardback, £11.99)
Age one plus:
Little White Fish
Guido van Genechten
A little white fish gets some multi-coloured lessons in a
clever series of board books from Belgian-born author and illustrator Guido van
Genechten. Published under the Catch A Star imprint, these bold and
beautiful books offer easy-to-understand lessons in colours, opposites and
using prepositions in a fun and innovative manner by using a rainbow-flecked
fish as its star.
The books, which were first published in the Netherlands
over ten years ago, capture the uncertainties and curiosity of young children
through a simple narrative and a gallery of illustrations full of child appeal.
In Little White Fish – an imaginative introduction to
colours – we find our hero crying because he can’t find his mummy. Fortunately,
the sea is full of friendly creatures… a red crab, a yellow snail, a green
turtle, an orange starfish, a purple octopus and a blue whale. And Little White
Fish’s mummy can’t be far away!
Little White Fish has a Party, which highlights the concept
of opposites, sees our fishy friend getting bigger! Today he is turning two,
and all sorts of colourful sea creatures are coming to his party… round and
skinny ones, long and short ones, and straight and curved ones too. He meets
different sized sea urchins, sea snakes and prawns, as well as a clean and
dirty starfish, a sad dolphin and a happy one.
And in Little White Fish is So Happy, a playful story about
prepositions, mummy is coming to take him home. First of all, he must say
goodbye to his friends, but where will he find them? In a shell, under a leaf,
behind a stone, on the rock, between the reeds?
Van Genechten’s playful but educational books are the
perfect starting point for parents eager to set their youngsters on the long
road to learning.
(Catch A Star Books, board books, £6.99 each)
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