Archibald, The Naughtiest Elf in the World Goes to the Zoo by Skye Davidson, illustrated by Ágnes Rokiczky

Title: Archibald, The Naughtiest Elf in the World Goes to the Zoo

Author: Skye Davidson, illustrated by Ágnes Rokiczky

Genre: Fantasy, Picture Book

Publisher: Elephant Tree Publishing

Published: August 2018

Format: Paperback

Pages: 32

Price: $19.95

Synopsis: Archibald is the naughtiest elf in the whole wide world, who loves nothing more than doing extremely mischievous things, all with very good intentions.

Archibald has decided to visit the Zoo and chat to all the animals. But the Zookeeper is a bit worried – what possible mischief could Archibald get up to?

Come discover new worlds and ideas as you follow Archibald on one of his many exciting adventures.

~*~

Archibald, a very naughty elf (he wants to be good, but he can’t quite help being naughty), is off to the zoo. He wants to visit the animals there, and he promises the zoo keeper who lets him in that he will be very good and not let the animals out of their cages. But Archibald doesn’t like that the animals can’t play together like they did in Africa, and he knows that he has to be good – but he can’t, and when he releases the animals from their cages, chaos reigns and the zoo will never be the same again.

I was approached via my blog to review this and two other books by Elephant Tree Publishing, and was drawn to them because of their plots, and will be reviewing the other two soon.

Archibald was the first one I read off the stack – it being the shortest, and cutest, I couldn’t resist those naughty eyes and freckles. His cheeky look is inviting and fun, and he gets up to mischief and takes adventures that are magical and fun – where he takes children and adult readers alike to all new places, using magic and his naughty and cheeky self.

In this adventure, he heads to the zoo and meets talking animals, who delightfully, are all the best of friends and want to spend their days together. This is the first book in a new picture book series, and it will be exciting to see where Archibald takes us in his next adventures and with his exquisite charm and brand of magic that creates turmoil and laughter wherever he goes.

I hope readers of this book enjoy it and have a lot of fun with Archibald on his wonderful adventures.

The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree by Paola Peretti, translated by Denise Muir

cherry tree.jpg Title: The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree

Author: Paola Peretti, translated by Denise Muir

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Bonnier/Allen and Unwin

Published: 29th August 2018

Format: Paperback

Pages: 208

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: A novel for all ages about a young girl losing her sight, inspired by the author’s own life story. For fans of Wonder, The Little Prince and The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly

A novel for all ages about a young girl losing her sight, inspired by the author’s own life story. For fans of Wonder, The Little Prince and The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly

Mafalda is a nine-year-old girl who knows one thing: some time in the next six months her sight will fail completely. Can Mafalda find a way through a seemingly dark future and still go to school, play football and look after her beloved cat? With the help of her family, and her friends, Mafalda needs to discover the things that will be important to her when her sight has failed. A moving, empowering tale of courage and determination that will inspire young and old.

~*~

Mafalda is going blind – she knows, at nine years old, that she has six months left until her world changes forever – her house, what she can do now and what she will have to give up when she loses her sight, and the changes she will have to make. At home, she has her cat, Ottimo Turcaret, and her parents. At school, a counsellor called Estella, who is hiding a dark battle of her own, and her new friend, Filippo, who helps her navigate a world that is slowly descending into darkness. As she ventures towards her new reality, each part measuring the distance she can see until her whole world is taken by the darkness, Mafalda crosses off everything she can no longer do on her list and prepares to live a new life. However, Mafalda doesn’t really want things to change, and as her sight diminishes, the other changes in her world become more apparent as well.

Translated from Italian, and inspired by the life story of the author, who has Stargardt disease like Mafalda, the novel explores what it is like to live with a disability that is constantly getting worse, that has no cure, and impacts on everything Paola and Mafalda are able to do. It a story about friendship, family and hope, but also about how disability can affect the life of the disabled person and those around them, and how family and friends choose to act, the roles the must take on and what they do when the disability becomes more apparent or perhaps difficult for them to understand.

Through her experience of an encroaching disability, Mafalda finds friendship in an unlikely place with Filippo – someone she never thought would be her friend, but it is Filippo and Estella, the school counsellor, who help her through the encroaching darkness and whose loyalty proves she can still be who she is, just a little bit different to before. Having a friend like Filippo helps her through the changes she is going through.

The disabled experience is not often explored in books – and if it is, not always allowing the disabled character to be disabled -they must be healed or freed somehow. So what I liked about this book was the reality of Mafalda’s disability and how it will change her life, how illness can affect people and take them away. It is all seen through the eyes and feelings of a child, Mafalda, but is still very powerful. It allows people of all ages who are disabled to see themselves reflected in literature – to see how a disabled person navigates and must learn to adjust the way they navigate the world they live in are real experiences for disabled people that differ from person to person, and through Mafalda, some of these struggles can be seen.

A very powerful book about family, friendship and identity that will stay with you long after you finish.

Australian Women Writer’s Challenge Check in Four – forty-five to sixty.

My fourth check in, and most current one as of the 12th of August, 2018, takes me to sixty books for the year, and in July I managed to read an entire Kate Forsyth series, as well as historical fiction, an #OwnVoices book, female focussed books, and one with fascinating link to ancient history that I adored, as well as memoir about race, feminism and religion that unpacked how various identities can often be at conflict and how this affects you as a person and how you see the world, but also looked at how various aspects of one’s identity can inform a world view and understandings.

Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

From Cromwell’s England to the desert hospitals of World War One, a haunted house and survivalists, dragons and China, and memoir, along with a good dose of fantasy, this list is as diverse as the others, with a large dollop of Kate Forsyth, whose books are always delightful.

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My next post of this nature will begin with the latest Kensy and Max adventure, and from there, who knows what else will come?

Books forty-six to sixty

From here, there will be many review books to come, some feminist fairy tales, crime, a whole mix – anything could be read and that is what is so enjoyable about the challenge and these posts – getting to see what I have read so far, and where it all fits in.

Australian Women Writer’s Check-in three: thirty-one to forty-five

My next fifteen takes me to book 45 of the challenge – The Peacock Summer by Hannah Richell. In this set, I read a wide array of fiction – all by authors I had never read before, from contemporary fiction, to historical fiction, literary fiction, and kids’ books that delved into the world of spies, and one of my favourite periods of antiquity, the Minoans and the explosion of Akrotiri on Thera. I read a non-fiction book by Kitty Flanagan, which was more like an extended comedy routine, to mysteries and family legacies.

From World War Two seen through the lens of Jewish refugees in Shanghai, to book illumination in the middle ages, and the melding of various mythologies and histories to create unique characters and voices that stretch out across the decades and centuries to tell stories of war, family, fear and mystery, and the fun of child spies and wildlife adventures.

These next fifteen were recently completed and, the last fifteen will take me to the start of August. Just over half way done for the year, I have read four times what I pledged, and hope to read many more in the months to come, adding to my ever growing list.

Books thirty-one to forty-five

So far I haven’t mentioned favourites on any lists, because there have been so many on the others, but on this one, The Jade Lily, Kensy and Max, Swallow’s Dance and The Peacock Summer are the ones that stood out for me and that I enjoyed the most for various reasons, all stated in my reviews on these books.

Australian Women Writer’s Challenge check in two – books sixteen to thirty.

Marking off the half way point for my first sixty books as it stands on the 11th of August, is my second post, with the next fifteen books up to thirty. These range from books for kids, to choose your own adventure to historical fiction, and nearly everything in between. This post, there is much more diversity in the authors read – including some short stories, surprise arrivals and a fairy tale retelling. There were a few World War Two based books – this was around the time I read many Holocaust influenced stories from authors from around the world, one of them a true story – The Tattooist of Auschwitz – and after reading this one and going onto other Holocaust stories, it made me wonder -how many people from those stories did Lale tattoo, how many did he see – the faces that were clear as characters and historical figures in the novels would have been just numbers once he had tattooed them.

This next allotment also marks, with book sixteen, the beginning of my quiz writing job, and at times I have reviewed some of the books I have been sent, but not all. Not many are picture books on my list here, but a couple have pictures – be they photos related to the true story a novel is based on, or pictures that accompany and complement the text for younger readers, such as in Grandpa, Me and Poetry.

Sixteen to thirty:

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My next list will be thirty-one to forty-five. The vast array and mix of books I have read this year is interesting and has definitely been fun to read. Once the posts for the first sixty are up, upon the completion of the next fifteen, another post will go up – whether this is monthly or less frequently, these will act as little capsules of books to show what I have been reading in short bursts.

Australian Women Writer’s Challenge Check-in One – books one to fifteen

All year I have been meaning to write progress posts for every month, or every ten books. Until now, I have woefully neglected this activity, and having read 61 books already, am breaking it up into posts of fifteen – and will continue to do this until the end of the year/early 2019, making the collation of posts for my final wrap up of this challenge easier than last year’s attempt. Each list will be varied, with review books and ones I chose to purchase making up my count – they will be diverse in terms of story, genre, fiction or non-fiction, readership, age and as many other aspects of diversity as I have stumbled across on my reading journey – greatly depending on what I have been able to find, have been sent and what I have access to, but also, I choose books based on what I enjoy as well, and in doing so, I feel like I hit as much diversity in my reading as possible without too much trouble.

These lists – to date so far by today, are a little less than half of my total books logged for the year, which on the 11th of August, stands at 115, and counting. I have well surpassed my goal of fifteen for the challenge – a conservative estimate as I often have a list in mind of upcoming releases and books I own, yet also don’t always know what else will come my way. I find it best to underestimate – and then anything extra becomes bonus points.

So below is my first batch of fifteen out of sixty one, with links to each review.

First fifteen

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Coming up next, posts sixteen to thirty of the Australian Women Writer’s challenge and at some stage, a Book Bingo wrap up post for both of my rounds of the challenge with Mrs B’s Book Reviews and Theresa Smith Writes.

Book Bingo fifteen – A Book Set More Than 100 Years Ago

Book bingo take 2

Kate Forsyth’s Chain of Charms series has been sitting on my shelf for a few years. Between university up until eighteen months ago, reviewing for publishers and most recently, writing quizzes for Scholastic Australia, I’ve been trying to squeeze them in, and have found time lately, so that’s what I have done.

A book set more than 100 years ago: The Gypsy Crown by Kate Forsyth (Chain of Charms #1) – AWW2018

Book bingo take 2

Unknown When the family of Emilia and Luka Finch are taken to jail by Coldham, a representative of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, they are sent on a quest by their grandmother to reunite the six charms that were scattered between six gypsy/traveller families many years ago. With only a bear, a dog, a monkey and a horse to keep them company, Emilia and Luka must first evade capture and ending up in jail with their family – and then go in search of the five other families who hold the charms and bring all six together.

I loved this start – and am hoping to have the rest of the series read very soon – in fact, I have just started book two. Set in the late 1650s, this comes into the book set more than 100 years ago by A LOT. Kate often uses history as a backdrop to her novels and she has done it exceptionally well again, right down to the author notes that go through her research and the times that her novel is set in. Kate_Forsyth

My longer review is much more in depth, and I look forward to seeing where the rest of the series takes Emilia and Luka as they seek to help their family.

The Book Muse

Books, reading and writing

Category: animals

Archibald, The Naughtiest Elf in the World Goes to the Zoo by Skye Davidson, illustrated by Ágnes Rokiczky

The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree by Paola Peretti, translated by Denise Muir

Australian Women Writer’s Challenge Check in Four – forty-five to sixty.

Australian Women Writer’s Check-in three: thirty-one to forty-five

Australian Women Writer’s Challenge check in two – books sixteen to thirty.

Australian Women Writer’s Challenge Check-in One – books one to fifteen

Book Bingo fifteen – A Book Set More Than 100 Years Ago

Books, reading and writing

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