Swings + Roundabouts Summer 2020

BOO GOES TUTTI FRUTTI By Rachel Weston Illustrated by Scott Tulloch Weston Books; RRP: $19.99 paperback Boo goes Tutti Frutti is a laugh-out-loud story about a hungry and mischievous dog who when left alone starts exploring for food. The page-turner style of the book will have children guessing what type of fruit Boo will get his teeth stuck in next. Then high on the bench a bowl caught Boo’s eye. Jump! Thump! Bump! What did Boo spy? A kiwifruit! He sniffed it. He grabbed it. He tossed it in the air. Splat! He licked it. He nudged it. He smudged it everywhere. The catchy rhythm and rhyme from the author who recently gave us, Bumblebees Have Smelly Feet and Hello! Kia ora! Welcome new friend! alongside the bright and cheerful illustrations from the author and illustrator who many of you will know, from his own books, such as The Silly Goat Gruff and Craig Smith’s My Daddy Ate an Apple, will appeal to many young children who will delight in the guessing game and overall chaos! Perfect for tamariki 2.5+. TU MEKE TUATARA! By Malcom Clarke Illustrated by FLOX Little Love; RRP: $30.00 hardback Te Meke Tuatara follows from the success of Tu Meke Tūī, with this time a focus on showing kindness, empathy, friendship and connecting to the land and environmental issues. Tahi the Tuatara is feeling the dumps, with Roger the Ruru trying to cheer him up, but nothing works, then the two friends hear a cry for help. Together Roger and Tahi help a friend caught in rubbish, and discover that being kind and helping others is another way we can help ourselves feel better. “Tu meke, Tahi!” Pepe peeped. “I thought I’d never get free. I was so scared and all alone. You guys rescued me!” The illustrations by FLOX are outstanding, richly detailed and capturing nature at its finest. At the back of the book, there is an index of Aotearoa’s native flora and fauna found among the pages, and a ‘seek and find’, encouraging children to find the variety of plants and creatures found within a Tuatara’s habitat and which are hidden throughout the book. Perfect for tamariki 2+. THE SKELETON FAMILY By Ian Chapman Illustrated by Cheryl Smith Bateman Books; RRP: $199.99 paperback The Skeleton Family is a fun book and has much to offer, including the message that it’s wrong to judge people just on how they look, and that all people are fundamentally the same. The Skeleton family are just like everyone else living their day-to-day lives, where Skelly-mum is an artist, Skelly-dad is a musician, their daughter Maia loves gymnastics, while her younger brother Arlo is an inspiting YouTuber, and they even have a dog and a cat. When a new family moves next door and are frightened, the Skeleton Family go out of their way to make the family feel welcome. “You’ll never believe what just happened!” Skelly-dad said. “The new neighbours ran away. I don’t think they’ve met any skeletons before. Maybe they don’t know that inside every skin-covered person is a skeleton who looks just like us…” Mia had a great idea. “I’m going to bake them some cupcakes… maybe some chocolate ones with banana icing and loads of sprinkles!” The book also contains the musical score for the upbeat song, The Skeleton Family, that the family sing, and there is a QR code to link readers to a website where the author Ian Chapman has a recording of the song. The charming and fun text alongside the whimsical and vibrant illustrations will be enjoyed by tamariki 3+. December 2020 { 38 }