Junior Reading Room

A lion who loves storytime and a girl who just wants to be a boy are among the stories featured in this week's Junior Reading Room.

Junior Reading Room

Busy baby

Compiled by DAPHNE LEE

Tummy Girl
Author: Roseanne Thong
lllustrator: Sam Williams
Publisher: Henry Holt, 32 pages
AN ADORABLE little girl’s life unfolds before our eyes, with illustrations presented in the style of snapshots in a photo album, accompanied by rhyming text. The bright colours and jaunty rhythms of the story will appeal to babies who will be very interested indeed in Tummy Girl’s busy life!

Phoeey
Author and illustrator: Marc Rosenthal
Publisher: Joanna Cotler Books, 40 pages
A LTTLE boy complains loudly that he’s bored and kicks a can, setting in motion a series of events that are anything but mundane: elephants march, pirates stomp, pies fly, oranges bounce. Unfortunately, everything happens without the boy noticing. No matter, at least the reader doesn’t miss a thing!

Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand
Author: Gail Carson Levine
lllustrator: David Christiana
Publisher: Disney Press, 191
RANI the water-talent fairy promised to give a wand to the mermaid Soop as a reward for helping save Never Land (in the previous book Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg). Angry and tired of waiting, Soop sends a flood to Fairy Haven. In order to save their fellow fairies from being swept away, Rani, Tinker Bell, and Ree, queen of the Never fairies, embark on a quest for just the right wand that will restore peace in Never Land as well as Soop’s heart.

One Beastly Beast: Two Aliens, Three Inventors, Four Fantastic Tales
Author: Garth Nix Publisher: Brian Biggs
Publisher: EOS, 128 pages
FOUR fantastic tales make up this collection by Garth Nix who has quite a following among young adults in Malaysia, thanks to his Keys to the Kingdom and Abhorsen series.  The stories here are for younger readers who will find the odd creatures and weird and wonderful situations created by Nix very entertaining. Brian Biggs’ illustrations help to encourage those struggling to make the transition between picture books and chapter books. Furthermore, each story is divided into chapters which make easy-to-digest, bite-size blocks.

Runemarks
Author: Joanne Harris
Publisher: Doubleday, 500 pages
IT’S 500 years after the end of the world and life goes on. Except, things are very different now. Tales of the old gods have been banned, magic is not allowed either, and a new religion, called The Order, reigns supreme.  Maddy Smith, a 14-year-old girl who likes working magic and talking to the outcast goblins, has a “ruinmark” on the back of her hand, a symbol of the old work.  Her neighbours view her with suspicion and apprehension, and Maddy too has a growing sense of unease as she is slowly made aware of her growing powers, her birthright and the role she is destined to play in the coming war between the old and new worlds.

Parrotfish
Author: Ellen Wittlinger
Publisher: Simon & Schuster US, 304 pages
ANGELA may be a girl physically, but she has always felt like a boy. One day, she decides to put an end to her personal confusion: she cuts her hair short, dresses like a boy and starts calling herself Grady.  Grady’s family members each respond to his decision in different ways, but mostly they are unsure what to make of the situation. At school, he meets with some hostility, but he also makes some new friends, including Sebastian, who introduces him to the parrotfish, an oceanic wonder of nature that changes gender at will.