Quite some time ago, Penguin Publishing asked me if I would like to receive review copies of books to chat about on the blog. Hello ! I said yes, they sent me a craft book and I reviewed it and gave it away. Then nothing for ages and ages. All of a sudden a few weeks ago these beauties arrived in the mail. Picnic at Hanging Rock and I can Jump Puddles.
No explanation. They don’t even send a cover letter, so I have no idea if the expect me to give them away or what, but I feel better about giving them away so I will.
The blurb states that “Penguin Books is excited to launch the Australian Children’s Classic series. This beautiful Collection re-imagines our country’s most enduring stories for new readers to discover and old fans to revisit with affection.”
These books are very beautiful, the bindings are gorgeous and the quality is fantastic.
I remember a teacher reading I can jump puddles aloud each afternoon when I was in about Grade 5. I adored it ! It was my favourite part of every single day. Do you know I can’t even picture the teachers face but I can close my eyes and describe to you in detail the hospital that Alan stayed in as described in the book.
How about you – do you have book or a picture in your mind from a book that has stayed with you from when you were a kid? Let me know and I'll pick someone at random to win these two beautiful books.
(and if I had to be critical, I do think the covers look too ‘young’ for the contents of the book. From a library perspective,I think they will appeal to kids to young for the content , but maybe that's my 100 yrs in a Primary school that renders me conservative- Do you know the stories? What do you think?)
I loved the Anne of Green Gables series. My Grandmother got me all the books to read and I remember her reading when Anne comes to Avonlea and describes Green Gables....I have a very clear picture of it still!
ReplyDeleteThe digging-est dog, my nana read it to me so many times. I can picture all the pictures so clearly.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of these books but I was immediately struck by the covers. I love the look of them. I adore classic childrens books.
ReplyDeleteHoly moly, Picnic at Hanging Rock is my favourite film, such a haunting story. Did you know that the author originally wrote a final chapter but then decided to leave it out when publishing the book to give the story a more realistic feeling? A lot of people over the years have believed that it is based on a real story because there is no resolution to the mystery. Surely it's not a children's book though as the story dealt with such adult themes..interesting.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I've never written anything so serious in a comment on your blog! I'll have to yell 'top banana' and turn around three times or I'll bring us bad luck!!
My year 3 teacher, Miss Applebee, read Roald Dahl's "The Witches" to us.
ReplyDeleteShe was a lovely young lady, pretty (just as Dahl described the witches) and I remember sitting close on the floor as she explained she may be a witch. "But, no!" we cried, "You aren't wearing gloves!"
With a wink she said, "Maybe my gloves are invisible!"
The thrill of maybe was perfect.
This is Annika, by the way ;)
DeletePicnic at Hanging Rock looks a bit cutesty for the story. I remember the miniseries of I can jump puddles more than the book. But they do look lovely!
ReplyDeleteBooks that have stuck with me... The Anne books (especially Rilla of Ingleside), the Billabong books, The Hobbit, which I am re-reading in preparation for the movie. My Aunt first read The Hobbit to me when I was about 8, and it's been a dear friend ever since. My favourite memory of the Narnia books is convincing the high school librarian to purchase the set, and the borrowing card for each of the books alternated between me and a friend. Nobody else had a look in! :)
I remember seeing picnic at hanging rock at the drive in and i must have been about 10 so maybe the covers aren't so bad. I haven't read I can jump puddles. My faourite book from school days will always be To Kill a Mockingbird, i wanted to have a daughter so i could call her Scout!
ReplyDeleteHi! I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but these covers are just great, no idea of their content, though! Best regards from a reader from Barcelona, Spain,
ReplyDeleteMarta
http://www.abilingualbb.blogspot.com
Playing Beattie Bow. My Mum and I love to go to Sydney even as adults and retrace Beatties steps. I read it first in Primary school at my Mum's suggestion (shes a teacher) and then afain as a high schooler for an assignment. I still love it to this day.
ReplyDeleteAnne of Green Gables was and still is definately my favourite! I also loved The Secret Garden!
ReplyDeletePollyanna was one of my fav's when I was a kid, but I was a weird sort of a child ( nothing has changed)and by the age of ten I was reading about the Rift Valley, Gerald Durrell animal stories, Gorilla stories, lots of adventure stories, and who dunnits! Not your average girl reading material. I have great nieces who would love those books, after I have had a read of course!
ReplyDeleteHi Jodie, lovely memories of Mum staying in bed in the morning over the school holidays and all three kids would join her so she could read a few chapters of Fantastic Mr Fox.
ReplyDeleteHi Jodie my children would love these books - as a child I remember the older stour storybooks that were my parents & my children love them now too. A simpler type of reading book, way less busy and not over stimulating but peaceful.
ReplyDeleteI've never read either of these books but those covers and gorgeous! I always remember that my teacher in preschool used to read us the rainbow fish and it was one of those giant books. I loved that book!
ReplyDeleteI love Picnic at Hanging Rock and still have my battered old copy. I agree I think the cover looks too young for the contents. I don't think I have even read I Can Jump Puddles
ReplyDeleteLike apparently a whole lot of people, for me it was the Anne of Green Gables books.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as kids, I and my brother devoured Uppo-Nalle books (a series of Finnish children's books by Elina Karjalainen, about the adventures of a teddy bear named Uppo-Nalle, "Sunken Bear", and his friends) first by having our parents read them to us, then reading them ourselves when we learned how. The Uppo-Nalle books helped ignite my life long love of poetry too.
AA Milne for me. My 75 year old mum and I still recite his poetry together. My favourite is the one about Alexander Beetle. Of course I also have wonderful memories of that bear with little brain and a rather big heart!!
ReplyDeleteYours is a rather big heart too lovely Jodie.
If you pick our family to receive these books, you can rest assured that they will be treasured by 2 redheads who adore to read.
Much love,
Andi x
These are two of my all time favourite books. I loved both. Picnic at Hanging Rock particularly. It haunted me.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about the covers. Way to young. But cute.
I certainly wouldn't have thought "Picmic" was a suitable children"s story! But I've never read it -- I didn't like the movie so have never bothered to read the book! Conversely, if I have loved a book I rarely see the movie -- which is why I a, unlikely to see the Hobbit when it arrives later this month and have never seen The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
ReplyDeleteA book that stayed with me for years (it was only available to me at Avoca Beach library which cost 10c a week to borrow books when I was on holidays as a kid back in the dark ages) was "Swallows and Amazons" -- another book for which the movie didn't do justice!
My mum read us the classics every night so i have loads that I love but when I saw "I can jump Puddles" I knew I had to write and say that I LOVED this book as a teenager. The covers remind me of books for younger children and I am not sure that either of these books are appropriate for the age group the covers look like they are trying to appeal to.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite books for childhood include, "The Muddle-Headed Wombat", I love this book and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe series.
I can't wait for my children to be old enough to listen and enjoy these stories. I am really looking forward to reading them to them like my mum did with me.
Two great books that my grandaughter would love.
ReplyDeleteI have fond memories of Milly,Molly, Mandy and wanted to be her.
I love the covers and have a very special place for Children's books. I have ALL of my kids' books from childhood, still. No one is able to part with them. I remember being in 4th grade and Mrs. Sowell would read Charlotte's Web at the end of each day. I know I would enjoy reading Australian Children's Classics. :o)
ReplyDeleteI don't know these stories, so it would be fun to WI o e or he other. :) Growing up mom and mh older sister read to us nightly, and I was a voracious reader myself.
ReplyDeleteFavorites were "Harold and the Purple Crayon" , "Ping", ?Ferdinand the Bull", "Pookie" and the "Anne of Green Gables" series. :)
oh these are gorgeous!! i kind of hate it when they make such lovely editions of books i love - but already own in much less attractive editions! I may need to lose my childhood copies of playing beatie bow and seven little australians so I can justify buying the ones in this range!
ReplyDeleteI think those covers are definitely too young for the content, especially 'Picnic at Hanging Rock', the cover of which makes it look like a rather fluffy book. I think the cover for 'I Can Jump Puddles' is rather gorgeous, but perhaps not very appealing to boys, and the book is (appealing to boys I mean). It's definitely a late primary book at the earliest I would have thought. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of watching the series of 'I Can Jump Puddles' and 'Seven Little Australian' on the ABC every Sunday evening. Oh the tragedy of 'Seven Little Australians'!!! In Grade 5 Miss Elliot read us 'The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe' every afternoon and it was unbelievably ace and exciting.
ReplyDeleteI read Grimm's Fairy Tales over and over and still remember the pictures. Evidently, it was a less scarey version!
ReplyDeleteEvin5 at aol dot com
I loved my Grimms Fairy tales too. My book is tattered from rereading as a child. But my two favorite books were the original novel 101 Dalmations(the movies dont do it justice) Arabela's Raven, oops and my third favorite Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach.
ReplyDeleteThe covers absolutely look like they are for young readers. I thought the books were picture books at first. A favorite book my 5th grade teacher read to the class was "What the Witch Left". Of course, the other books she read were outstanding as well.
ReplyDeleteMy mom had an old old copy of the original Boxcar Children. She bought it with her own money when she was about 9 and I've always loved that story. I'll never forget the image in my young mind of the kids searching through the dump for broken teacups and bits of cloth for their tiny table. Though I've never been wealthy, I have so many blessings, and it was so good for my young mind to realize that. And now that I'm a grown up I search through broken teacups and bits of cloth at the thrift shops and junk sales to decorate my home. Life comes full circle. :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite books are the Milne Pooh series as I read them to my mom when I was six. She hadn't read them, so we discovered those wonderful stories together. I still have those books, and read them to my children.
ReplyDeleteIn primary school I could picture the barn where Charlotte spun the web saying "some pig". What a wonderful childrens classic. I cried at the end.
ReplyDeleteIn high school it was "The Outsiders" that had me picturing pony boy and johnny and crying in the end. I'm such a sook.
The Secret Garden...A book read aloud by my 5th grade teacher....Strange how I can remember that experience so vividly....a million years later....
ReplyDeleteSusan
Alan marshal was always my literary favourite. I have some very favourite stories fondly remembered and revisited by him. A remarkable man
ReplyDeleteJack London's Call of the Wild. It was because my Aunt read it aloud to me when I was in my early teens. I thought I was too old to be read to so grumpily agreed to sit and listen but was very soon swept in to the story and was sitting at the edge of her lap, like a child again, entranced, begging for one more chapter. It was a beautiful, happy time. I learnt so much about the power of being read to and now believe it is something we are never too old for.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree the cover can appeal to kids too young for these stories. I'm terrified by picnic at hanging rock so scary so a pretty pink cover makes me think - wolf in sheep's clothing!I read the colour purple when I was 12 and it was FULL ON!! It's put me off watching the movie or re-reading the book as an adult and that cover seemed to make it look appropriate for a 12 year old at the time.
ReplyDeleteI have many favorites. And since I taught preschool, they continue to be favorites. But one that stays with me is Where the Red Fern Grows. A few years ago I read it to K-3rd graders and cried with them.
ReplyDeleteI loved some many books when I was growing up. I would always be reading. I loved the old penguin classics and anything else I could get my hands on. I ended up reading some very inappropriate books because I read all the 'childrens' books at home. I loved The Diary of Anne Frank. So sad.
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ReplyDeleteSo many! But the first one I thought of is My Brimful Book. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, I had forgotten about I can jump puddles. What a great book. I have to admit to first seeing both these classics on TV, but I have read both too. I think the covers are trying to tap into that retro crafty market (like that series of books which featured embroidered covers...black beauty and the like). I know what you mean though, they do look "young" but not young in a way that would appeal to young people. More nostalgic.
ReplyDeleteGosh - we were just talking about I can jump puddles the other day - I was trying to explain why immunisation was important, and how Polio used to be so terrifying. It's kind of awesome that our kids are growing up in a society where that kind of threat is so abstract.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte's Web was my first novel, and I breathed it in, and then it ended so sadly and I remember sobbing and swore I'd never read a book again. Until the next one....
I can only vaguely remember reading I can Jump Puddles, although I remember enjoying it. I had a few favourite books as a kid. One was a book about Paddington Bear. Another was A.A.Milne's Now We Are Six. I also loved Enid Blyton's Enchanted Wood and Folk of the Faraway Tree. But my all time favourite children's book is Roald Dahl's Danny Champion of the World.
ReplyDeleteI loved Black Beauty; I read it over and over. I've never heard of these two books but they sound wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI have been loving re-visiting the Narnia books with my seven year old this year - they're some of my all time favourites, and it has been great having an excuse to read them again, as well as some Wishing Chair (I distinctly remember actually owning the REAL wishing chair, although it was an armchair, not the wooden kitchen chair in the book), and discovering some Roald Dahl that I don't remember at all.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Texas and remember "Miss Nelson is missing" and had to buy it for my daughter. I wonder what books she will remember?
ReplyDeleteIt is to my great regret that I wasn't exposed to all of those wonderful children's classics as a child. I always had my head stuck in a book, but in early-mid primary school it was more likely to be a Famous Five or a Secret Seven than anything. It's only been in my thirties (and forties, yeesh) that I've discovered the joys of Anne of Green Gables and the rest of the Anne books, The Secret Garden and The Little Princess, the Narnia books, Seven Little Australians. I do love that my little girl loves The Wishing Chair and The Faraway Tree as much as she loves the more recent Go Girls and EJ12s and Cherry Apple fluff.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that the covers of these books, while very pretty, are perhaps too young for the content of these books, although it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
As a child in Sri Lanka it was Enid Blyton all the way - the Famous Five and Mallory Towers series was the rage for me.
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ReplyDeleteI still have wonderful memories of reading Esio Trot by Roald Dahl numerous times as a child. I can't wait to read it my children one day soon :).
ReplyDeleteI still have copies of my favourite childhood books - The Kingdom Under the Sea, by Joan Aiken, with the most amazing black and white illustrations on swirled oil paint paper (I forget what the proper name is for that), and Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl, which my nine year old just read and loved. I was a little surprised to see Picnic at Hanging Rock with a child-friendly cover! It strikes me as more of a young adult, and older, story, and I haven't read it, but I did love the film!
ReplyDeleteI loved the Silver Brumby stories, oh yes so into horses and then the faraway tree in fact anything I could get my hands on. Also remember trying to read by torch light under the covers, trying not to wake my four other sisters who shared the room.... So they would not dob to mum and then the current book get confiscated and me not able to finish it. It was a losing battle as you would expect ...
ReplyDeleteOh the covers are too young for the content but lovely never the less
Totally agree about the covers! I adored both books - though I remember picnic at hanging rock freaking me right the heck out. I must put I can jump puddles on Amy's list for Christmas. I think Storm boy stayed with me for a very long time after I read it, as did wrinkle in time.
ReplyDeleteOh that was me Jodie! Google's pretending it doesn't know me anymore! It's the apocalypse!! Sooz
ReplyDeleteI'm an Anne of Green Gables fan too. Loved the whole series of books plus L M Montgomery's other works (especially The Blue Castle!).
ReplyDeleteI would devour books as a child! Open the covers and inhale the words, breathe in that beautiful book smell!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite is the Australian classic "The Muddleheaded Wombat". To this day, if I'm going to ask the question "really, truly?" I'll say "truly ruley" as he would!
I loved the Secret Garden - the whole idea of having somewhere that was for you and your friends was just the best thing ever... I also liked the fact that nobody in them behaved all the time.
ReplyDeleteWe used to read everything we could find hidden in my nana's hedge. Loved playing Beattie Bow as well. And Narnia, and Enid Blyton, and... and... loved them all.. Absolutely loved reading the grade readers (not John and Betty... the later ones with rhymes etc).
I dont really think these are for kids - I think these are for those people who love to remember their favourite childhood book..
There was a book called 'Nobody loves me, everybody hates me" I still remember my teacher whenever those words came up in the book (which was often) would say them in a really grumbly voice, and when I say that to my kids, I say it in a grumbly, gruff voice. Needless to say the 13 year old thinks I'm nuts.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you about the covers. Saw an article a few months back which showed them and though the same thing.
Enid Blyton. All things Enid Blyton remind me of my childhood. I learnt to read by reading her books. I have fond memories of my Grandfather reading me stories about fairies and wishing chairs at bedtime. Thankfully my Mum kept my collection of hard covered Blyton books, and I have them now for my children. I wonder how they will stand up to a re-reading as an adult though? :)
ReplyDeleteMy favourite is Mollie Whuppie and the giant. The illustrations are magnificently terrifying but the story is great. Much loved by my small girl who is also a readaholic.
ReplyDeleteMy 6th grade teacher read us the Great Brain series, and I still remember being horrified at the mumps, and at the shopkeeper that starved to death instead of asking for help. And tetanus. Oh my, what were we reading??? My 5th grade teacher read us The Great Gilly Hopkins and Bridge to Terebithia and those were my first experiences with heart-wrenching books.
ReplyDeleteI have two girls, ages 8 and 10, and I've never heard of these books on your blog. I'll have to see if I can get them in the States.
There is magic in reading aloud. When I was in college the local public radio had a series called "Reading Aloud". I used to be late for my 1pm class because of it. My third grade teacher Mrs. Barclay, read to us in the afternoons from Paddington, the Bear. I read every word of Harry Potter to my 3 boys. My favorites: Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, Little Women, Heidi, Black Beauty, Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie. The LHOP books were just being published when I was in school, and my dear 4th grade teacher, Miss Bezanson would lend me hers when I finished my schoolwork. I remember waiting for each new story to come out, and seeing it appear on her desk. Talk about incentive!
ReplyDeleteI still remember Mrs. Owens reading Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory to us in 3rd grade. I remember the description of Charley's family living in severe poverty and how grandma and grandpa tried to stay warm together under a quilt. I loved that book! ;p
ReplyDeleteThe Faraway Tree books. I loved them so much!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of either of these books, and we love books and enjoy family read alouds. I remember sitting on the floor with my 2nd grade classmates listening to Miss Thompson read Charlotte's Web. Some of us girls would massage her feet as she read. As we neared the end of the book she had me read aloud as she sat at her desk with a box of kleenex, she was a wonderful strict but tender-hearted teacher.
ReplyDeleteThere is an article in Jan/Feb 2013 edition of 'Frankie'(page 70) on the artist Allison Colpoys' cover designs for Australian classics which includes 'I can jump puddles' and 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'. Maybe this all part of a publicity push for the books.
ReplyDeleteThe descriptions from reading "The Never Ending Story" as a child have stayed with me. These books are beautiful, I would love to have them in my collection (I am a bit of a book nut).
ReplyDeleteDoing catch up here. I can jump puddles now that jogged my memory. February Dragon was my all time fav. as a child. When I read it to my kids Tony had to read the sad sections as I was crying.
ReplyDeleteMine was the Enid Blyton Faraway Tree series... I remember sitting entranced as they were read by my grade two teacher and making myself a promise to have these books for myself when I was a grown up. I believe these stories began my life long love of writing,reading and books. To be able to lose oneself in a book was in itself a magical act that was like no other. I work in a bookshop now and when I saw these new covers arrive I had mixed feelings about them...I think perhaps the covers really don't reflect the age group they were first written for - but these days children are quite sophisticated readers. But it seems they have attracted attention as we had quite a run on them just prior to Christmas...
ReplyDeleteI remember that I Can Jump Puddles had quite a profound effect on me as a young adult reader and I didn't read Picnic until much later - only then - I think influenced by the film....