Book Review: Kat: The Legend of Gnawbonia by Nick White

Title: Kat; The Legend of Gnawbonia
Author: Nick White
Illustrator: Nick White 
Series: Volume 1

Publisher:Bonobo Books
Publication date: 2017
RRP: $50.00
Pages: 168
Format Read: Hardcover
Source: Courtesy of author

In the great city of Catifornia, the Meofia are by far the most feared of all the felines. At home, their baby sister Kat is enslaved under lock and key. Done with the constant abuse, she escapes, embarking on a perilous journey far beyond the land of cats.

Lost at sea, Kat is captured by a ruthless gang of notorious pirate dogs and forced to the depths of the ocean in search of treasure; where she discovers an ancient city, lost in time.

Here, Kat comes to terms with who she truly is – gaining the courage to fight for her life and freedom, to fulfil an ancient prophecy that she inevitably finds herself entwined with...

A new style of book, a fusion of various parts. Adventure novel, graphic novel and picture book.

Anyone that follows me will know that I don’t usually rave about, or even mention, the covers of the books I review; even though some of them are stunning. However this book’s cover and packaging is so gorgeous I just have to rave about it a little. The book is bound in hardcover in a brown leather look with scrolling and the title text printed in silver. It also has a red ribbon bookmark. It comes in a white slipcover which also has the text in silver. It’s a book you just can’t help but pick up and admire.

Kat lives on the island of Catifornia. She is a slave to her seven brothers, all members of the much feared Meow Meow Meofia. Kat is never allowed to leave her house, only to catch fish for her brothers’ dinner. When Kat dares to defy them they beat her. She spends her time watching Loose Flea movies and reading an old book given to her by her mother. The book was about an ancient city called Purtopia and it was the land of Kat’s ancestors.

Kat gathers the courage to escape along with her best friend, a rat named Pea. Kat soon learns that the world is a dangerous place and she can’t trust anyone. Her only escape is to leave Catifornia and travel across the sea. After many harrowing weeks on the ocean they are picked up by a band of pirate dogs. The dogs were from the island of Gnawbonia which was in a bad state and the dogs were starving. Kat uses her wit and expert Kung Fu moves to save her and Pea’s lives as she fights the pirates, goes under water to discover the lost city of Purtopia and fights a giant squid.

She may just be the one to save the dogs on the island of Gnawbonia.

This is a memorable tale of good triumphing over bad and of long held prophesies fulfilled. A story of being brave in the face of adversity.

There is animated violence and plenty of breath-holding adventure. The occasional toilet humour will have readers giggling.

The book is written and illustrated by Nick White and the beautifully illustrated pages are something to behold. My granddaughter had much fun finding the little mouse hidden on each page.

The story is easy to follow and would be enjoyed by readers 10+ years.

I’m eager to see what adventures White has in store for Kat and Pea in Volume 2.

You can see more of the illustrations on the author’s website, where you can also order the book. This would make a beautiful Christmas gift. However you will need to be quick as this is a limited edition.

                       www.legendofkat.com

Kat is an advocate for animal rights and 10% of all profits from sales of the book goes to animal charities. 

My rating  5/5    🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Content: animated violence

Age level: 10+ or mature readers 6+

This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge

Nick is originally from Sydney, Australia, and has spent the last 18 years as a commercial artist, lending a hand to some of the biggest ad and design agencies in the UK, NZ and Australia.

 
  

Book Review: Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat (Middle Grade Anthology)

        An anthology of bedtime stories for all kinds of kids
 
Title: Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat
Author: Various 
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia 
Publication Date: 25th September 2018
RRP: $19.99
Pages: 208
Format Read: Hardback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher 

Once upon a time, there were 9 beastly bedtime stories.

Stories with vampires and bats, 

and a sleepover of doom; 

of a pirate dance party

and a zoo in a room.

There were bears who were scared,

and three bags of wool.

Kids who ate pasta till their tummies were full.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat features an entertaining collection of stories filled with terrific twists on the traditional and is sure to have kids (and adults) shaking with laughter in their beds!

With illustrations by J. Yi, the stellar line-up of storytellers includes:

Andy Griffiths, Katrina Nannestad, Morris Gleitzman, Judith Rossell, Tim Harris, R. A. Spratt Frances Watts, Tony Wilson, Jaclyn Moriarty.

 

These spooky stories will have your young reader hiding under the blankets, and giggling uncontrollably, well after lights out.

Sleepover of Doom by Andy Griffiths

A choose your own adventure in true Andy Griffiths style. Laugh out loud funny.

Read it over and over, each time a new adventure but be careful what you choose or there may be a deadly outcome. No matter what route you take you are in for lots of laughs.

Pirate Dance Party by Frances Watts

An annoying mosquito, a parrot that thinks it’s a chicken, a cheeky monkey and two dancing pirates makes this a hilarious night of no sleep for Lily.

Dracula by Morris Gleitzman

Corey’s little brother, Will, is sure their sister’s boyfriend is a vampire and Corey has to convince him that Jarrod isn’t a vampire but maybe the convincing goes the other way. This story doesn’t feature any real vampires because we all know that vampires aren’t real........right.

Wool by Jaclyn Moriarty

A twist on the nursery rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep. Frankie’s dad needs three bags of wool for the knit-a-thon but Gabe has just bought the last three bags of wool. Frankie thinks that Gabe’s reason for wanting the wool doesn’t quite fit and someone may be in danger. Can Frankie work it out before it’s too late?

Things That Go Splat in the Night by Katrina Nannestad

Ruby and Harry don’t believe in ghosts but what happens when they enter Worthington Manor one dark night may quickly change their minds. A surprise filled story that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Zoo in a Room by Tim Harris

Everyone has brought their pet to school for special news day but Clancy had a cold last week, his ears were blocked and he didn’t hear the teacher properly. All the pets are introduced and pandemonium ensues. Can Clancy’s special news save the day?

Dreamo-Machino by Judith Russell

Gran is very inventive and loves making gadgets but her latest dream machine doesn’t make for a pleasant nights sleep.

Yellowhead and the Three Traumatised Bears by R A Spratt

Hear Grandma’s true story of Goldilocks and the three bears. Goldilocks (Yellowhead) wasn’t the cute, innocent little girl we are all led to believe.

St Reginald’s School for Children Who Only Eat Plain Pasta by Tony Wilson

Where do parents send their children that refuse to eat anything but plain pasta with butter? St Reginalds of course! Where every child goes home completely cured.

Well, I couldn’t wait to read this last story to Dot because she qualifies for this school. So does Ditto but I will save this for him when he is a little older.

Dot’s favourite story from the anthology was Pirate Dance Party. We have read this book over and over and she now walks around repeating “I’m a baaaad chicken” in a parrot voice. She thought this story was very funny.

My favourite was Sleepover of Doom. This story was so funny I was laughing all the way through. Andy Griffiths knows how to write a story that is outrageous and ridiculous but still seem to be completely feasible.

This crazy collection of scary, silly and addictive stories by some of Australia’s best known children’s authors would make the perfect Christmas gift.

 Suitable for ages 5 - 14 years and beyond.

My rating 5/5                                   🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

Here is a short list of authors. I won't go into full details of each author or this post will be longer than the book.

Andy Griffiths: author of the bestselling and award-winning Treehouse series.
Katrina Nannestad: award-winning author of The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Rome.
Morris Gleitzman: acclaimed author and Children's Laureate.
Judith Rossell: winner of the Indie Book Award for Withering-By-Sea.
Tim Harris: author of the popular Mr Bambuckles' Remarkables series.
R. A. Spratt: bestselling author of the Friday Barnes books.
Frances Watts: author of the bestselling picture book Kisses for Daddy, and winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Goodnight Mice.
Tony Wilson: author of The Selwood Boys.
Jaclyn Moriarty: award-winning author of The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone.

Featured in the back of the book is a little about each author and their books. Each author is also asked to name their favourite beastly bedtime stories.

Product Review: Literary Book Gifts (online gift shop)

               A Bookish Gift Idea for the Reader in your Life

With Christmas on the horizon it’s time to start thinking of that special gift for all the book lovers in your life.

If you are looking for something other than a printed book to give this year the Literary Book Gifts company has a wonderful range of book themed T-shirts and tote bags.

They have a wide variety of men’s and women’s T-shirts featuring many of the classics.

A couple of my favourite T-shirt designs are:

Women's Wuthering Heights T-shirt

Men's War & Peace T-shirt

And now that audio books are becoming more and more popular, how great is this Headphone T-shirt!

Women's Headphone T-shirt

The T-shirts come in a large range of sizes and colours in both women’s and men’s styles. There is sure to be a favourite amongst them!

The tote bags come in three sizes. I just adore the colours in these two bags.

There are so many fabulous designs and colours the hard part will be choosing which ones to buy for your friends and family and of course you will need to get some for yourself.

Literary Book Gifts is giving The Burgeoning Bookshelf readers a 20% discount on all purchases. Please use code theburgeoningbookshelf20 on checkout.

Postage rates are a very reasonable $5US for orders within the US and $10US for Canada and International (Postage prices were correct at time of posting). Please note prices on the website are in $US so please check current conversion rates.

You can check out the whole range with colours and sizing chart by visiting the website.     

                                   https://literarybookgifts.com/

If you have any further questions you are welcome to contact Literary Book Gifts directly.

*Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Literary Book Gifts and receive no commission on orders placed.