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Ballroom Bonanza
By Nina Rycroft
First Published October 2009 by Working Title Press
ISBN: 978 1 876288 93 8

Time-lapse front cover on YouTube
Interview with Nina on YouTube

Ballroom Bonanza Swans

Ballroom Bonanza Zebras

 

Ballroom Bonanza

An animal ABC with a difference. Join alpacas, bears, camel and a host of other animals as they conga, can can and hip-hop the night away. Find out why the jaguar blushed and what happened to the elephants when the music stopped. A sumptuous, playful picture book with a dash of mystery and a lot of monkey business.

‘Your artwork is so brilliant. The details, the joy, the playfulness - I just LOVE it so much. I also felt warm and fuzzy when you spoke about your children’s great grandfather - what a lovely backstory.’ Susanne Gerva

Interview with Nina on YouTube

 
 

Reviewed by Jenny Gorman Megalong Books, Leura

“In this exuberant rhyming book, animals visit a famous ballroom at Blackpool to dance in an alphabetically arranged contest. So camels conga, donkeys disco and lions line dance (very badly, but no-one dares to mention this!) Mischievous monkeys hide the bands instruments part of the way through the programme and readers must backtrack to find them hidden in the previous pages, before the contest can resume. Altogether, it’s an enjoyable and entertaining romp through the alphabet. For school, public library and family collections, for use by two to eight.”

  jaguar  
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Boom Bah!
By Phil Cummings
Illustrated by Nina Rycroft
First Published June 2008 by Working Title Press
ISBN: 978 1876288 90 7

BOOM BAH! process illustrations
Activity sheet available for BOOM BAH! (0.2mb PDF)

Boom Bah!

Boom Bah!

 

 

Boom Bah!

This story starts with a Ting! when a tiny mouse taps on a cup with a spoon. And ends with a Tah-dah! As one by one, all the other animals join in. Nod your head. Tap your toe. BOOM BAH! Here we go!

Boom Bah! the e-book

Here we go!

 
 

windmill

In 2007 Windmill Performing Arts toured Australia performing BOOM BAH! in SA, NSW, Victoria, and Queensland as a literacy initiative between Windmill and the advertiser Little Big Book Club.

Boom Bah! travelled to Korea and Singapore April/May 2009 and Auckland NZ July 2009.

Check out the play (YouTube)
www.windmill.org.au/
windmill
 

Reviewed by Kerry White May- August 2007 Junior YA and children’s

5 stars
What fun readers young and old are going to have with this rhythmic book that is an encouragement to make lots of noise. What begins in the kitchen with a ‘ting’ on a teacup builds to a symphony that is a celebratory union between animals with home-made instruments and ‘real’ brass band led by a baton-waving horse. You can see the dramatic possibilities of this cumulative tale. Most of the text consists of sounds, as the title suggests, and along with marching and improvised music-making there is an introduction to concepts of position, size and number. Rycroft’s watercolour illustrations, the best she has published to date, walk a fine line between nurseryland beauty and fun park hilarity. Kerry White Great value in every way for preschools and homes with toddlers.

 
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Elephant Dance
By Sue Whiting
Illustrated By Nina Rycroft
First Published 2007 by Koala Books
ISBN 0 86461 666 X

Activity sheet available for Elephant Dance (0.3mb PDF)

Elephant Dance

Elephant Dance

 

 

Elephant Dance

Hugo and Millie were the best of mates. They did everything together. They kicked up dirt. They tramped through trees. They played water fights. And showery fountains...

Hugo and Millie were the best of mates. They did everything together. They kicked up dirt. They tramped through trees. They played water fights. And showery fountains...

 
 

Reviewed by Sally Murphy

Elephant Dance is a beautiful picture book about friendship and compromise. The repeated refrain of 'boom-boompa-chee' will delight youngsters who will echo it during and after the story - when I read it to a class of year one students they wanted to boom-boompa-chee around the school for the rest of the day.

     
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Macquarie My First Animal Alphabet
Illustrated By Nina Rycroft
First Published 2007 by Pan MacMillan
ISBN 978 1 4050 3787 7

My First Animal Alphabet

My First Animal Alphabet

 

My First Animal Alphabet

From aardvark to ape and wombat to whale, an A-Z of all kinds of animals to delight children and help them learn more about the animal world around them.

My First Animal Alphabet

 
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Hippopot-a-mouse
Written by Mike Dumbleton
Illustrated By Nina Rycroft
First Published 2007 by Era Publications
ISBN 978 174120292-2

Hippopot-a-mouse

Hippopot-a-mouse

 

Hippopot-a-mouse

Hippopotamouse is a hilarious story about an imaginative girl and her extraordinary pets. At a deeper level it is about adults listening to what children have to say.

Hippopotamouse is a hilarious story about an imaginative girl and her extraordinary pets. At a deeper level it is about adults listening to what children have to say.

 
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Tricky Little Hippo
By Jane Bowring
Illustrated by Nina Rycroft
First published 2005 by Koala Books
ISBN 0 86461 413 6

Tricky Little Hippo process illustrations
Activity sheet available for Tricky Little Hippo (1.1mb PDF)

Tricky Little Hippo

Tricky Little Hippo

 

Tricky Little Hippo

Holly wants to be the best at something but her friends win all the games. Then Holly has a really good idea and discovers she is the best at something!

Tricky Little Hippo

 
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Little Platypus
By Nette Hilton
Illustrated by Nina Rycroft
First published 2000 by Koala Books
ISBN 0 86461 272 9

CBCAAwarded Children's Book Council of Australia notable book 2001.

premiers reading challenge

Little Platypus process illustrations
Activity sheet available for Little Platypus (0.9mb PDF)

Little Platypus

Little Platypus

 

Little Platypus

'Who are you? asked the small glossy creature.
'Am I one of your?''

Little Platypus is feeling lonely. He doesn't know where he belongs. How can he find a friend who is just the same.

 

Little Platypus

 
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Sir Joshua and the Unprofessional Dragon
(An Early Reader)
By Sam Bowring
Illustrated by Nina Rycroft
First published 1999 by Koala Books
ISBN 0 86461 228 1

Sir Joshua and the Unprofessional Dragon

 

Sir Joshua and the Unprofessional Dragon

When commanded to destroy the dragon, bold Sir Joshua sets off at once to do the King's bidding. But this is no ordinary dragon. Although the giant creature can shoot red hot flames from his nostrils, or crush an opponent with one swipe of his sharp green claws, he prefers the quiet life.

'Unprofessional!' Sir Joshua calls him.

Still, the King wants the dragon dead, and Sir Joshua must obey the King. So what's an unprofessional dragon to do? What tricks can a dragon play to get rid of a pesky knight who insists on slaying him?

Sir Joshua and the Unprofessional Dragon

 
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Charlie's Gold (An Early Reader)
Written by Jackie French
Illustrated by Nina Rycroft
First published 1999 by Koala Books
ISBN 0 86461 227 3

Charlie's Gold

 

Charlie's Gold

Emily loves the beautiful covering of white over the land. But now the peaches are ruined, and without this years crop the family will lose their farm.

Emily tells her older sisters that Charlie will help them to find gold and save the farm. But Joanna and Harriet say she's talking rubbish. Who is Charlie? What could a little kid like Emily know?

Charlie's Gold

 
      © Nina Rycroft 2009  
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