Following on from Felicity’s great blog last week, where she wrote about some of the books she has recently read which fit the 2025 CBCA theme, Maureen Mann follows up with some of her own preferences.
The following titles all contain adventures of some sort. My choices are not limited to the short list or even the notables, but they come from my recent reads. They all fit the theme of Book an Adventure
Silver Trevelon’s father is offered a job as an artist at a turtle rescue centre in Costa Rica. Silver is really excited, but Mum unwillingly accompanies them, even though her qualifications as a vet will be useful. The reader learns that Silver’s parents are stressed by fertility issues; Silver believes she, as a person, is not enough to satisfy them. But the jungle and the volunteers at the rescue centre weave their magic. Silver and her new friend Rafi (and his sloth) have great adventures including watching a leatherback turtle lay her eggs and chasing turtle pirates. This is a great adventure, but the book offers much more.
This verse-novel, shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year Older Readers, was better than I expected. It’s a subtle mental adventure, rather than a physical one. Maddy is a situational mute, traumatised by a bad decision which was publicised on social media. She and her family of Mum and younger brother Charlie move to a small country town where Levi helps her learn to trust people again, and in turn Maddy’s friendship with Alice brings the latter out of reclusiveness and depression. Friendship and nature create a wonderful healing environment.
This is a picture book but not necessarily for the youngest readers. Millie Fleur creates a new garden when she and her mother move to Garden Glen which has strict rules for what is grown and how each garden looks, even though their house doesn’t have the same fit. The adventure in this book comes from Christy Mandin’s weirdly created flora and the slow change in the community, a move away from conformity to acceptance of the unexpected and different, that Millie Fleur eventually brings to Garden Glen.
This book is a historical adventure from the perspective of Cobweb, a Welsh Corgi, during the Napoleonic war. Cobweb is taken from his beloved Bethan on the farm, to become a drover’s dog, taught by Goodlad the older droving dog, guiding cattle and sheep to market in London. Once the animals are sold, Cobweb and Goodlad are sent to find their own way home, and end up accompanied by a French drummer boy escaping from the dramas of war.
What a simple Monday adventure in the kitchen with Grandma and the narrator. There are many touches of naivety from the young narrator who is not named, but the strength of their loving relationship is never in doubt. The process of making Grandma’s everything cake (complete with recipe at the end) is detailed. I loved the comparisons. Grandma is older than computers! The repeated refrain is My little hand and Grandma’s old hand, wrinkled and sure. Racklyeft’s watercolour illustrations bring the simple but lyrical text alive. It is listed in the CBCA Notable Children’s Books 2025 but didn’t make the shortlist.
Do you have other titles you’d recommend for Book an Adventure?
Maureen Mann
Retired teacher librarian and avid reader
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