New Releases by Alex Latimer

This clever picture book builds from one silly moment to another as two siblings convince themselves that the footprints they have discovered belong to a dinosaur. Sally and Joe spot some strange footprints one afternoon. Who could they belong to? They''re big, heavy, and squiggly... As this brother and sister pair follow the clues, the tales they tell themselves grow even more wild until suddenly the trail goes cold! Sally and Joe decide to set a trap, but are they ready to face what they''ll find? This quirky caper from Alex Latimer is a hilarious story-time read aloud. With bold visual storytelling, this intriguing mystery will test readers'' deductive reasoning from start to finish.

In this quirky twist on the fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," a boy''s outrageous excuses turn out to have an unexpected element of truth. Tim witnesses some strange happenings around his house, but no one believes his explanations. In fact, no matter what Tim says, his parents just punish him with chores. To save himself, he hatches a clever plan to expose the truth. Will it work, or will Tim have to spend the rest of his life raking the yard? Bubbling with wit and humor from start to finish, author-illustrator Alex Latimer''s debut picture book with wacky characters like ninjas, pirates, crocodiles, and time-traveling monkeys, will have readers of all ages laughing out loud.

Vastrap. Our very own nuclear testing site, so far into the desert that the Russians and the Americans don’t even have a clue about it. You don’t mess with an Afrikaner, not if you don’t want to get a proper klap. An unauthorised nuclear blast beyond belief at Vastrap Airbase outside Upington not only winds up the Americans, but also launches Africa’s first spacecraft. Propelled by an engine harnessing the power of a nuclear bomb never disarmed in the eighties, the rocket leaves Earth without its pilot or crew. But how did this spaceship, designed by the previous government to extend the Afrikaner’s history as a nation of pioneers, survive? And more pressingly, who’s working its joystick? Small-time journalist Greg Hall sets out to uncover the details of the ship that has captured the world’s imagination. In the wreckage of the blast, he discovers a man badly burnt and almost dead. A man who has an alarming story to tell and a frightening plan of his own. Funny and thrilling, The Space Race twinkles with its author’s humour and trademark irony.

Identifies each letter of the alphabet with a corresponding plant, animal, character, or location representing South Africa, from the aardvark to Johannesburg and the Xhosa tribe.