Australia Remembers: Wartime Nurses – Care and Compassion
By Jacqui Halpin Reviewed by Liane McDermott Australia Remembers: Wartime Nurses – Care and Compassion is the sixth book in the Australia Remembers non-fiction series. The book takes the reader…
Koko and the Coconut
By Turia Pitt & Celestine Vaite Illustrated by Emilie Tavaearii Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Caught in a grassfire while competing in a 100 km ultramarathon in 2011, Turia suffered full…
Family All That You Dream It To Be (Teeny Tiny Stevies)
By Byll & Beth Stephen Illustrated by Simon Howe Reviewed by Mia Macrossan The Teeny Tiny Stevies have written many cheerful popular songs for children. This particular picture book is…
Sleep Through the Night (Teeny Tiny Stevies)
By Byll Stephen & Beth Stephen Teeny Tiny Stevies Illustrated by Simon Howe Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Sisters Byll and Beth Stephen are the band, Teeny Tiny Stevies which won an ARIA…
I Can Be A Matilda
By Kyla May Reviewed by Mia Macrossan This is a companion to I Can Be A Socceroo also by the Australian illustrator, writer and designer Kyla May, and also part…
I Can Be A Socceroo
By Kyla May Reviewed by Mia Macrossan This official Football Australia licensed merchandise is part of a publishing program in the lead-up to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup™ hosted…
Mia: Through My Eyes – Australian Disaster Zones
By Dianne Wolfer Reviewed by Liane McDermott Mia is the third book in the Through My Eyes: Australian Disaster Zones series — a realistic historical fiction series recommended for children…
Kill Joy
By Holly Jackson Reviewed by Jane Swinton This is a great read for those that love a good who-done-it. It is a prequel novella to Holly Jackson’s award-winning A Good…
The Not So Chosen One
By Kate Emery Reviewed by Jane Swinton Kate Emery is a reporter at the West Australian and The Not So Chosen One is her debut novel. She writes with beautiful…
Dear Greta
By Yvette Poshoglian Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Yvette Poshoglian is the author of over forty books for children and young people, including the Ella and Olivia series. Born and raised…
Starting School
Some resources prepared by The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature Inc. Starting School and School Days — Experiences we remember Remember your school days? Who can forget the angst,…
A Writer’s Resolutions – some New Year’s suggestions from Wendy Orr
Some timely words from Wendy Orr, the 2022 winner of the Book Links Award for Children’s Historical Fiction. New Year’s resolutions are often scoffed at, but what if we had…
All Bodies Are Good Bodies
By Charlotte Barkla and Erica Salcedo Reviewed by Margarite Igras Charlotte Barkla’s debut picture book has turned up the volume with this playful, and noisy book about children’s bodies. Together…
From My Head to My Toes, I Say What Goes
By Charlotte Barkla & Jacqui Lee Reviewed by Margarite Igras Charlotte Barkla has followed up her debut picture book, All Bodies Are Good Bodies, with this empowering exploration about respectful body…
Astonishingly Good Stories
By R. A. Spratt Reviewed by Annaleise Byrd A. Spratt is a NSW-based author best known for the hilarious middle grade series Nanny Piggins, Friday Barnes and The Peski Kids.…
Willa and Woof 3: Grandparents for Hire
By Jacqueline Harvey Reviewed by Liane McDermott Australia’s much loved and honoured children’s author, Jacqueline Harvey, of the popular Alice-Miranda, Clementine Rose, and Kensy and Max series, produces another endearing…
Art is Everywhere
By Eleanor Chan Illustrated by Olivia Bargman Reviewed by Margarite Igras Ellie Chan is an art historian and together with Liv Bargman’s simple, comic, drawings, they have created a book…
Big Feelings and What They Tell Us
By Rebekah Ballagh Reviewed by Margarite Igras Rebekah, who has both written and illustrated this book, has used her background in counselling to create an instructive book about emotions for…
Mathematics for Beginners
By Sarah Hull & Tom Mumbray Illustrated by Paul Boston & Robert Samuel Hanson Reviewed by Barbara Braxton Ask your students what they believe maths to be and you will get answers…
Our Home On Wheels
A Big Trip Around Australia Written by Jessica and Stephen Parry-Valentine Illustrated by Ashlee Spink Reviewed by Mia Macrossan The authors have a passion for filmmaking and photography, they are…
Frankie Best Hates Quests
By Chris Smith and illustrated by Kenneth Anderson Reviewed by Sarah Custance UK author Chris Smith is best known for the Kid Normal series that he co-wrote with Greg James,…
The Goodbye Year
By Emily Gale Reviewed by Sarah Custance Australian writer Emily Gale is the author of the very well received books, The Other Side of Summer, We Are Out With Lanterns,…
Seven Days
By Fleur Ferris Reviewed by Melissa Salisbury Seven Days is Fleur Ferris’s second middle grade novel and an enjoyable thriller for the target age group. When Ben Parker, the only…
The Dangerous Business of Being Trilby Moffat
Written by Kate Temple Reviewed by Annaleise Byrd Kate Temple has written more than twenty books with her writing partner Jol Temple, including the Bin Chicken picture books, Room on…
Whalesong
By Kate Gordon Reviewed by Sarah Custance Kate Gordon is the Australian award-winning author of middle-grade novels, The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn, and Aster’s Good Right Things, along with YA…
The Christmas Bum Book
Written by Kate Mayes Illustrated by Andrew Joyner Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Kate possibly has a fixation on bums as she has also written The Bum Book and The Easter…
A Very Playschool Christmas
By Jan Stradling and Jedda Robaard Reviewed by Mia Macrossan The iconic children’s program Playschool has been on TV for more than forty years encouraging generations of Australians to wonder,…
Meerkat Christmas
By Aura Parker Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Aura is a creator whose previous published books include Meerkat Splash, Goodnight Glow Worms and The Silly Seabed Song. Her work is characterised…
Tjitji Lullaby
Written by Michael Ross and Zaachariaha Fielding Illustrated by Lisa Kennedy Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Tjitji is a word in the Anangu Pitjantjajara Yankunytjatjara languages that means ‘child’ so this…
Best Books of 2022
At this time of year we ask our reviewers to select the best books they have read this year. Here is the result which should provide some wonderful holiday reading…
