A Great Escape
By Felice Arena Reviewed by Sue Wright When the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, Germany was reunified. A Great Escape tells the story of Peter, a young boy living…
Julia and the Shark
by Kiran Millwood Hargrave Illustrated by Tom de Freston Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Kiran’s books include The Girl of Ink & Stars, which was the winner of the Waterstones Children’s…
Little Days Out: At the Park
By Sally Garland Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Little Days Out is a series by Sally Garland published by New Frontier. It includes At the Shops, At the Pool and now…
Egg Marks the Spot: Skunk and Badger #2
By Amy Timberlake Illustrated by Jon Klassen Reviewed by Mia Macrossan This is the follow up to Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake and also illustrated by Jon Klassens. That…
The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature
By Sami Bayly Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Sami Bayly is such a young writer and illustrator and here she is again with an impressive inspiring book that will enchant and…
Haywire
By Claire Saxby Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Claire Saxby is an Australian author of fiction, non-fiction and poetry for children, including the splendid Nature Storybooks series, The Anzac Billy and…
Catch A Falling Star
By Meg McKinlay Reviewed by Margaret McKay Lowndes Meg McKinlay is the author of a range of books for children, including picture and chapter books, young adult novels and poetry…
When Rain Turns to Snow
By Jane Godwin A BOOK HOOK from the Ipswich District Teacher-Librarian Network Making friends and more importantly, keeping them, is a big part of any 13-year-old’s life. Lissa’s school and home environments…
The End of the World is Bigger Than Love
By Davina Bell A BOOK HOOK from the Ipswich District Teacher-Librarian Network She said we didn’t know what the world out there had become. We had been alone there so…
The School between Winter and Fairyland
By Heather Fawcett Reviewed by Barbara Braxton “Twelve-year-old Autumn is a beastkeeper at Inglenook School for Magicians, which she secretly dreams of attending as a student. Instead, she must care…
Soon
By Morris Gleitzman A BOOK HOOK from the Ipswich District Teacher-Librarian Network Soon is the fifth novel in what Morris Gleitzman calls a ‘family’ of novels set during and after…
Pear of Hope
By Wenda Shurety Illustrated by Deb Hudson Reviewed by Sandy Driessens Blue skies, butterflies, bees, birds and flowers create a lovely setting for a hopeful little girl. “At the bottom…
The Wolf’s Howl: A Maven & Reeve Mystery Book 2
By A. L. Tait Reviewed by Sandy Driessens The Wolf’s Howl is, what the Glawn Castle locals call, the biting, freezing gale that rages around the mountains, in the valleys…
A Glasshouse of Stars
By Shirley Marr Reviewed by Zewlan Moor A Glasshouse of Stars was picked up off the slush-pile by Jessica Townsend, the internationally best-selling author of the Nevermoor series. She passed…
2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize shortlist CYA category
The Shortlist for the 2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize – Children and Young Adult (CYA) Category is: The Grandest Bookshop in the World, by Amelia Mellor (Affirm Press) We are…
Graphic Novels – New Reading Lists
New Graphic Novels There has been a great upsurge in the publication and popularity of graphic novels in the last decade. They have become main stream in that readers of all…
Where’s My Dinosaur?
By Ashling Kwok Illustrated by Jasmine Berry Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Ashling’s previous books include Lola and Grandpa and The Battle while this is Jasmine’s, debut picture book, although she…
The Magnificent Hercules Quick
By Ursula Dubosarsky Illustrated by Andrew Joyner Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Ursula is now the author of over 60 books for children and young adults, and her work is published…
Stop the Dad Jokes
By Adrian Beck Illustrated by Simon Greiner Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Adrian Beck is the author of several popular humourous stories for children including the Derek Dool, the Champion Charlies…
My Dad Is A Bear
By Nicola Connelly Illustrated by Annie White Reviewed by Mia Macrossan This much loved title is now out as a sturdy board book with an attractive new cover showing Dad…
Fearless With Dad
By Cori Brooke Illustrated by Giuseppe Poli Reviewed by Mia Macrossan This carefully observed picture book shows the many ways in which young boy and his Dad interact all day…
Always
By Morris Gleitzman Reviewed by Barbara Braxton Once I escaped from an orphanage to find Mum and Dad. Then I had a plan for me and Zelda. After the Nazis…
The Bark Book
By Victoria Mackinlay Illustrated by Beth Harvey Reviewed by Sandy Driessens “Dog bark. Tree bark. Let’s go see bark.” You can feel the joy and excitement when you first see…
To the Bridge: The Journey of Lennie and Ginger Mick
By Corinne Fenton Illustrated by Andrew McLean Reviewed by Annaleise Byrd Corinne Fenton is an established picture book author with an affinity for animals and research, while Andrew McLean’s lengthy…
Super Sporty Girls
Reviewed by Margarite Igras Be Inspired and Celebrate Australia’s Amazing Sportswomen This picture book is a compilation of some of Australia’s successful sportswomen with the aim of introducing a range…
The Forest of Moon and Sword
By Amy Raphael Illustrated by August Ro Reviewed by Sarah Custance Amy Raphael is a freelance journalist and a non-fiction book writer and The Forest of Moon and Sword is…
The Vanishing at the Very Small Castle : The Butter O’Bryan Mysteries, #2
By Jackie French Reviewed by Sarah Custance Jackie French is the award-winning Australian author of over 140 books. Her impact on children’s literature led her to become the 2014-2015 Australian…
Treasure in the Lake
By Jason Pamment Reviewed by Sarah Custance Jason Pamment is an Australian author/illustrator and Treasure in the Lake is his debut graphic novel. Iris and Sam have been friends their…
The Song of Lewis Carmichael
By Sofie Laguna Illustrated by Marc McBride Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Sofie Laguna has won numerous awards for her children’s fiction and the 2015 Miles Franklin award for her adult…
Gold!
By Jackie Kerin Illustrated by Annie White Reviewed by Margarite Igras This picture book set in Victoria during the 1850’s gold rush, is based on a true story. The author,…
