Check out the incredible titles shortlisted for the 2025 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards! Books are awarded for their impact on language and literacy development in the following categories: Age-related award categories are: Birth to three years/ […]

By Suzanne Gervay & Carolyn Daly Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Presented with the Lifetime Social Justice Literature Award for her body of work by the International Literacy Association and an Order of Australia, Susanne Gervays’s  books are recognised all over […]

By Kate and Jol Temple Illustrated by Shiloh Gordon Reviewed by Mia Macrossan This excellent series continues to delight and engage emerging and reluctant readers in the adventures of a team of elite rescue frogs who we first met in […]

By Shelly Unwin &  Lana Azore Reviewed by Sandy Driessens “Time to go! Wait a minute! I’ve got to tie my sh … sheep together.” Ah, the morning rush for parent and child to leave home and be on our […]

By Adrian Beck & Dean Rankine Reviewed by Lara Cain Gray Brock the Croc: Make It Snappy! is the second instalment of an action-packed series written by Adrian Beck and illustrated by Dean Rankine – both prolific and popular Australian […]

By Nova Weetman Reviewed by Lara Cain Gray Nova Weetman is an exemplary storyteller. There are several check boxes we’re accustomed to ticking when reviewing novels for young readers – the language, the messaging, the trigger warnings. But the best […]

By Lucie Stevens Reviewed by Mia Macrossan Lucie Stevens  is children’s author, freelance writer, editor and publishing consultant. R. I. P. Nanny Tobbins, about a young girl coping with an unruly ghost, is her debut middle grade novel. Nine year […]

By Alexandra Moody Reviewed by Lucille Rose Rival Darling, the first in the  Darling Devils series,  is a YA contemporary romance following the drama filled lives of two Minnesota high school students. Violet has one rule: never date a jock. […]

By Kate Alice Marshall Reviewed by Helen Gearing Marshall is a trusted voice in the American horror landscape, writing suspenseful books for children and adults. Her previous middle grade titles include the Secrets of Eden Eld trilogy, which follows a […]

Emma loves all things sci-fi, fantasy and horror, but has a particular soft spot for reading and writing YA. Her debut YA novel Anomaly was published by Affirm Press in 2024 after an early draft was selected for the Varuna and Affirm Press […]

The beauty of picture books is the opportunity to illustrate aspects that the text does not include. After completing her illustration degree at Leeds Arts University in 2021, Blithe now lives in Brisbane, Australia. When not drawing, she can be […]

‘It’s about supporting the text, enriching it, trying to surprise.’ Mia Macrossan talks to Hélène Magisson who is a critically acclaimed Australian illustrator of many books for children. Before Hélène turned to book illustration, she was a painting restorer in […]