Natalie Jane Prior (text) and Stephen Michael King (illustration), Wandering Star, Scholastic Australia, May 2019, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760663339 A young girl and her horse go on an enchanting adventure making friends along the way. On their travels, they encounter a circus filled with talented animals, a farm with a field full of sheep, and finally their favourite place of all—a secret cove where they look out for dolphins and seals. Even when their adventure takes a turn and they end up in a dark cave, the young girl discovers how brave she can be with her…
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Zanni Louise (text) and Philip Bunting (illustrator), Mum for Sale (Errol! #2), Scholastic Australia, April 2019, 32 pp., RRP $17.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781742996080 When Errol the penguin struggles to get his mum’s attention, what does he do? He puts her up for sale! Not before long, Errol is reminded how precious his mum is and all the wonderful things she can do. Zanni Louise’s simple, yet eye-catching text along with Philip Bunting’s vibrant illustrations makes this story easily accessible for younger children, encouraging them to read and interpret the pictures on their own. Young children will wholeheartedly relate to Errol’s…
Anna Walker, I Love My Grandma (I Love Ollie #9), Scholastic Australia, April 2019, 24 pp., RRP $17.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760667184 While Ollie the zebra spends the day with his grandma playing, singing, painting and having a picnic, I am fondly reminded of my own grandmother, who always had a story to tell, or game to play. Written in effortless rhyme, I Love My Grandma, captures the heart-warming bond that can exist between grandparents and grandchildren, and beautifully portrays the magic ability of children to find joy in the simplest of things. Anna Walker has an uncanny ability to extend…
Deborah Underwood (text) and Hannah Marks (illustrator), The Panda Problem, Scholastic Australia, May 2019, 48 pp., RRP $15.99, ISBN 978176066590 NY Times’ best-selling author Deborah Underwood has created a refreshingly different picture book in The Panda Problem. When a cheeky panda interrupts the story a narrator is trying to tell, we know it’s going to be good. You see, a narrator needs the main character to have a problem; otherwise there will be no story. But Panda doesn’t have a care in the world. He’s not scared of spiders, he doesn’t want a friend, and he doesn’t wish to be…
Megan Daley, Raising Readers: How to nurture a child’s love of books, University of Queensland Press, April 2019, 246 pp., RRP $27.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780702262579 I am not the most objective person when it comes to this book, but I am sure I can review it with some impartiality. Full disclosure. I worked with Megan in my first teacher librarian job and we have remained friends since then. This book is a culmination of two years of writing and editing, but of course, is based on Megan’s experience and practice as a teacher librarian for the last 20. Raising Readers:…
Hilary Rogers, Boss Girl (Girltopia #2), Scholastic Australia, March 2019, 192pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781742994598 Boss Girl commences four weeks after an outbreak of a mysterious virus affecting all males in Girltopia (formerly known as Melbourne). Clara has shot to fame via Instagram after her bravery in the early days of the crisis, and is showing great initiative starting up an informal nursery and volunteering at the hospital. Although at first glance it may appear unrealistic that ‘tweens’ would take on that much responsibility in a somewhat dystopian society, it does not come across as forced or unnatural and Clara,…
Jacqueline Harvey, Clementine Rose and the Bake-Off Dilemma (Clementine Rose #14), Random House Australia, December 2018, 160 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780143780595 Six year old Clementine Rose lives with her family in Penberthy House. The holidays are coming and Clementine is looking forward to a trip to the city, but her plans are changed when the hosts of The Great Village Bake-Off, Florence and Nobby Loveberry, choose Penberthy House to stage their next show. The village is abuzz with the news and would-be contestants are flocking to the auditions. There will also be a junior bake-off so Clementine is…
Tim Harris (text), and James Hart (illustrator), On the Lookout (Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables #4), Penguin Random House, February 2019, 240 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780143793144 Mr Bambuckle and his remarkable class are back again in the fourth book of the series. The story begins where the last one left off – at the campgrounds with Miss Frost considering the implications of a runaway student, Vex Vron. She realises with much irritation that she must work together with the teacher in order to keep her job. This involves some clandestine shenanigans to keep the runaway a secret from the principal…
Laura Bloom (text), and Jesse Blackadder (text), Frankie (Dream Riders #1), Walker Books Australia, May 2019, 226 pp., $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760650513 Frankie and her parents have moved from the city to the country for a ‘tree change’ – but it hasn’t worked out quite they way they planned. Frankie’s parents divorced and her mum has moved in with her partner Vivian, and Vivian’s young daughter. But finally, it looks like Frankie will be getting the horse she was promised when they first left the city. It turns out that horse is a shaggy pony named Zen who is reluctant…
Chrissie Michaels, author of Castle Hill Rebellion, part of the My Australian Story series, answers some questions about her book. We thank her and Scholastic for this interview. What inspired you to choose the Castle Hill Rebellion as the focus of a My Australian Story novel? While doing research for Convict Girl, my previous novel in the series, I came across quite a few references to a politicised Irish convict presence in the colony, which made me curious to look deeper. When I came across Joseph Holt’s rather romanticised memoir, I decided to explore the significance of the Castle Hill Rebellion as part of…