Marilyn Campbell (text), Joana Toteva (illus.), Chester the Unlikely Sheepdog: A Bush Verse Picture Book for Children, Spindrift Publishing, Nov 2017, 28pp., $20.00 (pbk), ISBN: 9780980749250 Chester the Unlikely Sheepdog, is the story of a lively little sheepdog who lives on Grumblebum Sheep Station alongside his farmer-owners and the other working dogs. Told in traditional Australian bush verse by award winning author Marilyn Campbell, the sixteen-verse narrative tells the timeless tale of courage through adversity in an unmistakably Australian voice. Life on Grumblebum Sheep Station is far from easy for the working dogs and as the name of the farm suggests…
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Damon Young (text), Peter Carnavas (illus.), My Mum is a Magician, University of Queensland Press, 2 April 2018, 32pp., $24.95 (hbk), ISBN: 9780702259944 All mums are different. But what if your mum was really different? What if your mum was a magician? Damon Young and Peter Carnavas team up again for the fifth instalment in the Ninja Nanna picture book series. Colourful and clever, My Mum is Magician is a delightful story about the magic of mothers. While every child thinks their mother magical, My Mum really is magical. “Some mums gulp green tea, with bitter barley blends. But my mum is…
Rowena House, The Goose Road, Walker Australia, 384pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781406371673 It’s 1916 and 14-year-old Angélique Lacriox has just learnt of her father’s death on the French battlefields. While Angélique does not mourn the death of her cruel and abusive father, she lives in fear of receiving the same news about her beloved brother, Pascal. Without them, the farm must be kept going by Angélique and her maman, a task which grows harder the more her mother withdraws into her own grief. Angélique battles to keep the farm going but a second visit from the Requisition soldiers leaves them with…
Ally Carter, Not If I Save You First, Scholastic Australia, May 2018, 304pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781338134148 Ten-year-olds Maddie and Logan spend almost every moment of the week together. Not only are they best friends, they both have the extraordinary experience of living in the White House. As the daughter of the head of White House security, Maddie loves her life of galas, gowns and the 24/7 gourmet kitchen that comes with being so close to the president’s son. Her life in this comfortable world abruptly ends one night during a failed terrorist attack when Maddie’s father is shot. Maddie is…
Daniel Egnéus,These are Animals, Bloomsbury Australia, April 2018, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk) ISBN 9781408889909 What a delightfully beautiful, funny and enchanting journey through a categorical sequence of habitats as varied species of animals are introduced from all over the world. An engaging welcome note reminds us of the unique diversity our earth has to offer, inviting us to meet the animals: “Some are wide and some are tall, long and thin, round and small. Prickly, squeaky, growly, spiny, fierce, loud, sleek and shiny.” Preschool aged children will adore the antics of active creatures, simplified in mostly short sentences of noun and…
Dianne Wolfer (text), Brian Simmonds (illus.), In the Lamplight, Fremantle Press, April 2018, 120pp., $26.99 (hbk) ISBN 9781925591224 This historical fiction publication; specially coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the end of the war, evolved from research from Diane Wolfer’s other, award-winning titles, Lighthouse Girl and Light Horse Boy. The evocative photographs, archival pieces and charcoal artwork superbly combine with the raw and moving storyline of Rose O’Reilly and her role within a repatriation hospital in Harefield, England, for wounded Australian soldiers during World War 1. In the Lamplight is highly recommended for educating both early and older readers on the…
Karen Tyrrell (text), Aaron Pocock (illus.), Ready. Set. Discover Logan, Digital Future Press, March 2018, 40pp., $15.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780994302199 Yana and her family arrive in Australia from their country; to the City of Logan in Brisbane in the south eastern region of Queensland. Yana’s apprehension is soon relieved upon meeting Bunji, a young Aboriginal boy at the local library. Upon Yana’s enquiry, he enthusiastically guides her from scene to scene, visiting all of the area’s inspiring sites and attractions. Along with Yana, those of us unfamiliar with Logan are enriched with a sample of cultural, traditional and recreational experiences.…
Bobbi JG Weiss, Competing for the Cup (Ride #2), Candlewick Entertainment/Walker Books Australia, 1 May 2018, 272pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9780763698553 This is the second book in the Ride series, based on a Nickelodeon TV series of the same name. Kit Bridges is an American teenager who has lost her mother. She and her father have moved to the UK. Kit’s father has a job teaching and running the stable at Corvington, an elite equestrian boarding school. Kit attends the school but it’s a challenge for her as she has been terrified of horses since a riding accident when she was small.…
Ellis Rowan, abridged by Stephanie Owen Reeder, Bill Baillie: the life and adventures of a pet bilby, National Library of Australia Publishing, 1 March 2018, 104pp., $24.99 (hbk) ISBN: 9780642279200 This book was first published in its unabridged version in 1908. Ellis Rowan was an artist who regularly travelled to remote and often inaccessible places to paint flora and fauna. The book is a fictionalized account of the true story of her pet bilby, also called Bill Baillie. Stephanie Owen Reeder has adapted it for modern audiences and the result is a touching and sometimes nerve-racking account of his various adventures. In…
Jon Gamble (text), Caroline Rittie (illus), The Field of Hum, Karuna Publishing, May 2018, 184pp., $17.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780975247372 Here is a story with many threads. Teenage Ruby and her parents live on a farm with their animals – Ruby has two cats, a guinea pig, rabbits, chickens and sheep. The farm is under threat from a mining company which has a license to explore for coal in the whole region. Ruby and her parents are worried about losing the farm, and Ruby is determined to save it. Between a book of Romantic era poetry she finds in the attic, and learning…