Author: Admin

Beryl Webber (text), Fern Martins (illus.) Big Fella Rain, Magabala Books, Oct 2017,  32pp.,  $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925360639 This book has an enticing front cover with three enchanting frogs happily playing on some stalks, which, when we turn to the back, we find are water lily stalks. These frogs are enjoying the results of the ‘big fella rain’. The book makes clear the importance of rain in regeneration; the whole landscape comes alive with the coming of the wet. The language is poetic (‘Lightning flashes through liquorice clouds’) and the story builds from that first hint of lightning to the raindrops splashing…

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Kerry Anne Jordinson, Storm Pearl  Back Room Press, 20 Oct 2017,  24pp.,  $18.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780648136408 This book is written and illustrated by Kerry Anne Jordinson, who is a Broome-based artist. It tells the story of a small girl, Maggie, visiting her grandmother, whose birthday it is. On the way she falls asleep, something which is indicated only by the illustration showing her sitting with her eyes closed. While she’s asleep Maggie dreams of visiting a ship which she recognises as a pearl lugger and, while there, she meets a man in an old-fashioned diving suit. He seems to recognise her…

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Reviewer Lynne shares her picks for 2017… Non-fiction:  The Curated Closet – Anuschka Rees Wanting to bring some rationale to my piecemeal wardrobe, I found The Curated Closet to be really helpful. It helps the reader to work out their own style and dress sense and encourages them to be disciplined in what they need to buy, rather than following fashion trends. Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman I took this with me to Finland and Scandinavia earlier in the year and enjoyed reading it in its true setting. Fiction: Lady Cop Makes Trouble – Amy Stewart This is the second…

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Reviewer Stella  shares her picks for 2017… The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage – Philip Pullman As good, if not better, than Northern Lights, the first in His Dark Materials. The second in this, his latest series, in still in his head, I think. Ink and Bone, Paper and Fire, and Ash and Quill – Rachel Caine A terrific trilogy about a world where the Librarians know and control everything – not for the good, though. A Man in Full – Tom Wolfe This is one for the grown-ups. A Trump-like character, set in…

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Reviewer Raquel shares her picks for 2017… The 91 Storey Treehouse – Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton My son loves this series and couldn’t wait to start the latest installment. I loved to listen to his giggling while he read page after page. Work Strife Balance – Mia Freedman Mia had me laughing out loud so many times. This book was an easy read as Mia writes in such a relatable way that I felt like we were actually having a conversation. Do Not Open This Book – Andy Lee Laughs all round for…

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Reviewer Julie Murphy shares her picks for 2017… Crazy About Cats – Owen Davey This book is beautiful. The writing is interesting, entertaining and witty, the information is faultless, and the illustrations and design are simply gorgeous. This information book would make a great gift for kids who love animals (especially wild cats) and dabbling in facts. Double Take – Susan Hood and Jay Fleck This is a picture book for kids 3+ about opposites…and a whole lot more. It reveals that things are not always as they seem – it just depends on your perspective. What a great message! Duck, Death and…

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A F Harrold (text),  Joe Todd-Stanton (illus.), Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space, Bloomsbury,  7 Sept 2017,  256pp.,  $12.99 (pbk),  ISBN:   9781408869475  Greta Zargo, an eleven-year-old orphan who lives by herself, is trying to find out who’s responsible for stealing cakes in Upper Lowerbridge. Meanwhile alien robots intent on creating an encyclopaedia of the universe are heading for Earth, ready to obliterate it completely—once they have permission.  While on the case, intrepid reporter Greta, thanks to a spelling mistake and a talking parrot, inadvertently becomes responsible for the fate of planet Earth. Full of wit and humour…

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Robyn Osborne (text),  Sadami Konchi (illus.), My Dog Socks, Ford Street, 1 Oct 2017, 32pp., $24.95 (hbk),  ISBN: 9781925272826  ‘Most people think Socks is an ordinary dog, but when we explore the beach, he turns into a… daring dolphin! Surging through water and cresting the waves, splashing and crashing, tumbling and stumbling.’ My Dog Socks is a timeless tale of one boy and his best friend in all the world, his loving and energetic dog, Socks. Told from the little boy’s perspective, through sweetly written prose, readers are invited into the magical world of imaginative play and the endless possibilities…

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Paul Griffin, Saving Marty, Text Publishing, 2 Oct 2017, 208pp., $16.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781925498868  ‘First, the rain wasn’t just in my father’s eyes, it was in his voice too. A gentle rain, a soft sadness. In that letter he wrote about music, the music in it, how it was like surfing, he described his heart as broken, and here it was. Second, my father was flat-out amazing. He had that thing Pal had. Like he would sing the same way if nobody was listening. Meanwhile, he was singing to the universe.’  Saving Marty is an uplifting, bittersweet novel about enduring friendship…

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Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, The War I Finally Won,  Text Publishing, 2 Oct 2017, 400pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925498851  ‘I knew my mother –Mam- worked nights in a munitions factory in London. I knew bombs were falling on London now, every single night in fierce, horrendous waves. I knew the Germans targeted factories, especially munitions ones. I’d been caught in a bombing raid myself. Brick walls exploded above my head. Afterwards shattered glass drifted across the streets like snow.’ The War I Finally Won is an astounding novel that follows on from Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s first award-winning historical adventure, The War…

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