Lawson, Sue and Jodi Toering, Inside Story: Creative Writing for Students, Wild Dog Books, April 2024, 64 pp., RRP $24.99 (Flexi Bound), ISBN 9781742036670 This is a helpful and accessible book. It’s not too long but contains all sorts of useful information for students wanting to start creative writing or indeed polish their technique. The book is clearly set out into sections – Making a Start, Writing your Story. Revising and Editing Your Story and What Now? There are sub-sections within each such as planning and drafting, There are helpful hints on naming characters and writing good dialogue. The questions…
Author: Admin
Lisa Harvey-Smith, (text) and Sophie Beer, (illustrator), Universal Guide to the Night Sky, Thomas & Hudson, August 2023, 143 pp., $24.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760763121 This is an excellent resource for kids interested in the night sky and astronomy. It is unusual for this sort of book to be written with the southern hemisphere in mind, so that is an added bonus. Books written for the northern hemisphere have quite different stars and constellations to the southern hemisphere (although there is some degree of commonality). The layout of the book cleverly introduces the reader to basic concepts that it then builds upon to…
Joel McKerrow (text) and Wayne Bryant (illustrator), The Dreaded Mr Snipe (Urban Legend Hunters #1), Larrikin House, April 2024, 195 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922804716 Urban Legend Hunters, Joel McKerrow’s first graphic novel with Larrikin House, is a top pick for upper primary school students. The story centres around a trio of main characters: Jeremy, the insistent storyteller; Samantha, the sceptic; and Boris, the hesitant accomplice. Jeremy has decided he must tell all about urban legends and the dark and spooky fireside at school camp is just the right setting to give his story the gravitas it needs. Sam…
Kristen Kelly (text), and Amelina Jones (illustrator), Mitchel itches: An Eczema story, Exisle Publishing, April 2024, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922539724 In Australia 1 in 3 children, and as many as 4 out of 10 infants, live with eczema. Mitchell has eczema. So many children do. This enlightening picture book, Mitchell itches gives insight into life with eczema and the daily struggles with trying not to itch and scratch! The main character, Mitchell, invites us to journey with him through his battles with having eczema, which he’s had since birth. He describes how it presents as an irritant,…
Neridah McMullin (text) and Andrew Mclean (illustrator), Tearaway Coach, Walker Books Australia, April 2024, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760653170 This is a near-perfect picture book with a rollicking story of a Cobb & Co coach journey told in a most engaging way, and outstanding illustrations that provide a convincing picture of the 1850s and the speed and beauty of the horses. As always with Walker Books, the design and attention to detail is impressive. Young Fenton sits beside the driver, Cabbage Tree Ned (based on a real character), who teaches him how to drive the powerful team of…
Josh Pyke (text) and Stephen Michael King (illustrator), Your Head’s not Pthe Place to Store problems… In, Scholastic Press, September 2023, 32 pp., RRP $26.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781761293023 This wonderful picture book with rhyming text and wacky creatures is a humorous exhortation to young readers on how to tackle the worries and stresses of life. Tackling mood swings and coping with problems, a couple of lines are repeated with slight variations throughout like a refrain: “We’re full to the brim with unknowable things but your mind’s not the place to store problems in.” Stephen Michael King’s zany illustrations show various…
Pamela Rushby, Those girls, Walker Books Australia, April 2024, 336 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760657840 On the farms and in the dairies, on the outback station runs, Those girls with grit are needed, Just as much as men with guns. (Poem written by Sergeant S. Clark) It’s 1942 in Brisbane, and sixteen year old Hilly is still at school, while her older brother Graham has left to fight in the war. When Hilly sees a poster for the Women’s Land Army she jumps at the chance to get away from home and contribute to the war effort. Hilly finds herself…
Niña Nill, We’re Moving Away, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, August 2023, 24 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781761212321 This book was recently notabled in the 2024 CBCA Early Childhood Book of the Year category. A debut picture book from artist and author, Niña Nill, it’s a gentle depiction of a child and their family moving overseas. A particular feature that is likely to get children talking are the spreads where individual items are illustrated – a list of things to bring and things to leave, and later, a list of things to unpack and new things needed. Even for children…
Briony Stewart, Gymnastica Fantastica!, Lothian Children’s Books, November 2023, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780734421852 A perfect picture book for pre-schoolers, this book has just been shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s 2024 Early Childhood Book of the Year award. Joyful illustrations and sublime wordplay, captures that ‘look-at-me’ time in a child’s life where every moment offers an impromptu opportunity to perform. The child in this book performs for their nonplussed shaggy dog. And while we see the child in fluid movement, with several different moves to a page, they remain delightfully unconcerned about whether they’re performing…
Lili Wilkinson, A Hunger of Thorns, Allen & Unwin, April 2023, 409 pp., RRP $24.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760526948 The prolific and richly imaginative Lili Wilkinson is on top of her game for this fantasy novel about magic, infatuation, bravery and grief. Maude, whose deceased mother was a rogue witch, has been raised by her Nan and her Nan’s partner, Halmoni. Nan too is a witch, but she keeps her magic within the strict laws that govern such things. Maude was once magically gifted too, but once she reached puberty the magic disappeared. Or did it? Maude’s enduring gift is storytelling,…