family

CBCA Short Listed Early Childhood Books Reviews

Goodbye House, Hello House

June 24, 2020

Margaret Wild (text) and Ann James (illustrator), Goodbye House, Hello House, Allen & Unwin, July 2019, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781743311103 I was lucky enough to hear […]

Dealing with Change, family, Moving house, series of books

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Older Readers Reviews

Butterfly Yellow

May 1, 2020

Thanhha Lai, Butterfly Yellow, University of Queensland Press, March 2020, 304 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780702262890 It is not common to find a novel set in the past

asylum seeker, family, grief, loss, Refugees, resilience, siblings, war torn

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Reviews Younger Readers

H is for Happiness

February 26, 2020

Barry Jonsberg, H is for Happiness, Allen & Unwin, January 2020, 256 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760527402 H is for Happiness is a film tie-in edition

book to movie, Bullying, courage, Depression, family, friendship, grief, loss, Love, only child, resilience, self-confidence, siblings

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Older Readers Reviews

Emergency Rescue Angel

February 11, 2020

Cate Whittle, Emergency Rescue Angel, Scholastic Australia, February 2020, 256 pp., RRP $16.99, ISBN 9781760669263 This interesting blend of genres usually involve older female protagonists,

Angels, family, friendship, grief, loss, relationships, resilience

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Highly Recommended Older Readers Reviews

A New Kind of Everything

February 5, 2020

Richard Yaxley, A New Kind of Everything, Scholastic Australia, February 2020, 272 pp., RRP $18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781743834077 When Dinny Gallagher’s father Barney dies, his family is shattered. He is

abuse, Death, domestic abuse, Drugs, family, grief, loss, masculinity, Racism, resilience, Suicide, Trauma

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Older Readers Reviews

Shatter City (Impostors #2)

December 9, 2019

Scott Westerfield, Shatter City (Impostors #2), Allen & Unwin, September 2019, 416 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760528256 Shatter City

Dystopian, family, Missing Persons, Mystery, Sci-Fi, series of books, Suspense, twins, YA

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Early Childhood Books Picture Books Reviews

I Am Me

December 8, 2019

Silvana Philippoussis, I Am Me, 2017, 40 pp., RRP $17.95 (hbk), ISBN 9780646979243 Aimed at the preschool child, I am

board book, building relationships, family

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Intermediate Readers Reviews Younger Readers

Marlow Brown: Scientist in the Making

November 25, 2019

Kesta Fleming (text) and Marjory Gardner (illustrator), Marlow Brown: Scientist in the Making, Celapene Press, October 2019, 72 pp., ISBN

Creative thinking, critical thinking, experiments, family, female protagonist, Science, scientists

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Highly Recommended Picture Books Reviews

Trouble in the Surf

October 20, 2019

Stephanie Owen Reeder (text) and Briony Stewart (illustrator), Trouble in the Surf, National Library of Australia, October 2019, 32 pp.,

Australian history, bravery, Charles Kingsford-Smith, family, Heroes, Surf Lifesaving

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Older Readers Reviews

This is How We Change the Ending

October 11, 2019

Vikki Wakefield, This is How We Change the Ending, Text Publishing, September 2019, 272 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922268136

Anxiety, Coming of age, community centres, family, friendship, Hope, Perseverance, Poverty, resilience, self discovery, survival

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