grief and loss Archives

Birdy

June 4, 2025

Sharon Kernot Birdy, Text Publishing, January 2024, 240 pp., RRP $22.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922790606 Short listed for the Children’s Book […]

2025 BOTY, 2025 notable book, 2025 Short Lists, Bullying, family, free verse, friendships, grief and loss, intergenerational friendships, older readers, siblings, therapy, Trauma, trolling, Verse novel, young adult

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CBCA Short Listed Early Childhood Books Picture Books

Grow Big, Little Seed

May 25, 2025

Bec Nanayakkara (text) and Sarah Capon (illustrator), Grow Big, Little Seed: A story about Rainbow Babies, Bright Light, April 2024,

2025 notable book, 2025 Short Lists, early childhood book, family, grief and loss, growing plants, Metaphor, pregnancy loss

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CBCA Short Listed Early Childhood Books Highly Recommended Picture Books Reviews Younger Readers

The Garden of Broken Things

May 24, 2025

Freya Blackwood, The Garden of Broken Things, HarperCollins AU, May 2024, 32 pp., RRP $26.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922539991 Freya Blackwood’s

2025 BOTY, 2025 notable book, 2025 Short Lists, companionship, curiousity, Gardens, grief and loss, intergenerational friendships, Memory, picture book, recycling, resilience, transformation, up-cycling

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Intermediate Readers Reviews Younger Readers

Little Bones

May 17, 2025

Sandy Bigna, Little Bones, University of Queensland Press, March 2025, 256 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780702268878 In Sandy Bigna’s

absent mother, Empathy, friendship, grief and loss, hope and healing, non binary, Verse novel

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CBCA Short Listed Highly Recommended Older Readers Reviews

A Wreck of Seabirds

May 7, 2025

Karleah Olson, A Wreck of Seabirds, Fremantle Press, March 2024, 320 pp., RRP $22.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781760996505 It seems more

2025 BOTY, 2025 Short Lists, coastal gothic, family, friendships, grief and loss, hope and healing, literary fiction, Missing Persons, older readers, romance, set in Western Australia, young adult

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Intermediate Readers Reviews Younger Readers

The Haunting of Fortune Farm

May 2, 2025

KIRTLEY, Sophie, The Haunting of Fortune Farm. Bloomsbury, January 2025, 336 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781526642783 Reader beware! This

adventure, family, Ghosts, Grandmothers, grief and loss, healing, middle fiction, missing sibling, siblings, spooky story, Treasure

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Reviews Uncategorized Younger Readers

Turtle Moon

April 4, 2025

Hannah Gold (text) and Levi Pinfold (illustrator), Turtle Moon, HarperCollins, October 2024, 336 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780008582081 This

animals, Climate Change, eco fiction, Environmental preservation, family, friendship, grief and loss, infertility, Sloths, Turtles

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Little Bones

March 12, 2025

Sandy Bigna, Little Bones, University of Queensland Press, March 2025, 238 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780702268878 Eleven-year-old Bones is

acceptance, family, friendship, grief and loss, highly recommended, intermediate readers, lyrical, magic realism, Metaphor, non binary, taxidermy, Verse novel

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Early Childhood Books Picture Books Reviews Younger Readers

A Teaspoon of Light

March 7, 2025

Peter O’Connor (text) and Nisaluk Chantanakom (illustrator), A Teaspoon of Light, Dirt Lane Press, May 2024, 32 pp., RRP $26,95 (hbk),

Community, friendship, grief and loss, healing, Hope, Memories, picture book, Younger Readers

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LGBTQIA+ Older Readers Reviews

I’m Not Really Here

January 26, 2025

Gary Lonesborough, I’m Not Really Here, Allen and Unwin, September 2024, 375 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761180767 17 year-old

Aboriginal people, contemporary, family, friendship, grief and loss, LGBTQIA+, older readers, online safety, romance, Secrets, Sport, young adult

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Hello my name is Ruby Philpott, my mother is Cath Pownall, Eve Pownall is my great grandmother. Thank you for…

This book is one of the best books I've ever read. Scarlett's story is heartbreaking yet heartwarming all at the…

I really like this book

i am reading this book for home work and it is so intriguing and i want to be like scoop…

It was a really good book I loved reading it