James Tedesco, Hat-Trick Teddy, Pan Macmillan Australia, March 2021, 224pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760982911 A book perfect for any little football lover, Hat-Trick Teddy is written by NRL Superstar James Tedesco which is sure to add to its appeal. Tedesco’s story is about 12-year-old Teddy who lives in the country with his parents and big brother. He dreams of being an NRL star; and lives and breathes footy. Drawing inspiration from his own childhood, Tedesco encourages children to believe in themselves and their dreams while bravely tackling the obstacles along the way. Throughout the book at the end of…
Author: Admin
R.A. Spratt, No Escape (Friday Barnes #9), Penguin Random House Australia, February 2021, 288 pp., RRP $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760895761 Young enthusiasts for the detective story will be familiar with the clever Friday, whose logic and courage can solve most problems. In this one she protects the treasures of Florence from a menacing group of thieves hiding behind a respectable and prominent figure. Spratt’s witty characterisation of her fifteen-year-old+ characters, flawed and surprisingly realistic, engages the reader. We are led on a dramatic romp through the Uffitzi and Galilleo Museums and the historic streets of Florence, as well as a…
Robert Vescio (text) and Mel Armstrong (illustrator), Into the Wild, New Frontier Publishing, December 2020, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781921928789 Robert Vescio has written many picture books and says that one of his aims is to write stories the help children to better understand their world. Here he explores a child’s relationship with nature, the ‘wild’ to be found close to home. Roman loves to take solitary rambles along the seaside or into the forest. With his magnifying glass, his net and handy bag he examines bugs, crabs, squirrels, and stares at owls, foxes, and squirrels. He ponders…
Claire Saxby (text) and Jess Racklyeft (illustrator), Iceberg, Allen & Unwin, Feb 2021, 24 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760526047 This world is not empty, nor ever still. Far from the places we know, it feels everything we do. Antarctic nights and star-filled skies signal the start of our journey as we follow an iceberg through seasons after it plunges into the ocean. What follows is a unique exploration reminding us of the natural beauty and fragility of the world. Claire Saxby compels us to “look closer” at the effects of climate change. Her text is both narrative and non-fiction, effortlessly creating a…
Michelle Kadarusman, Girl of the Southern Sea, University of Queensland Press, February 2021, 216 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780702262937 A gifted student, Nia longs to attend high school so she can follow her dream and become a writer. But her family has barely enough money for food, let alone an education. Following a miraculous escape from a bus accident, Nia is gifted with “good luck magic” – or at least that’s what everyone is saying. Soon the family business is booming and there might even be enough money to return to school. When a secret promise threatens everything she’s…
Various authors, A User’s Guide to a Pandemic, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, December 2020, 256 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780648205333 As a teacher during the ongoing global pandemic, at times it has been difficult to know how best to broach the state of the world with my students. The best approach I found was to simply check in with them and let them explain how they were experiencing it – the good, the bad, the hilarious, the sad. In this collaboration between Story Factory, 100 Story Building, Storyboard and The Story Island Project, 83 young writers were given the…
Helen Milroy, Backyard Bugs, Fremantle Press, March 2021, 32 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760990282 The joy of this book is in the illustrations. They are full-page, richly coloured, and each one is a unique design carrying strong influences from the contemporary art of the peoples of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Helen Milroy (Australia’s first indigenous doctor, first indigenous child psychiatrist, Professor at UWA, 2020 WA Australian of the Year, and the AFL’s first Indigenous Commissioner) is herself a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara, a region where evidence of occupation and art-making goes back 41,000…
Alys Jackson (text) and Leigh Brown (illustrator) Hugo’s Runaway Legs, Larrikin House, 32 pp., February 2021, RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780648804987 When Hugo wakes up one morning, he discovers his legs have run away. Worse, they’ve jumped on a bus. And so goes this rollicking yarn, as Hugo borrows the legs of various animals in a bid to catch his legs. The latest picture book from Larrikin House, Hugo’s story is told in rhyming couplets. When the lad finally catches up with his legs, he discovers they are quitting because they’re tired of all the sitting. So, Hugo makes a…
Various authors, Unboring Exploring, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, January 2021, 144pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780648205326 Early Harvest is a program run out of 100 Story Building – the inventive, creative, and exciting organisation for young writers in Melbourne. Early Harvest gathers together an editorial board of Year 5 and 6 students and takes them through an in-depth look at the publishing industry, culminating in the publication of an actual, real-life, can-hold-in-your-hands, book! Last year the program ran throughout the pandemic, with five schools participating in workshops, in which students honed their fiction and poetry skills and submitted their work…
Mike Dumbleton (text) and Brett Curzon (illustrator), Dandy and Dazza, New Frontier Publishing, April 2021, 32pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781913639150 This entertaining picture book is a look at a dog’s life from two very different perspectives. Dandy is large, well behaved, pampered and ‘best in show’ kind of hound, while Dazza is a rough and tumble, rule-breaking, adventurous little mongrel. When they meet at the dog park, they quickly become friends and have lots of fun together. Dandy learns how to let go and become a little bit crazy, and Dazza, under Dandy’s influence, learns to temper his antics…