Kate McCabe (text) and Nicole Berlach (illustrator), The Butterfly and the Ants, CSIRO Publishing, May 2022, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781486313471 This story explores the lifecycle of the butterfly along with relationships between butterflies and ants, and the plants around us, including those right in our backyard or local park. Written in an informative way, readers follow the journey of Blue the caterpillar who hatches, feeds, grows, changes colour, sheds skin, creates a chrysalis, and ultimately transforms into a butterfly. I would recommend this book for the older end of the early years, including early primary as the…
Author: Admin
A. F. Steadman, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, Simon & Schuster, April 2022, 400 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781398512429 Forget everything you thought you knew about unicorns. The ones in this book are not pure, good, white creatures. They are vicious, violent, bloodthirsty, carnivorous animals which have to be tamed. They have to be bonded with a rider when they hatch to avoid becoming wild and dangerous and the only riders allowed are those thirteen-year-olds who pass the Hatchery exam. These candidates are then transported to the Island where they have to gain entry to the Hatchery. Inside, a…
Kyle Hughes-Odgers, Everything You Want to See, Fremantle Press, April 2022, 30 pp., RRP $14.99 (board), ISBN 9781760991371 On first glance I thought Everything You Want to See was another Eric Carle title. I was delighted to discover that in fact this sweet board book was written and illustrated by an Australian author/illustrator, Kyle Hughes-Odgers. Odgers has released a number of other titles including On a Small Island, Can a Skeleton Have an X-ray? and Ten Tiny Things and has been awarded for his unique illustrative style. Opening with ‘First things first: a dog, a dinosaur’, Everything You Want to…
Sarah Ayoub, The Cult of Romance, HarperCollins Publishers, May 2022, 320 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781460758946 Natalie wants nothing to do with love and marriage, for her, this is a scam and sad end for girls with so much more potential in life. Rather, she only cares for social justice issues such as feminism and the refugee crisis. Any chance Natalie has, she will make her case to anyone who contradicts her beliefs or needs a reality check. Over the years, she has surrounded herself with like-minded friends, but how will she react when her best friend travels to…
Jamie Russell, Battlefield (SkyWake, #2), Walker Books, March 2022, 320 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781406397529 Ace gamer CASEY_FLOW is in trouble. Marooned on a distant planet, she and hundreds of other teenagers are forced to play hit game SkyWake for real, fighting alongside the brutal alien Red Eyes against the mysterious Squids. Casey is determined to rescue the other gamers and return to Earth – but when the Squids beg for help, she’s faced with an impossible decision. Casey and her teammates are battling for their lives… but which side should they be on? Battlefield is the second instalment…
Kate Gordon, The Calling of Jackdaw, University of Queensland Press, March 2022, 224 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780702263484 When Jackdaw Hollow is struck by a bolt of lightning as a baby and survives unscathed, he grows up questioning why he was spared and his parents were not. He must be special, he must have a calling. The only problem – he hasn’t quite found it. Then his friendly team of ghosts introduce him to Angeline. She’s nothing like the orphan girls at Direleafe Hall, she’s wild and determined to follow her own calling, the circus. Drawn to her free-spirited…
Bridget Farmer, The Bush Birds, Black Cockatoo Books, October 2021, 32 pp., RRP $29.95 (hbk), ISBN 9780646843025 The Bush Birds takes the reader on a walk through the Australian bush to discover twelve of our native birds. Each bird is depicted on a separate page, with its name concealed under a flap and a short rhyming stanza. The rear of the book includes more information about each bird and more information to aid with identification. The book is beautiful illustrated throughout, giving the birds a sense of movement and the colours associated with the bush. The text is simple, clear,…
Jane Jolly (text) and Di Wu (illustrator), Star of Anise, National Library of Australia, October 2022, 32 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922507396 Based on the stories of Sikh hawkers in Australia in the late 1800s, Jane Jolly transports readers on a journey of culture and tradition. Australian children Annie and Arthur eagerly await the arrival of Bhagwan Singh on his wagon which is filled with treasures of colour, texture, and smell. The children delight in exploring the silks, soaps, spices, and shirts available in the wagon and excitedly enjoy the delicious spun sugar that Bhagwan makes for them. Through…
Tanya Hennessy (text) and Leigh Hedstrom (illustrator), Spotlight Please…It’s Stevie Louise (Stevie Louise, #2), Allen & Unwin, May 2022, 176 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760526429 This is the second book in the Stevie Louise series following on from Drum Roll please…It’s Stevie Louise. Stevie is an extroverted ten-year-old entertainer who along with her gang of friends make up the amateur theatre company, Lunchbox Productions. But the kids are horrified when Stevie’s mum proclaims she can no longer afford to keep them fed, costumed and transported. Then Stevie’s friend Trixie suggests a Talent Show with $1000 prize money as the…
Charlotte Lance (text) and David Booth (illustrator), Moth in a Fancy Cardigan, Berbay Publishing, March 2022, 200 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780645069624 Moth in a Fancy Cardigan is a gorgeous tale of a moth and a butterfly desperate to be something they are not. Gary Grey Moth lives a dreary life. His clothes are grey, his home is grey, everything is grey. Gary despises grey. But this is his life. What can he do? Florence butterfly is bright, vibrant and utterly beautiful. Everyone notices her, unlike Gary who is basically invisible. Florence is particularly colourful when she wears her…