Bruce Whateley, The Ugliest Dog in the World (30th Anniversary edition), HarperCollins Publishers, January 2022, 32 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781460761533 What happens when you are the only one who thinks your dog is beautiful? A little girl has just that problem. Everyone who crosses paths with her dog thinks it is the ugliest dog in the world – mum, dad, Auntie Nellie and even the local butcher thinks she is most unattractive! An entertaining story of a little girl and her love for her dog will touch a lot of hearts, The Ugliest Dog in the World highlights that beauty…
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Cristina Neri, For Love, Lake Press Pty Ltd, April 2021, 32 pp., ISBN 9780655213611 For all the comforts they did not enjoy, their life was a happy one. Carina and her father, Matteo tend their garden at the base of a ‘slumbering volcano’ each day. Matteo lovingly lifts Carina onto their donkey and leads them along a treacherous path to a terrace-walled garden that has all sorts of curiosities for a little girl. As Carina investigates the garden that has been toiled by her family for generations, she wonders why the creatures exist. Matteo answers her the same way each…
Garth Nix, Terciel and Elinor, Allen & Unwin, November 2021, 416 pp., RRP $24.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760878818 I am a long-time fan of Garth Nix’s writing, and anyone with an interest in Australian fantasy and YA fiction is probably already familiar with his name. From the Old Kingdom series, to Frogkisser, and everything in between, Nix always delivers on magic, mystery, and worlds in which to get lost. Terciel and Elinor takes us back to the award-winning Old Kingdom series, and tells the story before Sabriel of how Sabriel’s parents met, and it delivers on the magic and danger in…
Sofie Laguna (text) and Judy Watson (illustrator), When You’re Older, Allen & Unwin, March 2022, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760291341 When You’re Older explores the loyalty and connection between siblings. As the older brother envisions his future adventures with his new baby brother readers are taken on a magical and imaginative journey across seas and through the jungle, all while they protect each other and are by each other’s side every step of the way. Sofie Laguna warmly captures ‘the importance of relationships with the people you go through life with’ while also highlighting the patience and importance…
Yvette Poshoglian, Dear Greta, Penguin Random House, March 2022, 288 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761043789 Dear Greta, a novel aimed at readers aged 8-11 years details the everyday life of Alice who is a Year 6 student, grappling with the ups and downs of school, friendships and a world that seems full of expectations. Alice has a library assignment to write a letter to influential young leader, Greta Thunberg. She begins to write to her daily, journalling her thoughts and questions. The structure of the novels is a collection of emails that Alice writes but never sends. Alice expresses…
Holly Jayne, Treehouse Friends (Bunnygirl), Berbay Publishing, March 2022, 32 pp., RRP $25.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780645069679 Bea loves bunnies, cute things, and her best friend Woofs. In their second adventure together, they discover a treehouse in the park with a mysterious inhabitant. Why has nobody ever met him before? As it turns out, he’s not especially comfortable around strangers and needs a little encouragement to make new friends. With the help of her animal friends and an invitation to the world’s best movie night, James and Bunnygirl are on track to being the greatest of friends of all! Holly Jayne,…
Tim Harris (text) and James Hart (illustrator), Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables Join Forces, Penguin Random House, March 2022, 240 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761044557 Everyone’s favourite teacher, the magical unicycle riding Mr Bambuckle initiates new adventures in Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables Join Forces. Like in all the Remarkables series, this fifth book is filled with crazy plans, fun, shenanigans, and absurdity at Blue Valley School. The villain is Principal Sternblast, who is plotting to change Blue Valley School into an elite selective school and force the current students to move to other schools. Four new students Chip Radar, Veer Patel, Fern…
Rhiannon Fielding (text) and Chris Chatterton (illustrator), Little Dinosaur (Ten Minutes to Bedtime), Penguin Random House, February 2022, 28 pp., RRP $14.99 (board), ISBN 9780241532676 Rumble the dinosaur loves to have fun. Every night before he goes to sleep, he explores the jungle, and goes on a wild adventure, having fun with his friends. He plays in the mud until a roar in the night lights up the sky. Will Rumble find his adventure and make it back in time for bed? Rhiannon Fielding has once again created a great addition to the Ten Minutes to Bed series. The rhythmic rhyme and…
Erik J. Brown, All That’s Left in the World, Hachette, March 2022, 304 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781444960167 After the Superflu wiped out most of the population, Jamie finds himself completely and utterly alone. At least, that is until an injured Andrew stumbles across his cabin in the woods looking for help. Jamie has plenty reason to fear desperate strangers, but something about Andrew makes him want to help. As Andrew strengthens, so too does their friendship, and it becomes hard to imagine being alone again. When they eventually step out into a strange new world together, a world…
Jacqueline Harvey (text) and Kate Isobel Scott (illustrator), That Cat, Penguin Random House Australia, March 2022, 24 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781761040702 That Cat is a simple rhyming story which captures many different types of cats. There are brat cats and fat cats, rat cats and mat cats… but if there’s one cat everyone knows, it’s THAT CAT. Each page introduces us to a new type of cat, whether it be Mat Cat doing some flexible yoga poses, Fat Cat surrounded by tins of tuna, or my favourite; Bat Cat – a ginger cat dressed as Batman. Featured throughout…