Tanya Hennessy (text) and Leigh Hedstrom (illustrator), Drum Roll Please, It’s Stevie Louise, Allen & Unwin, May 2021, 184 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760526412 Drum Roll Please … It’s Stevie Louise is a funny, light-hearted junior fiction title from comedy sensation, Tanya Hennessy. It will appeal to readers who love humorous fiction by writers such as Peter Helliar and Anh Do. Stevie Louise is a lovable 12-year-old with entrepreneurial aspirations. She’s confident, funny and the leader of the pack. She’s got a lot of attitude and she always wears her gold boots (because that’s where her confidence comes from…
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Narisa Togo, When the Sakura Bloom, Berbay Publishing, March 2021, 32pp., RRP $26.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780648953319 This delicately illustrated picture book shares a glimpse in time with people who live in Japan when the cherry blossoms bloom. We see them in March hurrying past the trees on their way to the station to get to work or school, but as the days get longer and warmer, buds and then flowers bloom to everyone’s delight. First the birds discover the blossoms and then people stop in their rush and then, suddenly the Sakura Festival begins, and everyone celebrates. This story is…
Sean E Avery, Happy as a Hog out of Mud, Larrikin House, March 2021, 36 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922503008 Warthogs love to play in mud. But not Charlie—It’s Charlesworth actually—Oinkington. Charlesworth isn’t a common hog. He is a sophisticated hog who enjoys poetry, English Breakfast tea and bird watching. Charlesworth is so enlightened that, after a muddy mishap, he sets out to find new friends—sophisticated associates—who share his love of the finer things in life. When he spots the flamingos, Charlesworth feels, at last, he’s found some worthy friends. But it turns out they have less in common…
Shannan Stedman and Tayla Stedman, #TheSecretUpstairsFanClubParty (Lola Online #1), Scholastic, February 2021, 208 pp., RRP $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760972417 Lola is a soon-to-be 10 year old exuberant, fun loving Youtuber. She keeps her 9k YouTube subscribers entertained with enthusiastic banter about her farfetched imaginings as well as recordings of creative and messy, boisterous games with her friends. As Lola’s first double digit (10th) birthday approaches, she enthuses online that she will share footage of her planned “birthday extravaganza” – a birthday party of wild imaginings. But her party plans are pared back by her mother’s insistence on far more modest…
Amy Adeney (text) and Amy Calautti (illustrator), Turning Cartwheels, EK Books, February 2021, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925820515 Amy Adeney is a former primary school teacher who has now achieved her goal of writing for children with this debut picture book. Amy Calautti has illustrated several books. Her style is fluid and relaxed creating a sense of movement perfect for this story. Many children yearn to belong to a group, to be part of something, to show their friends that they too are capable and worthy but gaining acceptance into the chosen group is not always easy. At…
Rebecca Lim, Aussie STEM Stars, Eddie Woo, Wild Dingo Press, April 2021, 170 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925893403 Eddie Woo: Superstar Maths Teacher is part of the first release of five books in a new real-life biographical series called Aussie Stem Stars. Each book in the series is written by an accomplished author, who helps readers discover what sort of everyday life can lead to someone becoming a ‘STEM star’. Eddie Woo’s story is beautifully told by award-winning author, Rebecca Lim. In this true story, we learn about Eddie Woo, the well-known Australian maths teacher, legendary for his passionate…
Liz Kessler, When the World was Ours, Simon & Schuster, February 2021, 320 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781471198298 He could never show he had moments of doubt. He could never even hint at it. He was in far too deep for that now. Liz Kessler’s When the World Was Ours is a young adult novel set during World War II. It is inspired by the true story of her father and his parents who were able to escape Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia thanks to the help of a British couple they had met only briefly a number of years before.…
Alison Binks, 9 things to remember (and one to forget), Berbay Publishing, March 2021, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780648785194 It’s easy to forget so many things in our lives. 9 things to remember (and one to forget) reminds us of what we should remember when we’re out in nature – not only remember, but also discover, investigate and marvel at. The pelican is such a ‘clever flyer’ that she can glide so close to the water without getting wet. It is the ‘silent work of the moon’ that causes the waves of the ocean. Polar bears leave ‘scent…
Penny Harrison (text) and Sharon Davey (illustrator), The Best Mum, New Frontier Publishing, April 2021, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922326225 Penny Harrison has written several picture books including Extraordinary, The Little Coven and now this delightful look at mums from a child’s perspective. Everyone loves their own mum but sometimes you can’t help looking at other people’s mums and comparing. Here a little girl describes all the wonderful ways in which her friends’ mums are better than her own, incidentally providing us with a picture of what the perfect mum is supposed to be like. These mums know…
Mark Wilson, Tupaia, Isaac & Cook: The Search for ‘The Great South Land’, Windy Hollow Books, March 2021, 32 pp., RRP $26.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922081858 In Mark Wilson’s latest book Tupaia, Isaac & Cook – The Search for the Great Southern Land, young readers are invited to join Captain James Cook and his crew on the Endeavour as it explores the Pacific in 1769. The book explores a little known side of the journey by giving much credit for its success to a young Rai’aitean navigator named Tupaia who joined the Endeavour’s crew when it was in Tahitian waters. Tupaia…