Welcome to the blog!
I’ve been collecting books for tweens and teens on *all of the things* for many years now – for the various schools I have worked at and now also for my own children. I am not a doctor, psychologist or high school teacher – so I’m definitely no expert on…
READ MORE
It would be easy to assume that with several teacher librarians and a few academics in the family, my journey with reading within my extended family has been *seamless* and full of success. But actually we have a number of family members across the generations for whom reading has been…
READ MORE
For starters – can we just all pause and take a moment to take in the glory that is the cover of ‘The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling’? It contains all of my favourite colours and one of my favourite foods (dumplings) and the thing with the chopsticks and…
READ MORETerm Three is always a wonderful celebration of Australian children’s literature in schools, early education centres, libraries and bookstores around the country. The theme for CBCA Book Week 2019 is ‘Reading is my Secret Power’ and reading does indeed give us secret powers: the power to walk in the shoes…
READ MORE
You will find my video review of Lisa Nicol’s latest book on my Youtube channel, but in a nutshell, ‘Vincent and the Grandest Hotel on Earth’ is for readers 8-88 who want to escape into a fantastical world where pocket dogs are standard companions for all and where chocolate fountains,…
READ MORE
I first came across the ‘Maxi the Lifeguard’ books when my dear friend Mel waved them under my nose, astonished at how they had totally engaged her 9 year old ‘reluctant’ reader. Mel then discovered he was coming to speak at a local library, whipped her kids off to see…
READ MORE
The latest book collaboration between Tony Flowers and Nick Falk is ‘Vognox the Viking’ and readers from 7+ are so going to enjoy this funny, clever and rollicking tale of a Viking who really doesn’t want to be in a book! As an illustrator, Tony Flowers embeds so many visual…
READ MORE
I have enjoyed running my Year Six ‘Girl Zone Book Club’ for many years now. The school I work at is all girls, hence ‘Girl Zone’, but I have run similar styles of book clubs at boys schools and co-ed schools. I even had a stint running a book club…
READ MORE
A tale so tall you will pinch yourself. Get set for one shell of a story, as this crabby crustacean grabs life by the claws! I’ve always wanted to be minimalist. One of those people that shows restraint in all things, most especially in food, accessories and words. Not a…
READ MORE