BOOK REVIEWS
Title: ‘White Bird’ Author: R. J. Palacio Publisher: Penguin Books Australia Age Range: middle grade*, YA Themes: bravery, kindness, courage, World War II, survival, family, found family, friends. Inspired by her blockbuster phenomenon…
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ChickPea has been an avid lover of books about birds for some time now and has enjoyed a few outings with a dear friend of ours who takes the most amazing photographs…
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Title: ‘Monuments’ Author: Will Kostakis Publisher: Hachette Age Range: young adult Themes: fantasy, adventure, Greek mythology, contemporary fiction, sexuality, friendship, family, grief, coming of age Greek Australian, Indigenous, romance, diversity, humour. Teachers’…
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Title: ‘Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire’ Author: Nat Amoore Publisher: Penguin Books Australia Age Range: middle primary, upper primary Themes: humour, school, friends, family, adventure, entrepreneurship. Finding a million dollars in your…
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Dr Sam Lloyd has been reviewing Science themed books for Children’s Books Daily for some years now – you can see all her reviews by clicking on the ‘guest blogger’ category or…
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Title: ‘Maxi the Lifeguard: The Stormy Protest’ Author: Trent Maxwell and David Lawrence Illustrator: Peter Baldwin Publisher: Affirm Press Themes: surf lifesaving; lifeguards; rescue; family; friendship; goal setting; community engagement; teamwork; caring for the environment; protest.…
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Term Three is such a busy term with sports and other school activities (including Book Week!) and it’s often the time of year when many book club attendees are unable to make…
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A sophisticated, funny and emotional illustrated middle-grade debut about immigrating to Australia, being upstaged by an annoying little brother, baking cakes and overcoming loss. Title: ‘Pie in the Sky’Author: Remy LaiPublisher: Walker…
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Title: ‘The All New Must Have Orange 430’ Author/Illustrator: Michael Speechley Publisher: Penguin Books Australia Awards: Honour Book in the Picture Book of the Year at the 2019 CBCA Awards Age Range:…
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In my humble opinion, Jane Godwin is one of the heroes of the kidlit world in Australia. A former publisher (responsible for the wonderful ‘Our Australian Girls’ series no less), Jane has…
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‘Sometimes rain made me want to cry, like there was something deep inside of me – the sadness flower that opened up when rainy days came, and blossomed inside of me until…
READ MOREEncouraging young people to read widely and enjoy a balanced literary diet is something that can add immeasurably to their reading and writing journey. For many of us, poetry and verse novels…
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‘Everything I’ve Never Said’ is a bold book with a powerful voice that will connect with readers from 9+ and many adults. Title: ‘Everything I’ve Never Said’ Author: Samantha Wheeler Publisher: UQP Age Range: upper…
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Jazzy is one of the most sophisticated young readers I know and she always stretches herself to read outside of her comfort zone. Her latest book has been, in her own words,…
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ChickPea has been enamoured with birds for some time now, and for her 8th birthday last week she received binoculars and a Queensland birdwatching book. The second part of this gift was…
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