Review + Teachers’ Notes: ‘Heads and Tails: Insects’
Title: Heads and Tails: Insects
Author/Illustrator: John Canty
Publisher: Berbay Publishing
Age Range: early childhood
Themes: animals, animal classification, animal characteristics, clues, guessing.
Awards: 2018 Speech Pathology Awards: Winner in the birth - 3 category
My first thought upon opening this book was 'oh...
Five on Friday: Five Fav Reads of the Week
I'll be on Facebook live over at Children's Books Daily on Friday 1st Feb at 4pm (Brisbane time) talking about all these books!
To purchase any of these titles from Booktopia or read more about...
Review + Teachers’ Notes: ‘All the Ways to be Smart’
Title: All the Ways to be Smart
Author: Davina Bell
Illustrator: Allison Colpoys
Publisher: Scribble
Themes: diversity; talents; creativity; strengths; confidence; kindness
Age Range: early childhood – upper primary
Click on title links or cover image to purchase.
When the school principal asked me for...
Five on Friday: Five Fav Reads of the Week
To purchase any of these titles from Booktopia or read more about them – click on title links!
'Sleep Tight, Platypup' by Renee Treml
'Wrestle' by Charlotte Mars etc
'The House on the Mountain' by Ella Holcombe...
Review + Teachers’ Notes: ‘Starting School’
Title: Starting School
Author: Jane Godwin
Illustrator: Anna Walker
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Themes: starting school, friendships, school, diversity, families, teachers, classrooms, schools, playgrounds, new experiences.
Click on title links or cover image to purchase.
Tim, Hannah, Sunita, Joe and Polly are all off...
Review of ‘Pippa’s Island: Puppy Pandemonium’
Author: Belinda Murrell (see our interview with Belinda here)
Publisher: Random House Australia
Age Range: middle primary - upper primary
Themes: family, friends, clubs, school, beach, island living, cafes, food, pets, dogs, small business.
PudStar has been reading the...
Five on Friday: Five Fav Reads of the Week
To purchase any of these titles from Booktopia or read more about them – click on title links!
'All the Ways to Be Smart' by Davina Bell. Illustrated by Alison Colpoys
'Find Your Tribe' by Rebecca...
Review + Teachers’ Notes: ‘Tiggy and the Magic Paintbrush: A Musical Show’
Title: Tiggy and the Magic Paintbrush: A Musical Show
Author: Zanni Louise
Illustrator: Gillian Flint
Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont
Age Range: early childhood; lower primary; independent readers
Themes: music, painting, art, The Arts, imagination, creativity, friendship, feelings, nerves, resilience.
Author Zanni Louise adds a touch of...
Jazzy Reviews: ‘The Beauty is in the Walking’
Jazzy of Jazzy’s Bookshelf is today reviewing a book by one of my favourite Australian authors, James Moloney. James was Dan’s teacher librarian for a time and always loved his writing. I was first introduced...
Books and ALL of the Things for Back to School
Congratulations! You've made it through Christmas and New Year celebrations and now we're heading right on into 'Back to School Season'. The girls' book packs for this year arrived just a few days before...
Five on Friday: Five Fav Reads of the Week
I’ll be talking about these books on Facebook live at 4pm Brisbane time this Friday 11 January. Come and say hello - you'll find my on my Children's Books Daily Facebook page. If you...
Five on Friday: Five Fav Reads of the Week
I'll be talking about these books on Facebook live at 5:30pm Brisbane time on the 14/12/18. Come and say hello!
To purchase any of these titles or read more about them – click on title...
Review + Teachers’ Notes: ‘Puffin the Architect’
Title: Puffin the Architect
Author/Illustrator: Kimberly Andrews
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Themes: animals, homes, animal homes, architecture, professions, STEAM, STEM, design, family
Click on title links or cover image to purchase.
There is so much to love about this picture book by Kimberly...
Review + Teachers’ Notes: ‘Dinosaur Day Out’
Title: Dinosaur Day Out
Author/Illustrator: Sara Acton
Publisher: Walker Books
Age Range: early childhood
Themes: dinosaurs, museums, books, family, Sydney
Click on title links or cover image to purchase.
Siblings Sally and Max are off to see the dinosaurs at the museum with...
Best Book Gifts for Newly-Independent Readers
This list of must-have books is for little readers who are just starting their independent reading journey and can read a text with minimal assistance. Age range varies here as reading progression happens at...
Best Book Gifts for 9-12 Year Olds
Those tricky middle primary readers huh? There is such huge variance in their reading ages and stages and that’s not even taking into consideration their reading interests. The list below is a combination of...
Five on Friday: Five Fav Reads of the Week
This will be my last 'Five on Friday' for two weeks as the girls and I are off to Bali - this is the REPLAY of last years botched attempt to avoid our first...
33 New #LoveOzYA Book Gifts for Teens
Joe Visser, aka Book Boy, is one of my favourite young book bloggers, and is also the only teen member of the LoveOzYA committee, a group of volunteers who work together to help promote...
Five on Friday: Favourite Reads This Week
Quite literally, this post is as the title suggests, my five favourite reads of the week! I'll be presenting these on Facebook Live each week through the Your Kid's Next Read group or my...
Your Kid’s Next Read Book Lists: Best Books for 3-8 Year Olds
One of my fav places to hang out on Facebook is the Your Kid's Next Read (YKNR) group, started in 2016 by author Allison Tait and moderated by Al, along with author Allison Rushby...