Print Books
Title: ‘Miss Penny Dreadful and the Midnight Kittens’Author: Allison RushbyIllustrator: Bronte Rose MarandoPublisher: Walker Books AustraliaAge Range: lower primary (read aloud), middle primaryThemes: mystery, boarding school, historical fiction, paranormal. An enquiring mind…
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Title: ‘Welcome to Consent’Author: Yumi Stynes and Dr Melissa Kang Publisher: Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing Age Range: 10+ years old Themes: Personal boundaries, sex, interpreting signals, speaking up and being firm, guarding…
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Title: ‘Elsewhere Girls’Author: Emily Gale & Nova WeetmanPublisher: Text Publishing Age Range: from 10+, upper primary, lower secondary. Themes: friendship, family, courage, pressure, sport, elite sport, academics, timeslip, history, feminism, women, women…
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Title: ‘The Surprising Power Of A Good Dumpling’Author: Wai ChimPublisher: Allen & Unwin (2019)Awards: Shortlisted Best Young Adult Literature, Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2020 AU; Shortlisted Readings Young Adult Book Prize 2020…
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Author and illustrator: Kylie HowarthPublisher: Walker BooksAge Range: Lower Primary, Middle PrimaryThemes: Ocean, climate change, Marine biology This week I am introducing ‘ChickPea Reviews’! Is it any surprise that the daughter of a teacher librarian is…
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Series Title: School of Monsters Author: Sally RippinIllustrator: Chris Kennett Publisher: Hardie Grant Age Range: beginner reader, early childhood. Themes: monsters, friendships, school, spooky, starting reading. Sally Rippin has been writing books…
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Title: Untwisted: the story of my lifeAuthor + Illustrator: Paul Jennings Publisher: Allen and Unwin Age Range: YA – Adult Themes: Themes: autobiography, memoir, non fiction, writing, children’s writer, teaching, speech pathology,…
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Title: The Fire StarAuthor + Illustrator: A.L. Tait Publisher: Penguin Age Range: 10+, upper primary, middle grade. Themes: medieval history, mystery, knights, maids, friendship, belonging, education of girls and women, secret societies.…
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Title: ‘Bear in Space’Author: Deborah AbelaIllustrator: Marjorie Crosby-Fairall Publisher: Walker Books AustraliaAge Range: early childhood, lower primary. Themes: friendship, difference, schools, kindergartens, imaginative play, space. I will always shout loudly and lovingly…
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Title: ‘Small Town’Author: Phillip GywnneIllustrator: Tony Flowers Publisher: Penguin BooksAge Range: lower primary, middle primary, upper primary. Themes: rural life, country towns, community, home, refugees, grandparents, school, activism, initiative, inclusivity, visual literacy.…
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Title: ‘The Mummy Smugglers of Crumblin Castle’Author: Pamela Rushby Publisher: Walker BooksAge Range: 9+, middle primary, upper primary, lower secondary, middle grade. Themes: Victorian England, Egypt, Egyptology, ancient civilisations, historical fiction, mystery,…
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Title: ‘When Rain Turns to Snow’Author: Jane GodwinPublisher: Lothian, an imprint of Hachette AustraliaAge Range: 12+, middle grade, upper primary, lower secondary.Themes: family, adoption, divorce, step parents, parents, siblings, family secrets, coming…
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Title: ‘The Year The Maps Changed’ Author: Danielle BinksPublisher: Hachette Age Range: middle grade, upper primaryThemes: Australia, modern history, ‘Operation Safe Haven’, Kosovar refugees, asylum, immigration, empathy, kindness, grief, loss, maps, geopgraphy,…
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Title: ‘Eco Rangers: Microbat Mayhem‘Author: Candice Lemon-ScottPublisher: New Frontier PublishingAge Range: lower primary, middle primaryThemes: environment, animals, animal conservation and care, nature, friendship, mystery. ‘Right now, the only thing we need to worry about is making these…
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It was hope that made grass grow and waves rise and babies stand. And when the grass got trampled, the waves crashed down and babies toppled over, it was hope that made…
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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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