Guest Bloggers

ChickPea Reviews: Fish Kid and the Turtle Torpedo

By Megan Daley | Apr 21, 2021
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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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Review of This Small Blue Dot

By Megan Daley | Apr 7, 2021
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Author and illustrator: Zeno SworderPublisher: Thames & HudsonAge Range: Babies, boddlers, toddlersThemes: Childhood, life, philosophy, self-identity I have gushed about ‘This Small Blue Dot’ since its release in August 2020 on my socials, to my kids,…

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Review of Early One Morning

By Megan Daley | Apr 1, 2021
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Author: Mem FoxIllustrator: Christine DavenierPublisher: PenguinAge Range: Early childhood, toddlers, early primaryThemes: Farm animals, visual literacy, repetition Mem Fox needs no introduction – who hasn’t been begged to read, ‘Where is the Green Sheep’, ‘The Magic Hat‘,…

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Review of ‘Who Am I’

By Megan Daley | Mar 10, 2021
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Author: Philip BuntingIllustrator: Philip BuntingPublisher: ScholasticAge Range: lower primary, middle primary, upper primaryThemes: Identity, philosophy Welcome to the Children’s Books Daily review team Clare Mellor! You can read more about Clare in her bio below this review,…

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Review of ‘Looking for Alibrandi’

By Megan Daley | Jan 21, 2021
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Title: Looking for AlibrandiAuthor: Melina MarchettaPublisher: Penguin Australia (published 1992)Age Range: Young adult, AdultsThemes: Feeling Like an Outsider, Pressure, Immigration, Family Ties, Community and Tradition, Cultural Differences and Racism, Self-discovery Sophie Fu…

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Review of ‘The Bushfire Book: How to be Aware and Prepare’

By Megan Daley | Nov 5, 2020
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Title: The Bushfire Book: How to be Aware and PrepareAuthor + Illustrator: Polly Marsden (writer) and Chris Nixon (illustrator)Publisher: A Lothian Children’s Book published by Hachette Australia (2020)Age Range: Age range: lower…

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Review of ‘Obsessive about Octopuses’

By Megan Daley | Sep 14, 2020
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Title: Obsessive about OctopusesAuthor + Illustrator: Owen Davey Publisher: Flying Eye Books (published 2020) Age Range: early childhood, middle primary, upper primary, adults who love octopuses. Themes: Octopus ecology, diet, behaviour, movement,…

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Review of ‘Bubbay’s Desert Adventure’

By Megan Daley | May 12, 2020
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Bubbay will be known to many families already, indeed I discovered it is a favourite in the house of my lovely neighbour Sam! She spied this re-release on my kitchen bench recently…

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Review of ‘Atticus Van Tasticus: Book 2’

By Megan Daley | Mar 31, 2020
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Toby (9 years old) is a keen reader and budding young reviewer and I love feeding him books. I made ChickPea race through this second book in the Atticus Van Tasticus series…

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Review of ‘Ghost’

By Megan Daley | Mar 31, 2020
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Book Boy Jr has *almost* inspired me to read a book about running with this review…almost. Actually I am hooked on the idea of this book and think it would be perfect…

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Review of ‘A Hollow is a Home’

By Megan Daley | Nov 20, 2019
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Oh how I love this book and I’m so grateful to Sam for reviewing it for me as her Scientific knowledge is invaluable with CSIRO publications. My parents have always had amazing…

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Review of ‘Windcatcher’

By Megan Daley | Oct 8, 2019
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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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Jazzy Reviews: ‘The Last Time We Say Goodbye’

By Megan Daley | Jul 31, 2019
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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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Review of ‘Australian Birds’

By Megan Daley | Jul 24, 2019
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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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Jazzy Reviews: ‘Everless’

By Megan Daley | May 9, 2019
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Once again Jazzy of ‘Jazzy’s Bookshelf’ has beat me to reading and reviewing a book which has been sitting on my bedside table for quite some time. Anyways…for a YA novel it’s…

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Review of ‘The Squid, the Vibrio and the Moon’

By Megan Daley | May 7, 2019
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When I get Science based books, as much as I adore them, I pass them over the back fence for my scientist neighbour to review for me! A million thanks Sam –…

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Elliot Perlman’s ‘The Adventures of Catvinkle’

By Megan Daley | Oct 21, 2018
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Interviewer: Joy Lawn Title: ‘The Adventures of Catvinkle’ Author: Elliot Perlman Illustrator: Laura Stitzel Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia Themes: friendship, kindness, empathy,  bravery, animals, difference, tolerance, humour. Teachers’ Notes: Prepared by Penguin Random House Australia…

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Once There Was A Boy: on books and empathy by Emily Gale

By Megan Daley | Sep 24, 2018
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One of us is a bully.  One of us wants to be understood.  One of us loves a girl who loves another.  One of us remembers the past as if it just…

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Review of ‘Zobi and the Zoox: A Story of Coral Bleaching’

By Megan Daley | Sep 19, 2018
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Title: ‘Zobi and the Zoox: A Story of Coral Bleaching’ Reviewer: Dr Sam Lloyd Author/Illustrator/Creators: Ailsa Wild, Aviva Reed, Briony Barr and Gregory Crocetti Publisher/Production: CSIRO Publishing (2018) in partnership with Small…

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Review of ‘Bonkers About Beetles’

By Megan Daley | Sep 12, 2018
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Title: ‘Bonkers about Beetles’ Reviewer: Dr Sam Author/Illustrator: Owen Davey Publisher: Flying Eye Books (published 2018) Themes: Beetle ecology, diet, behaviour, habitat, camouflage, specialist adaptations. Click on title links or cover image…

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