Coming up for its 50th anniversary Fremantle Press may be small but it sure is mighty! SO many fabulous books across all genres have come from this outstanding independent publishing house. It has always been a pleasure to review their titles but I was super excited yesterday (11/02) to get several parcels from them, loaded with an array of gorgeous books from board books to novels to non-fiction. And what perfect timing – it was hot and humid, a real Qlder February stinker of a day – so after all my chores were done, and I gave up trying to finish the teaching notes I’d been working on, I took to my bed (like a Southern Belle in the heat of the day) under the cranked ceiling fan and devoured 3 books, one after another. So here are the first of three of quite a few more to come (stay posted!):
In Flanders Fields – Norman Jorgensen. Illustrated by Brian Harrison-Lever.
March 2026
ISBN: 9781760996246
RRP: $26.99
Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year (Winner 2003)
American SPCA Henry Bergh Award (Honour Book 2004)
Western Australian Premier’s Book Award (Shortlisted 2002
Thanks for that. 
Can you believe Flanders was published back in 2003! It is so good to see its new format…
I know I’m not alone in saying that this book has always been in our kitbag for sharing for those special commemorative days such as ANZAC Day or Remembrance Day, or for accompanying history units for older students [I found my Year 10 Nudgee boys were always the most subdued and reflective when I shared such powerful picture books on this topic with them].
But for anyone new to the role or who have never seen this beautifully poignant book… Most will know of one of the most stirring moments of the Great War, World War I, the occasion that has come to be known as the Christmas Day truce. You can read more about here from the Imperial War Museum, but it essentially a series of events along the front lines of Flanders, when both British and German soldiers, ventured into no-man’s land and exchanged small gifts, greetings, sang carols and even played games of football.
Norman has taken the essence of this history and created a narrative that encapsulates that extraordinary time, with the focus being one young soldier who risks his own safety to rescue a trapped robin.
The text is eloquent, successfully navigating the tightrope between the graphic and gruesome reality of trench warfare and sharing the history of the tragedy that was the extensive losses of Flanders, in a way that informs young readers without causing undue distress.
Using that robin as a motif was certainly a genius stroke [well played, Norman!]- it’s symbolism of traditional Christmas and the red for poppies, which we now all associate with the First World War effectively conveys emotion and understanding to young readers.
And, quite simply, Brian Harrison-Lever’s illustrations are a complete triumph. This one needs no talking up from me but I know that many will need a new edition on their shelves, as the old one is no doubt it well-worn by now, so get it on your order list now. It’s a 5 rating from me 🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️rating.
Lighthouse Girl – Dianne Wolfer
March 2026
ISBN: 9781760994396
RRP: $26.99
West Australian Young Readers’ Book Award (Winner 2010);
Western Australian Premier’s Book Award (Shortlisted 2009);
Children’s Book Council of Australia Crichton Award for Best New Illustrator (Shortlisted 2008);
NSW Premier’s History Awards (Shortlisted 2009)
Another stunning new edition of a favourite of mine and many others from the masterful Dianne Wolfer, another writer with an extraordinary talent for bringing history to life in an engaging and accessible format for young readers.
This 15th anniversary volume will be a very welcome update to any collection and young readers will be, just as I am always, fascinated by both Fay’s story and the plentiful archival material that makes this a truly immersive reading experience.
This one will be the perfect read-aloud for ANZAC Day for your older readers – from middle to upper primary, as well as junior secondary – and a terrific springboard into more inquiry into true-life anecdotal records and archives.
Fay Howe, 15-year-old daughter of the Breaksea Island lighthouse keeper, was a beacon of hope and kindness for the young AIF troops heading off to the arena of war in Egypt and Europe. When 30, 000 soldiers in 36 troopships were in convoy and leaving King George Sound, it took them hours to be able to leave the home shore for the open sea.
This was only months after war was declared and in the first flush of patriotic fervour many of these soldiers were mere boys. Fay was like their talisman as she used the lighthouse semaphore flags to send messages to them. It was their last happy memory of home to take with them and, as we know, many of them didn’t return.
But Fay’s kindness continued with these boys onto the battlefields and many wrote to her kindly. Dianne’s narrative fictionalises (as it must) some of this poignant history to include one special soldier who was one of those who didn’t come back. The interspersion of photos, newspaper clippings, letters and other ephemera just makes this a most heart-rending historical narrative that will bring that terrible time, when so many lives were lost, to life again.
While the subject is sombre, the tender aspect of the story relieves that so that even middle primary students will relate to it, while keeping that balance between the horror/reality and the hope/kindness of humans in moments of need. Just wonderful, that’s all there is to say – 5 ✉️✉️✉️✉️✉️rating for readers from around 10 years upwards to middle secondary or older.
The Real Fay – Dianne Wolfer
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter – Australian Geographic
Australian War Stories: The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter
Annie and Maeve are Definitely Not Friends – Olivia Muscat
March 2026
ISBN: 9781760996680
RRP: $16.99
My third binged book in this bevy of hot afternoon slothing was this absolute cracker from Olivia Muscat. You may have seen my review of her delightful picture book My Name is Jemima, about assistance dogs, especially her own guide dog, Jemima.
Now she’s turned her hand to a book for older readers that peels back layers of both accidental discrimination and downright bullying, while providing readers with some authentic knowledge of navigating life as a blind person.
Annie has been blind for about a year, following a terrible accident. As well as dealing with the six months of hospital and rehab, emerging with a damaged leg and no sight, her return to St Lucy’s was a nightmare of former friends openly bullying her, mocking her and making her life even more distressing than it already is.
So mid Year 5 she’s starting at North Avenue primary, and she’s pretty sure it’s going to be just as bad, no matter what her parents say. And then she’s buddied up with Maeve, a girl the principal, her new teacher and her parents all think will be a perfect match friend for her. Because Maeve is blind too. There’s that accidental discrimination thing [it’s like anytime there’s two Aboriginal kids, they’re paired up – time and time again].
But Maeve is a whole different story. She’s been blind since birth, never known any different and exceptionally scornful of Annie’s inability to even manage her cane. She has no interest in being a friend to a stuck-up snobby girl ex-St Lucy’s. Her family is very different: single mum, two younger siblings, with a live-in aunty who looks after them while Mum is on her nursing shifts. And she really gets ticked off when her best friend since forever, Persie, starts being so kind to Annie, and becoming her best friend as well.
There’s a whole lot of angst, jealousy, insecurity and resentments. But bit by bit, little by little, Annie and Maeve begin to learn from each other as well as being nudged along by their mutual friends. When I tell you I read it in two sessions over one afternoon and evening, you should easily understand how utterly engaging it is.
I foresee that this will be a huge hit with your readers, particularly girls from around Year 4 upwards. Not only is the plot so utterly readable but there is much humour as well as wisdom rolled up in it. I think it is very difficult, if not impossible to imagine being without sight for those of us who are not. I used to take my brownies and guides to the sensory unit and they could experience simulated disabilities including being entirely without their sight. There was not one girl who wasn’t shaken by that completely black box they walked into, not being able to see their hand in front of their face. It was quite sobering for them.
This is from first to last a brilliantly written middle grade novel with an authenticity of voice that is remarkable, a fresh and engaging plot and some terrific characterisations. Bravo, Olivia!! It gets a 5 😎😎😎😎😎 (I know the dark glasses are cliched but it was hard to choose anything else that related) rating from me.
Just So Stories 
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