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Childish – Morris Gleitzman
Penguin Australia September 2025 Last year I talked up Tweet to anybody who would stand still long enough to listen. I still maintain it was one of my Top 5 MG novels for the year, and, certainly, one of Morris’ very best. Then – lo and behold! – along comes Childish and it’s another absolutely…
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Mavis the Little Plane Spotter – Angela Toniolo. Shannon Melville
Wombat Books March 2025 9781761111938 AUD$27.99, NZD$32.99 Yes, a little bit of a cheeky cheat to round off a week of Birdie Num Num posts with this one. But, in my defense, with a Father Bear who was RAF as well as a dear friend in adult life, Squadron Leader and later commercial pilot, Wal…
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One Word and a Bird – Stephen Michael King
Scholastic Australia April 2025 ISBN 9781761520860RRP $26.99 This one finishes off this week of Birdie Num Nums purely because of its title, because really it’s not all about birds. It’s about love and our own self-belief, the (sometimes lofty and impossible) standards we set for ourselves and how we navigate the world around us. Stephen…
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August Wrap-up
Whew! It’s been a busy month indeed and it’s close enough to call as I will finish off the last two tonight and tomorrow night. This only takes into account 2 of 7 ARCs I read for writing teaching notes and possibly a few others. Sometimes, I lose track!! haha!!
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What’s Next Shane? – Maree Coote
Walker Books Australia Imprint: Melbourne Style Books ISBN13:9780645910605 Australia RRP:$29.99 New Zealand RRP:$34.99 You might remember that just a couple of weeks ago I shared reviews of two different cockatoo books [Sonia definitely remembers! she’s still battling her backyard vandal]. And just like the birds themselves being everywhere, seemingly at one time, along comes another…
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Sidney of Sydney – Sue Whiting. Liz Anelli
Walker Books Australia June 2025 ISBN13:9781760657703 Australia RRP:$24.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 From Queensland avian residents to those of NSW – and Sydney, my home town. My love of penguins is well documented and there have been many fabulous penguin moments (Bicheno!), reviews, news stories and chuckles. Recently, I commented to one of my author friends…
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This Bird: noticing our urban birds – Astred Hicks. With Holly Parsons.
CSIRO Publishing August 2025 ISBN: 9781486318452 RRP: $26.99 It’s another wonderful title from CSIRO and yes! more birds! I talked a little about our backyard birds in a previous post but we also have our birds along the shore within a minutes’ walk. The regulars are: Australian and Little Pied Cormorants, welcome swallows, pelicans, oyster…
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We interrupt this programme..
Nothing to do with birds at all but pretty pleased about two upcoming events – one happening sooner than the other……. On Saturday 6th September I’m presenting on Bibliotherapy at this year’s ALIA New Librarians Symposium – yayy! And my first book (the one I wrote last year) is still a long way off but…
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The Great Dawn Choir – Sarah Speedie. Illustrated by Cindy Lane
CSIRO Publishing August 2025 ISBN: 9781486318339 RRP: $26.99 We may not live in the ‘bush’ as I’ve heard some proudly describe their location [while at the same time moaning about the lack of facilities, phone signal and more] but that doesn’t mean in the slightest that we do not have our fair share of wildlife,…
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Bin Chicken Goes for Gold – Kate and Jol Temple. Illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh
Scholastic Australia March 2025 ISBN: 9781760268275 RRP: $19.99 To follow up on the first of this week of birdie books, it’s another Queenslander. Yes, I know ibis are found elsewhere but these are so iconically Queensland that there is a strong push for them to be the Brisbane Olympics official mascot. We generally have at least…
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