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Mermedusa – Thomas Taylor
Walker Books Book 5 of An Eerie-on-Sea Mystery Series September 2023 ISBN13: 9781529502138 Australia RRP: $17.99 New Zealand RRP: $19.99 When you’ve loved every minute of a series, it’s hard to say goodbye to it. So it is that in reading this fifth and final in the wonderful Eerie-on-Sea sequence, I tried hard to make it…
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Lani and the Universe – Victoria Carless
Harper Collins Australia January 2024 I really enjoyed Victoria’s earlier book, Gus and the Starlight, so the invitation to write teaching notes for this new one was a great pleasure, and, of course, gave me a very early read of another fresh, funny and poignant MG novel. It’s been patiently awaiting review time for a…
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Wonka – Sibéal Pounder: Roald Dahl, Paul King and Simon Farnaby
Penguin Australia When I first found out about Wonka I was a little apprehensive, I admit. How could Dahl’s anarchic magic possibly be recreated? And then I saw that Timothée Chalamet was cast as Wonka, and I relaxed quite a bit. Then I saw the first official trailer, and knew it would be alright. We haven’t…
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The Christmas Wish (The Wish Sisters series) -Allison Rushby. Illustrated by Karen Blair.
UQP October 2023 ISBN: 9780702266362 RRP: $12.99 The Wish Sisters series has already established a following among those young newly independent readers who respond well to everyday family life with an added twist of fantasy and humour. These stories have a flavour that strongly reminds me of E. Nesbit’s Five Children and It, in which…
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Always Never Always – Meg McKinlay/Leila Rudge
Walker Books Australia October 2023 ISBN13:9781760655204 Australia RRP:$25.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 Always follow secret tracks –the paths that wind and wend through cracks.Never worry where they go.When you get there, then you’ll know. For everyone who could use some poetically pithy life-advice, this creative pairing has delivered a blueprint for quirky wanderings along the byways…
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Butterfly Girl – Ashling Kwok and Arielle Li
EK Books October 2023 9781922539564 RRP: $24.99 Butterflies have been very important to us since we lost our Jen. And we have lost count of the number of times they appear at significant moments. So it was little wonder that this lovely picture book had special appeal for me. Olivia is the butterfly girl and…
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Sam the Snowman – Laura Mennecozzi. Illustrated by Noemi Cesanelli
Busybird Publishing October 2023 ISBN: 9781922954466 RRP: $14.99 Those of us still working with children know all too well just how greatly they were impacted by the pandemic, both at the time, as well as with the continuing after-effects. So any book that we can share with Smalls to encourage some reflection on anxious times,…
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Cricket by Bluey
Penguin Australia December 2023 We know when the season changes in Brisbane. The jacarandas are blooming and the local cricketers are back in the parks and ovals. Of course, there’s a few other matches on TV as well *wink* and, altogether, we know that spring is here, summer is on its way, cicadas will be…
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Picture Book Month Bonus #3: Starberries and Kee- Cate Whittle
Storytorch Press May 2023 ISBN: 9780645191554 RRP: $17.95 Audio Interview with Cate @ Living Arts Canberra More years ago than I care to remember, I was a subscriber to, and devotee of Grass Roots magazine. I pretty much daydreamed constantly about having the kind of life that Hannah finds herself in when she and her…
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