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Two Rabbits: even best friends argue sometimes- Larissa Ferenchuk and Prue Pittock
EK Books January 2024 ISBN: 9781922539656 RRP: $26.99 How utterly adorable is that cover? and how could I possibly resist this one? After all – rabbits!! It is essentially a very simple narrative but one that has a really powerful message, subtly delivered. These two little rabbits are the best of friends but when they have…
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The Bother with the Bonkillyknock Beast: Miss Mary-Kate Martin’s Guide to Monsters #3 – Karen Foxlee. Illustrated by Freda Chiu.
Allen & Unwin January 2024 ISBN:9781761470226 RRP: $15.99 Imprint:A & U Children Awards: For one reason or another, I had not yet been introduced to Mary-Kate but that really didn’t preclude any enjoyment of this fun adventure. She comes from a long line of monster hunters – not the kind that want to get rid…
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The Peak: Spy Academy #1 – Jack Heath
Scholastic Australia February 2024 ISBN: 9781761290473 ISBN-10: 1761290479 Series: Spy Academy RRP: $17.99 Way back in 2005, I went to the ASLA Conference in Canberra. What a fun three days that was: made new friends, fancy-pants dinner at Parliament House, late-night escapade to the casino, my first visit to Jackie French, and listening to the hottest new author…
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Chasing the Stars: Moonlight Dreamers #4 – Siobhan Curham
Walker Books Australia November 2023 Imprint:Walker Books ISBN13: 9781529504026 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 Don’t think for one moment, that though this came out in November and I’m not reviewing it till now, that I put it off. In fact, I didn’t receive at the time of its release but only last week (as of…
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Time Travelling with a Tortoise – Ross Welford
Harper Collins Australia January 2024 I have thoroughly enjoyed every single one of Ross Welford’s books that I have read. These adventures are chockful of adventure, humour, heart and a sense of the absurd, and every time I’ve pushed one into a reader’s hands they have come back for more. That, for me, says it…
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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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