Archive | August 2025

How My Family Says I Love You

Aug31
How My Family Says I Love You

How My Family Says I Love You

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How My Family Says I Love You

Yvonne Sewankambo

Aurore McLeod

Walker Books, 2025

9781760655723

There are many things that tie families together beyond biology and genetics and the bonds between family members are unbreakable. But in many families and cultures, the words “I love you” are not spoken aloud often so, in this book readers can explore all the things family members do for each other that are silent ways of saying “I love you.” Whether it’s your sister braiding your hair, talking about those who were with us but are no longer, or your mum asking you 100 times a day if you’re hungry, each is a sign that they care and that you are loved enough to care about. 

While it is based on the author’s extended family, it is obviously a starting point for reflection and discussion on the sorts of things that the reader’s family do and share that express the emotions even if the words are not said. For younger readers, it is an opportunity to think about those everyday interactions between themselves, their siblings and their parents but for those slightly older it could begin conversations about things that they see as negatives, but which are, in fact positives.  For example, if they are forbidden to go to the shops alone or have to check in with parents before leaving the house or are banned from using internet-enabled devices in their bedrooms is that evidence of  extreme parental power and protection, the ‘you-don’t-trust-me’ cry of those testing the boundaries or just another way of parents wanting to keep them safe and saying they love them enough to care about them? By encouraging them to turn the situation around and ask themselves why are my parents imposing these restrictions, students can  learn to view events through a different lens and perhaps begin to put together evidence and strategies to get the outcome they want – all part of learning to be a critical thinker. 

 

We’re Going on a Ghost Hunt

Aug30
We're Going on a Ghost Hunt

We’re Going on a Ghost Hunt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re Going on a Ghost Hunt

Martha Mumford

Cherie Zamazing

Bloomsbury, 2025

24pp., board book., RRP $A16.99

9781526666826

We’re going on a ghost hunt!
Come and join the fun!

It’s Hallowe’en and the bunnies are off on another adventure, this time looking for ghosts amongst all the other trappings that are associated with this time of year – little bats, snowy owls, warty toads, the witch’s cat until…

As with the others in the series, this is a joyous romp for our youngest readers through the countryside – but this time it is nighttime so things take on a more suspenseful look in the gloomy atmosphere as they encounter all those spooky things that are hidden in the colourful, detailed illustrations and hidden under the flaps so cleverly disguised. 

As well as the excitement of discovering what is hiding behind the flaps, rhyme, rhythm and repetition and familiar characters all add to the child’s engagement with this story, and while they may yet be too young to learn the origins of Hallowe’en itself, nevertheless they can build their vocabulary and sense of drama not only through the story’s ending but in readiness for their own trick-or-treating adventure. 

Because this series is so firmly grounded with all the essential elements that help build our littlies’ concepts about print and develop their early reading behaviours, it is one well worth having in the library of any preschooler. 

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!

Aug29
Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!

Pamela Allen

Puffin, 2025

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781761354908

What could be making the unearthly noise that wakes Mr Grumble Bumble, Mrs Brittle Little and Mr Arden Garden in the middle of the night?  What does each one see as they peer out the window into the blackness?

For over 45 years, Pamela Allen has been offering our youngest readers the most engaging stories to help them develop their literacy skills as well as a passion for reading, and, now in her 90s, this latest release in no different. She is, and always has been,  the master of creating texts that are perfect for dialogic reading – the new buzzword that describes the old practice of actively engaging the child with the story through inviting them to predict, question, discuss, use the clues, move, and mimic the text as they hear it, rather than being passive listeners.

In fact, she encourages this by telling them that “This is a little story. It is a drama and needs your voice to bring it life” right on the title page!

And there is plenty of scope to engage them from the characters’ names to joining in making the sound that wakes them to the repetitive text as well as being the position of knowing something the adults don’t!  For what else goes cock-a-doodle-doo other than a you-know-what and thus proving their predictions correct? There is also scope to talk about where the rooster might be and to share their own experiences of not only raucous roosters but the other early-morning alarm clocks of Mother Nature.  

With over 50 books and many awards under her belt and the sheer fun embedded in the plot, the words and the pictures of her stories,  Pamela Allen is up there with Mem Fox and Joy Cowley in contributing so much to the development of literacy and reading skills over the generations  She is one whose works I have used time and again over the decades of working with little ones both in New Zealand and Australia  and to be able to share them with a new generation of budding readers through the review of a new story is such a privilege.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cloud Atlas

Aug28
Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cloud Atlas

Everything You Need to Know about Clouds

Sarah Zambello

Suzy Zanella

Thames & Hudson, 2024

80pp., hbk., RRP $A34.99

9781760764500

As I look out my window this morning all I can see is big blue sky but over on the horizon is a roll of sinister-looking clouds that I know herald a snowstorm in the mountains and the prospect of snow here soon as we wait for the “storm of the season” to roll in.  (Another one). I also know that if I looked at the Cloud Atlas in front of me I could learn just what sort of clouds they are apart from “snow clouds”.

The predecessor to both Wave Atlas and Wind Atlas , this is another fascinating, easy-to-read insight into the natural phenomena that dictate so much of our lives.

So many of us have spent hours lying on our backs in the sun, gazing at the clouds as they form and re-form making pictures that have us wondering and imagining.  But what are they? How do they form? Are they all the same? What do they tell us?  What can we learn from observing them? Which ones mean we can have our barbecue in the dry and which ones warn us to stay home?

All of these questions (and more) are answered in this comprehensive guide for young independent readers with a thirst for finding out more about such everyday things, particularly if their imaginations have been sparked by one of the numerous stories about clouds on the library shelves. 

Through accessible text, clear diagrams and stunning skyscapes, they can learn the difference between cirrus and cumulus clouds and all the variations in between, even “accessory clouds” and “mother clouds” Who knew that some clouds cannot bear to be on their own and join up with others, or that some clouds ‘give birth’ to other clouds?  

This is a trio of the most useful and informative books I’ve read and reviewed in a while, and if I’ve learned as much as I have, imagine how much those who are not so old can learn.  

And yes, now I know those that have progressed significantly since I started writing are called nimbostratus  – they develop vertically from a height of 600 metres (we’re at 1100m) and reaching 6000m, composed of water droplets and ice crystals  forming “a thick, dark grey layer” which covers the sun and produces rain or snow!  At this time of the year they are a welcome sight to both local businesses and tourists, but, for me, they are a sign to put another log on the fire because the wind bringing them in is boisterous, thin and mean.

 

 

The Marvellous Submarine

Aug27
The Marvellous Submarine

The Marvellous Submarine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Marvellous Submarine

Clayton Zane Comber

Conor McCammon

HarperCollins, 2025

208pp., pbk., RRP $A17.99

9781460766804

The blurb reads… “

Readers, be warned!

This book is set on Monkey Island and contains a super-smart gorilla called Harold, two regular kids called Poppy and Billy, and the world’s greatest inventor, who happens to be their mum. BUT it also features a villainous kidnapping, a secret volcano, pirates on yachts, a hungry blue whale, exploding basketballs – and a whole lot of water. Plus, there’s Mum’s greatest invention yet: a Marvellous Submarine.”

But when their Mum gets kidnapped by the Fugitives (who once had visions of being a successful rock band) and their father is busy tracking down extra-terrestrial life forms in space, it is up to the twins to rescue her.

For thousands of kids across the country who have been inspired to “book an adventure” as they have celebrated the 2025 CBCA Book week theme, this would seem an ideal match to continue their interest in exploring new places while having an intriguing adventure while they are there.

It has the right mix of short chapters, attractive layout and plenty of illustrations that support its intended audience of those transitioning to novels, while combining the sort of impossible situations, heroes and villains (of which they could be either) and zany humour that they like.  And who could resist being in a submarine that has all the fixtures and fittings a kid could dream of – a giant slide, trampoline, jungle room, cinema, skate ramp, disco, and even a room full of bananas!  But, for all that,  there is no engine!  How are the twins going to rescue their mum from Volcano Island when this is their only means of transport?  Can they be as creative as their mother to solve the problem? And how can a giraffe, a sloth, a penguin, flamingo, bat, cat, chameleon, octopus and 10 monkeys be of any use?

Quirky, fast-laced and in some ways reminiscent of the Treehouse series by Griffith and Denton, this is the first in this series that promises to capture the imagination and continue the reading of those who have been inspired to enjoy the adventures that reading offers them. And, inspired by the cover which opens out to provide a crosscut view of the submarine’s interior (or pp 62-63), they might even imagine their own vessel while oldies like me, are taken straight back to this…

 

 

 

Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers

Aug26
Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers

Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers

Margo Neale & Lynne Kelly

Blak Douglas

Thames & Hudson, 2023

136pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9781760763480

Whenever our young people hear the now familiar Welcome to Country or recite their school’s Acknowledgement of Country, are they just hearing or saying words or do they have an understanding of the meaning and purpose behind them?

Ever since 1835 when NSW Governor Richard Bourke implemented the legal principle of terra nullius in Australian law as the basis for British settlement until its repeal in 1992 by the High Court’s Mabo Decision that recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ continuing connection and rights to land through Native Title., there was a legally perpetuated belief that Australia was, indeed, a  “land belonging to no one”, having “a complete absence of people and additionally the absence of ‘civilised’ people capable of land ownership” and thus, was used to justify and legitimise the dispossession, dispersal, and inhumane treatment of First Nations peoples.

But in this book, the younger readers adaptation of Songlines from the critically acclaimed, best-selling First Knowledges series,  the authors and illustrators have provided a critical insight into the culture and history that underpins those  statements and helping them better appreciate what they are hearing and saying. 

Through easily accessible language, impactful illustrations and an appealing layout, readers learn how that connection to Country is established as they “walk through the oldest, biggest library of knowledge on Earth.” Not a physical library populated by shelves and shelves of books that may not be read for years on end but one that holds the knowledge of the land, sea and sky and which is read in “the rocks and the stones, the animals and the plants, the seasons and the weather. It’s also told through paintings and carvings, and in the designs of baskets and weapons,  And it’s in the memories , songs and dances of the Australian Aboriginal people…” 

These are the Songlines – the connections that run through place and time , families and kinship as they are passed on and around so that each new generation learns to find their way around, get  food and drink, connect with friends and family and know the right and safe way to make and do things.  How were these sorts of things navigated before shops made acquiring items easy, you could carry a search engine in your pocket or satnav and Google Maps were invented? 

In this book the authors invite the reader to “walk the Songlines with them across Country” to see and learn about it in a new way and really begin to understand what is meant by those ceremonial practices and words.  Spanning  art, history, song, science and culture, this is a collaboration between Margo Neale, senior Indigenous curator at the National Museum of Australia, and Lynne Kelly, a science writer working as an honorary research associate at La Trobe University and award-winning illustrator Blak Douglas, that gives it  authority and authenticity  relating the contemporary to the ancient and vice versa, with each chapter concluding with an opportunity for the reader to reflect on what they have learned through challenges which might require them to  research, discuss or  create something from the ideas presented including identifying whose country they live on, or  exploring the Emu in the Sky constellation , or comparing Stone Henge and Wurdi Yoang, or maybe visiting the Ara Irititja historical and cultural archive. There is also discussion about why some Songlines have been broken, particularly since those words of Governor Bourke and how their importance is now being recognised and communities are working to rescue and rebuild them.

IMO, if there is ever to be true reconciliation with our First Nations Peoples, then we need books (and series) like this so we can delve deeper into their beliefs, values, practices and priorities so we have a better understanding and a greater respect for them. Both this and Design & Building on Country have been CBCA Notables in their respective years,  and the third Caring for Country will be released on September 30, 2025.

 

 

All Aboard! Discovering Sydney’s Central Station

Aug25
All Aboard! Discovering Sydney's Central Station

All Aboard! Discovering Sydney’s Central Station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Aboard! Discovering Sydney’s Central Station

Jackie French

Martina Heiduczek

New Frontier, 2025

16pp., board book., RRP $A26.99

 9781923145382

In the heart of Sydney’s CBD is an iconic, sprawling building that few who have been to the city and used public transport in the last 150+ years would not know for Central Station with its  coach terminal, light rail, bus interchange, bus stands, platforms, and access to trains to the airport, and intercity trains is the hub of land-based transport in the city. 

First sited on Gadigal land now known as Redfern and opened in 1855, it began as a big corrugated iron shed to cater for the burgeoning rail industry that was destined to open up this vast continent in ways that horse and cart could never do, and then replaced by a brick and stone building in 1874 that soon proved not only too small but too far from the city centre, and so the present structure in Eddy Avenue, Haymarket was conceived and eventually opened in 1906, it has overseen the evolution of transport over decades and generations -all explored in this new release from Jackie French and which is going to appeal to anyone with an interest in trains and their impact on the development of this nation.

While its lift-the-flap format superbly illustrated by Martina Heiduczek is a departure from the engaging historical fiction novels that we are more familiar with Jackie writing, its meticulous research is not as we are taken on a journey through its history  including the change from steam power to electric, overland to underground to the new Metro, and so much more. Even the ghosts of those who were buried in the Devonshire Street Cemetery which originally stood on the site rise up to greet you. 

Given that 96% of all Sydney trains run through it and more than a quarter of a million travellers pass through it daily, Central Station is a significant site not just in Sydney and a journey through its history is as fascinating as a train journey through the country itself, with flaps to lift to divulge more information making it even more intriguing.

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

 

 

 

 

Is It Asleep?

Aug24
Is It Asleep?

Is It Asleep?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is It Asleep?

Olivier Tallec

Gecko Press, 2025

27pp.,  hbk., RRP $A27.99

9798765670521

Each day, Squirrel and his mushroom friend Pock like to sit on the old stump and watch the birds flash by. And when they’re tired of watching, they wander through the woods to the yellow meadow to listen to the beautiful song of the blackbird.  But one day, there is no song and, after a lot of searching, they find him lying on his back on the path, silent and still.  At first they think he is asleep so they keep very quiet and wait for it to wake. But as time passes and it shows no sign of waking, not even when they whisper, then clap their hands and shout, they call on their friend Gunther the mouse to help.  And although they don’t want to believe that something that sings so gloriously can die, the prospect arises that perhaps they have heard its last song… But what do they do now?

For adults life cycles of anything are part and parcel of living but for young children death ca be very confronting so this is a beautiful introduction to the concept that everything has a life span.  And while that might be hard for them to accept, there are things we do that ensure that even if their bodies are not here, the memories are.  And that our lives will continue – maybe listening to a different bird’s song. 

Tallec has not only approached this tricky subject in a way that little ones will understand, but his choosing to set it in Autumn so that the illustrations are all in those warm, comforting tones that we associate with that time wrap themselves around the reader like a warm hug,  Because neither Pock nor Squirrel knew Blackbird well -his music was their only connection – their observations of his body, its weight – too heavy to lift into the tree to see if it could still fly – and its temperature – lukewarm so maybe it’s only a little bit dead – Tallec is able to sensitively deal with the inevitable questions about how do we know something is dead without a lot of emotion, honouring the child’s curiosity and intelligence while still showing compassion.

This is the second story featuring Pock and Squirrel – the first is A Better Best Friend –  that focuses on those big issues that our littlies have to deal with as they learn to navigate the wider world but does so without being either over0emotional or hitting the young person over the head with the message so that the joy of the story is lost.

Another one for my Friday preschoolers.   

 

Mini and Milo: Room for One

Aug23
Mini and Milo: Room for One

Mini and Milo: Room for One

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mini and Milo: Room for One

Venita Dimos

Natasha Curtin

Walker Books, 2025

32pp., hbk., RRO $A25.99

9781760658434

Mini’s dream boat was no ordinary boat. It was silky, snuggly and soft.   But when Mini’s best friend Milo wants to get on board, Mini doesn’t want to share. When she gets cross, and harsh words are said,  Mini discovers both her boat, and her friendship, are heading towards the rocks.  Can she find a way to fix both her boat and her relationship with Milo?

The tag on this book is “Big Skills for Mini People” and it is a series written for our youngest readers to not only help them manage their emotions but help them navigate their way through relationships as they venture into the world of friendships beyond family and have to learn about competitiveness, managing inner voices, learning to listen, and communicating effectively. (Others include The Teeny-Tiny Voice,  Big Flappy Ears,  Elephants Can’t Jump, and The Last Plum.)  The focus of this particular one is sharing, something little ones find difficult, but is an essential skill  as they begin to negotiate, compromise and consider others as they emerge from that egocentric world of toddlerhood.  Therefore, books like these, read with sensitive adults who can ask questions like “What could Mini have done instead of …?” can help develop skills and strategies that will provide well for the future, particularly as, unlike so many others, the concept is explored within a story that entertains without being “preachy”, with the adult and their knowledge of their child dictating the sort of discussion, if any, that is had afterwards.  (My developing experience with reading to three-year-olds at the local preschool is demonstrating that most of them are only just beginning to engage with stories and philosophy and messages embedded within the text, no matter how well-intended,  largely go unheard.)  Mini taking up all the space in the boat, and little Milo jumping in and thus,  according to Mini’s perspective, causing the ensuing chaos is enough on its own even if readers don’t delve deeper. 

Next Friday’s read sorted! 

Bravepaw (series)

Aug22
Bravepaw (series)

Bravepaw (series)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bravepaw (series)

Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria

9781761180552

Bravepaw and the Clawstone of Rotwood Mire

9781761180569

L. M. Wilkinson

Lavanya Naidu

A & U Children’s, 2024-25

192pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

Known as Titch to her friends, Tithonia Proudleaf, is a young mouse who loves all the old stories about Bravepaw the hero who saved Alluria from monsters all those years ago, and dreams of being a warrior – which amuses her best friend Huckleberry and infuriates her mother, particularly as she practises her swordplay instead of looking after the pufflings.

But Bravepaw’s adventures were a long time ago, the stuff of legends, and now, she and Huckleberry live with their families on the Plateau, the safest and most boring place in Alluria, where there is a need for farmers and thatchers, and stonemasons and puffling herders, – but no need for warriors.  High above the Great Forest , protected by cliffs too steep to climb and too high for birds to fly, Titch longed for adventure but as she stood on the edge of the farm at the edge of the cliff thinking about throwing her sword over ,and then turning her back because she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it,  something was emerging over the edge… It was a hare soaring over the clifftop on a hang glider with a sword and staff with a crystal on top strapped to his back,  and an urgent message for Titch to gather all the best warriors because the Curseworms were coming…

Written and formatted for younger, independent readers, with plenty of monochromatic illustrations that reflect Naidu’s passion for building worlds, this is an absorbing tale that engages right from the get-go and keeps the pages turning as a curseworm ignores the pain inflicted by Titch’s wooden sword and curls itself around her…. Even though her mother has told her that there are many ways to be brave and that it’s not all about swords and battles, will she and Huckleberry find the wherewithal to outwit and outsmart their captors? Can she emulate her hero and keep the heartstone safe?

With the first in the series shortlisted for both the Book of the Year for Younger Children, Australian Book Industry Awards, 2025, AU and Best Children’s Fiction, Aurealis Awards, 2024, AU, this is a series  that is going to captivate those who are venturing into this genre and like fast, action-packed adventures in which they can see themselves in the role of the hero, knowing that they can follow Titch on her quest in subsequent adventures –  the third is due in 2026 – that are just as enthralling. Perfect for continuing this year’s CBCA Book Week theme of Book an Adventure.