One of our large chain bookstores recently filled a table with children's books that had been on their shelves since 2018. All of the books were 50% off the retail price. I saw Blue on Blue by Joyce Sidman (2014) illustrated by Beth Krommes. Silly me - I didn't buy it - and now I regret that decision. When I visited a school library this week, I grabbed three other books by Joyce Sidman illustrated by Beth Krommes. I really love her illustration style. Sadly, here in Australia her books are fairly expensive but perhaps you can add one or two to your library or pop them onto your wish lis ..read more

There are thirty poems in this lively collection and as a bonus each page also has a small fact book with extra science details about the featured 'bug'. Walking Stick Courage If it's skinny like a twig -  and it looks  like a twig -  and it feels like a twig -  then - it must be a twig. C'mon, let's touch it. You first! I was browsing the poetry section of the library I visit each week (looking for one poem in a picture book for an IBBY talk we are preparing) when I spied this 'sweet' looking poetry collection. Melissa Sweet's art is always so special. Now for the bad ..read more

A rubber duckie . . . a raincoat . . . a ray of light! Infants and young readers will delight as these objects jump off the page in this unique “first colors”  and “first words” pop-up board book. There's a new little baby boy who has arrived to bring great happiness into the lives of the family of a friend of mine.  Yesterday I caught up with the new little man - he is now ten weeks old. I have of course given his and his mum and dad a selection of books and I was utterly thrilled to hear they are reading to him every day!!! I couldn't resist this pop-up book when I saw it in ..read more

"Out on the ocean, one bright summer day,bound for an island, still five miles away,a tugboat was towing a truck on a barge-a truck that was hauling a load, extra large." Told in verse, the narrative, which seems at first to simply be about a truck’s glacial journey to its destination, turns out to be an excellent lesson in kindness and problem-solving. Kirkus Star review A huge truck (we might call this a B Double here in Australia) arrives on a small island. We cannot see the load because it is covered in a tarp. The roads on the island are narrow and wind around below a small chain of hill ..read more

Isaac visits the New York public library with his parents: "Isaac's parents loved books. They adored how they smelled and the way they felt in their hands, but most of all, they loved discovering the answers hidden inside." Isaac is not interest in books but later his parents take him into a curiosity shop and the owner tells Isaac: "There is a legend,' she explained, 'that somewhere in the world there is one very special book that's just waiting to be discovered. It will look like any other book, but it holds all the answers to every question ever asked, and when it is opened, it turn ..read more

It's been quite a while since I did one of these reading pile posts. I do have books on my pile of course but these days I very rarely have access to advance reader copies of new books and that was often the impetus to share titles in this form. I used to snaffle piles of ARCs from a wonderful local bookshop but sadly that business has now closed.  I now get a few from Three Sparrows Bookstore (take a look at Freddie Spector) and also very occasionally from University of Queensland Press (UQP). Check out the one they just sent me. One of our very large chain bookshops has been havi ..read more

Mr Mornington lives next door. Our narrator, a young girl, visits him through a gap in their hedge fence. She knows Mr Mornington likes gardening, cherry cake, his woolly hat and playing his saxophone. The friends share a love of music and when he plays his sweet tunes the little girl thinks of all her own favourite things - her cat, her mum, her friends, special shoes and socks and cherry cupcakes.  Over time, though, it is clear Mr Mornington is beginning to forget things. He offers to teach the little girl so she can become the second-best saxophone player in the world but then he fo ..read more

"The feeling that woke Ravani Foster on this moonlit night? It was loneliness." "This story, like all stories, is about choices. And Ravani in that moment, chose to not hide. Instead he raised his hand in a silent wave.  Sometimes, when two lonely souls find each other, there is a reaching out.  The girl bought her own hand up. But not in a wave. She raised a single finger to her lips. She made no sound, but there was no mistaking what she was saying: Shhh." Ravani lives in a town named Slaughterville. Yes, it is a small town with an abattoir and this place is the main ..read more

Mah Jahan was a merchant. She collected beautiful things to sell but she also collected birds. "She kept them in cages or in chains so they couldn't fly away and leave her." Her favourite bird was a colourful talking parrot from India. Setting off to trade in India Mah Jahan asked her parrot: "Tell me what I can bring you to make you happy." Do you know what will make this parrot happy?  Here are all her goods loaded onto her camels: Just as she was about to head back home Mah Jahan remembered to ask the wild parrots for advice - what will make her parrot at home happy? These parrots ..read more

Freddy has a new obsession - space. He collects every fact he can, and he shares these on post-it notes all around his house. If you met Freddy you could ask him any question about space and he is sure to know the answer. Actually, questions are one theme in this book because five lucky students from Freddy's school have been selected to ask one question each of Astronaut Lilly Jun who is on the International Space Station. She will talk to the students via a video call. Freddy really wants to ask a great question - not something silly. I won't spoil the question he does ask but it is brilli ..read more