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

When you pick up this book don't rush to open it. Spend a little time - stretch out the cover; touch the cover (it is embossed) and then stop and think about the meanings of the title. Now turn to the hectic end papers which are filled with - yes waste! Can you and your young reading companion or library group identify some of these objects - I see a toaster, clothing, toys, a hair dryer, plants, a stapler, a flower vase, a trombone, a bucket, several pots and pans, a toy dinosaur (at least I hope it's a toy), a arrow, a fish, chicken drumsticks, a spade, an electric toothbrush, a golf club ..read more

I was so proud of my three dresses. I took care of them so I'd always have  one to wash, one to wear and one spare.  This is a book that should be shared with children all over Australia (and beyond). For many children this story will be so thought provoking. Imagine if your Christmas present was a new dress - I am sure most little girls would be excited. And what if you were given three dresses - now that is sure to make you extra happy. But what if the three dresses were not new? These are second-hand dresses given to you by the Lutheran church. Have your emotions just been throu ..read more

It tells me on the cover this book contains 263 fun, fascinating and fact-filled lists.  Two hundred and sixty-three is an odd number - I guess their lists just evolved. They sure are random! I do enjoy books like this that are filled with trivia but my Teacher-Librarian brain would have liked the list to be arranged in some sort of order. On any one page there is an assortment of unrelated lists. Here are a few examples.  The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; Cures for Hiccups; Three really big spiders; African countries; and Ancient Olympic sports. Nobel Prize winners; Weird wa ..read more

A big brother is taking a basket of bananas to his Baba (grandfather), but he does not realise the baby has stowed away and is now riding on the back of his bike - no wonder the banana basket is so heavy. The baby peeks out from under the basket lid and sees a butterfly and a beautiful bird. A mischievous baboon takes her basket lid and as they ride past a heavily laden bus the baby passes a banana to one of the passengers. Meanwhile the boy, wearing headphones, has no idea that all of this is happening behind his back.  When he arrives, Baba reaches into the basket for a banana, and ..read more

Once again Bren MacDibble takes us to a dystopian future world - this time set in Queensland. We have wrecked the world. There is no electricity and no cars and worse there are now diseases. Blame comes from both sides - the sides in this book are women versus men. This disease seems to affect men more than women so in this divided world women live a subsistence life in make-shift villages and men have been sent into the mountains. If baby boys are born, they are dressed up as girls so they can stay in the community. Bastienne has been rescued by Lodyma. Her own son has been banished from th ..read more