Publisher blurb: Little Bear lives happily in his cozy cave deep in the woods. He loves picking berries in the day, listening to the birds sing under his favourite tree in the evenings, and curling up comfily on his soft leaves to sleep each night. But when Bear wakes up one morning to find his beloved forest ablaze, he must make a quick escape, away from his cozy cave, friendly faces and the comforts he knows. He walks and walks in search of somewhere new to call home but finds he's not welcome in the places that look most familiar to him. Feeling hopeless and alone, Little Bear must journe ..read more

"Billy was having a bad day. ... Billy wished there was someone he could talk to." He tells his friend Hippo that he is feeling sad and that his brain is whirling like a pinwheel but Hippo is not listening properly. Hippo sees himself as the master of fun. He suggests dressing up, dancing, climbing a tree, sailing on the high seas or perhaps a magic carpet ride will help or a party with cake! No no no. Billy just wants someone to listen. Finally, Hippo stops all this activity and he notices Billy is sad. He makes two mugs of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows and the pair of friends sit do ..read more

I recently discovered this interesting article from IBBY Chile which explores twenty-eight children's choice awards. Our own KOALA awards participated in this survey from around the world.  From: García-González, M., Roig, M., Rajpoot, A., Uehara, L. and Saona, I. (2024);  Child Juries in Literary Prizes University of Glasgow May Children Decide “CHILDCULTURES. Challenging Anthropocentrism, Adultism and Other Exclusions with Children’s Literature and Culture” research project. It is interesting to see the list of possible reasons from this survey for a children's choice award ..read more

"You head up your soft mushroom stair and read a book in your big mushroom chair." For the first few pages of this lullaby, we meet various mushrooms in different situations. On the ground, on a tree branch, in a desert, under a waterfall. Then turn the page and we find a mushroom house with a front door and window. This is sure to enchant your young reading companion. The path to the house even has a small lantern hanging on a twig rather like the light from Narnia. There is an outdoor table with a checkers board game and inside the house you will see shelves crammed with books and other to ..read more

  Bookseller blurb: Spend the day picking wild blueberries with Clarence and his grandmother. Meet ant, spider, and fox in a beautiful woodland landscape, the ancestral home of author and illustrator Julie Flett. This book is written in both English and Cree, in particular the n-dialect, also known as Swampy Cree from the Cumberland House area.  Wild Berries was published in 2013 but I see a new edition will be released this year [9781772291049]. With a group of older students in Australia you could introduce the topic of other indigenous peoples such as the Cree of Canada. Th ..read more

I had not seen this book from 2017. I picked it up at the library where I volunteer at Westmead Children's Hospital.  The little girl loves the way her dad can repair things but what about mum? At first we see her sitting and watching as the girl and her dad work together. You might notice mum has a rug over her knees and a scarf tied over her hair perhaps showing she has been having chemotherapy.  "She's too sore on the inside to help us, but her fingers still work fine." Closer look shows mum is adding ribbons to a hoop.  "Dad makes Mama's bad days better too, with his sooth ..read more

Henry is a snail who loves to explore his environment during the night. He can burrow under fallen leaves, find water drops on spider webs, marvel at the construction of nest built by birds using twigs and he can see all of this because the moon lights his way.  "But what are stars for? he would whisper to no one at all." Because Henry has an unanswered question he decides to venture out in daylight and ask his question. The bee has no time for questions like this. The kookaburra thinks this is a ridiculous question. All the bandicoot can see is food - Henry quickly hides. Luckily there ..read more

Illustrator, teacher and artist whose creative work will be forever enjoyed. SMH May 25th, 2024. Dee (Deirdre Ann Huxley) studied design and craft at the National Art School, East Sydney. After graduating she taught visual arts in secondary schools in Australia and London, and later worked as a graphic designer for television. A freelance illustrator since 1976, her work is displayed in galleries nationally and internationally. Three of her books, Mr. Nick's Knitting (1989), Rain Dance (2001), and You and Me Our Place (2008) were short-listed for the Children's Book Council of Australia Pic ..read more

Audrey lives with her mum (Mam) and twin younger siblings. Things are very tough for the family and Audrey knows it is her job, even though she is only nine years old, to keep everyone safe. To do this she has to keep her mum's illness secret. And she has to be sure the authorities (Them) don't find out about mam or the bills they can't pay or their shortage of food. Her days are a roller coaster of emotions as she assesses her Mam's pain levels, wrangles her brother and sister and tries to maintain a web of lies with her two best friends. There is one person, though, who brightens every d ..read more

Who decides when you become old?  The other day I jumped onto a very crowed bus. There were seats towards the back but before I could get that far a lady (I would say she was around my age) jumped up to give me her seat!  Of course I said no and walked further back to the empty seat I had spied but really - am I old? I have many friends who are grandparents. I would love to gift them this book (the paperback is only AuS$14) - the text and illustrations are wonderful opposites. It is not true that old people are slow, clumsy, not bendy, or scared of new things. Let's think about tha ..read more