What Do You Call Your Dad? (Ashleigh Barton, illus Martina Heiduczek, ABC Books)
Tuesday, 14 May 2024
What Do You Call Your Dad? is a love letter to fathers by writer Ashleigh Barton (Freddie Spector, Fact Collector: Space Cadet) and illustrator Martina Heiduczek (Spies in the Sky), the...
Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra (Cassy Polimeni, illus Hykie Breeze, UWAP)
Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra by Cassy Polimeni (The Garden at the End of the World) is a beautifully written junior fiction story exploring themes of animal conservation, friendship...
The Book Star (Bec Nanayakkara, illus Joanna Bartel, Affirm)
Tuesday, 14 May 2024
The Book Star is a fun and engaging story about the importance of being yourself and following your interests. Centred around Book Week, this picture book offers a relatable situation...
The Mires (Tina Makereti, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Tina Makereti’s latest novel, The Mires, is a masterclass in social realism with just a touch of magic. Opening from the perspective of the swampland of the Kāpiti Coast in Aotearoa...
‘King of Sloth’ debuts at number one
Friday, 10 May 2024
Top 10 bestsellers King of Sloth (Ana Huang, Hachette) Wholesome by Sarah (Sarah Pound, Plum) Funny Story (Emily Henry, Viking) My Favourite Mistake (Marian Keyes, Michael Joseph) RecipeTin Eats: Dinner...
Books in the media this weekend, 11–12 May
Friday, 10 May 2024
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. This week's round-up will be updated as information becomes available. National The Saturday Paper Datsun...
Living Hot (Clive Hamilton & George Wilkenfeld, Hardie Grant Books)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Living Hot by Clive Hamilton (Silent Invasion) and independent energy consultant George Wilkenfeld, provides a stark assessment of Australia’s response to climate change, emphasising that the inertia behind carbon emissions reduction...
Leaf Letters (Lorena Carrington, Christmas Press)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Nine-year-old Hazel Bird loves to explore her local area and collect little treasures. When her baby sister is born, she can no longer bring home ‘choke-ables’ and is gifted an...
Return to Sender (Lauren Draper, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
A historical letter-writing mystery and searching for the missing ‘Adder Stone’ are two of the many compelling story arcs in this highly engaging, fast-paced contemporary YA novel. Brodie McKellon (‘The...
A Language of Limbs (Dylin Hardcastle, Picador)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Dylin Hardcastle’s tender and steamy third novel, A Language of Limbs, follows two sapphic young women (Limb One and Limb Two) on different paths through the febrile 1970s and beyond...
Raymaŋgirrbuy dhäwu, When I was a little girl (Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr, Magabala)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
This beautiful book is written in dual languages: Dhuwal, also known as Djambarrpuyŋu (widely understood in north-east Arnhem Land), and English. The artworks/illustrations by author Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr depict family...
Jade and Emerald (Michelle See-Tho, Vintage)
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Winner of the 2023 Penguin Literary Prize, Jade and Emerald is a portrait of what it means to grow up caught between two cultures. Lei Ling Wen is an Australian-born...
‘Funny Story’ debuts at number one
Friday, 3 May 2024
Top 10 bestsellers Funny Story (Emily Henry, Viking) My Favourite Mistake (Marian Keyes, Michael Joseph) The Scarlet Shedder (Dog Man #12) (Dav Pilkey, Scholastic) Powerful (Lauren Roberts, S&S)* RecipeTin Eats:...
Books in the media this weekend, 4–5 May
Friday, 3 May 2024
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper Long Island (Colm Tóibín, Picador) The Rocks Remain (ed by Karen...
Outrider (Mark Wales, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
In Mark Wales’s debut novel, Outrider, China invades Australia, and the state of Victoria is now in the hands of enemy forces. With many fight-hungry locals turned traitors, The Hill—the once...
Wild About Book Week (Sarah Speedie, illus Kruti Desai, Larrikin House)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Wild About Book Week is a meta-tale of sorts, which celebrates what has become an annual tradition for many families: dressing up for Book Week. The protagonist, a pigtailed child,...
Spiro (Anna McGregor, Scribble)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Spiro is a humorous new picture book by Anna McGregor, the multi-award-winning creator of Anemone Is Not the Enemy. The protagonist is Spiro, a determined little spider on a mission to catch...
Always Was, Always Will Be (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, Magabala)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Always Was, Always Will Be is set to be an indispensable resource for young people looking to understand First Nations resistance in Australia. Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, whose collaboration began...
Milk (Matthew Evans, Murdoch)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Dairy milk is an odd battleground for political polarisation, yet it always seems to be one. Milk is an attempt to make the case for that long-loved standard—cows’ milk—in the face of...
Animal Activism On and Off Screen (ed by Claire Parkinson & Lara Herring, SUP)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Animal activists have been at the forefront of using the media to get their message out—and in turn, the media has played a role in shaping the direction of activists’...
‘Taming 7’ debuts at number one
Friday, 26 April 2024
Top 10 bestsellers Taming 7 (Chloe Walsh, Piatkus) Powerful (Lauren Roberts, S&S)* My Favourite Mistake (Marian Keyes, Michael Joseph) The Scarlet Shedder (Dog Man #12) (Dav Pilkey, Scholastic) A Calamity...
Books in the media this weekend, 27–28 April
Friday, 26 April 2024
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. This week's round-up will be updated as information becomes available. National The Saturday Paper Excitable...
Where Is the Green Sheep? Celebration Book
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the highly acclaimed, bestselling picture book, Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek. To celebrate this incredible milestone, Penguin Random...
Blossom: Practical and creative ways to find wonder in the floral world (Adriana Picker, Hardie Grant Books)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Blossom goes beyond merely showcasing the beauty of flowers, offering wonderful and practical ideas for using flowers through the seasons. In her latest book, botanical illustrator Adriana Picker shares her...
Freddie Spector, Fact Collector: Space Cadet (Ashleigh Barton, illus Peter Cheong, Lothian)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Freddie Spector, Fact Collector: Space Cadet is the first instalment in this funny, fact-filled junior fiction series, ideal for ages 7 to 10. Freddie is a wacky, confident eight-year-old boy who...
Everything Is Water (Simon Cleary, UQP)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Like the river at its heart, Everything Is Water takes readers on a meandering journey full of unexpected delights, surprises and challenges at every turn. Novelist and hiker Simon Cleary (The...
Father of the Lost Boys: The Mecak Ajang Alaak story (Yuot A Alaak, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
In Father of the Lost Boys, former child refugee Yuot A Alaak immortalises the hero who rescued 20,000 boys from the brink of death—his father, Mecak Ajang Alaak. Affectionately embraced as...
Liar’s Test (Ambelin Kwaymullina, Text)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
The latest YA novel from Palyku author Ambelin Kwaymullina is a high-action, thematically rich fantasy with a gutsy, intuitive protagonist who must become a good liar to survive in the...
The Skeleton House (Katherine Allum, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
The Skeleton House is a powerful and riveting literary debut, delving into themes of motherhood, coercive control, and life within a remote and rigid society. Meg’s life, like that of...
Hide & Seek Beautiful (Nicki Esler Gill, illus Jedda Robaard, Scholastic)
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Hide & Seek Beautiful by Nicki Esler Gill explores a tender and heart-warming story of friendship and the little things in life. Best friends since birth, Annie and Boo find...
