A Little Spark (Barry Jonsberg, A&U)
Wednesday, 15 June 2022
A Little Spark is the latest middle-grade novel from author Barry Jonsberg. Known for his novels My Life as an Alphabet and A Song Only I Can Hear, Jonsberg again...
Our Dreaming (Kirli Saunders, illus by Dub Leffler, Scholastic)
Wednesday, 15 June 2022
This isn’t the first time that Gunai writer, poet and activist Kirli Saunders and Bigambul illustrator Dub Leffler have created something incredible together. It’s no surprise after the success of...
The Book of Wondrous Possibilities (Deborah Abela, Puffin)
Wednesday, 15 June 2022
The Book of Wondrous Possibilities starts with a bang and doesn’t let up. Arlo lives a quiet life with his uncle and pet mouse Herbert above their bookshop, until the...
Text Prize 2022 shortlist announced
Wednesday, 8 June 2022
The shortlist for the Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing, worth $10,000, has been announced. The shortlisted manuscripts are: ‘Bellamy Jones and the Lost Treeheart’ by Emily Beck...
Ninni Yabini (Cheryl Kickett-Tucker, illus by Tyrown Waigana, Fremantle Press)
Tuesday, 7 June 2022
Ninni Yabini is a new picture book collaboration between author, research academic and community development practitioner Cheryl Kickett-Tucker and multidisciplinary artist and graphic designer Tyrown Waigana. A celebration of family...
The Hidden Girl (Louise Bassett, Walker)
Tuesday, 7 June 2022
In Louise Bassett’s debut novel The Hidden Girl Melati Nelson has precariously performed the 'good girl' act for a year at her new school, trying to overcome the misdoings of...
Ella and the Useless Day (Meg McKinlay, illus by Karen Blair, Walker)
Tuesday, 7 June 2022
Turning trash into treasure and cleaning into fun! The joys of sorting through useless household hoarding combined with the value of re-using, recycling and upcycling make this picture book a...
NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults finalists announced
Thursday, 2 June 2022
The finalists for the 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have been announced. The shortlists in each category, chosen from a record 199 entries, are: Picture...
The Brink (Holden Sheppard, Text)
Tuesday, 31 May 2022
In The Brink, schoolies week goes horribly wrong when a group of school leavers find themselves isolated on a remote island along the Western Australian coast. Everyone is trying to...
Life Lessons for Little Ones: You Are Enough (Jess Sanders, illus by Ocean Hughes, Affirm)
Tuesday, 31 May 2022
You are Enough is the first title in a new series, 'Life Lessons for Little Ones', that pairs the award-winning author of Love Your Body and Be Your Own Man,...
The Deadly Daylight (Ash Harrier, Pantera)
Tuesday, 31 May 2022
In Ash Harrier’s debut middle-grade novel, The Deadly Daylight, 12-year-old Alice England helps her father dress corpses in the family funeral home. She finds that certain personal objects are ‘resonant’:...
Over two million participate in ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime
Friday, 27 May 2022
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has announced that this year's National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) was the biggest in the event's 22-year history, with over two million participants registered...
Gervay wins 2022 Crystal Kite award
Thursday, 26 May 2022
Susanne Gervay has won the Australian and New Zealand division of this year’s Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards, presented by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Gervay...
Wild Bush Days (Penny Harrison, illus by Virginia Gray, MidnightSun)
Tuesday, 24 May 2022
Wild Bush Days is an illustrated account of two young explorers who go on a journey to find the hiding spot of infamous female outlaw Jessie Hickmans. A real-life historical...
The Shop Train (Josie Wowolla Boyle, illus by Paul Seden, Magabala)
Tuesday, 24 May 2022
With The Shop Train, the late Josie Wowolla Boyle offers a small memory-sketch of the days when the Tea and Sugar train travelled weekly across the Nullarbor to supply food...
Willa and Woof (Jacqueline Harvey, Puffin)
Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Jacqueline Harvey’s new series Willa and Woof follows a smart eight-year-old girl, Willa, and her ‘best four-legged friend’, Woof. In this first instalment, following in the tradition of other spirited...
Rita’s Revenge (Lian Tanner, A&U)
Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Rita’s Revenge is the companion book to Lian Tanner’s debut crime book A Clue for Clara (2020), and is set in the same small town of Little Dismal. Rita the...
August & Jones (Pip Harry, Lothian)
Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Meet Jones and August: Jones’s family have had to sell their farm and relocate to Sydney because of the drought, while August’s quirky personality means he feels isolated both at...
The Vexatious Haunting of Lily Griffin (Paula Hayes, illus by Katy Jiang, Fremantle Press)
Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Eleven-year-old Lily Griffin is precocious but lonely—bullied by her brother and benignly neglected by the rest of her unusual family. Lily’s life changes dramatically when she discovers a girl trapped...
Jack’s Jumper (Sara Acton, Walker)
Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Jack’s jumper is far too big for him (it once belonged to his beloved big brother Paul, who has grown up and is rarely home anymore) but that’s half the...
Hachette acquires Rolfe YA graphic novel
Thursday, 5 May 2022
Hachette Australia has acquired Get Your Story Straight, the debut YA graphic novel by Melbourne-based author and illustrator Briar Rolfe. The deal was brokered by Hachette head of children’s publishing Jeanmarie...
Tarni’s Chance (Paul Collins, illus by Jules Ober, Ford St)
Tuesday, 3 May 2022
In Tarni’s Chance, the world of Paul Collins and Jules Ober’s young protagonist is grey with sadness as her parents argue, and her inner mood is reflected in the monochromatic...
The Snow Laundry (Mette Jakobsen, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 3 May 2022
Ally, her boyfriend Bon, and hundreds of other homeless young people live together in a former hotel converted into a state-run laundry and kitchen. The new home is courtesy of...
Old Fellow (Christopher Cheng, illus by Liz Anelli, Walker)
Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Old Fellow, written by Christopher Cheng and illustrated by Liz Anelli, is a warm, simple and engaging story of an old man and his old dog. Which one of the...
My Spare Heart (Jared Thomas, A&U)
Wednesday, 27 April 2022
There’s a lot to unpack in this YA novel, which covers issues including alcoholism, climate change, divorce and racism. At the centre of it all is 17-year-old Phoebe. She is...
The Museum of Broken Things (Lauren Draper, Text)
Wednesday, 20 April 2022
The concise opening of Lauren Draper’s debut YA novel immediately had me hooked: a new town, a mysterious statue and a curse all make for intriguing storylines. In The Museum...
What We All Saw (Mike Lucas, Puffin)
Wednesday, 20 April 2022
In a small English country town in the 1970s, four friends make their way to the local quarry, a place where stories of witches and curses are born. Hag’s Drop,...
Lauren Draper on ‘The Museum of Broken Things’
Wednesday, 20 April 2022
Lauren Draper's debut YA novel The Museum of Broken Things (Text, June) follows 18-year-old Reece, who finds herself living in a small beachside town. With multiple plotlines, and featuring a cast of...
‘Nevermoor’ to be adapted as musical film
Tuesday, 19 April 2022
Jessica Townsend's 2017 middle-grade novel Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Lothian) has been acquired by Paramount Pictures to be adapated as a film musical, reports Deadline. The musical adaptation...
Walker aquires Foster, Gordon middle-grade novel
Wednesday, 13 April 2022
Walker Books Australia has acquired world rights to Small Acts, a middle-grade novel by neurodiverse authors Kate Foster and Kate Gordon. Described by the publisher as 'a gentle tale that...
