Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Having her first book accepted in 1984, Australian author, Jennifer Rowe, is an accomplished writer. Her crime fiction for adults is presented under her own name, while her children’s fiction is published under the pseudonyms Emily Rodda and Mary-Anne Dickinson. She has gone on to write over 100 books for children.
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The author of The Courage to Be Yourself is Japanese award-winning professional writer, Fumitake Koga. He has released numerous bestselling works of business-related and general non-fiction. His encounter with Adlerian psychology in his late twenties has influenced his writing, whether it be as sole author or in collaboration with others. The
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Tim Ayliffe’s Web of Spies represents a compelling generic crossover in which we witness the intricate machinery of the espionage thriller adapted to the landscape of adolescent fiction. The novel is essentially the story of Ollie, a young lad who is investigating a local murder, whose task opens out to uncover
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This beautiful hard covered children’s picture book contains the true story of a little baby platypus who was rescued and cared for until he was ready to return to his home in the wild at Christmas Creek. He was rehabilitated at Healesville Sanctuary which opened stage 1 of the Australian Platypus
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This square hard-covered children’s picture book is ready for the end of the year celebrations with its Christmas colours, gift tag, Christmas paper, decorations and candy canes. Yet the first five pages introduce two tiny insects – a Christmas bug and a humbug, each with different personalities. While the Christmas bug
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This middle grade graphic novel by Jason Pamment is the second featuring Ember, a very kind and very tiny boy as he follows his emotionally tricky path on the way to adulthood. This is the third book produced by the South Australian author and illustrator. His debut graphic novel, Treasure in
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This hard-covered children’s picture book is about a young girl becoming aware of another language that her grandfather could speak. Myra is staying with her grandfather and enjoying his company. One day she hears him on the phone speaking in a language she has never heard before. When she asks him
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The children’s picture book, Tiki and Jill, retells the story of the Great Australian Camel Race, an endurance undertaking from Ayres Rock (Uluru) to the Albert Shire on the Gold Coast. This covered a distance of 3260 kilometres and took place between 28th April and the 16th of July 1988. The
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The back cover of this children’s hard covered book, tells the reader that: ‘In this book you’ll find lots of things that grow Branching ever upward, or tangled deep below…’ While the front cover has the words ‘Seeds of wisdom only nature knows’. This is a book that not only tells
Reviewed by Rod McLary Sword Echoes: Pirate Academy 3 is the third in this series of adventure books for children from about nine through to early teenage years. It is as exciting and adventurous as the first two – and for those readers new to the books, there is a handy ‘The Story So Far
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This slightly textured, 30 x24cm, hard-covered children’s picture book is presented with dramatic colours. The author Claire Saxby has teamed up with illustrator Peter Cheong to produce her latest book, Through the Darkening Sea. His collage-style artwork is presented in predominantly dark colours – to follow the dramatic story being told.
Reviewed by E. B. Heath My enthusiasm for The Embarrassing Confessions of Gracie Sparks written by Fiona Harris grew with every page. It is not easy to write for middle grade children, while also making an older demographic shed the odd tear. An authentic voice resonated from every page as Gracie experienced her transition from
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The Anders graphic novels are the work of Melbourne based Gregory Mackay who has been making comics since his school days. Anders and the Mountain is the fourth in this series. His books have received much acclaim especially overseas. Anders and his friends are all animals. They put on a benefit
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Storm, by author, Claire Saxby, is a hard covered children’s picture book. The front cover depicts the title with dark thunderous clouds and driving rain. The back cover, in contrast, is presented in rainbow colours. This book would be suitable for Primary School students as it covers what happens when a
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Somewhere You Can Dream, is a twenty-six cm square hardcovered children’s book by award-winning children’s author and poet, Janeen Brian. She is a South Australian writer of children’s books who prior to 1990 was a primary school teacher. She published her 100th book in September 2016. She now has 110 books