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
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This hard covered children’s picture book, Come Home, Bigibila, is presented by First Nations literary creators and is the story about a young echidna. The reader is told that Bigibila, is the Gamilaraay word for echidna and that it is the totem animal for one of the authors, Corey Tutt. Every
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Nerds vs Aliens is a story written for both reluctant and confident upper primary school readers seeking a funny, quick, entertaining read. It will especially interest young readers who love alien adventures and saving-the-world stories. It has been written by Australian author, Barry Jonsberg, and is set in Queensland. He has
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Since finishing the last book in the Harry Potter stories in 2007, J K Rowling has gone on to release many companion books. The latest additions to the wizarding world are the ‘Pocket Potter’ series. The first three books in the series were published in 2025 and featured Harry Potter, Ron
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Linda Gifford, author and illustrator, has taken an amazing true story which became world-wide news to create her latest children’s book. In her story she has imagined some of Valerie’s adventures over the 500 days she roamed Kangaroo Island before eventually being returned to her owners. This hard covered children’s picture
Reviewed by Rod McLary Who doesn’t love a good adventure story – especially when it is one set on the oceans with hardly a parent in sight? And that is exactly what Justin Somper has crafted in Missing at Sea – volume two in the Pirate Academy series. The cast is a group of eleven-year-olds
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke ‘Twas the night before Easter, the workshop was busy! There were baskets to fill and eggs to make pretty. There was so much to do for the Big Easter Quest. And the Bunny herself she was, honestly stressed. Tanya Hennessy’s bright picture book, Pink Easter, follows other books by this author
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Sharon Dalgleish, once a teacher, now writes non-fiction and poetry books for children. To date she has published over fifty books for the education market as well as texts and resource books for current primary school teachers. Her latest book, Saving Shark Pup, is the true story of a great white