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
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The creator of this book is Hana Kinoshita Thomson, a Japanese-American-Australian illustrator, designer and author. As well as creating her own hard covered rabbity books she is an in-house book designer at Allen & Unwin. This square children’s hard-covered picture book is dedicated to her parents and anyone who loves rabbits.
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This hard-cover children’s book by Andrea Rowe and illustrated by Lisa Coutts tells the story of a young girl called Audrey who skips across the Melbourne skyline during a particular time in history. The story highlights good times and times when parents worry how they will pay the bills and people
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke As a past educator I am aware that trying to change what a child has first learned is not easy. Yet I also know that children respond to and remember what is funny and even sometimes ridiculous. Information is more easily absorbed if it is related to the child’s activities. Author,
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve This collection of stories, some with the familiar theme of the wicked stepmother and others with a fresh idea of a spider that makes hot pepper soup and resorts to trickery, is quite different from the Grimm and Hans Anderson tales which were frequently cruel and harrowing. Many of these are
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke It was just Lavender and her mum and often Lavender found herself sitting outside waiting for her mum, when she went in for a noggin of rum, with the promise of fetching something to fill their bellies. One day as she was waiting in the fine cold rain, she was rescued
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This is a beautifully presented, hard covered, square, children’s picture book written by Catherine Barr and illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat. Catherine writes non-fiction books that aim to inspire children to explore, understand and take action to protect the natural world. She has written over 35 books to spark conversation and curiosity
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This children’s book by American writer, Amy Timberlake, is the third in her Skunk and Badger stories. Because of the author’s nationality some of the words in this story were new to me, such as mukluk which I discovered is a sealskin or reindeer-skin boot typically worn by Indigenous peoples of
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This hardcovered, 30x24cm, children’s picture book was produced as the result of a collaboration between children of Yalingbu Yirramboi – The Royal Children’s Hospital school – and two award-winning children’s authors, Alison Lester and Jane Godwin. The book begins with a question, “If you could travel wherever you choose, to worlds