With Father’s Day just around the corner, I thought it fitting to review two cute new picture books designed specifically to celebrate Dads – yet in two very different ways! If kids are looking for a sweet, heartfelt picture book to give Dad and remind him of how much he means to them, it’s hard […]
Tintinnabula, Margo Lanagan and Rovina Cai, Hardie Grant Egmont, October 2017 From the publisher: In wild times and in wartime, in times of fear and illness, I go to Tintinnabula, where soft rains fall. Tintinnabula is a story about moving from discomfort to peace, from violence and uncertainty to a still, sure place. It […]
Birthday, Meredith Russo, Flatiron Books, 2019. From the publisher: Two best friends. A shared birthday. Six years… ERIC: There was the day we were born. There was the minute Morgan and I decided we were best friends for life. The years where we stuck by each other’s side—as Morgan’s mom died, as he moved across […]
Barefoot Bea, Heather Neilly and Ruth de Vos, Yellow Brick Books, 2019 From the publisher: Barefoot Bea hates wearing shoes. She sniffs her nose at a sandal, looks aghast at a gumboot and won’t suffer a sneaker. But when Bea’s parents decide to take radical action, their dynamic daughter comes up with an ingenious […]
Old Hat, Emily Gravett, Pan Macmillan, 2018 Synopsis: Harbet had a hat. His Nana had knitted it for him when he was little. Harbet likes his comfy knitted hat, but the others keep jeering at him – OLD HAT! OLD HAT! No matter what headwear he buys – be it a towering fruit platter hat, an old-boot-on-the-head hat or […]
I Despair of My Hair, Ann-Marie Finn, Yellow Brick Books, 2018 From the publisher: Do you know the feeling when you just can’t do ANYTHING with your hair, no matter how hard you try? Well Alice has that problem every day, but what can she do about it? At the end of the day is […]
Charlie Changes into a Chicken, Sam Copeland (author), Sarah Horne (illus.), Penguin Books, 2019 Synopsis: Charlie McGuffin has an incredible secret . . . He can change into animals. All sorts of animals: a flea, a pigeon, even a rhino. Trouble is, he can’t decide when – it only happens when he gets worried. And right now, Charlie […]
How Not to Be Popular, Cecily Anne Paterson, Wombat Books, 2019 From the publisher: Maddie tries to be nice to everyone. Even weird, chicken-obsessed Tahlia. BUT she’d way prefer to hang out with the cool K-girls at school. The only problem is that they don’t seem interested in her anymore. And at Year 6 camp […]
A Monster in My House, The Umbilical Brothers (authors), Johan Potma (illus.), Puffin Books, 2018 Synopsis: There’s a Monster in my Bedroom. Keep very, very still. Tell me you can see it. It’s giving me a chill . . . A funny, charming rhyming picture book about a house full of monsters with an unexpected […]
At the End of Holyrood Lane, Dimity Powell (author), Nicky Johnston (illus.), EK Books, 2018 Synopsis: Flick is just like any other youngster. She loves to chase butterflies and jump in autumn leaves. But life at the end of Holyrood Lane is often violent and unpredictable due to the constant storms that plague her home, […]
