10 Quirky Questions with author Anna Cidor

1. What's your hidden talent?
Making porridge! Seriously, I am a terrible cook and the only thing I can make is porridge. All my grandchildren demand ‘Nana porridge’ as soon as they see me. My secret is soaking rolled oats in milk all night before cooking, and never spoiling the dish with sugar or fruit.

2. Who is your favourite literary villain and why?
It would have to be Lord Vetinari, the evil Patrician, from the Terry Pratchett Discworld series. All of the characters in Pratchett’s books are hilarious spoofs, and Vetinari, despite his dastardly ways, adds a great humorous touch.

Review: Four All at Sea

The four car friends from Four on the Run, return with fame and new adventures. 

In Four All at Sea, the personification of the characters and the objects that surround them, steer the story through dialogue and point of view with humour.

Flash, Fergie, Lady and Maxie have tasted success after living on the farm in unintended neglect. Now, with shiny new paintwork that matches their stardom, they are travelling for the first time overseas on a ship with their owner Mrs Brown, to film their first movie with Peachey Productions.

Review: Food or Friend?

Have you ever heard of a cabbage butterfly? It would have to look like a cabbage, right?

What about a crab apple? That’s a type of crab, isn’t it? 

Do dragon fruits have wings? 

Is a kiwi a fruit or a bird? Food or a friend?

In this fun and funny picture book, author/Illustrator Rebel Challenger explores a range of things that sound like they should be something, but are, in fact, definitely not.

Review: The Monster at the End of This Book

The Monster at the End of This Book is a special 50th anniversary edition of the bestselling book starring the much-loved, furry, blue Muppet named Grover.

Grover is, of course, one of the stars of Sesame Street.

It's a book that's highly interactive.

Grover speaks directly to the reader throughout.

The title of the book is what first raises concerns for Grover. 

There's a monster involved, and Grover doesn't want to encounter a monster!

Giveaway: Australiana Picture Book Prize Pack!

September is the month to spring into a new season and a new appreciation for all things Australiana, from our oceans of infamous creatures to our beguiling outback wonders and thanks to the fantastic people of Walker Books Australia, we have this amazing collection of newly released picture books by some of Australia's most notable authors and illustrators. The pack includes:

• Great White Shark by Claire Saxby and Cindy Lane - Another stunning addition to the Nature Storybooks series, Great White Shark tells the real story about one of the planet's most fascinating and misunderstood creatures.
• Drover by Neridah McMullin and Sarah Anthony - the true story of an important pioneering woman in Australian history, the legendary drover Edna Jessop, celebrated through stunning oil illustrations and evocative text.

For the chance to win this exciting informative and entertaining prize pack, tell us in 25 words or less, about your favourite animal encounter.

Review: Always

Always is the seventh and final book in Morris Gleitzman’s outstanding series featuring the hero Felix. It marks the end of two journeys; the one taken by Felix, the other, the writing journey with Felix by the author,which began sixteen years ago with Once.

Followers of this series can expect many surprising revelations.

The dearest thing to ten year-old Wassim living in Poland, is the memory of his dead parents whom he frequently speaks to at the cemetery. 

His short list of treasures includes Uncle Otto who has cared for him since he was orphaned almost a year ago.

His last is a book left to him by his Grandpa Amos with a note in it instructing the boy to find the international hero Felix Salinger, if ever he’s in trouble.

Review: Backyard Birds

Fly free with our native feathered friends in Backyard Birds by Dr Helen Milroy and celebrate their majesty and splendour. 

Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. She was not only Australia’s first Indigenous doctor and psychiatrist but also AFL’s first Indigenous Commissioner. 

Here we celebrate her work, Backyard Birds, which was shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards. Also by Milroy is Backyard Bugs.

In a riot of colour and sound, Backyard Birds brings birds to life and will have you dancing, prancing and singing along with them. Some of the birds like the kookaburra were already familiar to me, while others like the ‘twenty-eight’ were excitingly new. The twenty-eight is the colloquial Western Australian name for an Australian Ringneck parrot, so named because its cry sounds like ‘twenty-eight’. 

Review: Zoo Crew #1

If you like weird and wacky with a healthy dose of gross, Zoo Crew is for you! 

Hang with Gus the hamster as he fills you in on all you need to know about Bazooglyville Primary School, or Zoo Primary for short. 

He’ll introduce you to the Zoo Crew — Eddie, Mabel and Princeton — and prepare you for the school athletics carnival.

It won’t be easy, though... 

Review: Treasure in the Lake

With the surge of graphic novels for all ages, comes the opportunity for creators and designers to offer a different style of book to children who find reading words difficult, but are drawn to visual narratives.

A five-publisher auction led Allen and Unwin to secure the brilliant, Treasure in the Lake, a debut graphic novel for Jason Pamment.

Iris and Sam, both thirteen, are best friends that share adventures in their spare time. That’s all they share. 

Intelligent and mature, Iris has dreams of seeing something more than the limits of Bugden where she lives. The only thing that will draw anyone there is the giant fish soon to be unveiled in the square.

Announcement: The Environment Award for Children's Literature 2021 by Wilderness Society: WINNERS!

WINNERS OF 2021 ENVIRONMENT AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE ANNOUNCED

The winners for this year’s Environment Award for Children’s Literature have been announced by the Wilderness Society during Nature Book Week, which runs between 6 – 12 September.

Now in its 27th year, the Wilderness Society shortlists the best children’s nature books before a panel of judges crowns a winner for three categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Picture Fiction. The award showcases and celebrates some of the best writers and illustrators working in children’s literature.

Guest Post: Sofie Laguna on The Song of Lewis Carmichael

Sophie Laguna‘s first children’s book in ten years, The Song of Lewis Carmichael, illustrated by her husband Marc McBride, is a magnificent journey deep into The Arctic, but also into the depths of the human psyche.

Sofie tells us about the genesis of the book and what writing  it means to her.

I remember sharing the idea for The Song of Lewis Carmichael with my husband when we were on a holiday together about five years ago. I told Marc all about a boy who travels by hot air balloon to the ice, to find a lost baby.

I described the pictures I saw in my mind: a flock of snow geese carrying a balloon, polar bears thundering across the ice, a cave of dangerous Arctic wolves, the antlers of reindeer resembling the branches of trees.

Review: One Million Insects

One Million Insects explores the world of insects.

And there are lots of insects to discover because there are more than one million species!

Insects have many unique characteristics and life cycles when compared to other animals.

Did you know that only about ten percent of insects can properly be called bugs (true bugs)?

In One Million Insects you'll be able to learn all about different insect types.

There are stick insects and beetles, wasps and dragonflies, grasshoppers, butterflies, and many more.

Facts and figures about these 'creeping, crawling, fluttering, scuttling and hiding' insects are also prominent.