Review - Banjo Paterson : Man From Snowy River / Waltzing Matilda

Iconic Australian poetry classics in the hands of babies? As they say it’s never too young to start. Two of Banjo Paterson’s famous poems are available as beautiful board books, edited by Kathryn England and illustrated by the talented Cate James.

Banjo Paterson - The Man From Snowy River begins with that most memorable line we all can recite, ‘There was movement at the station for the word had got around that the colt from old Regret had got away’ and off we go.

Review: The Escape Game

Reality TV, escape rooms, quirky characters with a side of murder? Yes please! The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss is an exciting YA novel that follows a group of teenagers selected to compete on the latest season of the renowned TV show, The Escape Game. But the only thing is - the last season didn’t go so well…. Season four ended in tragedy, with a contestant brutally murdered on the day of the grand finale - and the mystery is still unsolved. 

As the new group of contestants step into the game, what begins as a high-stakes competition quickly takes a darker turn. Suspicion lingers, tensions rise, and it becomes clear that the danger may not be confined to the puzzles. With secrets lurking beneath the surface and everyone a possible suspect, the contestants must navigate not only the challenges of the game, but the chilling possibility that history could repeat itself if the murder is not solved. 

I really, really enjoyed this book! It was great fun, and such a unique concept. I loved that it was a mystery within a mystery - each escape room bringing more clues, and adding more layers to the murder from previous season. 

Review: Monkeypig

Molly has been happily living in the jungle with all the other monkeys. But Molly has a secret. She is in fact a pig. No one had ever noticed, but after a non-monkey scent is discovered, suspicion begins to rise that an impostor has infiltrated the group. Can Molly manage to go undetected or will she get found out and banished from the group forever?

Review: Exploring the Elements - A Complete Guide to the Periodic Table

This book – and its companion books (see below) are like the perfect day for me. With caramel on top. The joy they bring me – I can't even.

The thing about this stunning series is that it is intensely comprehensive yet served in bite-sized pieces... an intellectual smorgasbord that keeps you coming back for more.

In Exploring the Elements, my periodic table fangirl side entered overdrive. Earth's elements are a regular fascination but this deep dive, sans too-boggling jargon, will cram young heads with wows. 

Sunday Shelfie - WANTED: The Cutest Baby in the World

Happy #sundayshelfie day! It is my pleasure to welcome the wonderful Sarah Zweck. This week we are celebrating the gorgeous picture book Sarah has created with Davina Bell, WANTED: The Cutest Baby in the World.

Late one evening, a detective knocks on the door of two exhausted parents. She’s on the hunt for the world’s most devious master criminal: The Cutest Baby in the World...

Should you find yourself in this rogue’s clutches, your entire world will be turned upside-down! But the most villainous bit? You wouldn’t have it any other way.

A delightfully mischievous book for children who were once the cutest baby in the world - and for new babies who are about to be!

Written by Davina Bell
Illustrated by Sarah Zweck
Published by Thames and Hudson Australia 

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Meet The Illustrator: Cate James

Name, title, location:
Cate James, author/illustrator, Northern Beaches, Sydney

Describe your illustration style in ten words or fewer.
Contemporary, with a nod to books I grew up with.

What items are an essential part of your creative space?
Wacom tablet and iMac, light box, one million pencils and two sausage dogs

Do you have a favourite artistic medium?
Drawing and screen printing

Name three artists whose work inspires you.
Quentin Blake, Andy Warhol and Jon Klassen

Review: Australian Backyard Buddies

There is something truly delightful about a book that encourages young readers to pause… to look closely… and to notice what has always been there. Australian Backyard Buddies does exactly that.

This engaging text celebrates a range of living creatures that share our everyday spaces. It invites curiosity with its unique contents page, drawing readers into a world that is familiar yet often overlooked.

Each double page offers bite-sized information about backyard creatures - their habits, habitats and behaviours. 

Review: The World From Here

Milo lies on the grass gazing at the clouds and sees shapes and animals. Maya looks out the window of a plane and sees the blue sky and clouds and a patchwork-quilt-like landscape below.

Continuing from these vantage points, we are taken on a journey filled with ponderings and interesting facts all about the wonder of the natural world, including how the weather makes us feel, along with mindfulness and calming strategies.

Review: The Last Word

Friendship, first crushes and finding your voice all come together in the delightful middle grade novel The Last Word by A.L. Tait. The third book in the Two Hearts series is a light-hearted yet thoughtful story that captures the emotional landscape of early adolescence with warmth, humour and authenticity.

Matilda Bell begins the school year without her best friend by her side and soon finds herself constantly clashing with a new classmate. When they’re forced to work together on the school debating team, their rivalry slowly shifts into something more complicated. Along the way, Matilda must navigate changing friendships, growing confidence and the tentative beginnings of first love.

Review: Spare Kisses

Eve has the most loveable Nan. Nan’s heart and house abounds in all things love and fun. 

She has all a grandchild adores - delicious treats, craft supplies, spare keys to her doors and open arms for hugs. 

Nan has ‘spares’ for every occasion and is patient, kind and generous to everyone. 

Amongst her treasures and pleasures she has spare kisses. These are the kisses she gives to Eve when she is sad, hurt or lonely. 

Review: Dresses are for Messes

'Why can’t I wear a dress to fight a dragon or lead a pirate crew?' asks Tess in this dynamic picture book about being yourself.

Tess’s dad says that dresses are only for tea parties and fancy occasions. Tess believes that dresses are for any time. 

Elizabeth Pulsford’s well-written rhyming text shows us all the things that Tess can do while wearing her dresses that are adorned with flounces, frills and floofy sleeves. In fact, she says there’s nothing she can’t do. 

Tess’s self-confidence combined with her epic imagination is an inspiration for readers to be themselves.  

Sunday Shelfie - Here, Bear and Everywhere

Happy #sundayshelfie day! It is my pleasure to welcome the wonderful Damian Balassone and Jess Racklyeft. This week we are celebrating their gorgeous new picture book Here, Bear and Everywhere.

Meet a pear bear, a share bear, even an éclair bear in this beary fun-filled romp through rhyme!

With Damian Balassone’s playful poetry and Jess Racklyeft’s irresistible illustrations, this book delights little ones – while its clever rhymes and gentle humour make it a joy for parents to read again and again.

Written by Damian Balassone
Illustrated by Jess Racklyeft 
Published by Little Book Press

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12 Curly Questions with author Maree Coote

1. What's your hidden talent?

Cooking

2. Who is your favourite literary villain and why?
Cruella de Vil of Hell Hall, from The Hundred and One Dalmatians, by Dodie Smith. Larger than life, stylishly evil, perverse, entitled, greedy, vain and shameless, Cruella is also graphically arresting — with hair half black and half white. She’s also a woman, and it’s time for more women villains.

3. You're hosting a literary dinner party, which five authors would you invite? (alive or dead)
Tom Stoppard, Lewis Carroll, Dr Seuss, Edward Lear, Germaine Greer.

Junior Review: Forest of Hearts

Forest of Hearts is an amazing romance fantasy novel for young adults. It has you biting your nails through each twist and turn of the story. 

MA Kuznair doesn't fail to impress as her words whirl around your head and create images of the story as if you were there! 

I loved this retelling of the classic Snow White story and everything in it. I read this book from start to finish without stopping, and then read it all over again! 

This is a fantastic novel, and I recommend it to readers ages 13+.

Title: Forest of Hearts
Author: MA Kuznair 
Publisher: Simon and Schuster, $
Publication Date: 28 October 2025 
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781398551916
For ages: 13+
Type: Young Adult

Review: Don't Let Them Leave

Sometimes a title alone is enough to draw you to a book. Pair that with a somewhat ominous cover showing a shadowy house in the middle of a stormy sea, an author who can get readers laughing in one book and quivering in the next and a killer logline, and you just can’t help but be hooked.

And that’s before you even read the prologue!

After their parents are killed in a car accident, Charlotte and her younger siblings, Jack and Emily, find themselves on a train to Cornwall – a place they’ve never been – to live with a grandmother they never knew they had.

Right from the start, there's something off about the solicitor, Mr Frankelweiss. And from that point on, nothing seems to add up.

Review: You'll Always Be My Baby

This is a glorious rhyming picture book based on a much-loved poem by best-selling author Jessica Urlichs and illustrated by Jedda Robaard.

Indeed, there has been great appetite for these words to be brought to life in a picture book – and now here we are!

A heart-tugging picture book celebrating the deep forever love of family.

With a deceptively simple and limited colour palette, You’ll Always Be My Baby is intricately beautiful. 

Gentle, whimsical and tender ideas unfold through the recurring theme – you’ll always be my baby, just heavier to hold – and are truly universal.