Review: This Bird: Noticing Our Urban Birds

‘Oooooo … doo-doo-doo-whipp!’

‘Pew pew.’

That's the call of an eastern whipbird, one of the many wonderful birds I hear living in the Blue Mountains in NSW. 

Also full of vibrant native birds is a new book called, This Bird: Noticing Our Urban Birds, created to help identify and celebrate birds in our backyards, local parks and streets. 

This Bird is written and illustrated by Astred Hicks in collaboration with Dr Holly Parsons, an ecologist and community educator. The book is a stunning way to connect with nature and be in the present moment.

Review: The Observologist

Observology: the process of carefully watching and analysing the world around you. 

This is a Handbook for Mounting Very Small Scientific Expeditions. That means, setting out to find hidden creatures in places not previously thought of, and learning how to identify them. 

Boring is a word often repeated by children. But it is one that can be silenced simply by looking down to discover a fascinating, alive world at one’s feet.  

Observology encourages children to explore the natural world through short excursions to find not only what is above

Review: The AR in Sydney Harbour

The AR in Sydney Harbour is a new book from Judith Barker and Janie Frith who won a Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award in 2019.

It takes “the various spelling patterns of the bossy 'r' (ar) sound in the different and various words”, and spotlights them on a journey around Sydney Harbour.

There’s lots to see on this exploration. Ferries are the main form of transport, joining other vehicles – tour boats going whale spotting, and seaplanes travelling overhead.

Review: Lottie Brooks Vs The Ultra Mean Girls

This book is one of those middle grade reads that this (ahem) middle-aged reviewer could not put down.

Just when Lottie thought life might be going back to normal, everything goes wrong again!

All the things that could possibly go wrong in a tween girls’ life, do go wrong in this book. And it’s a hoot. 

Written in diary form, with literal stick figure pictures and a tween vernacular to die for, the book’s main character Lottie Brooks is the type of kid that every tween or teen who reads this book wants to be like. Or at the very least, wants to have as a BFF.

Lottie is flawed and a little bit slow to catch on to things that her squad know instantly. 

She’s naïve and funny, clever and endearing, unashamedly herself, and embarrassed at things that other kids don’t give a rip about.

Review: Once I Was A Giant

I was fortunate enough to see the drafts and incomplete storyboard of Once I Was A Giant when meeting Zeno Sworder in person for the first time some eighteen or so months ago. Both experiences were profoundly moving and memorable.

Which pretty much sums up this extraordinary picture book. With no preamble, the Giant’s story begins, at the ending, with a premise that could easily reflect a reoccurring dilemma for many creators; a stymie of creative flow. 

When the picture book maker, with a strong resemblance to the author himself, experiences this impasse, his trusty pencil inexplicably springs to life.

The wee stub shows him her life’s journey from germinating seed to grand dame of her forest kingdom. We are taken through life cycle after life cycle. From a sapling’s view point to that of a towering giant’s, residence to a whole eco-system of invertebrates, animals and birds. It is a wondrous and all-encompassing experience to stand before this giant and gaze skyward at her unfathomable brilliance, so strong, so assured, so steadfast.

Review: Powerful Like A Dragon

A dragon is proud, strong, kind. Be powerful like a dragon.

Words that bolster and build incentive to never give up. Never give in. Especially to the ravages and horrors of war. 

One would think that stories centred around this theme would be a thing of the past and yet, the plight of refugees displaced by senseless conflicts remains a global concern to this day.

Powerful Like a Dragon is a compelling piece of storytelling based on award-winning author, Christopher Cheng’s real-life family history. Caught in the grips of invasion in the midst of World War II, many of Cheng’s extended family made the life-saving decision to flee their homeland in Hong Kong and seek refuge in China.

Review: An A-Z of Ocean Creatures

How many ocean creatures can you name? How many could you recognise?

Your knowledge will increase exponentially when you read An A-Z of Ocean Creatures.

This is another beautiful creation by Myke Mollard, packed with stunning, detailed illustrations in full colour.  

A different letter of the alphabet features across pages, each with a list of creatures, and an underwater picture featuring them. 

The names of some of the creatures may surprise or amuse you.

Review: The 113th Assistant Librarian #2 - Lost in a Book

Oliver Wormwood is Assistant Librarian in the magic library where nine cats keep watch and characters in books, mainly animals, come to life.

The cats are the alter personalities of Oliver’s best friend and co-worker, Agatha, the result of a spell cast on her which has shortened her life span. 

Oliver receives a request from a law firm managing the affairs of the deceased, Phillip Thomas, to examine an immense collection of books, and choose those appropriate for the Library. 

While searching through the editions and comparing their condition with the old library copies, Agatha discovers discrepancies in several historical titles regarding the borders of their Kingdom, Hallarum, a fault, if discovered, could endanger their safety.

Junior Review: For No Mortal Creature

The novel For No Mortal Creature follows Jia Yi through her adventures in both the real world and the afterlife. Having lived her whole life believing she has no magic, she discovers her ability to travel between the living world and the multi-layered death realm after her own death when she learns her power of resurrection. 

The protagonist is forced to uncover the truth of her powers to save her beloved grandmother, driven into a quest involving ghostly realms, a legendary weapon and allies she trusts, yet remains cautious of, including a deceased childhood friend and a rival prince. 

Inspired by Chinese folklore and Western fantasy tropes, the novel blends gothic fantasy, romance and myth to build a legendary world.

Review: This is Us - Essential Australian Poems for Young People

There is music in everything around us. The music of poetry reflects the music of Life itself. 

That's how it is in This is Us: Essential Poems for Younger Readers, a celebration of life. 

An outstanding collection of poetry chosen by Libby Hathorn and Jude Fell, it contains 61 poems chosen from states all over Australia. 

At times, full of nonsense and laughter, they include the sky and Earth, and everything in between. 

Lots of free verse is mixed in with rhyming and rhythmic poems - about Nitz, mosquitoes, swans in their majestic beauty, wombats and lyrebirds.  

Tender and deeply moving ones such as 

Review: The Aussie Christmas Mix Up

The Aussie Christmas Mix Up is one of those picture books that may well become a permanent fixture – to be pulled off the shelf and enjoyed all year around, but most especially at Christmas time.

Santa has checked his list not once but twice and put the gifts in his bag. If only he was as careful when he was attaching all the tags!

This is Jackie Hosking and Nathaniel Eckstrom’s third Christmas offering together, and it is as delightful as the first two.

Review: No One is Home

Leo wants to spend the day with Kimbo, his best friend. He sets out to buy him his favourite pastries but encounters a traffic jam and decides to walk. 

At the cake shop, Ladybug and Beetle are squabbling about what they are going to choose, and Leo waits in line, frustrated at the delay.

He leaves without a purchase. 

Leo lists all the extraordinary things he’d like to buy for Kimbo, but also all the reasons they are inaccessible.

Leo decides a poem from the heart would be the most appropriate present for his friend. He writes a rhyming verse but at the end he can’t rhyme the last line.

A Very KBR Christmas! 2025

It's that time of the year again when the KBR team like to do their bit for the festive season. This year's question has the potential to give SC the rest he deserves - or at least, according to some of our responses - relieve him of a few calories! So without further ado, from us to you all, a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Question: If you could relieve Santa of just one task this Christmas this season, what would it be and why?

Tania – KBR Founder: Oh, Santa – talk about overloaded! I would 100% relieve Santa of his children’s picture book deliveries, for two reasons… Firstly so I could take a peek and enjoy them all before delivery (remember that time stands still on Christmas Eve, so yes, I’ll be able to read them ALL… with a mug of gingerbread hot chocolate, of course).

And secondly so I could take note of all the addresses they were delivered to. Then I could pop back on Christmas morning to peek down the chimney and watch the wide-eyed delight as little ones unwrap their books and tumble into magical stories from all over the world.

Guest Post: Margrete Lamond on Gilbert's Cake

Gilbert’s Cake is the story of our story …

Readers often wonder where story ideas come from. They come from many places, but rarely from as deep a place as Gilbert’s Cake.

As author Emily Mir explains, ‘Our first baby, Gilbert, was stillborn in 2010. Two years later, we welcomed Gilbert’s twin siblings. As young children, the twins wanted a party, complete with balloons and a cake, to mark Gilbert's birthday. It was painful at first, but an annual tradition began. Gilbert’s Cake is the story of our story.’

After working with families who have experienced miscarriage and stillbirth, Emily was inspired to share her family’s story of love, loss . . . and pelicans. 

Emily is both a counsellor and a bereaved mother, and hopes her story sparks joy and love as well as evoking holistic ways of healing in the face of loss and trauma.

Review: The Friendship Book

The collaboration of two brilliant creators brings us the visually expressive, The Friendship Book. It explores the human need of friendship - regardless of age, and its many components. 

Zannie Louise's rhythmic, rhyming text is minimal and precise, allowing the illustrations to share the focus and create a perfect pairing. 

Movement, activity and joy are present in every scene of Nicky Johnston's delightful translation. 

Delicate, fine-lined images, showcase children enjoying the natural surroundings, welcoming the emergence of friendliness that play  initiates. 

Guest Post: Danuza Silva on Heartbreak, Healing and Writing For Children

Gold Coast based children’s author Danuza Silva is on a mission to improve the mental health of children. What began as a personal coping mechanism soon became a message Danuza knew needed to be shared with children everywhere ...

For a long time, I believed life had already thrown every curveball it could at me. I grew up marked by losses, first my parents and grandparents, all passing when I was very young, and later the grandmother who raised my siblings and me after we lost our parents.

From childhood, I understood resilience not as a choice but as a necessity. I dreamed of creating the kind of loving family I never had the chance to grow up with, one full of warmth, stability, and affection.

And, for a while, I had it. I married a wonderful man and we were blessed with our beautiful daughter, Sophie. Life felt whole.