Review: CockadoodleMOO

The star of his own show, Rocky has one line to get right. He breathes in and out, welcomes the audience, starts with a joke and when the big moment arrives…

This book is for all kids who love a bit of silliness. Everyone knows the line that must be said and kids will be calling it out at every opportunity. It’s a quick read but one that will make kids laugh out loud, especially when they get to yell out POO!

Review: The Nardi Puzzle

Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka, meet Sebastian Walker and Elisabetta Nardi – your modern-day counterparts in the exceptionally clever gaming adventure-mystery that is The Nardi Puzzle.

Twelve-year-old Sebastian is hooked on the Nardi Corp games, which he plays with his younger brother as an escape from the realities of his life. 

He’s pretty good at them too, although not good enough – he would have thought – to be one of twelve children selected from around the world to attend the exclusive launch party for the newest Nardi game.

Sunday Shelfie - The Thing About Dads

Happy #sundayshelfie day! It is my pleasure to welcome Deborah Frenkel and Daniel Gray-Barnett. This week we are celebrating Deb and Dan’s delightful picture book The Thing About Dads.

One thing about dad-ing: there’s all kinds of ways . . . Some dads are born and some dads are made.

From the bestselling author Deborah Frenkel and award-winning illustrator Daniel Gray-Barnett comes a heartfelt celebration of fatherhood.

A joyful ode to dads’ special knack for turning ordinary days into awesome ones.

Written by Deborah Frenkel 

Illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett 

Published by Thames & Hudson Australia

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Review: Kev and Trev - Snot Cool Snow Stories!

We’ve been to the ocean and the jungle with them, and now we’re off in Book Three - Snot Cool Snow Stories, on another madcap adventure with Kev and Trev and their support crew, to the mountains in search of interesting animals called pugons. 

We discover pugons are very shy, cute, small animals that are supposedly living up high on the snowy mountaintop and are a cross between a dragon and a pug. With only a very old book as a reference guide and a deadline from their ‘puglisher’, Kev and Trev are eager to find a way to make the pugons their characters for their next book. 

As well as finding the pugons, their ultimate goal has not changed - one day they will be mega rich from writing stories based on their adventures and will finally be able to afford a new houseboat. Will they be third time lucky? Or will it be Mission Impossible!

Review: The Giant Mystery: How to Grow Magic #1

This new series for your those independent readers will surely be a big hit with it’s combination of magic, humour, friendship, and school – with a difference! Enchantment Street is full of shops and businesses with all manner of magical merchandise and services.

Whether you need treats for your pet dragon or want riding lessons with your unicorn, there will be a place to go in Enchantment Street. And Enchantment Street Primary is certainly the school of magical delights. With human pupils as well as merkids this school has water slipways and ponds alongside desks and chairs and playgrounds.

And  let’s just say that the lessons taught are very different to our own curriculum. Sarah’s favourite lessons are those with Mr Pottifer, of Pottifer’s Parlour of Plants, a very engaging Venus flytrap who teaches Magical Gardening.

Review: My Tokyo Summer

Based on a real-life friendship, this graphic novel memoir for young adults takes us back to the 1990s to Abby in New York who loves zines and punk music, and to Yuuko in Tokyo who is into American films and making art.

They form a connection when Yuuko visits New York and happens to buy a handmade comic made by Abby and decides to get in touch. Their international friendship builds through letters until they meet in person when Abby comes to Tokyo for a university summer art program. 

Solidifying their firm friendship, Abby and Yuuko decide to join forces and collaborate on a comic together to show at an upcoming convention.

Review: Claris and the Secret Ballet

What a delight it is to revisit Paris with Claris on her latest adventure: Claris and the Secret Ballet.  Megan Hess once again delivers a beautifully illustrated story filled with fashion, friendship and a little bit of Parisian magic.                                                                                                                      The story follows Claris who discovers a secret ballet studio and meets a rat who is an aspiring ballerina. Unfortunately, the rat is having some difficulties dancing and keeps falling to the floor!                                                                                                            Claris goes out of her way to help by making her new ballet shoes to help her twirl, and when that doesn’t work, she designs her a beautiful, light tutu to help her jump high in the sky. But that doesn’t work either! Claris realised that all the rat needed was someone to believe in her. Claris’ friendship and support helps the dancer’s ballet dreams come true. 

Review: Really Rubie - A Diary

Rubie is all set to go on her very first summer camp with best friend Riley. 

They have plans. 

They’re excited. 

Then disaster strikes! Riley calls Rubie at the very last minute to tell her she can’t go to camp after all.

Now, Rubie has to face camp – where she knows nobody and doesn’t like the sound of any of the activities (except art) – alone.

This would be a nightmare for most children (and adults). 

How on earth will Rubie fit in, make friends and actually enjoy her summer holidays now that Riley won’t be there?

Review: A bigger Book

Most people would know Hannah Sommerville from her beautiful illustration work,  A Bigger Book however marks Hannah’s first solo outing as both author and illustrator and what a great topic she has chosen to debut with.

Drawing from her own childhood experiences, A Bigger Book tells the story of Cora. Like most children Cora loves books. She loves holding them and smelling them. She loves visiting the bookshop, and library day is her favourite day of the week. But when it comes time for Cora to read out loud in class things begin to change.

Review: Our Flowers

Author and illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft has amassed a stunning collection of over fifty books since first being published in 1992 (as illustrator of The Fat and Juicy Place, authored by Diana Kidd).

Many words have been used to describe Bancroft’s illustrations – bold, vibrant, bright, eye-catching – but for me, the appeal of her style is the way they jump off the page, grab hold of you and make you keep looking.

Sunday Shelfie - The Picture-Perfect Present

Happy #sundayshelfie day! It is my pleasure to welcome Bethany Loveridge and Amie Sabadin. This week we are celebrating Bethany and Amie’s delightful picture book The Picture-Perfect Present.

Can Meg come up with the perfect present for Dad before time runs out?

With one day to find a special gift for her dad, Meg thinks of ideas by drawing Dad’s favourite things. Would he like a fully automatic coffee machine, an indoor ice-skating rink, or a pet hippo? By the end of the day, Meg is out of time, and out of ideas. What will she do?

The Picture-Perfect Present is a book for creative children who love drawing, using their imagination, and their dads

Written by Bethany Loveridge
Illustrated by Amie Sabadin
Published by Wombat Books

Visit Picture Book Book Club @picturebookbc on Instagram

Review: The Mystery of Colour and How to Solve it.

As a children’s book creator there is nothing more frustrating than coming up with a brilliant idea only to find that someone has beaten you to it. However when it comes to The Mystery of Colour and How we Solved it, I must tip my hat. 

This fantastic collaboration between author David Coles and illustrator Margaux Samson-Abadie is better than anything I could have imagined. In fact when they say, ‘write the book you wish existed’, this is it, and I didn’t have to go through all of the hard work to make it.

Review: Find me in the Forest

‘This is the forest, the green blanket that wraps around the earth.’

If you have not picked up one of Jess McGeachin’s books before, then now is your chance. Find me in the Forest is the second in the ‘find me’ series and it does not disappoint.

The book begins by exploring the forests of Australia and their inhabitants before moving to other parts of the world. There are temperate forests, dry forests, tropical forests, and boreal forests, just to name a few. Each has their own set of characteristics and creatures that call them home.

Review: Millie and the Frame of Wonder

Millie Biggins lives with her mum, dad and her toddler sister, Sophie. Millie lovingly calls Sophie her shadow because she follows her everywhere and Sophie calls Millie ‘Mewee’ as she trails behind.

Every weekend the sisters love to accompany their dad as he retrieves unwanted goods from other people’s discard piles and brings them home to fix and give the items a new life. They all enjoy their new found discoveries and look forward to finding the ‘next treasure’.

Review: Joner Football Presents Greatest Goal Scorers! and Midfield Masters!

Football in Australia has been riding on a wonderful wave of support over the past few years with both our women’s and men’s teams featuring in FIFA World Cup tournaments and bringing the power of football to new heights. 

Stadiums were packed to cheer on our women as we co- hosted the tournament and many young girls were inspired to follow in their hero’s steps. Many also followed our men’s team as they faced some of the greatest teams in the world, with high hopes to reach their best results ever. No wonder many children love to don the colours of their teams and proudly display names of their idols on their backs. 

Lee Jones, aka Joner Football and Welsh National football player, presents in his new books facts, biographies and technical tips for anyone who longs to improve their knowledge and skills in the game of football.

Review: A Hat for Every Harriet

By looking at the cover you may be mistaken for thinking A Hat for Every Harriet is a book about hats. A book about dressing up perhaps? From the first page it is clearly explained with the line ‘Not hats like that…’ that this story much more than a tale of dress ups and make believe. It is a gently told story about being yourself and accepting who you are.

Jess Horn has used hats as the perfect metaphor for how Harriet, a neurodivergent child adapts her behaviours to suit the situation or dynamic of people she is presented with. For example she has a ‘Listener Hat’ for when she is feeling wiggly in class and a ‘Calm Down Hat’ for times when she measures her self-worth by comparing herself to others.

But what happens when the situation requires all of the hats at once? The overwhelming pressure of neurodivergent child to ‘fit in’ can be exhausting and Jess has used the hat metaphor perfectly to describe this.

Bringing the words to life is the amazing Zoë Bennet. Her soft character driven illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to this story. With a spark of genius that all good illustrators have she has managed to add a second layer of visual narrative that will make children and adults alike love the book even more. Her ‘Clam Down Hat’ is covered with clouds. The ‘Listener Hat’ has giant rabbit ears and her ‘Get-To-The-Point-Hat’ has a literal arrow directing you to the point.  Kids will love deciding what the giant unnamed pile of hats all represent. Along with this attention to detail I must also applaud her muted colour pallet and use of changing composition. As usual she has nailed it.

The book blurb for A Hat for Every Harriet describes the story as ‘…accepting yourself in a neurotypical world.’ Yes this story is about Harriet who clearly has different sensibilities to the other children around her but I think that statement is selling the book short. I think all children can benefit from this story. Its a wonderful tale about being yourself and not putting on a mask (or a hat in this instance) and letting your personality shine.

Children are so good at accepting others. If we can encourage this acceptance in ourselves as well maybe this generation will grow up to be the adults the world needs.

Title: A Hat for Every Harriet
Author: Jess Horn
Illustrator: Zoë Bennett
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: 28 July 2026
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781923293243
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture book