Review: Creative Writing Magic

A follow up to Unleash Your Creative Monster, Creative Writing Magic is full of even more tips and tricks to get young writers writing.

Children can tap into their inner Creative Monster and come on a journey to learn all about writing great stories and creating magical characters. 

Creative Writing Magic is packed with information all about different writing techniques, plotting, and character development, but because of the fun and engaging way it is presented, it never feels overwhelming or difficult. 

Andy Jones speaks directly to the reader in his short conversational chapters, while Olaf Falafel’s cute and hilarious illustrations help to illuminate the ideas.

Review: False versus Facts

In a world where misinformation is rife, False versus Facts is an excellent reminder that we should look for the evidence behind statements to understand what’s factual and what’s false. 

This book is packed with facts and myths. Do you know which is which?

From facts about the earth, humans and science, to animals, history and food, False versus Facts puts the spotlight on information and confirms what’s real and what’s not. 

False versus Facts is carefully designed with succinct information, bright ‘fact’ and ‘false’ embellishments, and simple, stylised illustrations.

Review: Behind the Screens

Behind the Screens not only offers friendly and timely information about navigating the online world, it also empowers and reassures young people that their choices and actions can help them thrive online.

Getting a phone? Get this book!

There’s no doubt the internet is a voracious, sometimes dangerous beast, which can also be a force for good, wonder and enlightenment. There’s also no doubt that we must handle this beast with wisdom and care.

 
Behind the Screens gives us a blueprint for the latter.

 

The Australian Children's Laureate 2026 - 2027 - Andy Griffiths!

KBR warmly congratulates author Andy Griffiths in his sparkling new role as the Australian Children's Laureate for 2026 - 2027!

Internationally acclaimed and best-selling children’s author Andy Griffiths is the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2026 and 2027, sharing his mission ‘Reading is an Adventure!’.

'Reading was always an adventure to me. It’s like each book is a little doorway into another world. That is the true pleasure of reading and I wanted to give that to the next generation. The thing I’m most looking forward to in my Laureate term is getting out there into the wild and leading children and their parents on wild imaginative adventures. To be able to get out around Australia and show how a whole family can get involved in their child’s reading journey is a dream come true.

I am honoured to have been chosen as the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2026 and 2027. My passion for connecting children to the power of books, reading and literacy has been the driving force for my work as a children’s author over the past three decades and the Laureateship is both an opportunity to extend that work and, at the same time, to be a proud representative and advocate for the vibrant community of equally passionate Australian children’s book creators.'

Visit the ACLF for more, and meet Andy by clicking the YouTube link below.

Announcement: Love Your Bookshop Day 2025!

Ngiyampaa/Ngemba, Dutch and Irish artist Emma Sjaan Beukers brings the magic of bookshops to life for Love Your Bookshop Day

BookPeople, the association representing Australian booksellers, has today unveiled the official theme and artwork for this year’s national Love Your Bookshop Day(LYBD) campaign, created by artist Emma Sjaan Beukers, whose Ngiyampaa/Ngemba, Dutch and Irish heritage informs her vibrant, storytelling approach.

Following a public call-out to local illustrators across the country, the association commissioned the Naarm-based artist to bring to life the 2025 theme – Discover the magic. Discover you.

Guest Post: Dr. Stephanie Gutnik on What Readers (of All Ages) Can Learn From Children's Books

The story goes that from the time I could carry a book, I would arrange a stack next to my mom or dad and read for hours. I enjoyed everything from the glimmering illustrations in The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister to the silly and soothing sounds of rhythm and rhymes by Robert Munsch.

My parents’ consistent efforts of reading to me led to a pastime of reading on my own. The return on their investment was never having to hear 'I’m bored' from their oldest child, whose nose was always in a book.

Review: Hedgehog Or Echidna? Animals Who Are The Same … But Different!

Dozens of cuter than cute echidnas troop across the endpapers of Ashleigh Barton’s latest picture book with one adorbs noticeable exception. No spoilers here but the clue to this character is in the title. 

Without further preamble, the two spiky critters meet, head-to-head in the first spread of this curious clash of comparisons.

One is surrounded by flowering gums and kookaburras. Clearly an Aussie original. The other is nestled in a forest of fungi and European song birds. 

They look alarmingly similar yet obviously different. Does this stand in their way of friendship? Most definitely not!

Guest Post: Aaron Uscilla on Equipping Kids with Critical Lenses: A Look at the Sayings We Use

We all do it. We pepper our conversations with little nuggets of wisdom, those common sayings passed down through generations. 

Curiosity killed the cat, we might warn a too inquisitive child. Or, Blood is thicker than water, we say to emphasize family loyalty. 

These phrases are catchy, memorable, and roll off the tongue so easily. They seem to wrap up big ideas in neat little packages.

But what if these familiar lines are only part of the story? What if the wisdom we think we are sharing is, well, a bit incomplete? 

Announcement: National Centre for Australian Children's Literature - Keeping The Story Alive!

The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature Inc. (NCACL) formerly the Lu Rees Archives, is a comprehensive collection of resources about Australian authors, illustrators, publishers and their creative works. The collection has books, artwork, ephemera, authors’ papers and manuscripts, and author and illustrator research files.

The collection* includes over 57,546 books. Some 5,577 of these books are in overseas translations in 79 languages. It holds a unique part of Australia’s cultural and literary heritage. And they are now 50 years young!

Publishers, authors and illustrators, foreign dignitaries and ambassadorial staff, researchers, teachers, students, and the members of the Australian community visit. Access to the collection is available during opening hours. 

Review: Luna's World Bk#1- Library Dreams

Luna’s World: Bk#1- Library Dreams, is the beginning of an engaging series, featuring the impressive leading character, Luna, who loves books and reading. 

The library is her favourite place.

On Luna’s first day in Grade 5, she barely makes it to school on time having slept in.  She’s not the only one. Cody, her best friend also slept in!

Through her diary entries, Luna shares her daily activities, friendships, challenges, and opposing thoughts on lots of issues, of which she has many.

Junior Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Victor Hugo, unfortunately not related to our protagonist, once said, 'Life is the flower for which love is the honey.' 

Author Taylor Jenkin Reid brings this quote to life in her historical drama, romance novel, which focuses on the glamorous life of former Hollywood hot-shot Evelyn Hugo. 

Through her writing, Reid demonstrates that true love is unsuspecting, taking the reader on a wild rollercoaster ride of Evelyn Hugo’s life from the 1950s to 1980s.

The novel starts off by introducing us to Evelyn Herrera, a young Cuban girl who grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, with no money & just a simple dream to become an actress on the Hollywood stage. 

She left home by marrying neighborhood boy, Ernie Diaz, to chase her sunset dreams but quickly learned that Hollywood doesn’t have any leading roles for brunette Latinas. 

Junior Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Jay Asher’s 13 Reasons Why is one of those books that stays with you. It’s emotional, haunting, and painfully honest. 

The story dives into the life and death of Hannah Baker, a high school student who takes her own life. But before she does, she leaves behind a series of cassette tapes. Each one is meant for someone who, in her eyes, played a role in her decision.

This innovative narrative draws readers into her mind, allowing us to hear her voice directly and feel the weight of her experiences. It’s raw, personal, and often uncomfortable , but that’s what makes it so effective.

The story begins when Clay Jensen, one of Hannah’s classmates and someone who once quietly admired her, receives the tapes. 

Review: My Language Rights – A Child’s Right To Their Language

This is one of a number of recent, important non-fiction picture books to make a splash. 

My Language Rights offers young children information that they can use in daily life, and that may not be accessible to them by other means. 

Drawing on the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights from PEN International, the book empowers children and their families to use and protect all languages - be they big or small, strange or familiar, easy or difficult!

Review: Is My Phone Reading My Mind? The Real Facts About Artificial Intelligence

Is My Phone Reading My Mind? actually did seem to read my mind, to answer random questions I had asked inside my head. Spooky!

Indeed, the strength of this wonderfully informative book is that it anticipates the questions about Artificial Intelligence or AI, that may or not be on the tips of our collective tongues.

AI is not a particularly jokesy topic or one that’s easy to navigate. The book does a deep dive into many facets of AI, and importantly, it illustrates why we don’t need to be afraid.

Review: Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!

Small children will love this book. Already, I can hear the giggles, hoots and whoops of laughter across our fair land, as each successive character appears making the wrong (and utterly hilarious) sound.

Bicycles say ‘Cock-a-doodle-dooo’

Firefighters shout ‘Ding Dong’before they put out a fire!

And Flowers go ‘Chugga Chugga Choooo Choooo!’

This fabulous, riotous and chaotic book begs to be read aloud and will probably be started again the moment it is finished.

Review: Forbidden Journal Of Rufus Rumble #1: Worst Space Crew Ever

This funny, clever and exasperating journal of 11-year old Rufus Rumble’s outer-space travels, will entice both reluctant and voracious readers.

Stamped on the front with shiny gold bits that emphatically state ‘Must Not Be Talked About,’ this book - with its hand-written feel and engaging line drawings - will definitely be talked about.

Rufus Rumble lives more than a hundred years in the future, and this alone is enough to pique reader interest and intrigue.  Also, Rufus has a ticket to SPACE. And if that’s not enough, he’s also on a quest to find his mother who simply vanished one morning, leaving Rufus to live with his grumpy old Grandad.

Review: I Hear A Búho

Given we have done a little bit of learning Spanish here over the last couple of years, I was well pleased to know that I could not only pronounce all the español in this striking picture book but could understand it. Hurra! 

This a quite simple rhyming picture book with a mother and daughter enjoying a little quiet bonding time before bed.

Climb on my lap. We’re under the moon. We might hear some animales soon.

I love the first image of them cuddled up in the hammock under the stars. 

Guest Post: Dan Rice on The Less Reluctant Reader

My third grader is a reluctant reader. But he's less reluctant than he was two years ago. While in first grade, he was violently opposed to reading, and all he would read, under protest, mind you, were the Bob Books by Lynn Maslen Kertell. These are simple books for beginning readers and were great for getting him started on reading, but we needed to find more complex books he was willing to tackle for him to advance.

Dragons, Dragons, and More Dragons

Perhaps because he knows dragons feature in my novels, he became interested in The Glitter Dragon Series by Maddie Mara after spotting one at a school book fair. We read the entire series together and even made it through several of the follow-up The Treasure Dragon Series before he grew tired of these wonderful books.

Guest Post: Q & A with Alexia Paglia: My Strong Heart

At only 24 years of age, Sydney’s Alexia Paglia is adding to her already growing list of achievements by releasing a new children’s book all about maintaining good heart health called My Strong Heart, just in time for Heart Health Week from 6th to 12th May.

With cardiovascular disease (CVD) affecting 1 in 4 Australians (that’s over 4 million people), clinical researcher and medical student Alexia Paglia's mission is to lower the rates of CVD, improve health outcomes and educate children at a young age so they can take positive health behaviours well into adulthood. As well as recently winning a Young Citizen of the Year Award for her volunteer work in educating children about their health, My Strong Heart is Alexia’s first children’s book in a series of Dr Zig Zaccy Zoo books on living a healthy lifestyle.

Review: A Twisted Tale Anthology

The Twisted Tales were first recommended to me by one of my ChocLit (book club) readers a couple of years ago. 

She suggested we get them for the library, and that was an exceptional success. They were very literally never on the shelves and in high demand in our reserves.

At the time, I admit, I was a little baffled. I mean to say, fairytales? For secondary kids? Now that I’ve had the delight of delving into this anthology, I can totally see the appeal.

This is the first anthology based on the successful series and is a collection of short stories written from a ‘What if...’ angle.

Using Disney fan-favourite movies as their foundation, writers (of other stand-alone Twisted Tales) have brought together some highly entertaining hypotheticals.