A
beautiful book for every family who celebrates the Easter holiday.
The First Easter, illustrated by Jess Racklyeft, is indeed a beautiful and accessible narrative, depicting the events and special symbols of Easter in a child-centric and compassionate way.
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.
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.
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.
‘This is a story of trying to fit in, and discovering the true worth of being yourself.’
Through Indy’s eyes, we are introduced to a rather surprising and enticing
playground world. In it, the children playing are big, tall and rendered in
black and white.
‘There was
no finer place to live than on Mountain,’ is the line that opens the book,
setting the tone for a wander through some very deep, heartfelt issues.
Between is a beautiful offering, recognised and described by Scribble
founder and publisher Miriam Rosenbloom thus:
‘It’s a
book about difference – but also about empathy, care, the instinct to connect,
and the ongoing impact that people have on our lives…
A reminder that beautiful things are still being made with time, heart and intention.’
A cricket
and a cabbage moth are living their short lives, doing their daily things, and
we the reader are invited into the spaces between them. And also, into their
separate worlds and realities, which ultimately collide.
This book
is poetry, texture, warmth and heaven all in one. The wording is sparse and
definitive. Deliberate, yet expansive.
And the
hand-rendered illustrations are extraordinary. Each page brings a new artistic
sensibility. A limited colour palette and balance between tight and loose, spatter
and stroke, softness and texture, definition and shadow, strength and vulnerability
– all contribute to the wonder and delight of this book.
It is absolutely
one to become lost in and pore over, whatever your age.
I can see
it being the perfect gift for all. For a student setting off into the wider
world, a grandparent creating space with less things and more time, a small
child with their insatiable curiosity and love of wonder.
Quite
simply, it’s sublime.
It explores
traditions around food, cooking, recipes passed down through the generations,
the absolute joy of eating and family life – all of which are squished together
into a tangle of mouth-watering hope and delight.
Ningaloo – Australia’s
Wild Wonder looks at the extraordinary natural phenomenon of land and sea known as Ningaloo, and celebrates
both the awe-inspiring and quiet things that make this place unique.
Penned by
Australia’s beloved Tim Winton and accompanied by 100s of gorgeous,
hand-painted illustrations by Cindy Lane, it’s a veritable treasure trove of
surprise and information.
From itty
bitty blind fish that live deep in the murky depths, to massive whale sharks in
the glossy blue sea, Ningaloo features more than 50 species of aquatic
and terrestrial animals and plants.
From treetops to rooftops, follow Australia’s most mischievous bird in this exuberant celebration of the cockatoo.
It’s truly wonderful as a reader, to be in such capable hands.
I loved
everything about this book, from the unusual format (it’s rather tall,
reminiscent of a cockatoo stretching itself longways to get a good look at you
or steal your chips), to the delight and playfulness of the clever language.
The rhyme is sophisticated and funny. Dangerous and angular. It’s fun to read, and there are peaks and troughs to travel with absolutely no doubt that you’re in safe hands.
‘A heartwarming and relatable story exploring change, following your instincts and finding your voice in a loud world.’
Fifth grader Martha Mayfield has a cooler than cool Grandma who, like other very cool women, goes by just one name. Stella. She also has a shy but crazily talented-at-dressmaking mum, and a gothic, European-soccer-loving sister.
And Martha herself? Well, Martha has good ideas. Great
ideas. Tremendous ideas. But, she’s also known as the apple that didn’t fall
far from the tree in that she inherited her mums shyness.
River
brings life.
River
brings us together.
River holds
the stories.
In a
direct, deceptively simple and life-affirming way, Prayer For A River
celebrates the importance of water to all living things, and reminds us of what
we can do to acknowledge and support this valuable resource.
It’s not
often that we have the opportunity to read a story that is a prayer that is a
rumination that is a plea that is a devotion that is an invocation that is a
thanksgiving that is a poem.
Dad and I
find an injured koala on our property …
Dad says
keeping koalas safe will be a big job.
I need a
plan and help from some friends …’
There is so
much to digest and reflect upon in this book – for everyone, not just picture
book aged readers.
For it is
this father’s undying love that has borne magic, mystery and wonder in
abundance with the birth of picture book, Tiny Dancer.
‘Tiny Dancer
is about making each moment count and living life to the full.’
A tortoise may live for over one hundred years. An olive tree, up to five thousand. But a mayfly lives for just one day.