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: Green Cities: How Green Infrastructure Helps Heal the Planet

Green Cities: How Green Infrastructure Helps Heal the Planet, a book by Sheila Boudreau and Katy Dockrill, is an introductory exploration of nature in the urban environment, emphasising the importance of green spaces and green infrastructure.

It’s got a modern, yet retro feel, and is filled with bright illustrations, colourful text boxes, and lots of green to match the theme. The design uses plenty of subheadings and every turn of a page offers visual elements. 

It starts by looking at the history of cities and how city planning can be transformed and improved by working with biodiversity and even creating a walkable city. It also considers the impact of climate change and the way building cities can contribute greenhouse gases, heat islands, and the risk of water pollution.

Review: Robot Responders

Another great title from CSIRO Publishing that many young readers will find it absorbing and exciting. While there is so much shrieking about AI – and yes, it is quite justified in many instances e.g. stealing the work of creators – yet, there is so much more to AI and robotics that is of huge benefit to us all.

This book showcases the many ways robots of all kinds, as employed by the CSIRO team, are helping us all in a multitude of ways. In addition, it takes readers through a journey of robot development which many will find amazing.

It could be iRat [intelligent rat animat technology) which with its complex capabilities is helping scientists understand the mysterious workings of the human brain as well determining such things as navigation – how animals including human learn to find their way.

Review: Our Marvelous Memory

No memory is an exact copy of the original event. It is always slightly distorted. 

What is memory? It is a storage place for all the things which form an individual – memory, body and genes.

This informative book about the brain and memory will excite readers as it answers questions that may have been a floating fog in their mind. 

Suitable for all ages, it consists of animated illustrations, and  entertaining prose in a light-hearted tone.

Where do memories go? In Our Marvelous Memory, we can solve these complex queries surrounding the brain and its functions.

Review: The Beat I Drum

Connor Bradley is starting High School after moving to a new apartment with his mum. He leaves behind his two best friends and the life-saving support and strong friendship that sustained him. 

His parents divorced because his dad couldn’t come to terms with his condition. 

Connor has Tourette syndrome.

 Dad turns up after two years, changed, and hoping to be a part of his son’s life again. 

His persistence is scoffed at by Connor. 

There is too much anger festering inside him toward his father, as he is unable to forgive his dad for accusing him of being able to control his tics and barks, and won't.

On the first day of school, Connor meets Amanda. 

Review: The Thylacine and the Time Machine

A school project on the de-extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger sends Violet into an on-line research frenzy. 

She begins a journey of discovery back through time. 

In the company of her dog Tassie, the weekend becomes a dedication to educating herself enough to complete her project.

Until she encounters the ghost of the last Thylacine. 

Thyla (what Violet names the presence), offers to help Violet obtain the knowledge needed to understand the how and why of extinction. The when, where and who join the group of unknowns.

Through conversations with Thyla,  many facts about the extinct Thylacine and other marsupials are revealed and clarified.

Review: Every Rock Has a Story - An A to Z of Australian Geology

How well do we know our country? 

We set out on a journey of adventure and discovery through Australia’s landscapes to test our knowledge.

Every Rock Has a Story - An A to Z of Australian Geology, goes through the alphabet, answering that question with a plethora of valuable information encompassed between its stunning covers and end pages.

Beneath each letter has a subject title. A Fact box at the bottom contains historical and educational information that will amaze.

Review: Cloud Atlas: Everything You Need To Know About Clouds

Are you a wool-gather? A cloud gazer? The type of person who loves spotting stuff in the sky? If so, you’re already acquainted with the intriguing hobby / study of nephology.

Cloud Atlas takes this scientific obsession up a level or atmosphere as it were. Presenting as a benign coffee table type book, this beautiful collection of clouds speaks to Nephophiles (lovers of all things cloudy) and curious kids alike.

Addressing the most obvious curiosity first, what exactly are clouds and how do they form, author and cloud compiler, Sarah Zambello moves quickly on to the classification of clouds, which it turns out, is a skyful of intriguing Latin-based nomenclature. But there’s no cause to feel smothered by all these terms because each is described in simple engaging language and accompanied by an identifying illustration.

Winners: This Is Not A Sad Book (But It's OK To Feel Sad)

Our lucky winners are ...

Julie Burberry, QLD

Jenny Catalano, QLD

Joseph Spagnolo, NSW

Congratulations!

You have each won a copy of this touching and practical guide to coping with grief, loss and hard times, This Is Not A Sad Book by Elizabeth Vercoe and Grace Fraraccio.

Thank you to ALL who entered. We were moved by your your feel good answers.

Review: This Is Not A Sad Book (but it's OK to feel sad)

This is definitely not a sad book. It’s not even an arduous book to read but by golly, it is a book that unashamedly tackles some of the heftiest emotions that a young person, indeed anyone, has to face. 

Grief, loss, depression, anxiety, uncertainty. Big hard-to-deal-with feels that demand big help.

This Is Not A Sad Book is that help. In short, it’s a lighthouse of hope, explanation and tactics to apply when one finds oneself or someone they know, in a dark, scary, perilous place. 

Giveaway: This Is Not A Sad Book (But It's OK To Feel Sad)

This Is Not A Sad Book is truly not a sad book!

It's actually a practical, compassionate guide full of strategies and ideas to support yourself or someone else through grief, loss and hard times.

In some parts you might even find yourself smiling.

Most importantly of all – the stories, tips and advice in these pages are a reminder that even in our darkest hours, there is a way through.

KBR's very own, Elizabeth Vercoe teams ups with Melbourne-based illustrator, Grace Fraraccio to create a warm tender book that empowers young people to create space for feeling and healing. Originally published twenty years ago as, The Grief Book, with Kerry Abramowski, this revised Children's Book Council of Australia Honour Book edition is deeply personal and endearing. 

Thanks to the generous folk at Affirm Press we have not one but THREE copies of this incredible, warm-hearted guide through grief, loss and hard times to giveaway!

For your chance to win a copy of this touching and practical award-winning title simply tell us in 25 words or less what makes you feel better when you are having a bad day?

Giveaway: Eddie Woo's Wonderful World of STEM

STEM is everywhere. 

It's the Science that helps us understand the natural world.
It's the Technology that uses knowledge and principles to invent tools.
It's the Engineering that solves problems and builds our modern environment.
It's the Maths that explores the patterns in the universe.

Draw, imagine, create, explore, discover, invent and find out about our wonderful world with this bumper book of STEM and STEAM activities. Perfect for primary-school children (and their adults!) who are keen to blast off into the world of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and embark on an amazing journey to understand and explore our incredible universe.

To help you enter the wonderful world of STEM with Eddie Woo, the incredible team at Pan MacMillan Australia have THREE copies of Eddie Woo's Wonderful World of STEM to giveaway. Enter now and discover more about this interactive, thought provoking collection of activities and topics via Sarah Steed's review of Eddie Woo's Wonderful World of STEM.

For the chance to win one of our three copies simply tell us in 25 words or less your favourite science fact that blows your mind!

Review: Any Body

Do you have questions about your body? Do you sometimes compare yourself to other people? Are you not sure where to turn for answers and support?

All super common experiences (for all of us), but here is a book to help. Any Body is an honest  book exploring bodies, body parts and identity. It takes a detailed look at how our bodies change over time and the things we can expect to experience as we hit our teen years and beyond.

But it isn’t your usual fact-based book about the human body. Any Body is… dare I say it… fun! The comic illustrations by Anke Kuhl are funky and entertaining (while also being accurate), and author Katharina von der Gathen delivers truth without taking things too seriously.

Review: Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble

I have loved poetry ever since I was a small person, and so any chance to check out a new poetry book is always so very welcome. 

This volume of magical poems is just a beautiful little jewel, and though clearly published with a view to the education market, would make a truly delightful gift for any child who revels in verse.

Cookson has gathered together a wonderful selection: short, not-so-short, humorous, more serious, purely magical or just with a hint of whimsy, contemporary writers and older ones, including Shakespeare and Lewis Carroll, but all of them absolutely enchanting and just begging to be read aloud.

Without a doubt my favourite has to be, Somewhere in the Library by Stewart Henderson – watch this poet reads his work to great effect here.

Review: Becoming: Adapted For Younger Readers

Discover first hand Michelle Obama’s modest childhood growing up in the Robinson family. Along with her older brother Craig, they lived in an upstairs apartment in her Great Aunt’s place on the south side of Chicago.

Her parents taught them to work hard and remember to laugh, how to think for themselves and be unafraid to use their voice for what they believed in.

In the early 1980s, Michelle attended Princeton University and slowly adjusted to life away from home - discovering the fast and exciting pace of New York.

With Michelle’s aptitude, sitting for law exams become a natural progression of her academic life. She soon found herself applying for Law Schools with the next stop being Harvard University. Law was not her passion, but she did what was expected of her.

Guest Post: Toni Brisland on Patrick White

Someone whose opinion I value asked me why I wrote a book for primary school children about Patrick White when they’re too young to read his work. 

The answer to this is complicated but the idea for the book came from a conversation I had with a friend who taught English at tertiary level. 

She was bemoaning the fact that most of her students, fresh out of high school, had never heard of Australia’s only Nobel Laureate for Literature and that those few who had heard of him had a cavalier disregard of his work because of their postmodern, postcolonial, feminist criticisms.

Review: Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is a story of hope, peace and love. It is based on the life of a real child, who lived from 1943 to 1955.

Sadako was two years old when an atomic (nuclear) bomb was detonated over Hiroshima, Japan, near the end of World War II. As the story begins, Sadako is twelve years old, an athletic student who is close to her family and her best friend, believes in good luck symbols and is a fast runner who longs to make the school running team.

However, just as Sadako is running at her best, she notices dizziness and episodes of fatigue. She keeps her symptoms a secret, hoping they will disappear, until one day she collapses. Sadako is afraid she may have the atom bomb disease. Soon she is in hospital. Sadako has leukaemia, like so many others in her city who were affected by the radiation from the bomb.

Guest Post: Rosanne Tolin on Writing and Paddington Bear

When I examine my love for learning alongside my writing aspirations I notice a through-line—a preoccupation with curiosity. To write for children is a privilege, and I feel dually obligated to use this opportunity not to preach what I already know, but to ask questions about what I don't.

My inspiration comes from many places, but in particular, weekend afternoons spent at my grandmother’s house as a child remain as vivid to me as her swirling works of watercolor—delightful rainbow canvases that now adorn my bedroom walls. Her modest home was just around the street corner from the conservative St. Louis temple she attended every Sabbath. 

Week after week, rain or shine, my sisters and I marched to grandma’s after long mornings spent in Sunday School. 

Review: Peter in Peril: Courage and Hope in World War Two

This is a real life story told in easy-to-understand narrative supported by graphic illustrations. 

It is introduced with a detailed map of Budapest marking all the specific areas and places that the narrator, Peter, mentions in his story. 

This is a book executed and delivered with thought and simplicity to its target audience.

During World War 2, things became difficult for the Jews of Budapest.  They were forced to sew big yellow stars on their clothes and were banned from travelling on public transport, without being given a reason why. 

Forcibly moved to an area for Jews alone, one bag each was all they were allowed to take with them.

KBR's Top Junior and Middle Fiction and Non-fiction of the Last 20 Years

KBR is celebrating 2020 with recommendations of our top titles from the last 20 years. There have been so many fabulous books published over this time, we could include many more than you see here. However, these are some of the KBR team's favourites (in no particular order). We hope you enjoy them, too. 

You can also read our list of top picture book titles here, and top young adult titles here.

So Feral! by JA Mawter

Once by Morris Gleitzman (read our review here)

Max Remy Super Spy series by Deborah Abela (read our review here)

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (read our review here)

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Young Dark Emu: A Truer History by Bruce Pascoe (read our review here)

Paper Planes by Allayne L Webster

Tintinnabula by Margo Lanagan (read our review here)

The Thing About Oliver by Deborah Kelly (read our review here)

The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon (read our review here)

The Stella Montgomery series by Judith Rossell (read our reviews here)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling

The Endsister by Penni Russon (read our review here) 

The Art of Racing in the Rain Gareth Stein