The House with Chicken Legs

This book took me by surprise. A middle grade Slavic fairy tale retelling about a house that walks around on chicken legs, a grandmother that guides the dead to the next world, and a girl struggling with her destiny, that is told with such heart and emotion that it is hard not to shed a tear.

Mariska lives with her grandmother, Baba Yaga, whose job it is to guide people who die from this world to the next. Mariska knows she is destined to one day take over from her grandmother but she doesn’t want to be a Yaga. She can’t bear the thought of listening to the dead and guiding them through the gate.

The house Mariska lives in has chicken legs and its own personality. As with all Yaga houses, it gets up and walks (or runs) to its next destination whenever it feels like it. 

Review: The Painted Ponies

Alison Lester is back with another gorgeous picture book that is sure to become a favourite.

Matilda loves playing with the painted ponies at Grandma Lucky’s house. They are kept in a little carved wagon with a stall for each one. 

The ponies are all unique, there is a chestnut, a gold palomino, a bay, a pinto, a brown and a dappley grey with a lucky star on his forehead.

Review: Stargazer

Do you know a budding astronomer with an interest in the night sky? This is the perfect kids guide to the stars to get them exploring the sky.

Take a trip through the universe to find the constellations, appreciate the beauty of the stars, and understand the stories our ancestors told as they searched for meaning in the skies.

The stunning photographic images of nebulas and galaxies will fill kids with awe at the expanse of stars and swirling, colourful gasses that stretch across the universe.

Review: Can you Hear the Trees Talking?

Did you know that trees in forests live in families and support each other? That family members can merge their roots together so they can exchange messages and food? And that there is a forest internet that connects trees across the forest and helps them communicate with each other?

In this amazing book, Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees, brings his message to a younger audience to help them understand the beauty and complexity of trees. 

Kids will learn how tree children grow, are protected and go to school. As well as how trees learn to adapt to their environment and know what to do in different seasons.

Review: Pages & Co: Tilly and the Lost Fairy Tales

I couldn't wait to return to Pages & Co and the magically imaginative world of bookwandering. Did you know that there is a whole secret community of bookwanderers out there who can wander inside books and chat to their favourite characters?

Tilly is bookwanderer. She lives in her grandparents bookshop and her Grandad used to be the Head Librarian at the Underlibrary, which monitors the comings and goings of bookwanderers.

Tilly and her friend Oskar wander inside a book of fairy tales and something is not right. There are holes appearing and characters vanishing and puddles of book magic leaking out. What is going on, and how will Tilly and Oskar escape when they accidently end up in another book?

Review: The Christmas Garden

It’s time to get into the Christmas spirit! Here is a magical rhyming story to take kids on a special Christmas adventure.

There’s a beautiful garden that looks just like Christmas, with breathtaking pine trees, a seat resembling a sleigh, statues of angels and cheeky looking gnomes. 

Do you think the person who lives there could be Santa Claus? He certainly fits the bill, with his snowy white beard, jolly demeanour and the Christmas display he puts on each year.

Review: Adventures in the Wild with Jan Latta

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to come face to face with a lion, pat a wild cheetah, or watch a majestic giraffe lumber past followed by her skittish baby?

Jan Latta has had these amazing experiences, and her spectacular photography allows us to share them with her. She has a true talent for capturing the beauty and heart of a place, showing us the wild, untameable landscape of Africa yet sharing touching moments of the awe-inspiring animals she encounters.

Adventures in the Wild follows one of Jan’s trips to Africa. Written in first person, it draws readers in as they fly in to Africa and learn about the animals waiting there. Jan’s photographs put us right there along side her, seeing what she sees and marvelling at the magnificent creatures we meet.

Review: The Australia Survival Guide

Beware! Australia is trying to kill you and this book might just save your life! It is filled with useful facts and survival tips covering Australia’s freaky land and sea creatures, wild weather and surprisingly useful bush tucker and medicine.

Being forced to travel around Australia with his parents, our 13 year old narrator is sure he’s going to end up dead, because everyone knows that Australia is DANGEROUS. This country is crazy!

Well, if we’re going to meet snakes, spiders, sharks and crocodiles, we’d better start learning about them. Are you ready to travel across land, into water and through the environment to discover the deadliest and weirdest dangers lurking across Australia?

Review: The Land of Roar

The imaginary worlds of our childhood seem so vivid at the time, but all too quickly fade to a distant memory. Arthur and Rose are now so grown up that they are about to start high school. The times of playing imaginary games with dragons and mermaids are gone.

Rose is obsessed with her phone and trying to impress the cool neighbour, Mazen, who is already 13. She has no need for silly childhood games. But Arthur is lonely. He misses the fun he used to have playing with Rose every summer at Grandad’s house.

When Arthur finds an old hand drawn map in the attic and Grandad mysteriously disappears, memories begin surface. What if those games they used to play, weren’t just games?

Review: Atlas of Monsters and Ghosts

This is a fantastic idea from Lonely Planet Kids. What kid wouldn’t love to read about the best ghosts and monsters in the world?

The book is narrated by monster hunter Van Helsing, and he takes the reader on a journey around the world to explore the famous and not so famous ghosts and monsters of history.

Starting in Europe, we read about Dracula and the Loch Ness Monster, trolls, goblins and ogres, and some lesser known ghosts such as the Undead of Poveglia and the White Lady of Dragsholm Castle.

Review: Once

This is a book about the stories that shape you, that grow with you, that are part of you. It is about the stories that you carry in your heart and the stories that bind families together.

In this deeply personal picture book, Kate Forsyth shares the experiences that have shaped her own family. From emigrating to Australia, to living through war and civil rights movements, this book also gives us a history of Australia and what has shaped us as a nation.

Kate shares with us the stories of her family. A great-great-grandmother, who grew up in the shadow of a cursed castle, travelled across seas with a head filled with stories, to a life in a new land. And a great-grandmother, who searched for gold and grew a family, still surrounded by stories.

Review: The Secret of the Youngest Rebel

‘Death or liberty? … Which will you choose, boy?’

For Frog, an orphan trying to survive on the streets of Parramatta in 1804, the draw of the rebels is strong. The idea of having freedom to live the life you want is definitely worth risking everything for.

This is a masterfully written historical novel with action, fear and high stakes. Kids will be drawn in from the first word as they follow Frog’s adventure and get a sense of the challenges facing people in the early 1800s in Australia.

Rebellion is coming. The convicts want to fight for their freedom and take over the colony. Mr Cunningham, a rebel leader, tells Frog about his vision of freedom, a future in which you can make your own decisions and everyone will have the right to education and their own land.

Review: This is Home: Essential Australian Poems for Children

I am a strong believer in the importance of poetry for children. As well as conveying the rhythm and beauty of language, it opens their eyes to different ways to perceive our world. To present truth in small, easily digestible chunks, to explore feeling and emotion, to reflect on the past and dream about the future.

This extraordinary new poetry collection for children, compiled by Jackie French, stunningly illustrated by Tania McCartney, and published by the National Library of Australia, is a true celebration of Australia.

This collection contains poignant observations on Australian life and culture through depictions of landscape, historical events, feelings and experiences of Australians from a variety of backgrounds and times. They express what has shaped us as a nation – from the challenging and heartfelt to the joyful and fun.

Review: Why I Love My Mummy

This is a lovely gift book for shared reading between mother and child. In creating this book, Howarth has used children’s own words to answer the statement, 'I love my mummy because…'

Each page contains a heart-warming response in a child’s voice, such as 'she helps me,' or 'she kisses me better', or 'she smells nice.' The illustrations are soft and warm, with each page depicting an animal mummy and child interacting together.

Review: General Knowledge Genius

Here’s a brilliant cross between an encyclopedia and a quiz book, to get kids reading, thinking and engaging with fun and obscure facts.

This book is centred around five key themes: science geek, nature know it all, geography genius, history buff and culture vulture. It intersperses intriguing facts with quizzes that challenge your knowledge of each subject area.

As with all of DK’s amazing encyclopedias, this book has a stunning visual layout with close-up photographs of nature, science, historical artefacts and human achievements. The high-quality images are balanced with digestible chunks of text and surrounded by white space so it does not appear dense.

Review: Fing

David Walliams is back with another hilarious adventure that will have kids giggling their way from beginning to end. This one is aimed at a slightly younger audience than most of his novels, with less text and more illustrations by the talented Tony Ross.

The story centres on the Meek family. Mr and Mrs Meek, who are quiet, sensible librarians, and their daughter Myrtle.

Mr and Mrs Meek like to keep a peaceful household, and do their best to avoid confrontation with their strong willed child. Myrtle, on the other hand, is very good at loudly demanding everything she wants. And more and more and more of it.

But what can a child ask for, when they already have everything they could possibly need, and more? Well, a Fing, of course.

Review: Dippy's Big Day Out

Attention wombat fans! Just when you thought it was not possible to find another hero to rival Mothball of Diary of a Wombat fame, along comes Dippy.

Dippy is a diprotodon, which is a giant prehistoric version of a wombat. He lived 100,000 years ago, yet has some incredible similarities with his modern wombat relatives.

Review: The Trouble in Tune Town

Music should be a joy for kids, but the pressure of music practice and performance can make some children lose the pleasure that music brings.

In this delightful picture book, Meg is Tune Town’s best performer. She’s practising for the big concert, but nothing is going right. The notes sound wrong, her fingers are tense, and the tune comes out ‘sluggish and sticky’.

Review: Let's Go Strolling

Toddlers and young children notice every small detail. Colours, animals, spider webs and rocks, all demand attention when strolling outdoors.

This lovely little story focuses in on a simple, everyday walk to the park and helps readers connect with the items and creatures they find on the way. 

Children will be engaged in going out for a walk, starting by getting ready, walking out of the house and naming things along the way.

Review: Geronimo

All kids have big dreams, even if they are completely unrealistic. They are yet to be confined by the limitations the world has placed on them and love to dream of meeting dinosaurs, saving the world, and, of course, flying.

In David Walliams’ hilarious new picture book, Geronimo is a young emperor penguin who dreams of flying. His father tries to tell him that penguins can’t fly, but Geronimo won’t hear of it. Otherwise, why do penguins have wings?