Review: giwang: Weather & Wildlife On Wiradjuri Country

I acknowledge the Gubbi Gubbi, the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and write, and pay my respects to elders past and present – Redcliffe, Australia. I also acknowledge and pay my respects to all the First Nations people of our land, and in particular, the Wiradjuri, traditional country of my children and grandchildren.

What an absolute pleasure it is to be able to review this wonderful, and very important, new book with its roots in Wiradjuri Country and its language.

Author, Belinda Bridge, has a strong matrilineal connection to Wiradjuri land and has long been passionate about preserving the language and culture of her mob. She is well qualified to be sharing knowledge as she holds a post-grad in Wiradjuri Language, Heritage and Culture, along with her degree in Creative Writing and Professional Writing, and her TAFE teaching of Wiradjuri Language.

This new book can provide entry level language for students new to learning Wiradjuri across the year levels, and even adults. The six cycles of Wiradjuri Country are determined by the moon and the calendar months paired to each in this book are indicative only. These cycles can be changeable when impacted by weather events.

The animals most active during these cycles are named and illustrated but this may also change due to those fluctuations of the cycles. For example:

dinawan = emu

galing-galing bu niganaga bu ganhang-girri = wet and hot and becoming warm [December & January)

yili gariwang-girri = dry becoming cool [April & May].

Your jarjums will find it fascinating but all children, whether on Wiradjuri lands or not, will also be intrigued. And what an opportunity to explore the weather and wildlife of the Country on which your kiddos live and learn. My middle daughter, Aunty Kim at her school on Country (Lithgow PS), is passionate about teaching her students their language and culture, and even though she has learned so much over the past six years she's been living and working there, this will be still be of great value to her.

For those who are focused on a future of walking together, and who are developing their own First Nations collections mindfully, this is an extremely valuable resource.

The design is really engaging as well - with striking illustrations from Peta-Joy Williams and a sense of connection and flow throughout the book which, after all, is exactly what the learning is about - from ancestors to the present to the future, from year to year, cycle to cyle.

It's a fabulous book conceived and executed with skill by two Wiradjuri creators, making this even more significant, particularly for those little fellas who are growing up in their own Wiradjuri culture.

An outstanding 5 🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘rating for this one.

Title: giwang: Weather & Wildlife On Wiradjuri Country
Author: Belinda Bridges
Illustrator: Peta-Joy Williams
Publisher: Aboriginal Studies Press, AUD $24.95, NZD $29.99
Date of Publication: November 2025
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781922752031
For ages: 5+
Type: Non-fiction

Review: My First Book of Zen

In this introduction to Zen, simple wisdom for children is presented in an imaginative way through a game of seek and find, using thought-provoking notes with quotes, poems, and Haiku by famous people, including the Dalai Lama. 

These notes are left for siblings Molly and Sam by their mother throughout the house, and are included within their daily activities, to surprise and remind them of their Zen teachings.

They help turn a light on inside of us, to find peace in our hearts.

Guest Post: Catherine Bauer on Juniper's Painting and the Passing Of Storms

In the dairy section of my local supermarket one recent Saturday morning, I was deep in thought and struggling to decide between two yoghurt flavours. Stick with the familiar or try something new?

An ear-splitting screech interrupted these thoughts and seconds later, a fully laden trolley slammed into my back, almost knocking me off my feet.

Stifling an expletive, I turned to see a crimson-faced, tight-fisted child prostrate on the floor, screaming his lungs out as his equally crimson-cheeked Mum rushed to retrieve the trolley and apologise profusely.

'Sorry, sorry,’' she sputtered. 'He wants an ice-cream.’

Review: Wind Atlas: Everything You Need To Know About The Wind

As a kid, the wind unnerved me. Wild, unpredictable, displacing. As an adult, the wind is still my least favourite weather phenomena but along the way to learning to sail and gaining a better understanding of meteorology, my appreciation of ‘wind’ is now more discriminating.

Wind Atlas, the third in the amazing weather series by Thames & Hudson, consolidates that appreciation and then some. 

Like its predecessors, Wave Atlas and Cloud Atlas, this guide into the world’s fascinating zones of pressure and air movements is both refreshingly informative while simultaneously easy to assimilate.

Review: Wave Atlas: Everything You Need To Know About Waves

To say things have been a little turbulent weather wise lately (at least in my small part of the world) is a wee understatement. 

Much of that recent SE QLD tropical cyclone turbulence resulted in storm surge, disastrous beach erosion and record-breaking massive wave heights (12.3 metres off the Gold Coast).

You don’t have to be an ex-sailor, like me, or even a storm chaser to appreciate the wonders of weather however; the pulse and rhythm of waves has a hypnotic pull that most of us find difficult to resist. 

Which is why, Thames & Hudson’s latest atlas-styled publication about the phenomena of waves rates high on my barometer of brilliant reads.

Following a similar format to Cloud Atlas, Wave Atlas: Everything You Need To Know About Waves, takes young readers (and old sea dogs like myself) through a fascinating journey around our water dominated planet. We explore the hows and whys of our oceans’ existence and the global currents, tidal pulls and meteorological conditions that induce those great oceans to move.

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.

Guest Post: Lucy Hawkins on The Salvager's Quest

When I was a little girl I was passionate about animals. I did sponsored swims for Greenpeace, knocking on local businesses’ doors to ask for the money they had promised me to give to the dolphins. 

Dad got me a subscription to National Geographic magazine and I scoured the pages. I decided to make my own magazine profiling a handful of animals in each edition, illustrating my stories and selling it at school. 

I don’t think I sold many to be honest, but I have vivid memories of watching with delight as the pages emerged from the colour printer at the local print shop.

I went to university to study Journalism and then worked at Cosmopolitan UK magazine. When I was 29 I moved to Mexico to teach English and volunteer on conservation projects with an organisation called GVI, and when I later returned to Australia I worked for them going to universities to talk to their students about the different humanitarian and environmental programs GVI ran around

Review: I'll Take Care Of You

This beautiful book celebrates all that is wholesome and pure and mysterious and magical and good in the world. Themes such as science, the seasons, kindness and generosity are interwoven through the comforting words and gorgeous illustrations. 

A seed needs love and care from the elemental forces. Then a bird needs love and care from the apple tree that has grown from the seed. Then the bird’s hatchling spreads the apple’s seeds with love and care, and so the cycle begins again.

All the while, a young reader absorbs the idea of caring for others and of being taken care of, through immersion in this cyclical story and glorious, vibrant illustrations. A combination of collage and acrylic painting bring I’ll Take Care Of You to life in the most adorable and unexpected of ways. Caring is the essence of the story.

Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.

Review: Seal Child

Seal Child is a book about a child who gets lost after a bad storm, and goes on a long journey, but manages to find a friend along the way.

This small child, the protagonist of the story, lives a peaceful life on an island. But one day, a storm hits, and their life is thrown into chaos. They are terrified of the storm and are all alone. That is until they find an unlikely friend, who is also lost and alone without their family… a baby seal. 

Review: Flooded

Flooded is a special debut book that is the result of author and illustrator Mariajo Ilustrajo's Masters in Children's Book Illustration, and her winning the World Illustration Award in 2020.

It's the story of an ordinary city and its citizens who are depicted as animals.

The animals go about their lives, not noticing that something is happening. All except one who realises that the city is a little bit wet.

The many other animals don't take any notice of just one animal. They carry on as normal. 

The only sign they show of knowing something is going on, is a bit of gossip. Perhaps it being damp is the result of someone who left the tap on? Or maybe it's because of politicians?

Review: North & South: A Tale of Two Hemispheres

Weather can be really different depending on where in the world you are.

The seasons, be they wet or dry, or spring, summer, autumn or winter, differ in their timing and extremes, from the tip of the southern hemisphere to far reaches of the northern hemisphere, and everywhere in between. 

Animals make the most of this, and often have special characteristics that help them survive and thrive in different weather.

Our wildlife are dependent on the environment, and climate change puts many of them at risk.

In North & South: A Tale of Two Hemispheres, author and illustrator, Sandra Morris takes us on a trip around the world, starting in January and ending in December.

Announcement: CBCA Notables List 2021

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) kicked off its quest for Book of the Year yesterday by announcing the Notables List and we couldn't be more proud seeing one of  our very own KBR regular contributors, Penny Harrison's Bronte: Me and My Boots listed among them. 

Equally thrilling to see Tania McCartney's and Stephanie Owen-Reeder's Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather there, too. Bravo girls and good luck! Hearty congratulations to all this year's Notables. A fine selection indeed.

Review: Chasing Rainbows

Can anyone chase a rainbow? If so, how is it done?

Siblings Sam and Ruby love rainbows. 

Their dad tells them stories about the rainbow magic he sees from his helicopter.

Their minds draw pictures of what they could see and feel and do with a rainbow if they could also see the rainbow magic. They long for a rainbow to appear to them in puddles.

Review: Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather

Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather is a new large format book written by Stephanie Owen Reeder and illustrated by Tania McCartney.

Australia, a continent of many climates, certainly does have wild, weird and wonderful weather.

There are fires and floods, dust storms and hail storms, along with scorching hot heat, and freezing snow.

Talking about the weather is something we've all done, and probably with regularity. Perhaps that's because the weather is always with us, around us. 

A quote about just that introduces a section of the book. Each section has its own relevant quote, taken from Australian newspapers, and they set the scene for what follows.

Review: The Bushfire Book

With Spring here and summer following quickly, The Bushfire Book: How to be Aware and Prepare, is a timely handbook for children, filled with information about prevention of, and preparation for, bushfires.

It’s beautifully designed, with gorgeous illustrations in Indigenous colours, stunning end pages, and lots of easy-to read points in text and images.

For thousands of years, First Nations peoples have used small fires to control the overgrowth of vegetation to prevent bushfires. In this way they protect the land and wildlife habitats.

This handbook has various bushfire plans, with Be Aware, the first essential.

Review: Sing me the Summer

Another perfect picture book pairing from Jane Godwin and Alison Lester, Sing me the Summer is a glorious celebration of the seasons — in rhyme. 

Pineapple, apricot, strawberry, peach. We have a picnic right here on the beach.

Guest Post: Elizabeth Cummings on Springboarding Ideas

Writers are often asked where their ideas come from and more often than not the answer revolves around how their daily life gives them the creative spark to write. 

This is true but moreover I do believe as a writer myself that the ideas are already there in some form or other buried deep within one’s very core. 

The concept, the theme or the character rise up and take form thanks to some trigger but the actual essence or desire to write is part of who a writer is. 

You may think that this is quite far-fetched or amazing or just a bit pretentious but really the most incredible thing is the myriad forms that writers choose to express in written form. 

From writers creating in genres such as crime, romance and paranormal to those seeking to create their narratives for particular age groups (and, oh yes, I’m talking about the upper middle grade storytellers, the new adult and even those who want to writer for the toddler market) these creators are all determined that their writing has a place, an interest group, a market, a target age group.

Review: Hope: 50 Ways to Help Our Planet Everyday

Mahatma Gandhi said, “you must be the change you wish to see in the world.” 

And he was right. 

We can all do small things to make a difference. 

We can all do our part to help the environment and prevent climate change from destroying our planet.

But how? Where do you start? What can kids and families do?

Well, actually, lots! And Hope: 50 Ways to Help Our Planet Every Day will show you how.

Review: Earth Heroes

‘We can’t save the world by playing by the rules… the rules have to be changed.’

Greta Thunberg said that, and she’s right.

Earth Heroes is a brilliant collection of non-fiction stories about people who have been brave and changed the rules to save the world just a little bit more. 

Sir David Attenborough is included and so is Stella McCartney and Greta Thunberg, but, mostly, you won’t recognise the names of the people included in this book. 

That’s because they are people like you and me. 

They are people who wanted to make a difference or saw an opportunity to make a difference and seized it. 

Review: Under the Stars: Astrophysics for Bedtime

Award-winning astronomer and Professor at the University of New South Wales, Lisa Harvey-Smith at six years old, was yearning to know why? 

This questioning gave birth to her hobby of astronomy which led her to astrophysics. Her book Under the Stars: Astrophysics for Bedtime is a work of brilliance. It opens up for children, a view into the Universe that children ask questions about.

Lisa is extremely thorough with her narrative which is light-hearted, interesting and humorous!