Review: Beautiful Mess

Life's hard enough for teenagers trying to navigate puberty, senior school pressures and friendship issues, amongst other things, without the added burden and trauma of losing someone they love.

Claire Christian delivers an honest and searing depiction of the flow-on effects of grief in her debut novel, Beautiful Mess, winner of the 2016 Text Prize.

Months after the suicide of her best friend, Ava's life continues to spiral in a fog of anger and bad choices resulting in being expelled for her public outburst with the principal.

The only thing in her life she can tolerate is her part-time job at Magic Kebab where she meets Gideon.

Australian Reading Hour

The idea is simple. 

On Thursday September 14 2017, stop what you’re doing for one hour and pick up a book. We want Australians to either rediscover or introduce themselves to the benefits of reading. 

In children, it has been shown to help with identity formation, setting them up for success in the future. 

In adults, it has been shown to reduce stress by 68% more than listening to music, going for a walk, or having a cup of tea. 

We encourage booksellers, libraries, and teachers to:

- Organise reading events
- Coordinate author events
- Promote the initiative in store and on social media with #brbReading
- Promote their favourite Australian books.

Visit the website to register and become involved in a reading revolution!

Review: Ella Who?

When a baby elephant sneaks into a family's new home on moving day, a young girl tries to tell her family. They're all so busy and distracted, however, that the elephant goes unnoticed.

The new friends spend the day together, until someone comes looking for an elephant named Fiona, who has gone missing from the neighbourhood animal sanctuary. Luckily, the animal sanctuary is close by, offering plenty of potential new friends for the little girl.

This is a simple story about a child's ability to find joy and fun, without the company of grown-ups. It is also about making new friends and the wonderful quality of little people to do it so effortlessly, finding out one another's likes and dislikes, and the things they have in common.

Audiobook Review: The Forbidden Library Series

I devoured the three available Audiobooks in the Forbidden Library series in record time.

Then I noted with dismay that I would have to wait for more to be published before I could continue on with one of the best children's fiction series I have ever read or listened to. I am well and truly hooked!

And, although it is a big call, it is really the only series I feel absolutely comfortable comparing to Harry Potter, as I believe it has real appeal for fans of the infamous series, both young and old. It is a series that I can see myself returning to again and again.

12 Curly Questions with author Gareth Ward

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.

I played wicket keeper at school and got two black eyes in the same match. I spent a week looking like a panda.

2. What is your nickname? 

Wardini-Wizzle

3. What is your greatest fear?

The zombie apocalypse – although I sort of secretly long for it, too.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words. 

Humorous and sly steampunk with a touch of the ridiculous.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.

Imaginative, steampunk, fantabulous, magical, happy.

Review: Double Take! A New Look at Opposites

As the title suggests, this book is a new offering on the ever popular topic of opposites. 

Rather than single words conveying the opposites, Double Take! is a complete story that can be read at bedtime, with the added bonus of being a strong learning experience.

What really sets this book apart however, is it's inclusion of relativity. At first the elephant is strong and the boy is weak, but when elephant is compared to a whale, then is elephant still the strongest? 

Review: Pirate McSnottbeard in the Zombie Terror Rampage

Emilie and her brother Will are in a spot of trouble. Their house is floating in the ocean and pirates have kidnapped their parents.

Emilie must find the strength to be brave and bold like her brother, who, it turns out, has a little bit of experience dealing with pirates. Who knew?

To get their Mum and Dad back, Emilie and Will go on an epic journey through time to when dinosaurs roamed, into a wormhole to a warlock’s castle and through a magic doorway to a pirate island.

They face man-eating dinosaurs, an igor and his master, zombies, a gang of parrots and a clan of unfriendly pirates led by the notorious Pirate McSnottbeard.

Review: To Kill a Mockingbird

I've always shied away from the classics, expecting them to be dry and torturous to read, but Jean Louise, aka Scout showed me how wrong I was when she led me by the hand through her life.

Her eight-year-old eyes revealed the 1930s and the Deep South of America without guile or guise. Despite rampant racism and violence, she had me chuckling at the smallest details that are missed by many adults.

Scout's innocence lays bare the blind prejudices of the time, but also the joy of being a child in any age. From making snowmen with 90% mud and 10% snow, to rolling down the road inside a car tyre, Scout hooked me into her world.

Review: Paddy O'Melon: The Irish Kangaroo

A little joey looks forward to leaving his mother’s pouch. With his first move into the outer world, he wobbles and falls. 

He’s ignorant of the dangers that threaten defenceless animals in the tropical rainforest. Two large dogs off the leash throw his mother over. The terrified joey hides in the shrub as mother races away in fear.

Review: Weird Weirder Weirdest

Weird Weirder Weirdest is the perfect title for this addictive collection of fun and quirky short stories.

A pen that writes what it wants no matter what the holder intends, a watch that can stop time (but comes with consequences), super ugly shoes that make you run super fast.

But my absolute favourite was a futuristic tale about a society that trades energy for education. And to make an energy payment, kids must constantly rotate a mechanical ball with one hand, making playtime impossible.

Review: The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel

Just how many acorns does a squirrel need?

When you are a sneaky, snacky squirrel, it's quite a few!

You can discover just how many that is, in this lift-the-flap board book by Lucia Gaggiotti, called The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel.

Follow squirrel as he tracks down all the acorns he has hidden for later, but cannot remember where.

The acorns are different colours, so look for one red acorn, two yellow acorns, and so on. There are fifteen acorns to find in total, in five different colours.

Terrific 10: Grumpy Books

Grumpy Pants by Claire Messer, Albert Whitman & Company, $33.99, 9780807530757, 2-7

Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins, Disney Hyperion, $28.99, 9781484730881, 3-8, KBR Review

Penguin by Polly Dunbar, Walker Books, $16.95, 9781406312461, $16.95, 3-8, KBR Review

Review: Fluke

Fluke is a beautiful story based on a combination of real events relating to southern right whales in Sydney Harbour. It depicts the excitement and interest people have in the prospect of seeing southern right whales during their migration to warmer waters.

Fluke is a story that young children can relate to. It expresses the feeling of joy at the time of a new birth but it also shows the gamete of emotions that everyone feels when a child is lost and then found.

Review: Antoinette

From the author and illustrator team that created the Gaston (a gorgeous story about four sibling puppies, Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, Oh-La-La and Gaston) comes the sequel, Antoinette.

Antoinette's brothers, Rocky, Ricky and Bruno, all have special skills. One is clever, one is fast and the other is strong! 

However Antoinette is a little bit worried that she hasn't yet figured out what her special skill is. Her Mother isn't worried though, she knows that Antoinette has something 'extra special'. She can feel it in her bones.

Meet the Illustrator: Gabriel Evans

Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.

Traditional, contemporary, textured, energetic, versatile, detailed.

What items are an essential part of your creative space?

There are the obvious items including paints, brushes and paper. Other essentials include my trusty hairdryer to speed the paint’s drying process, good music – the wrong genre can ruin an illustration, and, of course, good lighting. I’ve heard neat, organised studio spaces are also essential – is this true? I’ve never managed to get it that orderly so can’t be sure...

Do you have a favourite artistic medium?

Watercolour and gouche – these two mediums, especially the former, are such wonderful and expressive mediums to work in. The creative possibilities are endless.

Review: Dance is for Everyone

When the new student at Mrs Iraina's dance class turns out to be a 450-pound alligator, the other students are a little surprised. They decide to roll with it, but prepare well with a large bag of alligator food and a book on living with alligators.

They name the alligator Tanya, after the great prima ballerina Madame Tanya Prefontaine (apparently, there's a resemblance) and she seems happy.