Frances Bloom by Katrina Nannestad

Title: Frances Bloom

Author: Katrina Nannestad

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: HarperCollins Australia

Published: 28^th October 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 144

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: Relish in mischief, adventure and the most unusual family ever, with the bestselling and multi-award-winning Katrina Nannestad.

Frances Bloom lives all alone in a cottage by the sea. She’s having a marvellous time until her nasty teacher, Ms Thistle, learns there is no-one looking after her. Frances needs to find a family, quick smart, or she’ll be sent away to Bleak Island Home for Unwanted Children and Dogs.

As hard as Frances looks, nobody meets her high standards … until she stumbles across a large, honey-coloured bear raiding the rubbish bins … and a garden gnome fishing in the flowerbed. Welcome, Grandma Maude and Grandpa Harold!

Together, this strange trio creates a new family, writing their own rules with each misadventure!

Delight in the cheeky antics of eight-year-old Frances Bloom with multi-award-winning Australian author Katrina Nannestad.

~*~

Welcome to the new series from Katrina Nannestad. Frances Bloom lives alone in a cottage by the sea. She has no parents, and is having a great time in year three and doing whatever she wants at home. But when she arrives at school, the mean teacher Ms Thistle finds out that Frances is living alone. And she’s determined to send Frances away to Bleak Island Home for Unwanted Children and Dogs.

This kicks off an amusing quest to find some grandparents. Frances has high standards, and nobody is fulfilling them…until; she meets a honey-coloured bear and a garden gnome. Enter Grandma Maude and Grandpa Harold! Come meet a new family, filled with chaos and misadventure, and a determination to stay together.

Katrina Nannestad’s new book is quite a departure from her historical fiction books in recent years, but it is a delightful story full of fun and love. Like her other books and series, there is an element of missing parental figures, but done in a way that gives the story meaning and layers that can be explored in many ways. There’s nothing sad about it though, as living alone and doing whatever they want is something kids probably dream about. Who wants rules and responsibility? Not Frances Bloom and her classmates! Even the mayor and one of the market stall holders get in on the action.

It’s a fantasy, a dream, and empowering, showing kids that having dreams, speaking up for themselves and standing by their friends are some of the most important things in life. It’s about being there for people in so many ways possible, whether its standing up for them in class, against bullies, or showing them how to have fun. I felt that that was what Frances Bloom was all about. That, and family, and the idea that family can be whatever you make it. That you can choose your family and create your own family if you want to or need to. Chosen family is special. They’re the people you know will be there for you. Who will share in everything good and bad, and the people you trust and want to be with.

The antics that Frances, her friends and new grandparents get up to make this book lots of fun for younger readers. It’s the kind of book a grandparent might read with their grandchildren, because it is all about the connection that grandkids can have with grandparents or aunts and uncles. Katrina Nannestad’s rage is exceptional, and every one of her books I have read I’ve really enjoyed. Each one has something that makes it stand out, that is powerful, and that is informative or entertaining.

This is another great book from Katrina Nannestad, and shows the breadth of her talent when it comes to writing for children.