#AussieAuthors2023, #LoveOZMG, #LoveOzYA, adventure, animals, Aussie authors, Australian literature, Australian women writers, biography, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, check in post, Children's Literature, Crime/Mystery, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, Friday Barnes, historical fiction, history, Indigenous authors, Jackie French, Junior Fiction, literary fiction, memoir, middle grade, mythology, non-fiction, Picture Books, Publishers, R.A. Spratt, Reading, Reviews, Scholastic, series, Speculative fiction, Tim Harris, Young Adult

Completion of QBD Reading Challenge 2023

I have completed the 2023 QBD Challenge. My last prompt was a funny memoir, which in some ways was hard to find, but I settled on Paul Jennings’ memoir, Untwisted, which was funny in parts, and I enjoyed the way he told the stories – with humour and empathy throughout. I reviewed twenty books for… Continue reading Completion of QBD Reading Challenge 2023

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The Puppets of Spelhorst: A Norendy Tale by Kate DiCamillo

Title: The Puppets of Spelhorst: A Norendy Tale Author: Kate DiCamillo Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Walker Books Published: 18th October 2023 Format: Hardcover Pages: 160 Price: $24.99 Synopsis: From master storyteller Kate DiCamillo comes an original fairy tale, enchantingly illustrated, in which five puppets confront circumstances beyond their control with patience, cunning and high spirits.Once, there… Continue reading The Puppets of Spelhorst: A Norendy Tale by Kate DiCamillo

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Completed: Dymocks Reading Challenge 2023

This year, I took on the Dymocks Reading Challenge again. This time, we got our prompts season by season, which made it more challenging to plan what to read, but in the end, I managed to do it. The prompts were fairly flexible as well – there were ones anything could fit into and ones… Continue reading Completed: Dymocks Reading Challenge 2023

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Dymocks Spring Reading Challenge

The final set of prompts for this year’s Dymock’s Reading Challenge for Spring are completed now too – a couple of them took me a while but I got there. One of the things I have liked about this challenge is how open to interpretation some prompts were, because a prompt will always have a… Continue reading Dymocks Spring Reading Challenge

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Rarity of Reviews of Australian Children’s Books

I have ‘some more thoughts’ – this time, about the rarity of reviews of children’s books in mainstream media, magazines, and newspapers – the media that most people would consume or have access to. Whilst they may review books, it’s always adult books and often the very literary ones. And whilst any book coverage is… Continue reading Rarity of Reviews of Australian Children’s Books

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Visiting the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature

My connection to the Centre I have been working as a remote volunteer with the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature for about six months. First, creating profiles on my blog for their various online databases, and after I finished that, as the Clipper for New South Wales, sending whatever ephemera about Australian Children’s Literature… Continue reading Visiting the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature

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Alice-Miranda and the Christmas Mystery by Jacqueline Harvey

Title: Alice-Miranda and the Christmas Mystery Author: Jacqueline Harvey Genre:  Mystery Publisher: Puffin Published: 10th October 2023  Format:  Paperback Pages: 432 Price:  $16.99 Synopsis: THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING SERIES!Join Alice-Miranda in a delightful Christmas adventure.Christmas is almost here, and Alice-Miranda and her closest friends are celebrating early at Highton Hall. But it’s not all gingerbread, parties… Continue reading Alice-Miranda and the Christmas Mystery by Jacqueline Harvey

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The Turtle and the Flood by Jackie French and Danny Snell

Title: The Turtle and the Flood Author: Jackie French and Danny Snell Genre: Fiction Publisher: HarperCollins Australia Published: Format: Hardcover Pages: 24 Price: $24.99 Synopsis: A companion title to the best-selling The Fire Wombat, this is the story of Myrtle, a small turtle who, by heading uphill, tells the other animals that a flood is coming. Myrtle the… Continue reading The Turtle and the Flood by Jackie French and Danny Snell

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A Life Song by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker

Title: A Life Song Author: Jane Godwin and Anna Walker Genre: Fiction Publisher: Puffin Published: 3rd October 2023 Format: Hardcover Pages: 32 Price: $24.99 Synopsis: From the award-winning team that created classics such as Don’t Forget, All Through the Year, Tilly, and Starting School, comes an exquisite, universal and captivating picture book that carries us through a child's life journey on the… Continue reading A Life Song by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker

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The Rebels of Mount Buffalo by Helen Edwards

Title: The Rebels of Mount Buffalo Author: Helen Edwards Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Riveted Press Published: 11th October 2023 Format: Paperback Pages: 240 Price: $16.95 Synopsis: The Rebels of Mount Buffalo is a captivating time-slip tale in which a girl lost to grief meets a daring rebel on a misty mountain, who guides her to… Continue reading The Rebels of Mount Buffalo by Helen Edwards