The
Big Book of Rights
is the genius collaboration between Queensland author, Dannika
Patterson, illustrator Amanda Letcher, Children’s
Rights QLD and dozens and dozens of young people.
After
deep consultation and invitation to use the youngsters’ artistic and intellectual
input, this big book is a glorious, colourful creation aimed at evoking curiosity
and understanding of these rights in an age-appropriate way.
Kids who stood up, shook things up, and
never gave up. Young activists, artists, eco-warriors, entrepreneurs,
inventors, rock stars, and scientists.
We set out on a journey of adventure and discovery
through Australia’s landscapes to test our knowledge.
Every Rock Has a Story - An A to Z of Australian Geology,
goes through the alphabet, answering that question with a plethora of valuable information
encompassed between its stunning covers and end pages.
Beneath each letter has a subject title. A Fact
box at the bottom contains historical and educational information that will amaze.
My Language Rights offers young children information that they can use in daily life, and that may not be accessible to them by other means.
Drawing on
the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights from PEN International, the book
empowers children and their families to use and protect all languages - be they
big or small, strange or familiar, easy or difficult!
But there is a lot for Will to learn before then.
So, he must ask questions. They fly from his mouth as he watches Ollie dragging, heaving, and holding the sheep in place.
He is as quick as lightning!
One night Will follows Ollie into the bush and observes how he sets up camp under the stars.
That’s not all he sees. Bush
creatures come out: wombats, kangaroos and possums. An owl hoots from a hole of
a tree.
He is introduced to other friends of Ollie"s – animals whose lives he saved with bush medicine.
Things go wrong when a storm hits. The fences go down and the sheep escape.
When the troopers arrive and charge Ollie with theft of a jumbuck, Will’s world crumbles.
Can he convince the
troopers that Ollie is innocent, although now gone?
Will learnt from his friend to never give up. He sets out to acquire as many skills as possible in preparation for the day he will set out with his swag to find Ollie, and go Waltzing Matilda together.
This is a story filled
with optimism,persistence, friendship, determination, and love for wild Australia.
Beautifully designed,
writer and illustrator, Kim de Haan, brings to life the definition of Waltzing, Matilda, and
jumbuck, making their meanings clear to those who don’t already know them.
The front-end pages depict a path through glowing
red earth and Will starting out alone, with the
outcome on the back end pages.
A well-rounded purely Australian story with excellent text by Bec Nanayakkara and underlying themes that showcase how age is never an obstacle in friendship, nor is skin colour.
Title: The Jolly Swagman
Author: Bec Nanayakkara
Illustrator: Kim de Haan
Publisher: Woodslane Press, $27.99
Publication Date: 1 March 2025
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781922800893
For ages: 5+
Type: Picture Book
I love you
when you’re brave.
I love you
when you’re done.
I love you
when you won’t wear pants.
I love you
when you’re fun.
Little Love List brings us the very best of what is on offer in picture books today.
From the sweet idea of writing a ‘love list’ for a child to the playful, fresh and joyful illustrations, it’s easy to feel good about everything about this book – even the bad stuff!
Superhero Captain Amazing is tired and getting older. He needs help. And it's his pets, who are worried about him, are the ones who come to the rescue.
Captain Amazing, also known by his non-superhero name Harry, decides sidekicks could give him a helping hand. There's an eclectic group of humans and animals who want to audition for the role.
Amongst Harry's pets, first up there's Roscoe the dog and Fluffy the hamster. They tend to squabble a bit.
Then there's a brand new pet, a chameleon who Harry names Shifty. Roscoe and Fluffy aren't sure what they think about Shifty yet.
And finally there's Manny the cat. Manny used to be Captain Amazing's sidekick, going by the name Static Cat.
But something happened and Static Cat disappeared into apparent retirement.
When Fluffy heads out to practice his superhero skills, much to his dismay he's shadowed by Shifty.
Then Fluffy and Shifty unexpectedly cross paths with Manny. Manny, who has experience, knows what it takes to be a superhero sidekick, and starts teaching them what they need to know.
Will Harry's pets be ready and up to the job when the day of the sidekick auditions arrives? Can they save the day when the villain Dr Havoc makes trouble?
Sidekicks is a great graphic novel for younger readers. Packed with slick, colour illustrations, and just enough text, the story features family, friendship and teamwork, mixed with a generous dose of adventure.
Title: Sidekicks
(Book 1)
Author/Illustrator: Dan Santat
Publisher: Scholastic Australia, $ 19.99
Publication Date: 2024
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781761640261
For ages: 8+
Type: Graphic Novel
This is how twelve-year old Abby, on the cusp of adolescence, feels about her four younger siblings.
The wish she made when very young – to have a sibling to play with, turned into four obnoxious ones.
Remi Lai frequently draws on her own life experiences to create believable stories.
This graphic novel takes a humorous and realistic look into the dramas played out in many families between siblings.
The bold, detailed illustrations reinforce the daily dilemmas, situations so familiar, they force a smile that remains fixed till the end of the book.
I move through this day with open mind and open
heart.
Affirmations for children to memorize, fill this
gorgeous book.
Rainbows make the end pages attractive.
A stunning title page groups all the characters together in the rainbow colours that continue throughout the book.
Heather Dryden's stunning illustrations tell a parallel story to the text.
The narrator is seventeen-year-old Astrid, who has finished years of homeschooling with her father who lost his job and filled his life with controlling others’ lives.
Astrid is now starting High school.
Her father is not happy about Astrid’s forthcoming schooling,
nor the clothes her mother wears to work. He believes that social media is
breaking everyone’s brain and making them hate.
This is just one of his rants concerning capitalism and its influence on society, that he wars against with a distorted mindset; a thought process that forced his son to leave home.
But he is determined to hold tight to the control over the remaining members of his family.
The story begins with Darcy travelling home to LA from a music festival, when the bus breaks down. Both she and Russell find themselves stranded at a fairly remote bus station, where she asks to borrow his phone charger. And so the adventure begins.
For a narrative set over the course of just 24 hours, a lot goes on. Without giving the storyline away, suffice to say that there are global rock stars, Mexican feasts, swimming pool break-ins and security interrogations … all while our two main characters get to know each other in a funny, intense and very visceral way.
He joins three other equally spoilt, friendless, incorrigible youngsters: Victoria, a proper English Miss, (she’s the
nicest) Elton, spoilt beyond words, and Addison, a Goth, with a boulder on
her shoulder, whose mother is glad to see the back of her for two weeks.
During the ride to their destination, Sal warns
about the dangers they should be aware of – snakes, crocodiles, toads, and poisonous
plants.
Instead of the luxurious retreat they had imagined and had been paid for, the group end up at
a totally rundown summer camp. This has been mismanaged for years by the cranky Sal, and her young and equally cranky son, Roy.
Told with a
strong sense of peace and comfort, this story is perfect for young children
needing to make sense of trauma or life challenges – from a natural disaster
event through to things like moving house or changing schools.
It is also
perfect for curious children who are not living through such challenges. The
clever construction means that it offers a variety of insights and messages,
depending on the need and perspective of the reader.
