Reviews
Reviews of children's books, coordinated and largely written by well-respected reviewer, Catriona Coote. Contributions welcome. The reviews could also be extended to include other items such as movies and different types of games. Check Catriona Coote's article "Choosing books for gifted readers".
- Books for Pre-Readers ( 91 Articles )
- Beginner Readers ( 149 Articles )
- Younger Readers ( 317 Articles )
- Older Readers ( 167 Articles )
- Challenging Books ( 35 Articles )
- General ( 12 Articles )
For Pre-/Beginner Readers...
Alex Field (author)
Peter Carnavas (illustrator)
New Frontier Publishing, Australia: November 2011
ISBN: 9781921042836
Genres: picture book
Issues: friendship
'Mr Darcy lived by himself on the edge of Pemberley Park. It was a place where the trees blossomed and the lake sparkled. Mr Darcy loved Pemberley Park, but sometimes he felt lonely.'
Mr Darcy,...
Norma Spaulding (author)
Jacqui Grantford (illustrator)
New Frontier Publishing, Australia: 2010
ISBN: 9781921042355
Genres: picture book, realistic fiction
Issues: grief, loss
When Molly's best friend dies, her father suggests she makes a 'memory jar' for Lucy. Each time Molly thinks of something she wants to remember about Lucy, she puts a coloured glass...
Tracey Corderoy (author)
Joe Berger (illustrator)
Nosy Crow, Australia: October 2011
ISBN: 9780857630278
Genres: fantasy, humour, picture book
Issues: differences, family, stereotypes
'My Granny's kind of different... She wears such funny hats. She's got a huge menagerie of cats and frogs and bats! She takes them to the cinema. They take her to...
For Younger Readers...
E.D Baker (author)
Bloomsbury, UK: 2010, Australian release May 2011; 261pp
ISBN: 9781408807576
Genres: adventure, fairytale, fantasy
Issues: character, friendship, identity, values
Princess Annabelle, younger sister to Gwendolyn (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty), has a unique gift: she is impervious to magic. So when the beautiful Gwennie finally pricks her finger on a maliciously concealed spindle, it's up to Annie to find the appropriate prince to kiss her sister awake.
As...
Frank Cottrell Boyce (author)
Macmillan Children's Books, UK: Australian release 2011
ISBN: 9780330544191
Genres: adventure, fantasy
When Mr Tooting loses his job he is determined to see it as an opportunity (for invention and discovery) rather than a disaster. Unfortunately his inventions and discoveries begin to get on his family's nerves.
When his wife presents him with a 1966 campervan which is in a state of total disrepair...
Gareth P. Jones (author)
Bloomsbury, UK: Australian release September 2009; 272pp
ISBN: 9780747599821
Genres: adventure, crime, gothic
Issues: family, identity
The Thornthwaite twins, Lorelli and Ovid, have been trying to kill each other since they were old enough to read. Now thirteen, they decide to call a truce – but can they trust one another?
Writing it into the will seems a logical way of ensuring the peace is...
For Older Readers...
Lili Wilkinson (author)
Allen&Unwin, Australia: May 2011; 311pp
ISBN: 9781742376196
Genres: adventure, crime, mystery, realistic fiction
Issues: friendship, identity
When Bee lands a job in the taxidermy department at the Museum of Natural History she is delighted. Her quiet, scientific job seems a different world to her mother's obsession with fantasy and role-playing games. But a dead man in the Red Rotunda, an unpleasant conservator, a mysterious recluse...
J. C. Burke (author)
Woolshed Press, Australia: May 2011; 322pp
ISBN: 9781741663129
Genres: realistic fiction, young adult
Issues: bullying, crime, community, family, identity, justice
When Damon Styles is expelled from school on his 18th birthday, six weeks before his HSC exams, he realises that he really cannot trust anybody. A lock on his wardrobe, renewing his firearms licence, a job with the Pigman. These are all part of...
Maggie Stiefvater (author)
Scholastic Press, USA: Australian release November 2011
ISBN: 9780545224901
Genres: adventure, fantasy
Issues: family, friendship, identity, love
It is the time of the Scorpio Races, where riders battle wills with the unpredictable water horses, the mythical carnivorous horses that live in the sea. Some riders live; some die; only one can win.
The Scorpio Races: a connection to the sea and the land; a recognition of...
Just in...
Latest Reviews...
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