Come Together: Things Every Aussie Kid Should Know about the First Peoples by Isaiah Firebrace ill. Jaelyn Biumaiwai

Come Together: Things Every Aussie Kid Should Know about the First Peoples by Isaiah Firebrace, ill. Jaelyn Biumaiwai (Hardie Grant Publishing) Isaiah Firebrace is a Yorta Yorta and Gundit Jamara man whose formative years were spent on the banks of the Murray River. He grew up singing in church and sprang to fame when he won […]

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GLIMPSE by jane higgins

GLIMPSE by Jane Higgins ‘FINDING THE WORLD OF GLIMPSE‘ Guest author post at PaperbarkWords blog by Jane Higgins Glimpse is a story about earthquakes and what might happen if some of us could see them coming. The world of Glimpse comes from my own experience of a series of earthquakes that rocked my city of […]

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LIMBERLOST by Robbie Arnott

Robbie Arnott is an exciting Australian author (see my review of The Rain Heron for the Weekend Australian and Flames. His novel Limberlost continues to win accolades so here is my omnibus review from the Weekend Australian, accompanied by Carol Lefevre’s The Tower and The Sun Walks Down. (I’ve reproduced it because it is otherwise […]

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GLASS HOUSES by anne coombs

Glass HousesAnne CoombsUpswellReviewed by Joy LawnReleased April 2023PaperbackISBN 9780645536836RRP $29.99Category: Fiction Glass Houses by Anne Coombs (published by Upswell) (This review was commissioned by  Books+Publishing and is reproduced with permission) Glass Houses is Anne Coombs’s (Sex and Anarchy: The life and death of the Sydney Push) posthumous final novel. Perched on a ‘neglected hillside’ near the […]

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Where the Lyrebird Lives by Vikki Conley illustrated by Max Hamilton

Where the Lyrebird Lives by Vikki Conley, illustrated by Max Hamilton Published by Windy Hollow Books Inside the CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2023 CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2023 Notable Books Author & Illustrator Interview Where the Lyrebird Lives by Vikki Conley, illustrated by Max Hamilton (Windy Hollow Books) is a celebration of the Australian bush […]

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Love Letter to Lola by Carmel Bird

Love Letter to LolaCarmel BirdSpineless WondersReviewed by Joy LawnReleased May 2023PaperbackISBN 9781925052961RRP $24.99Category: Adult Fiction Love Letter to Lola by Carmel Bird (published by Spineless Wonders) (This review was commissioned by  Books+Publishing and is reproduced with permission) Carmel Bird was the recipient of the 2016 Patrick White Literary Award and is a respected author of […]

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ANZAC & Gallipoli Picture Books

ANZAC & Gallipoli picture books I reviewed these books for the SMH/The Age in 2015 – so it is a review of its time. Thanks to Susan Wyndham for commissioning the review. ***** Gallipoli books for children open an enlightening window on the reality of war SYDNEY MORNING HERALD/THE AGE April 25, 2015 By Joy […]

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BOWERBIRD BLUES by Aura Parker

BOWERBIRD BLUES by Aura Parker On Writing and Illustrating BOWERBIRD BLUES Guest author/illustrator post at PaperbarkWords blog by Aura Parker My latest creation, Bowerbird Blues is a picture book about longing, searching and love. A story which has slowly simmered along over the last few tumultuous years and means a great deal to me. My […]

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