The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss Published by Penguin Books ‘Not that long ago, she would’ve said that her favorite thing was getting into the rhythm of the room, absorbing the puzzles. But now? “The people,” she said. “It’s so nice being around others who are as obsessed with escape rooms as […]
Read More The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer & Tamara MossThe Emperor’s Egg written & illustrated by Rae Tan Published by Lothian Children’s Books, Hachette Australia Picture Book review & how to use the book by Joy Lawn (Joy in Books) at Paperbark Words blog “ ‘All the creatures are out except mine.’ ‘It’s all right, Ren,’ Papa says, ‘You’ve given Bao Bao all your love and […]
Read More The Emperor’s Egg by Rae Tan40 Years of Magpies Magazine: how children’s literature has changed by Joy Lawn Feature article (reproduced with permission) Magpies Magazine has always endeavoured to live up to its welcoming subtitle, ‘Talking About Books for Children’. It is now celebrating 40 years of professional, enthusiastic and faithful chronicling of Australian and other children’s literature with the […]
Read More 40 Years of Magpies Magazine: how children’s literature has changed by Joy LawnChildren’s Books Winning Open Awards My Editorial in Magpies Magazine (reproduced with permission) EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL Children’s books are having a time of recognition with a picture book, Once I Was a Giant by Zeno Sworder (Thames & Hudson) winning this year’s overall Book of the Year, as well as […]
Read More Children’s Books Winning Open AwardsA Hat for Every Harriet by Jess Horn, ill. Zoë Bennett (Affirm Press, Simon & Schuster) A Hat for Every Harriet: Behind the Hats With great honesty and insight, Jess Horn writes about the genesis of her moving and wise, A Hat for Every Harriet, for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog. And, as a […]
Read More A Hat for Every Harriet by Jess Horn & Zoë BennettTerrible Tails: The Last Sipper written & illustrated by Adin Milo (Berbay Publishing) “Nestled in a valley of mountains and surrounded by forests, the Terrible Tail Tavern sits along Old King’s Road … in the kingdom of Austerra.” (Terrible Tails: The Last Sipper) The Last Sipper is the first book in Adin Milo’s ‘Terrible Tails’ […]
Read More Terrible Tails: The Last Sipper by Adin MiloA Loo of One’s Own: A Mostly True Tale of Australia’s First Female Parliamentarians written and illustrated by Eleri Harris (Allen & Unwin) “Our story starts eighty years ago in Canberra, where all the cool stuff happens… On the first day of school … Wait! Parliament! Two women walked into Australia’s Parliament House. And came […]
Read More A Loo of One’s Own by Eleri HarrisMine by Adam Ouston Transit Lounge “… considering the situation, which was in large part where the element of terror originated, the sense that there was something else happening, something bigger than him, a secret story beneath the apparent one, for which he had no words or even capacity for understanding, more mindbloggling than the […]
Read More Mine by Adam OustonPeculiar Parents by Stephanie Owen Reeder and Ingrid Bartkowiak (NLA Publishing) Peculiar Parents is shortlisted in the Eve Pownall non-fiction category of the 2026 CBCA awards. Author Dr Stephanie Owen Reeder writes about her well-named and impeccably researched and compiled book, Peculiar Parents, for Paperbark Words blog: Stephanie Owen Reeder on Peculiar Parents Peculiar Parents explores […]
Read More Peculiar Parents by Stephanie Owen Reeder and Ingrid BartkowiakWe Saw What You Started & We Did It Anyway by Carla Salmon INSIDE THE CBCA 2026 SHORTLIST (Pan Macmillan Australia) “I’d assumed Jasper was joking, since it’s impossible to tell when he’s being serious or sarcastic. His thick Aussie drawl means all his sentences end with a cheerful upward inflection. But breaking into the […]
Read More We Saw What You Started & We Did It Anyway by Carla Salmon
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