Kindness as a Superpower The Kindness Project a middle grade verse novel by Deborah Abela Increasing in popularity, verse novels are a very important and innovative form. Of course, we have some standout verse novelists from the adult list with Dorothy Porter, Les Murray, Alan Wearne and others. Equally significant are our verse novelists for […]
Read More The Kindness Project by Deborah AbelaNightsong by Sally Soweol Han Published by University of Queensland Press Book review by Joy Lawn (Joy in Books) at PaperbarkWords blog Who is Sally Soweol Han? Sally Soweol Han is a new talent and the author-illustrator of two acclaimed picture books. Tiny Wonders won the 2023 CBCA New Illustrator of the Year. Nightsong is […]
Read More Nightsong by Sally Soweol HanLook Me in the Eye by Jane Godwin Author Interview at PaperbarkWords “ ‘I can never spot the cameras,’ I say. ‘What, are you blind?’ says Mish. Maybe I am, I think. Blind to all the things Mish sees. Maybe we’re all blind. Who knows what anyone else is doing, saying, thinking?” (Look Me in […]
Read More Look Me in the Eye by Jane GodwinThe Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable Books for 2024 have been announced. Follow the links to those books I have already reviewed or interviewed the author or illustrator at PaperbarkWords blog. NB I will add reviews and interviews here and on the Inside the 2024 Shortlist page on the blog (once the shortlist is announced) until the […]
Read More Inside the 2024 CBCA Notable BooksSally Rippin Australian Children’s Laureate 2024-2025 Enormous congratulations to Sally Rippin who is the new Australian Children’s Laureate for 2024-2025. This is a mighty and well-deserved achievement and Sally will be an inspirational Laureate. I promoted many of Sally’s books, amongst them Billie B Brown, Hey Jack! and the Polly and Buster series, as a […]
Read More Sally Rippin Australian Children’s LaureateSmoke & Mirrors by Barry Jonsberg Author Interview at PaperbarkWords “ ‘I want to be a magician,’ I said. ‘That’s what I want to be. It’s all I want to be. I don’t know if I can earn a living from it. Maybe I can’t. But when I think about the future, that’s what I […]
Read More Smoke & Mirrors by Barry JonsbergAll You Can Be by Angela Casabene, illustrated by Michelle Conn Published by Affirm Press Angela Casabene shares why she wrote her lovely, affirming picture book, All You Can Be, at PaperbarkWords blog I have often said this about my two girls: My first born is like an extension of my soul. And although I […]
Read More All You Can Be by Angela Casabene, ill. Michelle ConnThe Crying Room by Gretchen Shirm Author Interview at PaperbarkWords Gretchen Shirm is a writer’s writer. Her new novel The Crying Room is a masterclass in writing. It’s an immersive story about women (mainly) and their relationships but it’s inimitable quality, in my opinion, is the writing, which adeptly moves from introspection to pathos, pain […]
Read More The Crying Room by Gretchen ShirmDeep in the Forest by Erina Reddan Author Interview for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords “I know I’ve spent too much time lost in the river runs of these pages, making notes on the last things to be done before the binding. The moment when all the words, the ideas, the song of it come […]
Read More DEEP IN THE FOREST by Erina ReddanPicture Book Reviews by Joy in Books at Paperbark Words blog Books published by ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia & Working Title Press 2023 has produced a really great stash of picture books from ABC Books, Working Title Press and HarperCollins, as well as the reissue of some of the latter’s contemporary classics. The following books should be bought, borrowed […]
Read More Clever, Funny, Thinking Picture Books
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