The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead & Wendy Mass

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead & Wendy Mass ‘ “All of life is a mystery, in a way. And that makes every single one of us a detective.” … Evan sat there for a few seconds, looking at his desk. He was trying to solve a mystery, he realized: the mystery of the little […]

Paradise Sands: A Story of Enchantment by Levi Pinfold

Paradise Sands: A Story of Enchantment by Levi Pinfold (Published by Walker Books) Book review and suggested activities by Joy Lawn (Joy in Books) at PaperbarkWords blog ‘White roses we follow, towards Teller’s Hollow Dead earth to a spring, the house of a King A sip from the chalice, we enter his palace Break bread […]

The Pole & Other Stories by J.M. Coetzee

The Pole & Other StoriesJ M CoetzeeTextReviewed by Joy LawnReleased July 2023Trade paperbackISBN 9781922790354RRP $34.99Category: Fiction The Pole & Other Stories by J.M. Coetzee (published by Text) (This review was commissioned by Books+Publishing and is reproduced with permission) Aficionados of South African-Australian Nobel and Booker Prize-winning author J M Coetzee will be delighted with his new […]

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 […]

Big Tree by Brian Selznick

Big Tree by Brian Selznick Big Tree Book Review by Joy Lawn (Joy in Books) at PaperbarkWords blog Brian Selznick’s first major work The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a seminal book. Its combination of page after page of black and white drawings interspersed with pages of written text and its setting in a 1930s […]

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong Author Interview ‘I’ll tell you another secret … about Simta. Everyone in this city wears a mask. They pretend they’re someone braver, smarter, more cunning: whatever mask best suits them. Wear it well and no one will see you – not the real you. They’ll only see what you want […]

David Almond & Paper Boat, Paper Bird

Paper Boat, Paper Bird by David Almond, illustrated by Kirsti Beautyman (published by Hodder Children’s Books, Hachette) Author interview with David Almond David Almond is a creator of Promethean depth and reach. He has won the world’s most prestigious literary awards for young readers and his books are devoured by children, young adults and beyond. […]

Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne

Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne Christmas gift / book review A recommended gift book for Christmas is Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (published David Fickling Books). Noah Barleywater Runs Away was the first book I was commissioned to review for the Weekend Australian in 2010. The book […]

The Worlds We Leave Behind by A.F. Harrold & Levi Pinfold

The Worlds We Leave Behind by A.F. Harrold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (published by Bloomsbury) Author interview with A.F. Harrold ‘As the day had gone by he’d been a bottle caught in the river current, bobbing and vanishing and twirling this way and that, yes and no, peace and anger, forgiveness and revenge.’ (The Worlds […]

A Feather on a Wing by Maria Speyer

A Feather on a Wing by Maria Speyer Danish artist, illustrator and author Maria Speyer’s debut picture book in English is A Feather on a Wing. It has an ethereal feel yet is grounded in a sister’s love, nurturing nature and access to a world constructed with care and warmth that is growing and inclusive. […]