Timeless by Kelly Canby

Timeless by Kelly Canby (Fremantle Press) Inside the CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2024 CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2024 Notable Books Timeless is the WINNER of the CBCA 2024 Picture Book of the Year category. “ ‘If only we had more hours in the day,’ Emit (whose parents turned back time to name him) was told […]

The Space Between by Jess McGeachin

The Space Between by Jess McGeachin Published by Penguin Books It is Jess McGeachin’s time. His picture books Fly, The Lost Library, Frankie and the Fossil, The Tree at Number 43, Kind and others are steadily garnering a following as well as awards. Jess is a thoughtful and assured author-illustrator who prizes the imagination. He […]

The Helios Book by Slade Carter

The Helios Book by Slade Carter Guest author post about The Helios Book by Slade Carter for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog The Helios Book is first and foremost an adventure story. I wanted to write a book where things happen, so it’s packed full of action. The book starts out as a mystery, with Londoner twins Hugo […]

That Bird Has Arms by Kate Temple & Jol Temple, ill. Niharika Hukku & Ronojoy Ghosh

That Bird Has Arms by Kate Temple & Jol Temple, illustrated by Niharika Hukku & Ronojoy Ghosh (published by Little Hare, an imprint of Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing) Inside the CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2024 CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2024 Notable Books Kate and Jol Temple have made a remarkable impact on the children’s book world. Their […]

Lights Out, Little Dragon! by Debra Tidball & Rae Tan

Lights Out, Little Dragon! by Debra Tidball & Rae Tan (published HarperCollins Australia) Debra Tidball is a children’s author of award-winning picture books. The Scared Book won the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award for Australia and New Zealand, and is a CBCA Notable Book. When I See Grandma won the Caleb Award and both books have been shortlisted for the […]

This is My Book by Tim Harris & Heidi McKinnon

This is My Book by Tim Harris & Heidi McKinnon Published by Penguin Random House Tim Harris is one of the best of the many good guys of Australian children’s literature. He is well known and loved for his series fiction that spans Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables, Exploding Endings, Toffle Towers and Ratbags. His first picture […]

Scar Town by Tristan Bancks

Scar Town by Tristan Bancks Published by Puffin (AU) an imprint of Penguin Random House Australia Inside the CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2024 CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2024 Notable Books Scar Town is the winner of the prestigious CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Reader category and is also declared the winner by children, who […]

INSIDE THE CBCA 2024 SHORTLIST

INSIDE THE CBCA 2024 SHORTLIST The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Shortlisted 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. I will add to this list until the winners are announced in August. Also see the 2024 NOTABLE BOOKS at […]

Look Me in the Eye by Jane Godwin

Look 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 […]

The Crying Room by Gretchen Shirm

The 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 […]