Listen, Hippo! Written and illustrated by Gabriel Evans Published by Puffin “’I’m feeling sad,’ said Billy. My thoughts are whirling and twirling like a pinwheel. I think what I need is – ’ ‘Aha! As your best friend I know exactly what you need,’ said Hippo.’” (Listen, Hippo!) I jumped at the offer of an […]
Read More Listen, Hippo! Written and illustrated by Gabriel EvansLook 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 JonsbergThe 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 ReddanThe 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 […]
Read More The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead & Wendy MassBook Review: The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki “Stories never start at the beginning, Benny. They differ from life in that regard. Life is lived from birth to death, from the beginning into an unknowable future. But stories are told in hindsight. Stories are life lived backward.” (The Book of Form and […]
Read More The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki“I took the people, stories and books I loved, and added magic.” (The History of Mischief) I am awestruck at The History of Mischief, Rebecca Higgie’s debut novel for young people (Fremantle Press). It has an engaging storyline and overarching narrative and a rich backstorybrimming with fascinating, often unexpected, historical information. The skill, complexity and magic […]
Read More The History of Mischief by Rebecca Higgie
