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 […]

Pancakes for Plum by Rae Tan

Pancakes for Plum written and illustrated by Rae Tan Published by Lothian Children’s Books, Hachette Australia “One morning, Plum wakes up to the sweetest music. It feels cosy and comforting, just like a stack of warm, fluffy pancakes. ‘I must follow this delicious sound!’” (Pancakes for Plum) Rae, you have created an imaginative, sensory, layered […]

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 […]

The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet by Jaclyn Moriarty

The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet by Jaclyn Moriarty (Allen & Unwin) “ ‘And what is this world?’ I asked. ‘It’s called the Kingdoms and Empires. It’s like our world, only more old-fashioned. Plus they have magic. The main thing to remember is that Shadow Mages are good and Spellbinders can bind Shadow Magic. Genies […]

Dirrarn by Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler

Dirrarn by Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler Illustrated by Dub Leffler Published by Magabala Books “Mia felt so far from home. Growing up in a remote outback community, she had still faced her share of bullies. She’s dealt with it in her own way then. Telling a teacher sometimes worked, other times a big brother […]

Meet Me at the Moon Tree by Shivaun Plozza

Meet Me at the Moon Tree by Shivaun Plozza Guest author post by Shivaun Plozza about Meet Me at the Moon Tree Thank you for your superb body of work for YA and middle-grade, Shivaun and for writing so beautifully about Meet Me at the Moon Tree (published University of Queensland Press) for Joy in […]

Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall

Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall Published by Lothian Children’s Books, Hachette Australia Book review and suggested activities by Joy Lawn (Joy in Books) at PaperbarkWords blog Inside the CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2023 CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2023 Notable Books Australian-born, USA-resident, dual Caldecott Medallist Sophie Blackall’s book Farmhouse is shortlisted in the Picture Book category […]

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 […]

Being Jimmy Baxter by Fiona Lloyd

Being Jimmy Baxter by Fiona Lloyd (a Puffin Book from Penguin Random House) Guest author post about Being Jimmy Baxter by Fiona Lloyd for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog: Uncertainty. It’s an all too familiar word in the wake of the covid pandemic. It’s also the story for my gentle protagonist, 12-year-old Jimmy Branthwaite. […]

Where the Lyrebird Lives by Vikki Conley illustrated by Max Hamilton

Where the Lyrebird Lives by Vikki Conley, illustrated by Max Hamilton Published by Windy Hollow Books Inside the CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2023 CBCA Shortlist Inside the 2023 Notable Books Author & Illustrator Interview Where the Lyrebird Lives by Vikki Conley, illustrated by Max Hamilton (Windy Hollow Books) is a celebration of the Australian bush […]