Andy Geppert writes about his new book, Australian Backyard Birdies: I thought I loved birds more than anyone else…. until my daughter Harri came along, that was. Harri was an early bird herself. She used to wake up before most roosters and our daily ritual was to go straight outside onto our small back deck […]
Read More Australian Backyard Birdies by Andy GeppertThe inaugural Words on the Waves Writers Festival was held on Darkinjung Country on the NSW Central Coast over the June 2021 long weekend. The festival was marked by its combination of professionalism and strong sense of hospitality. The program was exceptionally well curated, ranging from the Climate Changemakers; On Truth, Brains, Money & More; […]
Read More Words on the Waves Writers Festival 2021“Trees tell stories about places … When you first stand in a forest, the trees all seem the same. But if you look more closely, they are each a little different, like people.” (The Book of Australian Trees) I have read and loved all of Inga Simpson’s novels for adults – Mr Wigg, Nest and […]
Read More The Book of Australian Trees by Inga Simpson, illustrated by Alicia Rogerson“I am your mother and I want to make your life less painful in any way I can. Your journey will ebb and flow, like a river searching for the sea. You will not, I know, be dragged under. Like any journey, it will begin with the first step. You will meet your guides along […]
Read More The Forest of Moon and Sword by Amy RaphaelI was privileged to interview Jessica Townsend about her new book Hollowpox: the Hunt for Morrigan Crow, third in the Nevermoor series of nine books (Hachette Australia), in time for today’s book publication. I have outlined her responses here. Thanks for speaking with PaperbarkWords, Jessica. Hollowpox is a magical sounding title. But what is it […]
Read More Hollowpox & the Magical Jessica TownsendInside the CBCA Shortlist “On the highest rock of a tiny island at the edge of the world stands a lighthouse. It is built to last forever, Sending its light out to sea.” Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall (Hachette Australia) is shortlisted for the 2020 CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award. This picture book […]
Read More Hello Lighthouse by Sophie BlackallInside the CBCA Shortlist “I had nowhere to go, he wants to say. I’m the boy of nothing and nowhere. I’m invisible and forgotten, a thief of dust and cobwebs and house keys.” (The Boy Who Steals Houses) The Boy Who Steals House by C.G. Drews (Orchard Books/Hachette Australia) has been nominated for the prestigious […]
Read More The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews“You could travel to places you could never have imagined, see worlds on the edge of the multiverse. You could watch blue suns rise over mountains of red glass, see flowers the size of houses, hear the crunch of the ground as dragons hatch from hidden caverns …” (The Strangeworlds Travel Agency) Thank you for […]
Read More The Strangeworlds Travel Agency by L.D. LapinskiInside the CBCA Shortlist The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals (Lothian Children’s Books) is a fascinating and beautifully designed book that is garnering enthusiastic response from young and older readers, as well as in book awards. Natural history illustrator Sami Bayly has selected animals that seem to be ugly but she has found beauty in […]
Read More The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals by Sami BaylyI treasure Favel Parrett’s debut novel Past the Shallows and have found There Was Still Love (Hachette Australia) to be similarly gemlike and told with shards of pain and love. It explores three generations of a family living in Prague and Melbourne in a fragmentary and episodic style with several points of view. These all […]
Read More There Was Still Love By Favel Parrett
