Book Review Fathoms: the world in the whale ‘The world as we once knew it has of course disappeared. Now too, quietly, the world as we don’t know it yet – a nature we’ve barely met – slinks away.’ (Fathoms) Fathoms by Rebecca Giggs (Scribe Publications) gives a powerful insight into whales but has ultimately […]
Read More Fathoms by Rebecca GiggsBook Review Much of Maxine Beneba Clarke’s writing is poetic, and often throws unforgettable diamond-honed punches. I have read and valued a number of her books, beginning with her short fiction Foreign Soil, in which the first story refers to a bike that evokes searing memories as well as a mention of patchwork bikes. Her […]
Read More When We Say Black Lives Matter by Maxine Beneba Clarke“For all of us, it’s about making women free from suffering.” Healing Lives is Sue Williams’ powerful and moving recount of the friendship and work of Australian Dr Catherine Hamlin and Ethiopian Mamitu Gashe as they save women’s lives in Mamitu’s African homeland. Catherine, and her husband Reg, operated many times on Mamitu, who came […]
Read More Healing Lives by Sue WilliamsSha’an D’Anthes is both author and illustrator of the new picture book, Bandits (published by Lothian Children’s Books). Bandits has great visual impact, is set in a slightly futuristic society and looks at significant issues in a highly appealing way. Thank you for speaking to PaperbarkWords, Sha’an. You have such an interesting name and pseudonym […]
Read More Bandits by Sha’an D’AnthesLittle Lon by Andrew Kelly, illustrated by Heather Potter & Mark Jackson (published by Wild Dog Books) Andrew Kelly is a stalwart of the literary community. He has undertaken many roles but is most recently recognised as the co-author, with Aunty Joy Murphy, of Wilam: a Birrarung Story. Wilam is featuring in children’s literary awards. […]
Read More Little Lon by Andrew KellyInside 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. DrewsInside the CBCA Shortlist “This new life doesn’t really feel like it fits.” The Thing About Oliver by Deborah Kelly (Wombat Books) is shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia in the Book of the Year: Younger Readers category. The Thing About Oliver is an appealing, although heart-wrenching, story for children told through the […]
Read More The Thing About Oliver by Deborah Kelly“At school we learn about refugees. War. Famine. And persecution. People with nowhere to live.” Thank you for speaking to PaperbarkWords about Small Town, Phillip and Tony. Your new picture book Small Town (Puffin Books) tells an important story about a small town losing its residents and how renewal happens when refugees arrive. How would […]
Read More Small Town by Phillip Gwynne, illustrated by Tony FlowersInside the CBCA Shortlist The Secrets of Magnolia Moon by Edwina Wyatt, illustrated by Katherine Quinn (Walker Books Australia) is shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia in the Book of the Year: Younger Readers category. The Secrets of Magnolia Moon is an appealing story about Magnolia Moon told in lyrical, engaging writing. Congratulations […]
Read More The Secrets of Magnolia Moon by Edwina WyattBy Bryan Stevenson Book Review Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (Scribe Publishing) is also a movie starring Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson and Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillan, the man Bryan tries to save from death row. Based on the powerful true story of young Harvard-educated African American […]
Read More Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
