Skipping to Sammy’s Beat by Coral Vass ill. Blithe Fielden New Frontier Publishing Coral Vass speaks to Paperbark Words blog about her life, career and Skipping to Sammy’s Beat, her new picture book for children aged 3-6 years. I’m Coral. I love writing for children. I also love books, chocolate, good coffee, the theatre and the beach. […]
Read More Skipping to Sammy’s Beat by Coral Vass, ill. Blithe FieldenMyra in the Middle by Seetha Dodd, illustrated by Peter Cheong Published by UQP Seetha Dodd writes a guest author post about her impressive debut children’s novel, Myra in the Middle for ‘Joy in Books’ at Paperbark Words. When my sister was born, I was exactly three years and eleven months old. I had been […]
Read More Myra in the Middle by Seetha DoddThe Belly of a Wolf by Julianne Negri (UWA Publishing) “Musty books, ink-scratched drawings black and white with gashes of red. Look, it’s us, Wolf gasped. inhaling the pages. Hunting different versions of the story. Rummaging dog-eared collections of fairytales. Searching columns on contents pages, hungry for our title. In op shops, secondhand bookshops, the […]
Read More The Belly of a Wolf by Julianne NegriINSIDE THE CBCA 2026 SHORTLIST The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Shortlisted Books for 2026 have been announced from the Notables list. 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. Congratulations to those […]
Read More Inside the 2026 CBCA ShortlistWhy, Oh Why? The Story of Rainbows, by Roy G. Biv (Tim Hurburgh) Hardie Grant Custom Roy G. Biv (Tim Hurburgh) writes about his picture book The Story of Rainbows for Paperbark Word blog. Growing up outside Hobart on the River Derwent, life was full of wonder. We were endlessly curious about the natural world […]
Read More Why, Oh Why? The Story of Rainbows, by Roy G. Biv (Tim Hurburgh)The Season for Flying Saucers by Brendan Colley (Transit Lounge) Brendan Colley writes about the inspiration behind The Season for Flying Saucers, his artful, left-field novel for adults, for Joy in Books at Paperbark Words blog. In 2014 I was playing around with some narrative poetry, like I usually do as a warm-up before I […]
Read More The Season for Flying Saucers by Brendan ColleyThe World From Here by Cassy Polimeni, ill. Mel Armstrong CSIRO Publishing – Cassy Polimeni & Mel Armstrong write about ‘The World From Here’ for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog – Cassy Polimeni The first glimmer of what became The World From Here came to me during a writing challenge called Storystorm. I was thinking about countries […]
Read More The World From Here by Cassy Polimeni, ill. Mel ArmstrongTreeshape by Trace Balla Guest author post for Paperbark Words blog by author-illustrator Trace Balla about her new graphic novel Treeshape – the shape of a tree the shape of me. Published by Allen & Unwin This is a story of the trees of my life, and how they have shaped who I am. Perhaps my […]
Read More Treeshape by Trace BallaMuttonfish Magic by Aunty Ruth Simms & Lucy Robertson ill. by Jasmine Seymour Published by Magabala Books “Muttonfish Magic honours the Kameragyl and Bidjigal people, the traditional custodians of the land around Kamay (Botany Bay) and Guriwal (La Perouse). With sensory lyricism, Bidjigal Elder Ruth Simms and Lucy Robertson depict a loving First Nations family inspired […]
Read More Muttonfish Magic by Aunty Ruth Simms & Lucy Robertson, illustrated by Jasmine SeymourThe Messy Bath Monster by Tina Wilson (words & pictures), Joan Wilson (knitting) & Matt Ottley (music) (One Tentacle Publishing) ‘Monkey knew there was a monster lurking in the bath because it made such a BIG mess! “It must be a HUGE monster,” thought Monkey. It gurgled and it roared … And left puddles on […]
Read More The Messy Bath Monster Interview with Tina Wilson, Joan Wilson & Matt Ottley
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