Orphans are not uncommon in children’s literature. The absence of parents allows freedom from restrictions and watchful eyes; adventures and misdemeanours can blossom unrestrained. Midwatch is an institution where the…

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Every now and then a children’s book is so distinctively creative that it invites the reader to participate in its magic and fire up their imagination. Ten-Word Tiny Tales is…

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In 1959, a young British naturalist is one of four young women who are permitted to join a research expedition to Macquarie Island – the first women scientists to do…

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I was an admirer of Lauren Draper’s first YA novel, The Museum of Broken Things, and my admiration continues with this, her second novel. At a time when a…

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I love to travel, but nowadays vicariously, in comfort, with a book: no delayed flights, tedious planning or overcrowded sights. So I leapt at the opportunity to immerse myself in…

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Whoever would have thought an elephant would walk through the Sydney streets onto a ferry and sail on it across the waters of Port Jackson to the new Taronga Zoo…

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This beautifully compassionate story set in the Second World War is written by the author of The War That Saved My Life and The War I Finally Won, two…

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Antonia White first published this delightful children’s classic in 1957, and it is as appealing now as it was then. As a cat owner, she knows the ‘real’ owner is…

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The ‘olden days’ hasn’t featured often in Australian middle-grade fiction in the last few years.

Except for Jackie French’s recent books, the Our Australian Girl series, and Katrina Nannestad’s wonderful…

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A Friend for Dragon is an illustrated junior-grade fiction tale that features a sweet, lonely dragon who is keen to find a friend. For one reason or another, the creatures…

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