Alexa Dretzke
Alexa Dretzke is a children’s & YA book specialist at Readings Hawthorn
Review — 27 Feb 2014
Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton
When Chris Haughton arrived on the children’s book scene four years ago with A Bit Lost there was a lot of excitement. His style was original and his palette was…
Review — 27 Feb 2014
A Lion in Paris by Beatrice Alemagna
Big in size, A Lion in Paris is also big on imagination with a haunting, surreal sensitivity. You want to re-read it immediately and really explore the mixed media and…
Review — 27 Feb 2014
What’s Your Favourite Animal? by Eric Carle & friends
You would think Lucy Cousins’s favourite animal would be a mouse but surprisingly it isn’t. Eric Carle has asked 14 of the world’s leading children’s book illustrators what their favourite…
Review — 10 Feb 2014
The Open Ocean by Francesco Pittau & Bernadette Gervais
If you are unaware of this series you are in for a treat. (The previous titles are the gorgeous Out of Sight and Birds of a Feather.) Innovative, surprising…
Review — 2 Feb 2014
Waffle Hearts: Lena and me in Mathildewich Cove by Maria Parr
They say opposites attract and the two main characters of this charming Norwegian novel couldn’t be more different. Lena and Trille live next door to each other and where Trille…
Review — 2 Feb 2014
Fire by Jackie French & illustrated by Bruce Whatley
Fire, everyone’s nightmare if not contained in a fireplace, is something Australians are all too familiar with, and this moving picture book hauntingly conveys the sheer immensity of bushfire. The…
Review — 24 Nov 2013
Mr. Rouse Builds His House by Stefan Themerson & illustrated by Franciszka Themerson
What this little book lacks in stature it more than makes up for with content. One hundred and forty-four pages, to be exact, with 122 quaint illustrations.
Originally published in…
Review — 12 Nov 2013
The Goods by McSweeney's
The team at McSweeney’s have combined their extensive talents for their latest publication, which is a book of puzzles, games, comics and all manner of fun facts. Strictly speaking, this…
Review — 19 May 2014
Ruby Red Shoes Goes To Paris by Kate Knapp
Ruby first captivated us in Ruby Red Shoes in which we were introduced to her and her grandmother, Babushka Galina Galushka, and their sweet world of gardening, caring for chickens…
Review — 12 Nov 2013
I Wish I Had by Giovanna Zoboli & Simona Mulazzani
Can you imagine what it would be like to be a tiger or a whale?
I Wish I Had… describes a character trait for each creature featured and the…