Alexa Dretzke
Alexa Dretzke is a children’s & YA book specialist at Readings Hawthorn
Review — 25 Jun 2013
Let's Paint! by Gabriel Alborozo
Art is fun! It can be experimental and controversial, and it’s totally subjective. Let’s Paint! shows us that all ideas and styles are valid, and that respect for individual creativity…
Review — 25 Jun 2013
Bluebird by Bob Staake
A little boy is sad and lonely, and then a bluebird comes and changes his day. The small bird offers him friendship and happiness follows, until a dramatic event occurs!
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Review — 30 May 2013
On the Day You Were Born by Margaret Wild & Ron Brooks
This sweet and gentle book will give you both goosebumps and a warm glow in your stomach. It will sing to you of a father’s love, and the wonder and…
Review — 30 May 2013
Yoo Hoo, Ladybird! by Mem Fox & Laura Ljungkvist
There is a giraffe in the bath and is that really a car in there too? But where is the ladybird?
As we hunt for the elusive little bug, we…
Review — 6 May 2013
Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool
In 2011, Clare Vanderpool’s Moon Over Manifest was one of my favourite books. It went on to win one of children’s literature’s most prestigious awards, the Newbery Medal. With her…
Review — 6 May 2013
Wildlife by Paul Thurlby
Did you know green algae can grow in a polar bear’s fur if they stay too hot for too long? I didn’t!
Paul Thurlby offers some tantalising animal truths: some…
Review — 2 Apr 2013
Jemmy Button by Alix Barzelay & Jennifer Uman & Valerio Vidali
It is very rare for a picture book to have two illustrators, but this is the case with Jemmy Button. Even more unusual is the fact that the two…
Review — 2 Apr 2013
Ted by Leila Rudge
Sometimes finding your place in the world takes perseverance and tenacity, particularly in the face of rejection. Ted is an ordinary pooch who never gets chosen at the pet shop…
Review — 22 Apr 2012
Owl Know How by Cat Rabbit & Isobel Knowles
Oh my! Here in my hands is sweetness and delight: sheer creative joy! The papercraft endpapers of Owl Know How herald a handmade world of invention and patience along with…
Review — 25 Feb 2013
Lio: There’s a Monster in My Socks by Mark Tatulli
Liō is naughty and inventive. He devises cool experiments that fool his father and get the better of bullies. He has a pet snake and octopus, but sometimes the animals…