Kathy Kozlowski
Kathy Kozlowski is a former children’s book specialist
Review — 23 Sep 2018
Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
Though Louisiana, our plucky young heroine, appears in Kate DiCamillo’s Raymie Nightingale, this is a standalone novel and, in my opinion, even better than the first!
Louisiana is woken…
Review — 25 Sep 2016
Home in the Rain by Bob Graham
One of the many reasons I love Bob Graham’s books is that, for all their simplicity, his observations of the natural world and family life are always profound and loving…
Review — 25 May 2014
Blake Collider by June Laurie
Blake is a laid-back high school student who surprises himself by accepting the chance to be an exchange student in a small town in Italy. On the plane he sits…
Review — 24 Mar 2014
Popular by Maya Van Wagenen
New to her rough, seriously disadvantaged school on the Texas–Mexico border, Maya has quickly worked out the social hierarchy. She is in the ‘Social Outcasts’ group, third from the bottom…
Review — 22 Apr 2014
Presto Change-o! by Édouard Manceau
French artist Édouard Manceau has had a lot of fun playing with simple, cut-out cardboard shapes to work a little visual magic. Turn the shapes on each page to change…
Review — 2 Feb 2014
The Children of Green Knowe Collection by Lucy M. Boston
It was such a delight to re-read this past favourite for this review and find it still as spellbinding and full of enchantment as I remember.
Tolly, the young hero…
Review — 29 Sep 2013
Kissed By The Moon by Alison Lester
What a magical, perfect picture book. Alison Lester has done it again and this must be her most tender and lyrical. Part poem, part lullaby it celebrates the natural world…
Review — 25 Jun 2013
The Fairy Doll and Other Tales From The Dolls' House by Rumer Godden
This satisfyingly hefty pink hardback gathers together seven magical stories, all of which were previously published as much-treasured separate volumes. It is so good to see them all available again…
Review — 6 May 2013
Julius and the Watchmaker by Tim Hehir
This is a fast-paced time-slip story about a boy, Julius Higgins, caught between a revered member of the Guild of Watchmakers and the cunning but dastardly Jack Springheel. In another…
Review — 24 Feb 2013
New Guinea Moon by Kate Constable
This is a wonderful coming-of-age story set in the exotic and racially divided world of New Guinea just before Independence.
Julie is 16 and has asked to spend the holidays…
