Book Reviews
See our latest book reviews and search for all previous reviews. We’ll be adding more over the coming months, so check back to see if your favourite book has been reviewed by us.
Rusty the Squeaky Robot
Neil Clark
Rusty, the little robot on Planet Robotin, is unhappy. Wherever he goes, whatever he does, he squeaks. How can he enjoy life when he is unhappy with himself?
Is it a mermaid?
Candy Gourlay, illus. Francesca Chessa
When Benji and Bel meet a strange creature on the beach, what can it be? The creature states with confidence she is a mermaid. Benji with equal confidence knows it is a Dugong. Who is right? Or can you be two things at the same time?
The Carnivorous Crocodile
Jonnie Wild, illus. Brita Granstrom
There is a crocodile in the water-hole, a carnivorous crocodile terrorising those who want to enjoy the water. Can the animals defeat the bully?
Children in Our World
A Wayland Book Series
The four part Children in Our World series, a picture-book series that aims to help children make sense of the larger issues and crises that dominate the news.
Who Are Refugees and Migrants?
Michael Rosen & Annemarie Young
In Who Are Refugees and Migrants? Rosen and Young describe the suffering of migrants whether they are in flight from conflict or from economic hardship – from starvation and disease.
The Milk of Dreams
Leonora Carrington
This slim book contains some of the stories, poems and illustrations that the painter Leonora Carrington created for her two sons. Carrington was a surrealist, born in England and who spent most of her life in Mexico.
The Doorman’s Repose
Chris Raschka
These tales of life in a ‘spiffy’ New York apartment house are by an author best known in the United States for his picture books, two of which have received Caldecott Medals.
Little People, Big Dreams
Lisbeth Kaiser, Isabel Sánchez Vegara, illus. Ana Sanfelippo, Amaia Arrazola & Marta Antelo
The following three books are in the series Little People, Big Dreams, which presents simplified biographies of women from history.
The Waggiest Tails
Brian Moses and Roger Stevens, illus. Ed Boxall
In this book in Barry-Otter Book’s poetry series to encourage children to read and enjoy poetry, we have two very well-known poets, Brian Moses and Roger Stevens.
Whose Eyes Are These?
Virginie Gobert-Martin , illus. Madeline Peirsman
A pair of animal eyes is pictured on one page, while the opposing page asks, “Whose eyes are these?” Turn over the page, and the animal is identified and characterised in a few short lines of poetic and somewhat whimsical prose on one page and depicted on the other in the same style as the eyes had been.
This Way, That Way
Antonio Ladrillo
For an adult like me, who isn’t given to idly, or even purposefully, folding paper into different shapes, this is a challenging book. There are pages of different shapes in bright colours, some of them cut horizontally, with two goggle eyes and a smile appearing in different places on the pages.
Ella, Queen of Jazz
Helen Hancocks
This is a picture book introduction to the singing career of Ella Fitzgerald and her friendship with Marilyn Monroe. It is also about the discrimination against black musicians in the States in the 1950s and early 1960s and focuses on an episode in which Marilyn’s intervention helped Ella secure a gig at a night club which didn’t hire African-American artists.