Hannah Somerville
Charlie's Whale
Illustrated by Hannah Sommerville
Charlie loves the sea.
He loves the seashells and the seahorses, the sharks and the stingrays, the crabs and the crayfish.
He loves the gentle waves that creep up onto the sand and tickle his toes.
He loves the huge wild waves that crash onto the sand and make the beach tremble.
But most of all he loves the whales.
Written by Libby Gleeson
Published by Lothian Children’s Books 28 September 2022
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Nat Amoore
We Run Tomorrow
You can run from your past, but the future is tomorrow . . .
Tonight, we’re gonna kidnap our best friend. And tomorrow? We run.
Sticks, Maki, Jed and Tommy live on the same street. But the adults around them are making decisions that could tear the four friends apart.
When they discover their favourite comic book series is being made into a blockbuster movie, they know what they have to do. Get to the audition. Get the parts. Stay together.
Graphics by Mike Barry
Published by Penguin Random House Australia, Puffin Imprint, May 2022
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Nat Amoore
The Right Way To Rock
The rockin' story of two new friends, one arts fiasco and a whole lot of music.
Without music, the world is just blah. That’s my take on life, anyway.
Mum says rock is the only music worth listening to, but I think everyone should find their own beat.
When I hear that Principal Keiren plans to cut all of the arts classes at Watterson Primary,
there's no way me and my new mate Flynn are gonna let that happen.
We're dragging our secret Broadway appreciation society into the spotlight.
It's time for Watterson: The Musical!
Published by Penguin Random House Australia, June 2021
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Lois Bury
The Way of The Weedy Seadragon
Can you imagine a strange and colourful fish that looks like a dragon?
The weedy seadragon is an amazing fish with a talent for camouflage, weird eating habits and a unique courtship dance. But its habitat and future are threatened.
This enchanting story takes you under the sea to meet this mysterious sea creature, and reveals its weird and wonderful ways.
Do you believe in dragons?
Published by CSIRO Publishing, February 2021
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Nat Amoore
The Power of Positive Pranking
The outrageous story of three best friends, one greedy mayor and a whole lot of pranking.
Green Peas is our name and pranking’s our game!
A symphony of alarm clocks at assembly? Yep, that was us.
No activist is too small, no prank too big... and things are about to get personal.
Published by Penguin Random House Australia, June 2020
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Nat Amoore
Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire
The hilarious story of one bag of cash, two best friends and a whole lot of trouble.
Finding a million dollars in your backyard - every kid's dream, right? That's what me and my best friend Toby thought too.
Jumping castles at school. Lollipops for our adoring fans. Wearing sunglasses indoors ('cos that's what all the millionaires do).
There's a lot you can get with a million dollars . . . including a whole lot of trouble.
Published by Penguin Random House Australia, June 2019
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Phil Judd
Puppy Diary: The Great Toy Rescue
Illustrated by Phil Judd.
Oscar is a bit sad that he has to wear a cone on his head. So Archie and his friends decide to take him out to the park to cheer him up.
But what happens when the pups get stranded on the pond in a storm? It’s a PUPMERGENCY!
This is the second book in a series of three.
Written by Yvette Poshoglian.
Published by Scholastic Australia November 2019
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Phil Judd
Puppy Diary: The Great Toy Rescue
Illustrated by Phil Judd.
Archie is excited about his first day of doggy daycare.
But Archie’s favourite toy, Foxy, goes missing! In fact, all his friends’ toys go missing too! Can Archie help his puppy pals find the missing toys?
Written by Yvette Poshoglian.
Published by Scholastic Australia July 2019
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James Foley
Secret Agent Mole: Goldfish-Finger
Written & illustrated by James Foley
Max is a mole on a mission.
With Helen Hippo and June Bug by his side, Max must stop the evil Goldfish-Finger from stealing a priceless, solid gold fish-finger.
This dangerous, top-secret mission will involve explosions, a naked mole rat, and being flushed down a giant toilet.
Will Max and the team defeat the fiendish fish?
Published by Scholastic Australia, March 2023
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Oliver Phommavanh
Brain Freeze
A funny and heartfelt novel for 10+ about a city kid in a small country town who's enjoying being the new kid
at his tiny two-teacher school – until Kadir arrives and things get interesting!
In his signature style, Oliver creates a fabulously diverse and heartfelt duo in Thao and Kadir
and their sometimes hilarious and sometimes heart-wrenching dilemmas of culture and belonging in a remote rural community.
Throw in some slam poetry and it might just end in a lifelong friendship and a whole lot more understanding.
Published August 2022 by Penguin Books Australia under the Puffin Imprint
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Sherryl Clark
Mina and the Whole Wide World
A powerful story about a young girl, Mina, and how she copes when her family take in a refugee boy
and give away what was meant to be her first very-own bedroom.
At school, the other kids call Azzami names, and Mina wishes he’d stand up for himself.
Then she sees his drawings, and for the first time really thinks about the life of the quiet boy in front of her.
Here is a story about finding friendship where you least expect it and making room for everyone across this big wide world.
Published by University Queensland Press July 2021
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Oliver Phommavanh
Brain Freeze
From a dog who accidentally becomes the first animal on Mars, a hopeless chess player dealing with his sports-mad dad,
and a girl whose dreams are getting too big for her bed, to a boy who has had 1000 names – so far.
Not to mention, the strange boy who never seems to get brain freeze (until…), these short stories will blow your mind.
Published September 2020 by Penguin Books Australia under the Puffin Imprint
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Gavin Aung Than
Super Sidekicks #3 - Trial of Heroes
The super sidekicks just saved the world and now they’ve been invited to join H.E.R.O. - an exclusive club for the planet’s most famous superheroes.
But before they can become members, the team must pass the hardest challenge in the universe, a test so scary and difficult only the truly heroic can survive.
Published by Puffin Australia April 2020
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Gavin Aung Than
Super Sidekicks #2 - Ocean's Revenge
The Super Sidekicks are back!
The Mother of the Seas is sick of humans using the oceans as a junkyard,
so she decides to give the land dwellers a taste of their own medicine.
Prepare for an unbelievable underwater menace that threatens to destroy the entire world!
Published by Puffin September 2019
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Gavin Aung Than
Super Sidekicks #1 - No Adults Allowed
Superheroes have it easy!
They don’t have to clean their secret headquarters, wash the Alien bloodstains out of their costumes or walk Super Mutt.
No! They leave that for their sidekicks like me, while they get all the credit!
I’m Junior Justice, but you can call me JJ, and it’s time we made our own team.
Penguin Random House Published April 2019
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Oliver Phommavanh
Don't Follow Vee
I’m not on social media, but everyone knows all about my life - from birth - thanks to Mum's Instagram, The Chronicles of Vee.
It used to be a bit of fun, but when we got to 100,000 followers, Mum's started to take it way too seriously.
My mission?
Stop my mum posting everything about my life.
Published by Puffin April 2019
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Kate Gordon
Temora and the Wordsnatcher
On her twelfth birthday, Temora Murphy makes a wish that alters her life forever.
Temora Tempest is welcomed into a world within a book, where everyone else has been waiting for her.
But when some of the other apprentices fall victim to a magical disease that could only be caused by one person –
a monster thought long dead – Temora realises that there can be darkness in every story.
And that it might be her job to save everyone.
Temora and the Wordsnatcher is a literary children's story; a portal fantasy work,
featuring a diverse cast of characters and a protagonist who marches to the beat of her own drum.
Published by Wombat Books May 2023
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Kate Gordon
Indigo in the Storm
Indigo Michael isn’t like other kids. And her mum isn’t like other mums.
Life for people like them isn’t meant to have meaning—it’s just something
to be survived in whatever way you can. When her mum abandons her, Aster’s Aunt Noni becomes her foster parent.
This poignant companion novel to the CBCA Award winning
Aster’s Good, Right Things explores the different shapes of friendship and family,
and how a lonely girl learns what it means to truly belong.
Published by Yellow Brick Books March 2023
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Kate Gordon
Whalesong
CBCA Award-winning author Kate Gordon invites you to walk the cobbled streets of Hobart in the early 19th century,
exploring our desire to change our world for the better, and the enduring legacy--both good and bad--of those who came before...
Published by Riveted Press, September 2022
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Kate Gordon
The Calling of Jackdaw Hollow
The Calling of Jackdaw Hollow is a spirited tale of destiny, self-worth and accepting that if you love something, you must set it free.
When Jackdaw Hollow is orphaned by a lightning strike, he is taken in by the headmistress of Direleafe Hall.
Even though he grows up with her love and care, he feels undeserving, as if the universe made a mistake in sparing him.
He searches for the reason he survived the storm, he befriends Angeline, a wildling girl who knows where her destiny lies – the circus.
But when he goes too far in trying to find his own calling, he loses sight of what’s most important.
The Calling of Jackdaw Hollow is a further title in the Direleafe Hall collection.
Published by University of Queensland Press, April 2022
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Kate Gordon
Xavier in the Meantime
In this companion novel to Aster’s Good, Right Things,
the focus shifts to Aster’s new best friend Xavier and his struggles with the “black dog.”
Xavier has a plan that he hopes will help the kids in his support group: he wants to turn the family hogget farm into a therapy retreat.
But he’s up against decades of tradition, and the spectre of the black dog drawing closer all the time…
Published by Riveted Press, February 2022
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Kate Gordon
Amira's Magpie
Amira has a magpie. He is the most beautiful, strangest of creatures ...
Amira imagines her magpie flying across the world, to visit the family she left behind when she escaped her homeland. And as she flies, she flies with him and she is free.
Amira's Magpie is a story of friendship, family and escape; of bravery and resilience in the face of hardship. It is the story of hope we find in small happinesses, even when it seems like all hope is lost.
Published April 2021 by Wombat Books
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Kate Gordon
The Ballad of Melodie Rose
When Melodie Rose is abandoned on the doorstep of Direleafe Hall, she realises she must be a ghost. Strangely, she is not sad, she has a place to call home.
But when the Lady in White arrives with plans to flatten the beloved school, Melodie Rose must act fast to save all she holds dear. But what can one powerless ghost do?
A heartfelt story of one girl’s determination to save her beloved home and the lyrical companion tale to The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn.
Published by University of Queensland Press, June 2021
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Kate Gordon
Aster's Good, Right Things
Aster attends a school for gifted kids, but she doesn’t think she’s special at all. If she was, her mother wouldn’t have left. And if she isn’t careful, everyone else will leave her too.
This is the compelling tale of 11-year-old Aster’s experience with an anxiety disorder and her journey to find self-acceptance and happiness.
Published by Yellow Brick Books, November 2020
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Kate Gordon
Juno Jones, Book Sleuth
When Juno Jones's first-ever favourite book goes missing, she convinces Miss Tippett to turn their classroom into a courtroom.
But as the case unfolds, this book sleuth discovers that not everything is as it seems …
Illustrator: Sandy Flett
Published by Yellow Brick Books, October 2020
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Kate Gordon
The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn
A lonely orphan called Wonder Quinn yearns for a friend in this enchanting fairytale celebrating friendship, bravery and the importance of staying true to yourself.
Published by University of Queensland Press September 2020
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Wai Chim
The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling
A novel about growing up in a migrant Asian family with a mother who is suffering from a mental illness,
from the highly commended author of Freedom Swimmer.
A nourishing tale about the crevices of culture, mental wellness and family.
Published by Allen & Unwin August 2019
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Hannah Sommerville
Market Day
When a girl is given a coin to spend at the market, she thinks carefully about what to buy.
But it isn’t until a stranger gives something to her, without expecting anything in return, that she knows exactly what to do with her coin.
A story brimming with joy, generosity and magic from two of Australia’s beloved picture book creators.
Carrie Gallasch’s beautiful text evokes the warmth and community of the market,
while Hannah Sommerville brings this glorious world to life with rich colour and texture.
Hardie Grant Children's Publishing, January 2022
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Ellie Royce
Frizzle and Me
Who’s in your family?
Frizzle and Me is the gently humorous story of a growing rainbow family.
It’s a big deal when your family changes, but with plenty of love to go around, even the biggest changes can be wonderful!
Illustrated by Andrew McLean
Click to read a brilliant review of this book by a US reviewer
Published by Ford Street June 2021
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Hannah Sommerville
Jetty Jumping
While Milla’s friends take big, brave jumps off the jetty, Milla stays on the blistering wood, scared of what lurks below.
But when Milla accidentally falls off the edge, she discovers the beauty of the deep, dark sea – and her summer changes forever.
Story by Andrea Rowe.
Hardie Grant Children's Publishing, March 2021
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Hannah Sommerville
Anisa's Alphabet
For many refugees the alphabet represents the start of a new language and a new future, but Anisa’s Alphabet is different.
A poignant and highly imaginative telling of one girl’s story which will appeal to children and adults alike …
Come with Anisa, and see things through her eyes.
MidnightSun Publishing, March 2020
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Cate James
By The Billabong
A wisdom of wombats,
A passel of possums,
A cluster of spiders knitting socks...
Who else might you meet on a trip to the billabong? From an exciting new picture-book partnership comes this delightful romp through a much-loved Australian landscape.
Published by Affirm Press Australia April 2020
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Christina Booth
Mum's Elephant
Christina Booth’s splendid illustrations of desert landscapes and bush life deepen the mystery of the elephant, only revealing subtle clues to its true identity.
Maureen Jipiyiliya Nampijinpa O’Keefe is a natural storyteller and conveys warmth and humour in her writing.
Her story will intrigue children and remind adult readers of the simple things that held a special charm when they were young.
Published by Magabala Books April 2020
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Jules Faber
Crack Up
Max Crack and his best friend Frankie are back with even more quest-worthy adventures!
Armed with a shiny new quest list, they are on a mission to find a meteorite, make a movie, solve a sisterly feud, eat truckloads of chocolate, set a world record…….read all about it!
Published by Pan Macmillan Australia March 2020
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Jules Faber
The Quest Diaries of Max Crack
Hi everyone! I'm Max Crack and this awesome book is all about me and my quests and my best friend Frankie!
Buried treasure, new school, doodles, peanut butter and honey toast, best friends, horrible blobs, mysteries,
Meddlyslop, spelling bees (hard words, harder words), more doodles, comics, World War Undies ... this book has it ALL.
Published by Pan Macmillan August 2019
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