Kids

The Apprentice Witnesser by Bren MacDibble

Reviewed by Joe Murray

Basti lives in a world much smaller than our own, a world of villages and tight-knit communities created after climate collapse and deadly disease wiped out all cities and most modern technology. Together with her adoptive guardian Lodyma, Basti earns…

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A Small Collection of Happinesses by Zana Fraillon & Stephen Michael King (illus.)

Reviewed by Claire Atherfold

In A Small Collection of Happinesses, two award-winning artists, author Zana Fraillon and illustrator Stephen Michael King, come together to create a whimsical tale of unexpected cross-generational friendship.

Set in a rundown block of apartments, it starts as a…

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Orris and Timble: The Beginning by Kate DiCamillo & Carmen Mok (illus.)

Reviewed by Kim Gruschow

Beloved author Kate DiCamillo has been busy lately! Her new middle fiction book Ferris arrived only a few weeks ago, a follow-up to The Puppets of Spelhorst is due later this year, and this month we have the lovely Orris

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The Endfixer by Noemi Vola & Rosa Churcher Clarke (trans.)

Reviewed by Kim Gruschow

‘When I was little, I wanted to be an endfixer, which is someone who fixes the ends of stories … Because, if you think about it, stories often end right at the very best part … in the very worst…

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The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel & Danny Snell (illus.)

Reviewed by Kate McIntosh

The first time I read this picture book, I read it out loud to my cat. She has never been in a truck, and she slept through the whole thing, but I could tell she appreciated the wonderful cadence of…

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Poetry Comics by Grant Snider

Reviewed by Claire Atherfold

Starting with Spring and working his way through the seasons, Grant Snider has created a book that covers the magical moments of childhood. From catching a tadpole that turns into a frog, playing basketball as the sun sets, expressing the…

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Batthew Aromascent and the Missing Corpse Flower (Batthew Aromascent, Book 1) by Ella Mulvey & John Roebuck

Reviewed by Katherine Dretzke

What’s a ‘Nose’? A Nose is someone who is an expert smeller, and a maker of perfumes. For generations, the Aromascents have been the number one Noses in the world. But times have changed. Five years ago, Batthew’s parents disappeared…

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The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Reviewed by Alexa Dretzke

This beautifully compassionate story set in the Second World War is written by the author of The War That Saved My Life and The War I Finally Won, two of our children’s bestsellers since 2016 and 2017 when they…

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Nine Girls by Stacy Gregg

Reviewed by Kim Gruschow

In 1978, Titch’s dad goes bankrupt and her family moves from the flash city suburb Remuera to Ngāruawāhia, the small town where her mum comes from. In Ngāruawāhia, Titch and her cousins hear about a stash of gold that is…

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The Whisperwicks: The Labyrinth of Lost and Found by Jordan Lees & Vivienne Yo (illus.)

Reviewed by Aurelia Orr

Benjamiah is a realist. He does not like anything remotely fictional, and could not care less about all the mythology books his father reads and wishes his son would indulge in too. Instead, Benjamiah finds comfort and reassurance in science…

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