Discover the new kids' books our booksellers are excited about this month!
Picture Books
Sundays Under the Lemon Tree
Julia Busuttil Nishimura, illustrated by Myo Yim
What a heartwarming picture book! With bright and fun illustrations that capture the joy of life’s simple pleasures, Sundays Under the Lemon Tree brings us a story about family and food. Every Sunday, a family comes together, eating scrumptious home-cooked delights under the large lemon tree in their backyard. One Sunday, a young child gets to help collect seawater to make fresh ricotta and take part in making her grandma’s apple cake. Peering through the door of the oven to watch over the cake as it bakes, the smells of cinnamon, sugar and golden-brown apples waft out of the pages, bringing to life the simple pleasure of a freshly baked cake.
Reading this story brought back my own memories of taking part in la raccolta delle olive (the olive harvest) and learning some of my own family recipes. Excitingly, flicking to the very back of the book you will find Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s own recipe for the lemon, apple and ricotta cake made throughout the book – the cherry on top of such a sweet story. For ages 4+.
Reviewed by Lili Reus-Smit.
Emmie Builds Something New
Marjorie Crosby-Fairall
Emmie Builds Something New is a wondrous new picture book by veteran illustrator and now debut author Marjorie Crosby-Fairall. With detailed illustrations full of infectious character, this gorgeous story follows Emmie the mouse in her quest to create an invention marvellous enough to solve her newest problem: there is a cat prowling around her house! From a lion made with an accordion to an egg-beater elephant or a teapot dragon, watch Emmie craft wacky constructions as she tries to frighten away the cat.
It’s only once she succeeds, and the poor kitten is cowering in the corner, that Emmie realises she might need to turn her talents to a new kind of invention – one that will help her make a friend. Quirky, kind and colourful, Emmie Builds Something New is a perfect tale for kids aged 3+, especially budding builders and creators!
Reviewed by Harvey Weir.
Junior Grade
Ivy and Bearlock Holmes: The Case of the Missing Flower
Kristyna Litten
In the Richard Scarry-esque town of Bearona, Ivy and her grandpa, a retired detective, find themselves with a mystery to solve when a rare Agave Bearona flower goes missing from the botanic gardens just as it is set to bloom for the first time in 100 years. Their investigation sends them across the map of Bearona to lots of interesting locations. They encounter a botanist, a brass band, an archaeologist, and a bear who is a beekeeper, which makes sense if you think about it!
There are 15 different puzzles throughout, including mazes, codes, search-and-finds, and matching tasks so readers can help solve the mystery. Simple information about flowers, pollination and honey-making is also woven into the story.
Mystery puzzle books are very popular at the moment, and while the grown-ups get stuck into Strange Pictures and Murdle, the lovely full-colour illustrations, funny details and fascinating facts in this book will delight younger sleuths, and most importantly, keep them guessing till the end! Lots of fun for ages 5+.
Reviewed by Kim Gruschow.
Please note, stock of Ivy and Bearlock Holmes: The Case of the Missing Flower is expected Tuesday 16 December. Pre-order now to secure your copy!
Middle Grade
Bunns Rabbit
Alan Barillaro
Bunns Rabbit is an enchanting middle grade novel with the most stunning, soft-focused illustrations throughout from award-winning director, writer and animator Alan Barillaro. It’s a heartwarming parable that tells the story of Bunns Rabbit, who is born with smaller ears than the rest of his brothers and sisters and the other meadow rabbits in his community. This, it is thought, will bring great pain and trouble to the meadow.
Bunns undertakes a quest to change himself so that he will fit in, but this doesn’t go according to plan and shows Bunns and the others what is truly important – authenticity, friendship and family. At the heart of this story is a message about accepting yourself, with all your differences, and that what makes you different may actually be the quality that makes you unique and special.
In the style of Watership Down and The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, this tale of little Bunns will appeal to fans – young and old alike – of those classics and of Runt. It’s particularly tailored for 9–12-year-olds, but reading it together would be a beautiful experience. I can’t recommend this book, with its gorgeous message about difference and strength, more highly.
Reviewed by Melanie Barton.
The Last Ember (The Aerimander Chronicles, Book 1)
Lily Berlin Dodd
Aerimanders are extinct. The dragon-like creatures have been gone so long their existence is almost more myth than memory. That is, until Eva Alexander, a 12-year-old student at the exclusive Young Ladies’ Royal Academy for Science and Mathematics, accidentally walks out of a jewellery shop with a mysterious silver egg.
Suddenly, Eva’s privileged life is turned upside down when everyone from secret government agents to organised crime syndicates discover her secret. The hijinks escalate when Eva and her egg are kidnapped by Dusty, an orphaned milk-boy by day, newly initiated member of the underground Union of Thieves by night. All the while, clever Eva is herself scheming to take advantage of her precarious predicament.
But what does everyone want with this egg? Is the baby aerimander within an endangered creature worthy of protection, or a weapon of war waiting to be unleashed on unsuspecting citizens? Murky motivations, class divides and government conspiracies abound in this chaotic cat-and-mouse adventure across the kingdom!
Dark, funny, intricate, and exciting, this fast-paced action fantasy debut will thrill upper-middle grade readers who love their stakes high and their humour sharp. Recommended for readers aged 10+.
Reviewed by Katey Bellew.
Kids Classic of the Month
Trixie Belden: The Secret of the Mansion
Julie Campbell
Trixie Belden is the OG – she’s smart, overflowing with personality, and always poking her nose into trouble. When her older brothers go away to camp, Trixie is sure that she’s in for a long and dreary summer. But a new best friend and the mystery of a dying man’s fortune promise to perk things right up. Trixie Belden: The Secret of the Mansion is the first in the re-release of the series by Julie Campbell.
Unchanged since their first printing, this classic series is right on time for the younger fans of the cosy-crime wave. There’s something wholesome about Trixie – the sprawling farm where she lives, her unencumbered friendship with her two brothers, Brian and Mark, and the occasional intrusion from her overly curious younger brother, Bobby. But in addition to these nostalgic values, there’s a feistiness to Trixie that captured me as a young reader and I know will still capture young readers today. Trixie Belden is a troublesome tomboy with a huge heart, and these clever mysteries will have readers begging for more. For ages 8+.
Reviewed by Bec Kavanagh.
