Alexa Dretzke
Alexa Dretzke is a Children’s & YA Book Specialist at Readings Hawthorn.
Reviews
Kafka and the Doll by Larissa Theule & Rebecca Green
What a charming story this is! Kafka and the Doll is based on a factual event in Franz Kafka’s life, when he and his love, Dora Diamant, encountered a crying girl in a Berlin Park. In this fictionali…
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Before there was Enid Blyton’s Famous Five adventures there was Arthur Ransome’s 1930 classic Swallows and Amazons.
Wild Cat Island has been invaded by the holidaying Swallows (the four Walker sibl…
A Glasshouse of Stars by Shirley Marr
Meixing and her family have arrived in a new country to pursue a life with more opportunities and yet, their overwhelming feeling is they don’t belong, particularly as they don’t speak the language. …
Don’t Forget by Jane Godwin & Anna Walker
There are all the ordinary things that children are reminded not to forget, such as brushing your teeth and doing your homework. But what about the more intangible things, the building blocks that ar…
Ruffles and the Red, Red Coat by David Melling
Ruffles is an adorable dog who loves doing all the familiar doggy things like playing, chewing and fetching, but there is one thing he does not care for and that is his new red coat – ugh! How will h…
My Spaghetti ABC by Deborah Niland
Spaghetti as an art medium wouldn’t be every parent’s choice – but oh, what fun in the hands of a young child, with their baby sibling and even Nana joining in! In Deborah Niland’s new picture book, …
Catvinkle and the Missing Tulips by Elliot Perlman & Laura Stitzel
Here comes the delightful feline Catvinkle and her dalmatian friend Ula for a new adventure, one in which they have to defend their new sheep friends who have been accused of eating the tulips of Ams…
What We’ll Build by Oliver Jeffers
A companion to Here We Are, that gorgeous, wise book that introduced our world and beyond to a young boy, What We’ll Build is a more collaborative exploration of building a life together between an a…
How To Write the Soundtrack To Your Life by Fiona Hardy
Fiona Hardy you have done it again! The dreaded second novel that often stalls writing careers is nowhere to be seen here. A deft and very capable writer’s hand has gifted young readers with a myster…
The Bird Within Me by Sara Lundberg
The Bird Within Me is a compact gem of a book that is based on the life of Swedish Artist Berta Hansson. Raised in a small farming community, she is expected to help, leaving little time for the art …
Loner by Georgina Young
Loner won the Text Prize in 2019. It is the universal story of becoming an adult and all the uncertainty, drifting and questioning that entails. Some lucky young people know who they are and what the…
Paolo, Emperor of Rome by Mac Barnett & Claire Keane
Paolo, a dachshund, lives in a hairdressing salon but he is desperate to escape and experience Rome in all its historic glory. One day he manages to slip out and the city he long imagined comes alive…
I’ll Always Be Older than You by Jane Godwin & Sara Acton
Being an older sibling can be challenging; patience is required, as the little girl in the book learns.
A little planning doesn’t go astray and so she hops into her little brother’s cot and outline…
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
To write this review, obviously, I had to have completed reading the book and that is the sadness for me because I did not want it to end. This absorbing story that incorporates lexicography, diction…
ANZAC Girl: The War Diaries of Alice Ross-King by Kate Simpson & Jess Racklyeft
World War I seemed a noble, almost thrilling, prospect for many who went to fight or assist, but the horror was more than anyone could imagine and surviving proved an almost impossible feat. As a nur…
Anisa’s Alphabet by Mike Dumbleton & Hannah Sommerville
Anisa’s Alphabet is a moving depiction of how a young girl’s life is desolated by war. Told alphabetically in rhyming text, we follow Anisa’s perilous journey from a free person to a stateless refuge…
Izzy and Frank by Katrina Lehman & Sophie Beer
Izzy and Frank are best buddies and they love exploring the beach on their island home. One sad day Izzy has to move from her beloved home to the city.There she misses the freedom of the natural envi…
The Secrets of Magnolia Moon by Edwina Wyatt & Katherine Quinn
Magnolia Moon can keep secrets. She makes very interesting comparisons that give a unique perspective on life. She likes to ask questions and is inspired by Greek myths. She’s an irrepressible nine y…
Sofia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty & David Roberts
There could not be a more pertinent time for a book about a young girl with a vision for a better world! From a young age Sofia has been keen to help out and has cared about others. Along with her be…
Madame Badobedah by Sophie Dahl & Lauren O’Hara
Mabel lives at The Mermaid Hotel, which her parents manage. She is an imaginative ‘adventurer’ who often goes down to the nearby sea, the same sea Madame Badobedah travelled across when she was a you…
You Might Find Yourself by Tai Snaith
Tai Snaith is a master of collage and mixed media and her new picture book has been eagerly awaited. It shines with brilliant art and gorgeous imaginings; it beckons you in and then sets you free to …
As Happy As Here by Jane Godwin
Jane Godwin has been busy with wonderful picture books the last few years, so it is a treat to have her back writing fiction. Three early teens with different situations, temperaments and family back…
Rumblestar by Abi Elphinstone
Rumblestar is an adventure-filled fantasy that features a timid, unlikely hero and a feisty, disagreeable girl and her tiny, totally adorable dragon. Casper is unwillingly transported from his weathe…
Monty and the Poodles by Katie Harnett
Monty lives on the wrong side of the tracks, while Ginger and her pals luxuriate on the right side, at Poodle Mansions. So what does a homeless mutt have in common with a refined poodle? It seems tha…
Kind by Alison Green and Axel Scheffler
Kindness can be as simple as smiling at someone or just listening carefully. Sometimes it is being humane to an animal, or welcoming newcomers and making them feel at home. This wonderful book, illus…
A Quiet Girl by Peter Carnavas
I love this gorgeous little picture book. I love that it champions children who get forgotten because they are gentle and quiet. Mary treads lightly on this earth and notices the small miracles of li…
Brilliant Ideas by Wonderful Women by Aitziber Lopez & Luciano Lozano
Men have long been credited as great innovators but thankfully publishers are now celebrating the contribution of ingenious women inventors in a flood of wonderful titles we can’t get enough of! This…
Yahoo Creek by Tohby Riddle
Yahoo Creek is a haunting evocation of actual reports, mostly in the early 1900s, of an ape-like creature inhabiting bush areas that are connected with the massive breadth of the Great Dividing Range…
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
I have reread Tuck Everlasting twice in the last three years and am always struck by the beauty and simplicity of Natalie Babbitt’s writing; why use many words when one perfect word conjures everythi…
Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall
Lighthouses have an iconic charm, but beyond the pristine whiteness fables of shipwrecks and smugglers swirl around them. And then, there is the reality of staffing and maintaining them which was a t…
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