Kathy Kozlowski
Kathy Kozlowski is a Children’s Book Specialist who has worked in kid’s books for over 40 years. Positively retro! She is now pleased to have grandchildren whose literary tastes to indulge.
Reviews
Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
Though Louisiana, our plucky young heroine, appears in Kate DiCamillo’s Raymie Nightingale, this is a standalone novel and, in my opinion, even better than the first!
Louisiana is woken by her grann…
Home in the Rain by Bob Graham
One of the many reasons I love Bob Graham’s books is that, for all their simplicity, his observations of the natural world and family life are always profound and loving, and children, ‘reading’ the …
Blake Collider by June Laurie
Blake is a laid-back high school student who surprises himself by accepting the chance to be an exchange student in a small town in Italy. On the plane he sits next to Selene, a beautiful young woman…
Presto Change-o! by Édouard Manceau
French artist Édouard Manceau has had a lot of fun playing with simple, cut-out cardboard shapes to work a little visual magic. Turn the shapes on each page to change his clear, exuberant illustratio…
Popular by Maya Van Wagenen
New to her rough, seriously disadvantaged school on the Texas–Mexico border, Maya has quickly worked out the social hierarchy. She is in the ‘Social Outcasts’ group, third from the bottom and superio…
The Children of Green Knowe Collection by Lucy M. Boston
It was such a delight to re-read this past favourite for this review and find it still as spellbinding and full of enchantment as I remember.
Tolly, the young hero, is such a quiet, introspective bo…
Kissed By The Moon by Alison Lester
What a magical, perfect picture book. Alison Lester has done it again and this must be her most tender and lyrical. Part poem, part lullaby it celebrates the natural world and a growing baby’s place …
The Fairy Doll and Other Tales From The Dolls' House by Rumer Godden
This satisfyingly hefty pink hardback gathers together seven magical stories, all of which were previously published as much-treasured separate volumes. It is so good to see them all available again …
Julius and the Watchmaker by Tim Hehir
This is a fast-paced time-slip story about a boy, Julius Higgins, caught between a revered member of the Guild of Watchmakers and the cunning but dastardly Jack Springheel. In another time, Spingheel…
New Guinea Moon by Kate Constable
This is a wonderful coming-of-age story set in the exotic and racially divided world of New Guinea just before Independence.
Julie is 16 and has asked to spend the holidays in New Guinea with her fa…
Convent by Maureen McCarthy
Maureen McCarthy begins her wonderful new novel by introducing us to four women, Sadie, Edna, Cecilia and Perpetua (or Peach), all from one family and all of whom have been affected in some way by th…
The Owl and the Pussycat and Other Nonsense Rhymes by Edward Lear
In celebration of the bicentenary of Edward Lear’s birth in May this year comes this wonderful collection of his best loved nonsense poems. Think ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’, ‘The Jumblies’, ‘The Dong…
Rainbow Street Pets by Wendy Orr
Any child who loves animals or who has longed for a pet will enjoy and probably read and reread this collection of six related stories about the animals who come through the Rainbow Street Refuge and…
Banjo Bounces Back by Lachie Hume
What a daft, loveable horsey story!
Banjo is a hoofball star, playing every Saturday with his team, the Whinnies. That is until he sustains a sports injury and is off for six weeks. Bored and restl…
The Coat by Julie Hunt & Ron Brooks (illus.)
A splendid coat feels itself wasted on a scarecrow till a rather diffident young man comes along and tries it on. Then suddenly the world is theirs and they soar across the landscape to the Cafe Deli…
News
Ask a Bookseller: What are the best read-aloud chapter books for kids?
** This week one of our children’s specialists, Kathy Kozlowski, tackles bedtime stories for school-age children.**
‘My child is ready for a chapter book at bedtime, a story we can look forward to reading together each night. Any suggestions?’
What a great time you are entering for both parent and child! Here are a few among the many gems we could suggest:
Enid Blyton’s Magic Farawa…