Kids reviews
Get into Art: Animals by Susie Brooks
Animals are a fantastic subject for artists, and they provide an excellent springboard for this handsome art inspiration and activity book. It includes examples of a variety of styles and techniques,…
Silver Buttons by Bob Graham
A new Bob Graham picture book is always a delightful addition to children’s publishing. His gentle stories celebrate family and home and embrace the wider community and multiculturalism. Silver Butto…
The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
Things are not right in crayon world! Oh, I bet you thought they were having a ball happily colouring in and looking bright in kids’ pictures, but you’d be wrong. It seems there is a downside to a cr…
The Extincts by Veronica Cossanteli
Read on if you love adventure and excitement, as there are a lot of both in The Extincts by Veronica Cossanteli. When George takes on a job at Wormestall Farm, he is very disappointed to find that th…
The Girl Who Brought Mischief by Katrina Nannestad
This is a little heartbreaker of a story. Think Pollyanna meets Anne of Green Gables with a dash of Heidi. It’s set in Denmark in 1911, so younger readers may need a bit of context to start with, mai…
Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone and Marjorie Priceman
I’ll bet you’ve met plenty of doctors in your life. And I’ll bet lots of them were women. Well, you might find this hard to believe, but there once was a time when girls weren’t allowed to become doc…
The Apprentices by Maile Meloy
This is an utterly delicious read in so many ways. On one level, it’s rich in everyday realism. On another, it’s full of impossible, thrilling but always believable happenings.
Janie is a clever gir…
The Lion Who Stole My Arm by Nicola Davies
Part of a new series by English author Nicola Davies, The Lion Who Stole My Arm is a unique book within a crowded market. Rather than featuring western kids in exotic countries helping the animals, t…
Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool
In 2011, Clare Vanderpool’s Moon Over Manifest was one of my favourite books. It went on to win one of children’s literature’s most prestigious awards, the Newbery Medal. With her latest novel, Vande…
On a Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne & Vladimir Radunksy
I love picture books that teach children about extraordinary human beings throughout history. Sometimes, however, they can be rather pedestrian biographies. Not so for this fascinating book on Albert…