New Year, New Books!

It’s a brand-new year and that means another 12 months of fabulous books to look forward to and we can assure you there are some very exciting stories in the works. We have two new books from the beloved Jackie French, the third instalment in the Nevermoor series, Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend. It’s the 40^thAnniversary of Pamela Allen’s Mr Archimedes Bath and 25^th for Guess How Much I Love You. And so much more…

You will no doubt hear from us about them all but we thought a little taste of what will be coming in the next few months would be a great start.

Evie and Pog: Take Off and Evie and Pog: Puppy Playtime by Tania McCartney

This is a very cute, beautifully illustrated new series for beginner readers.

High in a tree house live two very best friends. One is a girl and one is a dog. And everyone knows them as Evie and Pog. Evie is six years old. She likes knitting and jumping and books and cake. Pog is a pug. He is two and likes to drink tea and read the newspaper. Evie and Pog also love to have fun!

January, 6+ years

Guess How Much I Love You 25^thAnniversary Editionby Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram

 “I love you right up to the moon – AND BACK!”

Celebrating an incredible 25 years of Guess How Much I Love You this is a stunning slipcase edition of the original bestselling children’s classic with a beautiful, special edition print.

February, 2+ years

Aussie Kids: Meet Zoe and Zac at the Zoo by Belinda Murrell, illustrated by David Hardy

This is the first in an exciting new series called Aussie Kids for emerging readers 6-8 years.

From a NSW Zoo to a Victorian lighthouse, or an outback sheep farm in WA to a beach in QLD, this junior fiction series celebrates stories about children living in unique places in every state in Australia.

8 characters, 8 stories, 8 authors and illustrators from all 8 states!

Come on an adventure with Aussie Kids and meet Zoe and Zac from New South Wales.

February, 6+ readers

The Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valour by Ally Carter

New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter’s middle grade debut is full of mystery, mayhem, and friendship, and will keep you guessing right until the very end.

April didn’t mean to start the fire. She wasn’t even the one who broke the vase. She had absolutely no intention of becoming the only person who knows that Gabriel Winterborne, the missing-and-presumed-dead billionaire, is neither missing nor dead and is actually living in the basement of Winterborne House, sharpening his swords and looking for vengeance.

Now that April knows Gabriel Winterborne is alive, it’s up to her to keep him that way. But there’s only so much a twelve-year-old girl can do, so April must turn to the other orphans for help. Together, they’ll have to unravel the riddle of a missing heir and a creepy legend, and find a secret key, before the only home they’ve even known is lost to them forever.

February, 10+ years

The Ghost of Howlers Beach by Jackie French

Another fabulous Jackie French this time aboutButter O’Bryan who has been told there are ghosts on Howlers Beach, but are there?

Set in 1932, Butter O’Bryan lives in a Very Small Castle with his father and three aunts – Aunt Elephant, Aunt Cake and Aunt Peculiar. These aren’t their real names, of course, just as Butter’s father isn’t really called ‘Pongo’.

And even though Butter is only twelve years old, and the grandson of one of Australia’s most successful Jam Kings, he is very aware of the hardship many people are experiencing.

Butter has been told there are ghosts at the nearby isolated Howlers Beach, but are there? And how can the children Butter plays cricket with on the beach simply vanish? Who are these children and why do they refuse his help?

Butter is certain they’re hiding a secret and he’s determined to uncover it.

February, 10+ years

The Republic of Birds by Jessica Miller

 Inspired by Russian folklore, The Republic of Birds is a rich middle-grade fantasy adventure for readers of Karen Foxlee, Jessica Townsend and Philip Pullman.

Olga loves the stories of the old cartographers and pores over their ancient books and maps, trying to unlock their secrets. Sometimes, she thinks she can even feel through the maps— almost see into them—as if by magic.

But magic is banned in Tsaretsvo, ever since the war with the birds that divided the kingdom, and the powerful magic-wielding Iagas have long been banished. Now, any young girl who shows signs of being an Iaga is whisked away to Bleak Steppe—to a life, so the story goes, of unspeakable punishment.

When the bird army kidnaps Olga’s sister in a surprise attack on the human kingdom, Olga realises she has to venture into the Republic of Birds to bring her back. But first, she must learn to unlock her magical ability. As her journey takes her into the hidden world of the Iagas and the wilds of the Unmappable Blank, Olga discovers the truth about the war with the birds—and learns just how much is at stake.

February, 9+ years

Chain of Gold: The Last Hours #1 by Cassandra Clare

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Cassandra Clare comes the first novel in a brand new trilogy where evil hides in plain sight and love cuts deeper than any blade. Chain of Gold is a Shadowhunters novel.

Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in the hope of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else. But Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a shocking series of demon attacks devastate London. These monsters are nothing like those the Shadowhunters have fought before – these demons walk in daylight, strike down the unwary with incurable poison and seem impossible to kill. London is immediately quarantined. Trapped in the city, Cordelia and her friends discover that their own connection to a dark legacy has gifted them with incredible powers – and force a brutal choice that will reveal the true cruel price of being a hero.

March, 14+ years

Little Bilby’s Easter Egg Hunt by Yvonne Mes, illustrated by Jody Michelle Pratt

A pleasure to read aloud, this Easter board book for ages 0 to 4 comes complete with rhyme, repetition and animal noises, and explores Australian animals in their natural habitats.

Near bush and scrub and oceanfront, they tiptoe on their Easter hunt . . .

A group of baby bilbies are on an Easter egg hunt. They find all kinds of eggs – a kookaburra’s egg, a turtle’s egg, a cassowary’s egg – before the little bilbies finally find what they’ve been looking for: Easter eggs to share with all their friends.

This colourfully illustrated picture book showcases the diversity of Australia’s egg-laying animals. Each spread reveals an egg in its natural environment and asks the question ‘Whose egg could this be?’. After turning the page, the egg is matched with the animal it belongs to.

February, 0-4yrs years

Atticus Van Tasticus 2: The Map of Half Maps by Andrew Daddo and Stephen Michael King

The second book in the Atticus Van Tasticus pirate series from the hilariously funny team of Andrew Daddo and Stephen Michael King.

Atticus Van Tasticus is back. And this time he means business. Having escaped certain disaster on the high seas, he’s on the scent of treasure. Then the call comes from above: ‘Ship ahoy, Captain, ship ahoy!’

If only it were good news, which of course it ain’t. Vicious, mean and mighty unclean Bjorn Ironhead is on the warpath – and Atticus and his crew are in his sights. Stay and fight, or run and hide? But where do you hide a pirate ship, and who’s this Captain Half Map, and, most of all, where’s that treasure of treasurrrres?!

Join Atticus and his crew as they roll from one adventure to certain disasterrrrr…

March, 6-8 years

Kensy and Max 5: Freefall by Jaqueline Harvey

Where do you draw the line when your family and friends are in grave danger? Do you take action even though it means ignoring the rules?

Back at Alexandria, with their friend Curtis Pepper visiting, Kensy and Max are enjoying the school break. Especially when Granny Cordelia surprises them with a trip to New York! It’s meant to be a family vacation, but the twins soon realise there’s more to this holiday than meets the eye.

The chase to capture Dash Chalmers is on and when there’s another dangerous criminal on the loose, the twins find themselves embroiled in a most unusual case. They’ll need all their spy sensibilities, along with Curtis and his trusty spy backpack, to bring down the culprit.

March, 9-11years

Wink by Rob Harrell

Surviving school with one eye open.

Ross Maloy just wants to fit in

But after he is diagnosed with a rare eye cancer in Year Seven, he suddenly becomes the ‘cancer kid’ of his school.

Now he has to deal with weird hats, a squinty eye and – hardest of all – disappearing friends, social media bullies, and the threat of losing his eyesight … or worse.

Based on Rob Harrell’s real-life experiences, and packed with his cartoons and illustrations, this is a heartbreaking and hilarious story of survival, and of finding the music, magic and laughter in all of life’s weirdness.

March, 10+ years