Lenny's Book of Everything


Karen Foxlee - 2018
    I knew when he talked too much about Timothy his imaginary pet eagle. He was scared.'Whatever you do,' I said to Davey on the walk to school, 'Do not tell people about your eagle. Do not tell Miss Schweitzer about your eagle.'He looked crestfallen. His shoulders slumped. He looked to make sure Timothy hadn't fallen off.Lenny, small and sharp, has a younger brother Davey who won't stop growing - and at seven is as tall as a man. Raised by their single mother, who works two jobs and is made almost entirely out of worries, they have food and a roof over their heads, but not much else. The bright spot every week is the arrival of the latest issue of Burrell's Build-It-at-Home Encyclopedia. Through the encyclopedia, Lenny and Davey experience the wonders of the world - beetles, birds, quasars, quartz - and dream about a life of freedom and adventure, visiting places like Saskatchewan and Yellowknife, and the gleaming lakes of the Northwest Territories. But as her brother's health deteriorates, Lenny comes to accept the inevitable truth; Davey will never make it to Great Bear Lake. An outstanding novel about heartbreak and healing by an award-winning author.

Hating Alison Ashley


Robin Klein - 1984
    But then Alison Ashley shows up, and right from the start, seems to threaten Erica's position. Can these classmates ever see past their difficulties and find friendship?

We're Going on a Bar Hunt


Josie Lloyd - 2013
    In this parody of the famous children's book We're Going on a Bear Hunt, two parents set off for a night on the tiles, and encounter a series of watering holes and bars before an alarming encounter with a 'bear' sends them running home to their children.Gillian Johnson is the author and illustrator of the successful Monster Hospital and Thora series for children. Her illustrations bring this story to life, gently parodying the original but adding an anarchic edge as the evening progresses.We're not going on a bar hunt again!

Just a Snowman


Mercer Mayer - 2004
    But Little Sister needs help putting on her boots, Dad needs a hand with the shoveling, and Gator wants to build a fort. Will Little Critter ever get to build a snowman?Book Details: Format: Paperback Publication Date: 9/21/2004 Pages: 24 Reading Level: Age 3 and Up

The Hungry Fox


Kitty Barry - 2014
    He is very, very hungry... He visits different places in search of food... Do you think he will find something to fill his rumbling tummy?

We Are the Gardeners


Joanna Gaines - 2019
    Turns out, trying something new isn't always easy, but sometimes, it's the hardest work that leads to the greatest reward.

We Were Never Friends


Margaret Bearman - 2020
    What is art? What’s true courage? I could not put it down.’ —Melissa Ashley,bestselling author of THE BIRDMAN’S WIFELotti lives under the shadow of a genius: her father George Coates is a brilliant and celebrated Australian painter.When Lotti meets the outcast waif Kyla at a suburban Canberra school, two worlds are set to collide. Slowly Kyla is drawn into the orbit of the Coates family. Or is it the other way around?As Lotti and Kyla navigate their way towards adulthood, dark secrets start to unravel, with devastating consequences …WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS is unforgettable novel about friendship, the pursuit of a creative life and the legacies we leave behind.‘Margaret Bearman’s intimate, unsettling novel of family dysfunction perfectly captures the ambivalent passions of girlhood while offering an incisive critiqueof the cult of artistic genius. Sharp and subtle at the same time, refusing any easy certainties, WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS is a haunting portrait of the humancapacity for cruelty and love in equal measure.’ —Kirsten Tranter, bestselling author of THE LEGACY

The Princess of 8th Street


Linas Alsenas - 2012
    Between having tea with her “ladies-in-waiting” (her doll collection), keeping up with her studies (Math for Monarchs and Pink Power are two of her favorite books), and dealing with her horrible toad of a brother, Jane doesn’t often have time to venture from her palace or socialize with other young royals.But one day, on a trip to the market, her mother insists that Jane go play in the park with the other children. Jane is shy around the other young lords and ladies, and things become even worse when she is confronted by Samantha, the Princess of 10th Street. Will the two princesses be able to overcome their differences? Will Jane finally make a friend?This cute and clever picture book proves there’s more to being a princess than just dresses and tea parties.

The Elephant


Peter Carnavas - 2017
    Olive’s father has a sadness so big that she imagines it as a large grey elephant following him around. With the help of her cheery grandfather and her best friend, Arthur, Olive sets out to chase away her father’s elephant.Beautifully written, this novel from acclaimed author and illustrator Peter Carnavas will stay with you long after you finish.

Something to Remember Me By


Susan V. Bosak - 1997
    A girl shares many experiences with her grandmother over the years, and many times the old woman gives her a small gift to help her remember.

Remind Me How This Ends


Gabrielle Tozer - 2017
    Winning scholarships. Heading to uni. Travelling the world. Everyone except Milo Dark. Milo feels his life is stuck on pause. His girlfriend is 200km away, his mates have bailed for bigger things and he is convinced he's missed the memo reminding him to plan the rest of his life. Then Layla Montgomery barrels back into his world after five years without so much as a text message. As kids, Milo and Layla were family friends who shared everything - hiding out in her tree house, secrets made at midnight, and sunny afternoons at the river. But they haven't spoken since her mum's funeral. Layla's fallen apart since that day. She pushed away her dad, dropped out of school and recently followed her on-again-off-again boyfriend back to town because she has nowhere else to go. Not that she's letting on how tough things have been. What begins as innocent banter between Milo and Layla soon draws them into a tangled mess with a guarantee that someone will get hurt. While it's a summer they'll never forget, is it one they want to remember? A boy-meets-girl-again story from the award-winning author of The Intern and Faking It.

Old MacDonald had a Farm: A Sing 'N Learn Book (Baby Genius, Sing 'n Learn)


Baby Genius - 2009
    A fun way for children to learn about farm animals and the sounds they make! Old MacDonald (played by Vinko the Bear) is having a typical day on the farm: he feeds the chickens and collects their eggs as the hens “cluck-cluck;” he milks a cow as the other cows graze in the pasture and “moo-moo;” he shears the wool off a sheep as the other sheep envy the newly shorn sheep’s haircut and “baa-baa.” The only thing that’s different about this typical day on Old MacDonald’s farm is that young readers are clucking, mooing, baaing, and oinking as they sing the familiar song and learn about life on the farm and the sounds that farm animals make.

Cairo Jim on the Trail to Chacha Muchos


Geoffrey McSkimming - 1993
    What happened there nearly five hundred years ago remains a mystery. Who were these people? And why, in the end, did the entire tribe dance itself to extinction? When that well-known archaeologist and little-known poet, Cairo Jim, sets out to solve the mystery, he doesn't know that he is not the only one on the trail to ChaCha Muchos...

My Place


Nadia Wheatley - 1987
    Winner of Australia's Book of the Year 1988. Full-colour illustrations.

Little Oink


Amy Krouse Rosenthal - 2009
    Little Oink is a neat little fellow. Clean, clean, clean, that's all he wants to do. But Mama and Papa won't have it! They say in order to be a proper pig, he has to learn to make a proper mess. "Don't come out until your room is a pigsty," says Papa Pig. "I won't have any child of mine going out looking so neat and clean. It's just not acceptable," says Mama Pig. Readers who hate to clean up will love this humorous twist on a universal dilemma.