Author Visit with Jemima Shafei-Ongu
We had the pleasure at Better Read Kids this week of having Jemima Shafei-Ongu come in for an author visit and book signing. Her newest book Aslan and Benny explores themes of belonging, connection and wellbeing. A heartwarming story paired with illustrations by Jade Goodwin a fantastic Australian First Nations illustrator.
"Aslan is fearless! But when his cousins get a new dog, he doesn't feel so brave. A warm and relatable picture book for anyone who's ever felt stuck by their worries and needed help to do what matters most to them"
Come in and grab a signed copy before they are all gone !
March Books of the Month
Bigfoot vs Yeti by James Foley
On one side of the Chasm live the Yeti’s on the other the Bigfoots and there is nothing they despise more than each other and the feud will go on for generations, until… Foley’s illustrations are gorgeous and as you move through the story, you move from monochromatic to the introduction of a pale palette to a burst of joyous colour, all part of ingenious story-telling. This has to be one of the most charming, intelligent and funny picture books of the year. For ages 3+
- Robert
Spirit of the Crocodile by Aaron Fa'Aoso and Michelle Scott Tucker with Lyn White
It’s so exciting to have an Indigenous Literacy Foundation pick written by authors of Torres Strait Islander descent - especially considering what great work they are doing in the region on language revitalisation. Set on the island of Saibai, the story follows 12-year-old Ezra who has a special connection to crocodiles and is facing the growing responsibility which comes with growing up, particularly as climate change threatens the island. This charming coming-of-age story is perfect for late primary/early high school reads and bridges that tricky gap between kids and young adult books perfectly! For ages 11+
- Steph
Our Recommended Reading
It's hard to pick, but here are six books we thought deserved highlighting this week. Something special can be found in each of our picks, and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
London, 1593. Sixteen-year-old Will Hughes is busy working on Shakespeare’s stage, stuffing his corsets with straw and pretending to be someone else. Offstage, he’s playing a part, too. The son of traitors, Will is desperate to keep his identity secret—or risk being killed in the bloody queen’s imperial schemes... But when his mentor, the famous playwright Christopher Marlowe, is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Will’s plans are hopelessly dashed. What’s worse, Marlowe was a spy for the queen, tasked with stalking a killer rumored to be part of an elusive order of assassins, and his secrets and untimely death have put Will under a harsh spotlight. Then, when Will unwittingly foils an attempt on the queen’s life, she names him her next spymaster.
Now, to avoid uncomfortable questions, prison, or an even more terrible fate, Will reluctantly starts his new career, which—yes—will secure him the resources to help his family…but at what cost? Adding insult to injury is the young Lord James Bloomsbury, Will’s new comrade in arms, whose entitled demeanor and unfairly handsome looks get under Will’s skin immediately.
Together, the two hunt the cunning assassin, defend the queen’s life, and pray to keep their own...all while an unexpected connection blossoms between them.
If there is one thing Wilson Taylor has always longed for it's a normal life. Instead, she lives in a house on wheels with her mum and stepdad (who named her after a tennis racket). Every month, they move on to a new town.
Every town is just like the one before. Until she meets Ava a girl with a secret so big that her mums won't let her leave the house.
But someone else has got wind of Ava's secret too... and they want her to be the star act of their new show. Wilson is determined to protect her new friend, whatever it takes. Because being different together is MAGICAL.
Seventeen-year-old Eleanor is nothing like her hero Eleanor Roosevelt. She is timid and altogether uncertain that she has much to offer the world. And as World War II rages overseas, Eleanor is consumed with worry for her Jewish relatives in Europe. When a chance encounter proves her to be a one-in-a-generation maths whiz—a fact she has worked hard all her life to hide—Eleanor gets recruited by the US Army and entrusted with the ultimate challenge: to fine-tune a top-secret weapon that will help America defeat its enemies in World War II and secure the world’s freedom. This could be her chance to help save her family in Poland. Soon, she’s swept from the basement of an Ivy League engineering school to the desert of California to an Army Air Corps base at Pearl Harbor, and finally, she takes to the skies above the South Pacific. But before she can solve this complicated problem, she must learn to unlock a bigger mystery: herself. The critically acclaimed author of The Poetry of Secrets, Cambria Gordon weaves an extraordinary story of remarkable courage and the will to unearth our deepest secrets, based on previously undiscovered true events.
Jade and Crystal love the Mid-Autumn Festival because it means it's time to make a tasty treat-mooncakes! Crystal's favorite part of the delicious dessert made of lotus seed paste is the yummy salted egg yolk at the center, meant to represent the moon. Join the sisters as they gather with their family for a memorable meal together!
Complete with fun facts about the holiday in the back of the book, young readers will want to revisit this story again and again.
Exciting, easy-to-read books are the stepping stone a young reader needs to bridge the gap between being a beginner and being fluent.
Blast off on an adventure with the Space Cadets! From beloved children's author-illustrator Alex T. Smith, the bestselling creator of Claude and How Winston Delivered Christmas, comes a funny and fast-paced illustrated adventure through space. Filled with out-of-this world illustrations on every page, Astrid and the Space Cadets: Race from Planet Peril! is perfect for fans of Grimwood and Bad Guys, and for kids who are ready to read by themselves.
Astrid Atomic and her best friends, the Space Cadets, have been given an important mission from the Chief – to retrieve the special trophy for the Supersonic Saturn Race. Tonight they'll have to fly under boiling hot lava waterfalls, zoom through fields of flaming flowers and sneak past a big, toothy, scary space monster! And things go from bad to worse when they realize that the naughty Dr Boris Uranus on their tail. Will they get to the trophy before time runs out? Don't miss Astrid and the gang's first adventure in Astrid and the Space Cadets: Attack of the Snailiens!
Meet Vinny. A guinea pig who isn’t very nice. He steals food from small babies; he’s done that more than twice. You cannot teach him any tricks; he ignores all your commands. And he hates it when you hold him, so he’ll fart into your hands. And when Vinny takes an accidental trip to school one day, pandemonium erupts!
Our Classic Pick Of The Week
Another beloved animal based book that show us lesson's we all need to learn in our own way.
I don't think there is anyone who has read Black Beauty will not automatically find their throat tightening and their eyes start to moisten just a little as this gorgeous colt is brought back to memory.
As a young horse, Black Beauty is well-loved and happy. But when his owner is forced to sell him, his life changes drastically. He has many new owners—some of them cruel and some of them kind. All he needs is someone to love him again....
Whether pulling an elegant carriage or a ramshackle cab, Black Beauty tries to live as best he can. This is his amazing story, told as only Black Beauty could, through his own eyes, which only makes you you love and feel for him more.
Peppered throughout the novel are the moral lessons that the author, Anna Sewell, wants to impart to her readers: that truly good humans are kind to all of God's creatures, that parents should teach their children to be kind to animals, and perhaps most important, that even though they can't speak, horses can feel. -Robert
Author Highlight
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Zanni Louise is an Australian author who grew up in country NSW and has been writing children's books her whole life... with an impressive 40 books under her belt. She has been recognized for a number of her titles, and received awards such as the Children’s Book Council of Australia, Speech Pathology Awards, Educational Publishing Awards, White Raven’s International Catalogue of Children’s Books, Panda Awards and the Australian Book Design Awards.
The three titles above Queenie in Seven Moves, Hazel's Treehouse, and Cora Seen and Heard, are all in stock at Better Read Kids and we think are well deserving of a read.
Staff Pick This Week
Invisible Boys by Holden Sheppard is a book we are very excited about in store at the moment. It was released on Stan as on original series on the 13th of February and has been eagerly anticipated.
This book is set in Western Australia in the aftermath of the 2017 same sex marriage plebiscite; and follows a group of gay teens and their close knit friendship.
"An emotional tale of identity, sexuality and suicide derived from personal experience about three teenage boys who struggle to come to terms with their homosexuality in a small Western Australian town."
This Weeks Top Ten
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