Sport in Fiction for Australian Kids
If there was ever a genre with built-in tension, drama and dramatic endings it is sport. Triumph over adversity, growth arcs, fandoms and series. No wonder so many children, especially ‘reluctant readers’ reach for sport books. There is an ever-growing number of titles out there with fiction punching above its weight. To help prevent you…
Children’s Books Surrounding Bereavement and Grief
Reading books on illness and bereavement to my children? The thought filled me with heart-knotting dread. Why would I do it to them or me? Well, one reason is that children are natural philosophers who are intrigued by life’s biggest mystery, death. The right book on this subject can be informative and comforting, casting…
Understanding Politics, Government, Elections and Activism Through Books for Australian Children
There’s an election coming. Well, there’s always an election coming. And if there’s not, there’s always lobbying, decision making and activism underway. It’s easy to forget that the topics of government, politics, elections, the law and activism are fundamentally relevant to children even though they are not yet voters. These topics are perennial favourites in…
A Shopful of Bigfoots
A Shopful of Bigfoots by Mat Larkin I’m working on a scene in a new middle grade novel, and I don’t want to make a big deal out of it but it’s going brilliantly, when suddenly my main character, twelve year-old Attica Stone, takes off her red nose, puts down the tyrannosaur’s jaw bone and…