His face is the sun is the first book of a trilogy by Michelle Jabès Corpora. Within Corpora’s novel, she focuses on a fantasy world known as ‘Khetara,’ which was heavily inspired by Egyptian history and mythology. The story is structured as a multi-perspective narrative, alternating between four distinct viewpoints. It focuses on the lives of four characters: a princess, a priestess, a rebel, and a thief. The pharaoh is slowly dying and the kingdom is falling, which leads to corruption between the people below. What ties these four characters together is the potential to save the kingdom from destruction. Who will rule the kingdom Khetara?
Corpora's writing style is beautifully crafted, utilising poetic language filled with vivid imagery. Corpora’s rich descriptive language is presented when she explores the characters experiences in hardships, struggles, self-identity and romance. Moreover, Corpora’s usage of pacing is evident in her ability to shift between different perspectives, allowing her to navigate various situations effectively. As the story unfolds, Corpora emphasizes the significance of weaving together crucial life events between the four characters, which act as steppingstones toward self-discovery.
Additionally, Corpora explores the complexities of selfishness from a royal political standpoint and its impact on the social dynamics of society. She highlights the nature of royalty, illustrating how power and privilege can lead to moral dilemmas and ethical conflicts. By exploring this through four perspectives, Corpora reveals how motivations and decisions can result in consequences in self-serving actions, ultimately impacting royals but also the lives of ordinary citizens. Her focus motivates the characters to rebel and realise the implications of leadership and the responsibility in determining societal dynamics.
The setting of Khetara feels ethereal, displaying Corpora's ability to create a magical world while drawing authentic inspirations from historical mythology. The kingdom is vividly depicted, rooted in a specific time of hardships that enhances the story's emotional weight. Additionally, Corpora highlights the stark contrast between the wealth of the kingdom and the struggles of the rural areas, revealing the impact of the corrupt monarchy. Through rich imagery and evocative language, she conveys a powerful message about inequality through setting.
Truc M. (Student)
Themes Fantasy, Mythology, Historical Fiction, Romance, Power Dynamics, Self-Discovery and Identity.
Revenge of Odessa by Frederick Forsyth with Tony Kent
This is an impressive and heart-stirring story that investigates the possibility of the resurrection of the Odessa - the Nazi group known from the past, that appears to be ready to rise again. How far has their poison travelled around the world? Georg Miller is a German investigative journalist who runs into an old dementia patient in the hospital while collecting stories from victims of a terrorist attack. A sliver of a story from the old man cracks open a historical and present-day Nazi horror story that has Georg in the firing line. In the USA, a political staffer gets a hint of some uncomfortable political toxic possibilities in her role within the office of a rising Senator. She is horrified to think that fetid corruption is about to rise to the surface and is afraid for her life. With assassins and corrupt influences hiding within reliable places there appears to be nowhere to turn. Can either Georg or Vanessa survive to reveal the threats to modern society?
This is a book that makes you wonder - can Nazi ideologues hijack terrorists of other ideologies for their own purposes? Could they infiltrate every level of society in order to position themselves ready to ‘take over’ the world? How can those who discover their lies and the horrors they plan for global political systems, escape the murderous intents of their supporters? I was really captivated by the mastery of the storytelling in an arena of spies, politics, assassins and innocence. Frederick Forsyth’s career as an investigative journalist has given us modern thrillers that are powerful reminders of evil’s influence, and his recent death means this is his last. This is a story for adults who can juggle the intensity of the murderous individuals who are involved, and the political ramifications of the Nazi power play - it is a real page-turner with action aplenty. The ending seemed to come too quickly and almost felt incomplete, until the ‘kick in the guts’ last page.
Themes Nazism, extremists, journalism, terrorism, American politics, assassins, espionage, thriller.
Carolyn Hull
Best worst farmer ever by Pat Cummins & Michael Wagner & Louis Shea
Dad, farmer Pat, along with his son, Albie and dog, Normie set out to repair some of the things happening on their farm. From the start, Albie notices the cows have been able to bypass the fence repairs to get to the other side and eat the pasture. The previous repairs: sticky tape, ice block sticks and bark did not work, so Farmer Pat has an idea which involves collecting lots of yellow things. They then build a fence with all the yellow things, and being Pat Cummins, it contains lots of cricket paraphernalia. They test by moving the cows towards the fence, relying on the idea that cows do not like yellow. And it works! Next Albie notices that the sheep are acting oddly. Pat sees that their water trough is leaking and they set off to the shed to bring back something to stop the leak. Pat blows up the paddle pool and they line the water trough with it, stopping the leaks. An old boat takes their interest, Farmer Pat was always going to set that up as a treehouse. So they set about doing just that. But in the tree house, Farmer Pat spies another problem.
Birds are eating all the apples in the apple orchard. Farmer Pat knows just what to do, and the pair run between the lines of trees with sheets trailing behind them. The scared birds fly away. They sit down with Farmer Becky for lunch and she bemoans that she has lost her yellow gardening gloves. Farmer Pat and Albie look a little embarrassed. But all is well on the farm, things have been repaired, the sheep are playing cricket, there are lots of Australian animals dotted through the illustrations, and references to cricket, of course.
A rollicking story about the closeness between father and son, as they work together to fix some of the problems on their farm. It is a wonderful read aloud which will elicit lots of laughter as readers see the problems and the zany ideas to repair things. Bright illustrations cover each page, ensuring kids attention as they listen to the story. Readers will notice all the Australian animals, the breadth of things done on the farm, the strength of the father-son relationship, and laugh along with the antics of the two. Kids will not be able to stop themselves roaring around the room, emulating Pat and Normie as they frighten away the birds in the apple orchard. And they will be able to make their own yellow fence, gathering all the yellow things they can find.
A lovely warm story about a father and son working together to solve problems on the farm, infused with lots of humour, impelling kids to join in.
Themes Father and son, Farming, Problem solving, Cricket, Humour.
Fran Knight
The colours of home by Sally Soweol Han
Thames & Hudson, 2025. ISBN: 9781760764654.
Moving to a new neighbourhood is, in itself, a testing experience for many children, but moving to a new country is something else again. So when Bomi moves from Australia to Korea, there are bound to be some dramatic changes. Yet she finds comfort in seeing familiar colours in new places, and they bring her a sense of calm and comfort as she see the grey of the bark of the ancient gum tree at the end of her old street in the grey bark of the silver birch in her new park, and purple hydrangeas dance in the sun here, just as the jacarandas did at home. But no matter which country she is in, the same silver moon watches over her while she sleeps and the same yellow sun greets her as she wakes...
Once again, as she did in Tiny Wonders, Korean-Australian creator Sally Soweol Han encourages the reader to observe and appreciate the colours around them to connect them to their surroundings. Whenever we are in a new situation, we look for the familiar so we can connect to what we already know, do, understand, appreciate and value so we can put the unfamiliar into context and so linking colours of the landscape offers a simple way to ground ourselves. This is visual storytelling at its best and offers so many opportunities for the reader to see their own world through new eyes.
Given the number of children in our schools for whom Australia is a new country, this is a valuable addition to the collection to share with them as they adapt and adjust to so much that is confusing, confronting and challenging.
Hickey grabs the reader’s attention with a dramatic opening of a body hanging from the blade of a giant wind turbine, in this engrossing rural noir set in the small Victorian town of Carrabeen. Detective Sergeants Belinda Burney and Will Lovell are called to the scene and discover that it is prominent local man, Geordie Pritchard, who owned the wind farm where 300 wind turbines spun constantly. The town is divided with differing opinions about the wind farm, some believe that it will help reach environmental targets, while others believe that the land should be left for grazing. One woman believes that the turbines cause cancer. When Lucinda Pritchard insists that it was murder not suicide, with death threats to back up her opinion, the police begin an investigation. Did someone in the district want Geordie dead? How did his body get onto the blade?
This is a well-crafted mystery with a topical setting of wind farms, homelessness and class and wealth divide. Hickey pulls the reader into the mystery as detectives from Ballarat are brought in, needing the knowledge that Belinda has of the local community. She is also investigating minor thefts at the local high school and caring for her irascible father, who still holds sway in the town. Belinda and Will’s caring relationship for each other is a highlight of the story as the pair’s trust in each other helps the investigation along. Other characters are engaging and the reader gets to know them, their backgrounds and personalities.
Red herrings are strewn throughout the book, keeping the reader engrossed until the stunning conclusion. Readers who have enjoyed the work of Garry Disher, Jane Harper and Chris Hammer will want to sample this and other books by Margaret Hickey.
Themes Murder, Detectives, Country life - Australia, Wind farms.
Pat Pledger
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
Little, Brown Book Group, 2025. ISBN: 9780356522975. (Age:Young Adult, adult)
When seventeen-year-old boy-king Benedict Castor rides to Aisling Cathedral high on its Tor, he and his knights are watched by six shrouded women, the cathedral’s diviners. Eager for a bit of excitement they watch as the knights pass by, begging the girls for kisses. The king has come for a divination and one of them will have to taste his blood then drown in the sacred spring to dream the omens of the king’s future before being revived. Known only by their numbers, it is Six who draws the short straw but before making her way to the cathedral she encounters one of the knights, Roderick Myndacious, unfriendly and disrespectful, yet, as she observes later, “sickeningly handsome”. Along the approach to the cathedral five limestone statues hold five items representing the magical omens of the five settlements in the Stonewater Kingdom. There is a coin, an inkwell, an oar, a chime and a loomstone. Other than the abbess the only other inhabitants of the cathedral are the gargoyles, batlike sprites, carved from stone which care for the cathedral. The king’s divination showed only bad omens but unperturbed, he and his knights stay at the cathedral hostel and the other girls are happy to lay with the knights while six, in spite of smoking some of Roderick’s intoxicating idleweed, discovers they have stolen some of the spring water. In exchange for keeping their secret the knights take the diviners to the village for a bit of fun. Nearing the end of their ten-year service to the cathedral, the girls are keen to see more of life but things are more complex than they seem. The girls start to go missing and the true quest of the king and his knights is revealed, somehow tied up with the diviners disappearance and to find out what has happened, Six must go with them.
A classic gothic fantasy romance, this has it all with a simmering sexual tension maintained to the point where they are ripping one another’s armor off! There is a great, strong female characters in Maud the knight, and the gargoyle that calls everyone Bartholemew has some fun malapropisms to lighten the story. With sprites, omens and a quest for magical objects it seems a bit formulaic, and the map at the front with the five villages making up a whole kingdom looks more like a board game, but it is an entertaining read. The cover art brilliantly captures the feel of the book, what you see is what you get, don’t expect too much more.
Themes Fantasy Gothic romance, Quest, Magic.
Sue Speck
Luna's world: Friendship fail by Hayley Gannon. Illus. by Michelle Conn
Luna and Jade both have lunchtime roles as Little Librarians for Ms Sunny, the librarian. After a rocky start Jade opens up to Luna about monopolizing the circulation desk and taking all the cushy jobs. Tensions rise but ultimately Luna understands why Jade needs to use the scanner for loans and returns. Things are looking up on the friendship front for our neurodiverse protagonist.
Friendship Fail is the second book in the Luna’s world series - we remember Luna to be the epitome of the book loving child. Intelligent and buzzing with ideas and sketches generated by Michelle Conn’s illustrations, Luna is not the most popular or socially confident student and her burgeoning friendship with Jade really gives her a boost. But everything changes when Luna accidently sees one of Jade's birthday party invitations…
Her diary entries reflect her pain as she grapples with her perceived marginalization. The relief teacher and a different routine see Luna struggling with extra stress and she takes off. It is Ms Sunny who locates Luna and calms her and Mum gives her a rest day after she collects her from school.
Hayley Gannon is the creator the irrepressible Luna Merrin, who engenders most of the traits of child bibliophiles. Immersed in the school library setting with its regular patrons, Gannon is actually a qualified teacher librarian. Her writing styles cover several genres, including useful information and facts about books, schools and neurodiversity.
Gannon’s dialogue captures the feelings and antics of young readers through the diary fiction genre and Michelle Conn has fun embellishing Luna's World with sketches, squiggles and large font appropriate and appealing to this middle primary age group.
Themes Friendship, libraries, school, neurodiversity, gifted an talented.
A vivid colourful front cover will attract many eyes as they scan the shelves for a new book. Happily each page inside the covers is filled with the same exuberance, enticing young readers to read or offer it to someone else to read aloud.
Granny is 90 and everyone on Rainbow Street has been invited along to the party. A street party is nothing new to the neighbours, as they always celebrate special birthdays, Halloween, Chinese New Year, Christmas to name a few. Dad and Papa’s table is the first, offering bush tomato soup and lemon myrtle cake, along with fairy bread, sausage rolls and party pies. Next door is Cherry’s best friend, Fern and her mum. Cherry’s family is a rainbow family as she has three homes, one with her dad and grandpa, one with her mum and stepmum, and a third with mum and Felix.
On Chinese New Year, Granny hired a fireworks expert, but when she tried some out for herself, mayhem occurred. Fern’s mum is an expert dumpling maker so they all had dumplings that day. Granny always brings paint to the street parties and the kids can paint over the street. Cherry’s ma is terrific at pavlova and today has cooked a triple decker for granny’s birthday. They still talk about the Halloween party where granny dressed the pram like a spaceship. Next house down has Ajay and his large family. His grandparents have flown out from India and the whole family plays cricket with Cherry and the other children. Ajay’s mum has made tandoori, and crisp popadams, but granny accidentally dropped a tin of red powder for Holi, onto the cat and he ran through the house, colouring everything red.
Mr Amorosi lives by himself and makes the best spaghetti and meatballs, while Granny always dances with him, encouraging everyone to get up and dance.The last table is where Cherry and her mum and mum’s partner sit. He makes the most wonderful ice cream cake. The party is ready, everyone is seated ready to eat the most wonderful food. But where is granny?
This ebullient homage to diversity, to inclusion and to a street of difference will have all readers looking at the detail on each page, smacking their lips over the glorious food, marvelling at the inhabitants of the street, and wonder where granny has got to.
This wonderfully illustrated shuffle is brimming with inclusion and fun, neighbours and family, and will have wide appeal amongst kids eager to try a shared party for themselves.
The title Hedgehog or Echidna? Animals who are the same . . . but different! gives the reader an immediate insight into what the book might be about with its appealing illustrations of the two animals. Turning the page to the rhyming narrative the reader will become engrossed as an echidna meets a hedgehog, saying ‘You look familiar...’ The story then goes on to list the differences between the echidna and hedgehog. The cute illustrations add to the information allowing the reader to visualise the similarities and differences. The echidna is bigger and older and eats ants; the hedgehog lives in a colder climate and has smaller feet. Then the reader is asked to guess if there are any other animals who might get confused and turn the pages to find an alpaca and llama, alligator and crocodile, sea snake and eel, rabbit and hare, sea lion and seal, ostrich and emu, and leopard and cheetah. Unfamiliar creatures like tuatara, ‘200 million years new’ and birds like raven, jackdaw and rook are introduced, with the last pages showing a surprise.
The illustrations are gorgeous, the animals having wonderful expressions on their faces, some showing curiosity and friendship. The alligator and crocodile have huge teeth and scary eyes while the rabbits gather in their cosy burrows. Children will learn about the animals’ habitats by looking closely at the pictures which complement and add to the flowing rhymes. They might have fun trying to think of other animals that are similar and work out why there are no hedgehogs in Australia. Extensive teaching notes will be a boon for teachers who want to pursue the topic more closely.
With its lovely illustrations and accessible rhyming text, Hedgehog or Echidna? is sure to be a hit with young readers and very useful in the classroom.
Themes Similarities, Differences, Animals.
Pat Pledger
Ariana Treasure: The missing book by Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern. Illus. by Karen Erasmus
For those young junior primary children beginning to show more interest in reading early chapter books, this new series Ariana Treasure will provide an excellent stepping stone from classroom readers. With six novels in the series, there is an opportunity for children to become familiar with Ariana and The Treasure Chest – a thrift shop which her mother owns and manages.
In the first story The Missing Book, Alex who is a new boy in town, accidentally purchases a book from The Treasure Chest that Ariana was reading but more importantly it belonged to her beloved grandfather, the original owner of the thrift shop. Ariana and Alex did not quite hit it off when they first met and Alex refuses to part with the book. However, inside the book is a message ‘This book belongs to Mr Treasure at The Treasure Chest. If found, please return. Happy to swap this precious item with an item from The Treasure Chest, the best thrift shop in town!’. Much to Ariana’s delight the next day Alex returns the book and exchanges it for what he really wants.
The vocabulary used in this book is accessible and provides repetition. The text is large; the sentences are simple and well-spaced. This first book was a relatable read about new beginnings and problem solving. The idea of using a thrift shop as a setting will provide a unique experience for some readers or a familiar one for others who visit second hand shops.
Themes Thrift shops, Books, Family, Friends, New Beginnings.
On Gallant Wings features a 13-year-old girl, Ava, who is living with her family and homing pigeons in Darwin. Pigeon Essie is Ava’s favourite. A Japanese family lives next door and their son, Kazuo, is her best and only friend. Ava overhears an argument between her mother and older brother Fred, who lied about his age to join the army. After the bombing at Pearl Harbour, Fred trains in Darwin and later helps set up a pigeon service in Townsville. When most of the civilians leave the town, Ava stays in Darwin with her mother, because her mother is important to the war effort. The military police take Kazuko, his family, and many more Japanese people away in a truck to a holding camp, much to Ava’s dismay. On February 19, 1942, Darwin is bombed, and Ava and her mother are evacuated in a train with the remaining women and children. Desperate to help with the war effort, Ava’s mother joins the military and begins work at the Secret Base. Living by rules is how Ava has always felt safe but when her best friend escapes camp, Ava is faced with the hardest decision of all. Should she report the ‘dangerous’ escapee to the authorities? Or protect a most beloved friend?
I absolutely loved On Gallant Wings. It’s a beautifully written and deeply moving story that stayed with me long after I turned the last page. The main character, Ava, is so brave and real – navigating a world at war with quiet strength and a heart full of love, loyalty, and questions. The friendships, especially between Ava and Kazuo, are touching and powerful, and the way the pigeons are woven into the story adds such a unique and emotional layer.
One of the things I appreciated most was how the story handled complex issues like war, loyalty, prejudice, and doing what’s right – even when it’s incredibly difficult. The historical setting in Darwin during World War II made the story feel even more grounded and impactful.
I’d highly recommend On Gallant Wings to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
Emaan A. (Student)
A wreck of seabirds by Karleah Olson
Fremantle Press, 2025. ISBN: 9781760996505.
Briony’s sister, Sarah disappeared over a year ago and she has struggled with depression and self-blame ever since, so when she sees a boy around her age standing in the sea, weeping she knows he is in a bad place and reaches out to him. Ren has returned to their small seaside town about 2 hours from Perth to be carer for his father who has dementia but his grief is for Sam, his younger brother who was drowned some time earlier. The story is divided into very short chapters; The Shore, Briony and Ren’s story; The Deep, Ren and Sam’s story; and The Shallows, Sarah and friend Aria’s story, stranded on a sinister offshore Island. This layering of time and space enables the reader to understand the characters’ struggles with loneliness, hope, blame and grief. Hope can be worse than knowing, the unanswerable questions are still the same and the comfort of friends and family can be a lifeline from a very dark place. The book is an exercise in “Coastal Gothic” with the two girls stranded on a sinister island but this was the least successful part of the book and ultimately I lost interest in what happened there. The characters of Ren and Briony made up for it, their gently blossoming relationship acknowledging their damaged personalities and need to find themselves a stable place in the world before moving forward. The ending was a disappointment, lacking resolution and it took me until halfway through the book to realise the significance of the chapter headings indicating which thread I was reading, but most of the writing was well worth the effort. A great discussion starter in senior classes or book clubs.
Themes Grief, loss, depression, loneliness.
Sue Speck
Crunch, Kaboom! by Conor Mills and Clodagh Starr. Illus. by Alison Mutton
A big yellow truck on enormous wheels is featured on the cover of Crunch! Kaboom! Mighty Mining Machines, set against an ochre and brown background. Turning to the first page the reader is immediately drawn in with the rhyming text setting the scene for the narrative:
Outside the town, in the heat and the dust, where the sky is bright blue and the earth is like rust, is an iron ore mine that’s bigger than big with mighty machines that blast, drill and dig.
Then follows an expose of all the machines that are used in mining iron ore. There are dump trucks, a drill rig, a truck filled with dangerous goo ready to blast, a grader making safe roads for the machinery and water carts to keep the dust down. An excavator lifts the rocks to the haul truck which takes them to a belt going to the processing plant, and the book finally shows how steel is made using the iron ore and concludes with a list of how steel is used.
Onomatopoeia matches each of the machines (Crunch! Ka-Booom! Vroom Vroom, Chugga Choo) and the rhyming verse and fabulous bright pictures make it very easy for the reader to visualise the mining and production process, one that I found fascinating.
Notes from the publisher give extra information about Conor wanting ‘to write a book that helped parents share what they did for a living – particularly FIFO parents’ and it succeeds brilliantly. And children who love machines will delight in this fabulous book that reads aloud perfectly, while the process of mining for iron ore, its production and use will be a boon for the classroom teacher. Teaching notes and an activity are available from the publisher.
Crunch! Kaboom! Mighty Mining Machines is a wonderful introduction for everone to iron ore production which employs more than 200,000 Australians, while it will be appreciated by young children for its depiction of large trucks and machines.
Themes Mining industry, Trucks, Machinery.
Pat Pledger
The Secret Fairy Club by Emma Roberts, Raahat Kadjuli & Mira Miroslavova
Magic Cat, 2023. ISBN: 9781915569059.
One on my earliest childhood memories is my grandmother sharing Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies with me, as I lay in her big double bed face swollen with the mumps and beyond miserable. Living in Bluff where the next stop is Antarctica, as the waves crashed across the road but the room was warm as because there was a fire in the hearth (it was a long time ago) she read the poems from the book that she had given my mum when she was a child and which I still treasure.
So it is no surprise that despite (or because of) being the only girl growing up amongst eight boys (seven of them were cousins) I grew up in a world of fantasy and fairyland; that my favourite authors were Enid Blyton, Peg Maltby, Shirley Barber, and, of course, Barker herself; and that as soon as I knew I was having a granddaughter, the nursery and later, bedroom, were always going to be a wonderland, shelves full of classic and modern fairy books! Not to mention my obsession with buying Flower Fairy fabric!
My granddaughters were always going to dwell in Fairyland...
And so I was the perfect person to answer the first question in this magical book - A very special society is looking for new recruits to join their number. I don't suppose you'd be interested, would you? They don't say anything about an age limit - just adopt a fairy name (Barbara Freesia) and then read the information about fairies in the book, and collect the badges as I go, then after reciting the ancient oath, find the secret surprise at the end! What could be better for someone who is still that little girl with mumps - or any little one you know who believes?
This is a companion to The Secret Unicorn Club, and is just as enchanting. Its presentation follows a similar format as readers learn about where fairies are found, where they live, what they wear, how they help to protect their world, and culminating in the Fairy Queen's Ball. Information is in manageable chunks and there are plenty of illustrations to pore over. It even has its own secret book hidden away, a story within a story.
Usually my review copies go to local schools but this one will be on that shelf of special books, right beside that one my grandma read to me and The Sun's Babies, a 1910 publication that she, herself, grew up with. Perhaps my granddaughters will value them as much as I do.
Talented First Nations author/illustrator Helen Milroy has created a stunning smaller-sized picture book that shares the story of Cloudmaker, an ancestral being who sees how things are changing and has become disillusioned with his existence. He has created over a passage of time, clouds of all shapes and sizes but the world he exists in has enough clouds now for all eternity.
Cloudmaker now finds his life is lacking purpose and one of his favourite cloud creations, Cirra, feels concern for Cloudmaker’s sadness. Cirra tells stories of the antics of some young clouds and spends time with Cloudmaker trying to cheer him up. When a new planet called Earth forms, Cloudmaker is excited and has a new task to create more clouds for the for the growing planet. He watches and learns about Earth and its growth from the creatures who live there. Cloudmaker begins to feel a sense of purpose and reflects on the legacy he will leave behind.
This is a stunning book both in the story it tells and the striking illustrations. With white text against a predominantly blue background until the creation of Earth where bold, vibrant colours are introduced, the thoughtful use of glossy paper adds to the overall appeal.
Many readers both young and old will have childhood memories of wondering about clouds or even lying down and finding shapes in the clouds. This imaginative story will complement those actions and feelings and add another layer to the mystery of clouds. A fabulous read.
Themes First Nations, Creation, Connection, Nature, Clouds, Destiny, Imagination.
