Check out the fresh new recommended reads for the big little kids below. What’s your child’s favourite book at the moment? Let us know!
Billie B Brown: The Grumpy Neighbour, The Hat Parade & The Honey Bees
Billie B Brown is brave, brilliant and bold, and the star of her very own super-dooper early-reader series. Whether she is playing soccer, building a beehive, or showing off her handmade hats, fun and feisty Billie B Brown always has a creative way to save the day.
Join Billie in these three new adventures.
Lost Wonders, by Sarah Ell, illustrated by Phoebe Morris
New Zealand’s dinosaurs and the giant gecko are long gone. As are the moa, piopio, huia and laughing owl, and native fish the grayling; extinct since human habitation. Some species have been lost and found such as the takahe, taiko, Tecomanthe speciosa and the weevils of Canterbury. And many are at risk of extinction – the kakapo, kaki, Maui’s dolphin, kauri and whitebait.
Lost Wonders tells the stories of these fascinating creatures – bird, insects, reptiles and plants – in an entertaining and accessible style, supported with useful illustrations. Drawing on accounts of their demise, and of the social climate in New Zealand in which these extinctions occurred, Lost Wonders also features some key species which are on the brink – critically endangered – and the efforts that are being made to save them for future generations.
For ages 8-12.
Pretty Funny, by Rebecca Elliott
Does anyone ever really want to ‘fall’ in love? Knowing me I’ll just trip over it and graze my knee on the gravel of humiliation.
Haylah Swinton is fairly confident she’s brilliant at being a girl. She’s an ace best friend, a loving daughter, and an INCREDIBLY patient sister to her four-year-old total nutter of a brother, Noah.
But she has a secret. She wants to be a stand-up comedian, but she’s pretty sure girls like her – big girls, girls who don’t get all the boys, girls who a lot of people don’t see – don’t belong on stage.
That hasn’t stopped her dreaming though, and when the seemingly perfect opportunity to write routines for older, cooler, impossibly funny Leo arises . . . well, what’s a girl to do? But is Leo quite an interested in helping Haylah as he says he is?
Will Haylah ever find the courage to step into the spotlight herself? And when oh when will people stop telling her she’s ‘funny for a girl’?!
The Chicken’s Curse, by Frances Watts
Felix and Livia are two runaways who are being pursued across the Roman empire, from the darkest, dampest corner of Gaul to the dry, desert sands of Tadmor. They must reach Rome by the Ides of April to rescue Livia’s brother before he is sent into the arena to do battle with lions – and perhaps a vicious ostrich or two! Along the way, the pair are helped (and hindered) by a selfish sacred chicken, a foolish camel and a grumpy magic carper as they encounter bandits, a shipwreck and a false accusation. Will they save Livia’s brother in time, or will they all fall victim to the chicken’s curse?
For ages 8-12.
Ben Braver and the Vortex of Doom: The Super Life of Ben Braver 3, by Marcus Emerson
Ben Braver has one day to save the world.
The students of Kepler Academy are under threat…again. And, this time, so is the rest of the world. ben Braver might just be humanity’s only hope.
Ben will have to overcome all kinds of enemies, including a reckless time-traveller, the Abandoned Children and The Reaper. But not everyone is who they seem – and when Ben finally gets his superpower, will he learn to use it in time to save everyone from total destruction?
Ben Braver is no match for a band of super villains-is he?
ANZAC Girl: The War Diaries of Alice Ross-King, by Kate Simpson, illustrated by Jess Racklyeft
It was 1914 when Sister Alice Ross-King left Australia for the war. Nursing was her passion-all she had ever wanted to do. But Alice couldn’t have imagined what she would see. She served four long years and was brave, humble and endlessly compassionate. Using extracts from Alice’s actual diaries kept in the Australian War Memorial, this story captures the danger, the heartache and the history of the young nurse who would one day become the most decorated woman in Australia.
For ages 6-10.
Unicorn Academy: Isla and Buttercup, by Julie Sykes, illustrated by Lucy Truman
When your best friend is a unicorn, magical adventures are guaranteed! Isla, her unicorn Buttercup, and their friends are determined to find evil Ms Willow before she can drain any more magic into the Frozen Lake. But Valentina is behaving oddly, and it’s not just because the head of the academy is her aunt. Does she know something about Ms Willow that the others don’t?
For ages 7+.
The Monster in the Lake, by Louie Stowell, illustrated by Davide Ortu
Kit is a wizard. The youngest wizard in the world, in fact. But her magic keeps going wrong, and all kinds of weird stuff has started happening – exploding fireballs, animals talking when they shouldn’t be, and a very strange new arrival in a nearby park. So, Kit and her two best friends along with their local librarian set off to investigate, and to save the world…again. The funny, exciting, action-packed sequel to The Dragon in the Library.
For ages 7-9.
Wigglesbottom Primary: Break-Time Bunnies, by Pamela Butchart, illustrated by Becka Moor
Everything is chaos in Year 2! An unexpected visitor, a bewitched violin and an invasion of bunnies! What can it all mean? There is laugh out loud, school-based fun in these new short stories from the popular Wigglesbottom series, perfect for encouraging independent reading.
For ages 5-7.
The Great Big Brain Book, by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Ros Asquith
Your brain is absolutely amazing! It is responsible for absolutely every single thing you do. From how they create our memories, to how they help us learn new things and what happens to them when we are asleep, get ready to uncover lots of fascinating facts. And don’t forget to look out for the friendly cat on every page helping you to learn all about our wonderful brains!
For ages 5-8.
Fire in the Star, by Kamilla Benko
Claire Martinson has always depended on her older sister, Sophie, to take care of her. Now it’s Claire’s turn to protect her sister. On the trail of the last unicorn, Claire sets off on her own to make things right in Arden – the magical land she and her sister discovered when they climbed their great-aunt’s chimney. But there are terrible forces working against her. The thrilling third book in the series.
For ages 9-11.
Super Cats V Maximus Fang, by Gwyneth Rees
Cats with superpowers! This brand-new series is every young animal lover’s dream come true.
Now that Tagg and Sugarfoot have developed their superpowers, they are recruited for a special mission by Topaz Top Cat. They’ve just heard that an evil supervillain is back in town and that can only mean one thing – he is going to break his partner in crime out of prison and finish one last devious job. The super cats have to stop them!
For ages 7-9.
