Category Archives: Fiction

Posts about novels and other fiction titles

Celebrating Fiction: The Best Page Turners on the Market

2021, Author, Books of the World, Characters, Fiction, New authors, New Release, Recommended, something new, Top Books, , , , , , , , , ,

The chilly Winter weather seems like it is definitely here to stay, and if you’re like us and based in Melbourne, we will be starting this season snuggled up at home keeping safe. We try to keep an optimistic mindset and are taking this latest lockdown as an opportunity to read as many new books as we possibly can. We normally binge read over summer at the beach, but there is also something lovely about being curled up in an armchair with a cup of tea and some page-turning fiction for company.

Here are six of the latest titles hitting the market now.

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium’, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word ‘bondmaid’ flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world. Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words. Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, this book reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his new wife, Hannah: protect her. Hannah knows exactly who Owen needs her to protect – his sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. And who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother. As her increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, his boss is arrested for fraud and the police start questioning her, Hannah realises that her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey might hold the key to discovering Owen’s true identity, and why he disappeared. Together they set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realise that their lives will never be the same again.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?

Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss

Gundagai, 1852 The powerful Murrumbidgee River surges through town leaving death and destruction in its wake. It is a stark reminder that while the river can give life, it can just as easily take it away. Wagadhaany is one of the lucky ones. She survives. But is her life now better than the fate she escaped? Forced to move away from her miyagan, she walks through each day with no trace of dance in her step, her broken heart forever calling her back home to Gundagai. When she meets Wiradyuri stockman Yindyamarra, Wagadhaany’s heart slowly begins to heal. But still, she dreams of a better life, away from the degradation of being owned. She longs to set out along the river of her ancestors, in search of lost family and country. Can she find the courage to defy the White man’s law? And if she does, will it bring hope … or heartache? Set on timeless Wiradyuri country, where the life-giving waters of the rivers can make or break dreams, and based on devastating true events, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (River of Dreams) is an epic story of love, loss and belonging.

The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in rural Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed. But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier. Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with four hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship… Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly, is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?

How To Mend A Broken Heart by Rachael Johns

Summer in New Orleans means hot days, long nights, spooky stories and surprising new beginnings. Felicity Bell has struggled to move on after her marriage broke down. Her ex has found love again, her children have their own lives, and it’s beginning to feel like her only comfort comes from her dog and her job as a taxidermist. So when Flick gets an offer to work in New Orleans for a few months, she’s drawn to the chance to make a fresh start. Zoe is ready to start a family with her husband, but when he betrays her, she’s left shattered and desperate for a change of scenery. Joining her mother on the other side of the world to drown her sorrows seems the perfect solution. Although both mother and daughter are wary of risking their hearts to love again, Theo, a jazz bar owner, and Jack, a local ghost hunter, offer fun, friendship and distraction. But all is not as it seems in New Orleans…A chance meeting with Aurelia, a reclusive artist who surprises them with lessons from her life, prompts Flick and Zoe to reassess what they want too. Can all three women learn from the past in order to embrace their future? An uplifting novel about three women joyously learning to move on after heartbreak by the bestselling author of The Patterson Girls and Flying The Nest.

Enjoy!

Australia’s Top Six Bestselling Books for Winter

2021, Author, Books of the World, Characters, Comedy, Fiction, leisure time, My Next Read, New authors, New Release, Non-fiction, Personal development, Recommended, Top Books, Winter reading

Winter is inching closer and in an effort to help with your hibernation during those chilly days we have gathered up the best selling books in Australia to pop onto your bookshelves and read this Winter. 

So make yourself a cup of hot cocoa and settle in, you’re going to enjoy this list. If you have any recommendations, we’d also love to hear from you. Be sure to follow us on social media (our facebook link is here, instagram is here, and twitter is here), we also have a newsletter that you can subscribe to by logging into your account here, and of course, feel feel free to comment below. 

Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz

Dead girls don’t usually get to tell their story, but Alice Lee has always been a different type of girl. When she arrives in New York on her eighteenth birthday, carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen Leica in her bag, Alice is a plucky teenager looking to start a new life away from her dark past. Now she’s ‘Jane Doe’, ‘Riverside Jane’, an unidentified body on a slab at City Morgue. Newspaper headlines briefly report that ‘the body was discovered by a jogger’. Ruby Jones is a lonely Australian woman trying to put distance between herself and a destructive relationship back home, and is struggling in the aftermath of being the person to find Alice’s body. When she encounters Death Club, a small group of misfits who meet at bars around the city to discuss death and dying, she finds a safe space to explore her increasing obsession with the girl and her unidentified killer. Alice, seemingly stuck between life and death, narrates Ruby’s story, hoping that this woman will help her come to terms with what happened and assist in identifying her body. From this first devastating encounter, an enduring connection between the two women is formed. One that will eventually lead to the man who murdered Alice …

Turns Out, I’m Fine by Judith Lucy

Judith Lucy was just Great! Sure, the last remaining member of her immediate family had died, she was menopausal, she suspected her career was in the shitter and it seemed like the world was going to hell in a handbasket – but she was about to move in with the love of her life! Everything would work out because SHE HAD A MAN. Then, in the space of twenty-four hours, her relationship came apart and so did she. A broken heart became the catalyst for a complete existential melt down. She was nearly fifty, suddenly alone and unsure about every aspect of her life. How had this happened? Should she blame one of her four parents? What part had the comedy world played and was her disastrous history with men about more than just bad taste? In her most candid and insightful book yet, Judith figures out what went wrong and then turns her attention to finding out what her life might look like if it went right. She tries everything from dating a tree to getting a portrait of her vulva done to swimming with a whale shark. Thanks to a series of revelations and a slight drowning experience, Judith slowly starts to realise that her life is still full of possibilities and despite death, heartache and a dry vagina it turns out … she’s fine.

Accidental Weatherman by Sam Mac

The Accidental Weatherman is the story of what happens when a hilarious Adelaide boy who knows nothing about meteorology scores the coveted weatherman gig on the highest rating breakfast TV show in Australia. As the Sunrise weatherman, Sam Mac has bungee jumped, swum with sharks, got his cat on the cover of Pussweek magazine, taken his mum to the Logies when he was nominated for gold, stripped naked for The Real Full Monty and even recorded a song with The Wiggles. But, ultimately, his job is about people – from primary schoolers to pensioners, Sam’s gift is how he connects with them all. He uses heart and humour in his role on Sunrise to introduce viewers to the true characters of Australia. He prides himself on bringing awareness to causes such as mental health and animal rescue, and on championing underdogs who might need a hand up or a shout out. His genuine nature and open-book approach to social media has won him hundreds of thousands of fans along the way – although even he would admit that many of them only like him for his cat Coco (who is rapidly catching up to him in Instagram followers). After presenting more than 25 000 minutes of live TV in over 800 different Australian towns, Sam really has seen the absolute best of Australia, and it’s brought out the best in him.

The Truth About Her by Jacqueline Maley

How can you write other people’s stories, when you won’t admit the truth of your own? An absorbing, moving, ruefully tender, witty and wise novel of marriage, motherhood and the paths we navigate through both, for fans of Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler. Journalist and single mother Suzy Hamilton gets a phone call one summer morning, and finds out that the subject of one of her investigative exposes, 25-year-old wellness blogger Tracey Doran, has killed herself overnight. Suzy is horrified by this news but copes in the only way she knows how – through work, mothering, and carrying on with her ill-advised, tandem affairs.The consequences of her actions catch up with Suzy over the course of a sticky Sydney summer. She starts receiving anonymous vindictive letters and is pursued by Tracey’s mother wanting her, as a kind of rough justice, to tell Tracey’s story, but this time, the right way. A tender, absorbing, intelligent and moving exploration of guilt, shame, female anger, and, in particular, mothering, with all its trouble and treasure, The Truth About Her is mostly though a story about the nature of stories – who owns them, who gets to tell them, and why we need them.

The Duke and I : Bridgerton Book 1 by Julia Quinn

Bridgerton is a period drama like no other and was a massive hit on tv. Like all great movies and series, it started with a humble book. 

By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend’s sister—the lovely and almost-on-the-shelf—Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth—it’s all an elaborate ruse to keep Simon free from marriage-minded society mothers. And as for Daphne, surely she will attract some worthy suitors now that it seems a duke has declared her desirable.

But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, it’s hard to remember that their courtship is a sham. Maybe it’s his devilish smile, certainly it’s the way his eyes seem to burn every time he looks at her . . . but somehow Daphne is falling for the dashing duke . . . for real! And now she must do the impossible and convince the handsome rogue that their clever little scheme deserves a slight alteration, and that nothing makes quite as much sense as falling in love.

Can’t get enough? You can get the whole set of Bridgerton books here. 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Who said old age has to be dull? In a peaceful retirement village off the A21 in Kent, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved killings. But when a local property developer shows up dead, ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be octogenarians, but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late? A page-turning murder mystery in the tradition of Christie, and a joyful, laugh-out-loud celebration of modern Britishness and the power of friendship, The Thursday Murder Club is a true classic in the making.

The second book in this series is also out. You can find more about it here. 

Enjoy!

Winter reads that we are super excited about – 6 books to preorder now

2021, Comedy, Fashion, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, My Next Read, New authors, New Release, Non-fiction, Personal development, Pre Order, Recommended, something new, Top Books, , , , , , ,

The mornings are becoming rather brisk and the sun is starting to set a little earlier which means winter is well and truly on its way. There is nothing we enjoy more in winter than creating a cosy spot to sit at home with a great book and a warm cup of tea. There’s just something magical, and totally expected,  about snuggling up with a book and shutting off the world for a few hours. We have rustled up six brilliant titles that we are super excited to add to our winter reading pile. 

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale, from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets, to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar.

Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity. As a species, we are both far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough, a paradox that came into sharp focus as we faced a global pandemic that both separated us and bound us together.

John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is a open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.

Julia Morris makes it easy by Julia Morris

Julia Morris Makes it easy is hilariously half-baked life advice from yet another deluded celebrity.  Welcome to Julia Morris’s immaculately conceived EASY system: a crackpot satire on celebrity self-help culture. Julia will help you figure out the stuff you don’t need to do, cut down on the crapola you’ve decided you don’t want to do, make the stuff you absolutely have to do a breeze, and ensure you enjoy the whole lot. Brace yourself for a deluge of slacker life hacks, nice-but-not-very-bright advice and life-changing inspiration on: Making It All About You, Getting Shallow, The Importance of Always Proving Your Point, The Joy of Ex-cuses, Achieving Blind Self-confidence, How to (Not) Get Shit Done, Judging Others, The Power of Negative Thinking, The Zero Habits of Highly Ineffective People, How to Say Yes, Then Cancel, Complaining and Comsplaining. Disclaimer: if you think this book is going to be like other celebrity self-help books, think again.

Semi Gloss: Magazines, motherhood and misadventures in having it all by Justine Cullen

This is not a self-help book, a memoir, or the Australian Devil Wears Prada. In her collection of autobiographical essays, Justine Cullen takes us on a journey of motherhood, (mis) adventures and mayhem in a hilariously candid exploration of her life’s achievements and all the mistakes she made to get there. Semi-Gloss is an intimate, sharp and witty look of a woman who from the outside looks like she has it all together, the job, the partner, the house, the kids, when in reality she has come to the conclusion that your forties is the decade when you finally realise beyond all doubt that all you know for sure is that you know literally nothing at all.

Yearbook by Seth Rogen

Yearbook comes with the best blurb on the internet so we are going to insert it here and let Seth describe the book himself…

Yearbook is a collection of funny personal essays from one of the writers of Superbad and Pineapple Express and one of the producers of The Disaster Artist, Neighbors, and The Boys. (All of these words have been added to help this book show up in people’s searches using the wonders of algorithmic technology. Thanks for bearing with us!) Hi! I’m Seth! I was asked to describe my book, Yearbook, for the inside flap (which is a gross phrase) and for websites and shit like that, so… here it goes!!! Yearbook is a collection of true stories that I desperately hope are just funny at worst, and life-changingly amazing at best. (I understand that it’s likely the former, which is a fancy “book” way of saying “the first one.”) I talk about my grandparents, doing stand-up comedy as a teenager, bar mitzvahs, and Jewish summer camp, and tell way more stories about doing drugs than my mother would like. I also talk about some of my adventures in Los Angeles, and surely say things about other famous people that will create a wildly awkward conversation for me at a party one day. I hope you enjoy the book should you buy it, and if you don’t enjoy it, I’m sorry. If you ever see me on the street and explain the situation, I’ll do my best to make it up to you.

In My Defence, I Have No Defence by Sinead Stubbins

Sinead Stubbins has always known that there was a better version of herself lying just outside of her grasp. That if she listened to the right song or won the right (any) award or knew about whisky or followed the right Instagram psychologist or drank kombucha, ever, or enacted the correct 70-step Korean skincare regime, she would become her ‘best self’. In My Defence, I Have No Defence raises the white flag on trying to live up to impossible standards. Wild and funny and wickedly relatable, it is one woman’s reckoning with her complete inability to self-improve and a hilarious reprieve for anyone who has ever struggled to be better. This is the comfort read of the year from Australia’s most exciting new comedy writer.

No One Listens to Your Dad’s Show by Christian O’Connell

As a radio DJ in London, Christian O’Connell looked like he had it all. He held the No.1 spot nationally, and had a faithful audience of millions who’d listened to him for years. Celebrities flocked to come on his show, and his quirky, funny, honest format was studied, dissected and imitated by a host of rivals. But not everything was as it looked. Christian was struggling with where his life was going. A series of panic attacks, a close encounter with a rubbish bin and a full-blown mid-life crisis forced him into a life-changing decision. He was going to quit his job, and travel to the other side of the world where absolute no-one knew him, and take on the toughest radio market in the world – Australia. No-one Listens to Your Dad’s Show is the hilarious, revealing and surprisingly moving story of what happens when Christian risks everything by uprooting his wife, two teenage daughters and his dog to move to Australia. A complete unknown in a country where, he soon finds out, no-one wants to hear him on the radio.


Enjoy!

Awesome YA Fiction – New and Coming Soon!

2021, Fiction, New Release, Young Adult,

YA (Young Adult) fiction has been, and continues to be, arguably the most vibrant and interesting book category around. What makes it so special? YA tends to be plot-driven (and thus is a popular source of film adaptations); YA is socially aware, often exploring socio-political issues including racism, bigotry and authoritarianism; and YA is working hard at inclusion, in both authorship as well as the stories they tell. Newer YA often includes casts with diverse ethnicity, gender, sexuality and physical- and neuro-abilities. Here are some great examples of such fresh, diverse stories:

Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
Five years ago, Wendy and her younger brothers disappeared in the woods near her home in rural Oregon; six months later, she was the only one to return, without any memory of what happened.  When children start disappearing again, Peter Pan (is he real, or just a figment of Wendy’s imagination?) appears, and recruits Wendy to help save the children. Lost in the Never Woods is a dark retelling of Peter Pan; not only is it an atmospheric mystery-adventure, it is also a heartbreaking depiction of grief, loss, and guilt.

Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim
It’s all in the little details: #ownvoices stories about Asian Australians always jolt me with a strong sense of recognition – an authenticity and depth of understanding borne of lived experience. So, too, does Tiger Daughter, the story of 14-year-old Wen and her friend Henry, both children of Chinese migrants trying to find a way out of difficult familial, cultural and societal expectations. Rebecca Lim has also used Wen and Henry’s stories to explore complex issues including racism, misogyny, financial and domestic abuse, and cultural diversity. A deeply moving and ultimately hopeful story.

The Gaps by Leanne Hall
Leanne Hall has drawn upon the “Mr Cruel” cases – a series of famously unsolved child abductions from her hometown – to create the moody setting of The Gaps.  The abduction of 16 year-old Yin shocks the whole of her all-girls’ school.  Two students caught in the swirl of unease are Chloe, a scholarship student who feels like an outsider, and Natalia, the queen-bee; they form an uneasy alliance as they witness the fear, rumours and grief that grows with each passing day.  The Gaps interweaves a haunting thriller with sharp observations about the relationships, vulnerabilities and strengths of teen girlhood.

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
It’s 1828, and in an alternative-Paris, there is famine and suffering after the French Revolution has failed. While the royals rule by day, it’s the criminals who rule by night – formed into guilds collectively called the Court of Miracles. Young Eponine (Nina) is a cat burglar who joins the Thieves’ Guild with the secret goal of rescuing her sister from slavery; as she rises up through the ranks, she desperately tries to keep her protégé, Cosette, safe while seeking to destroy the Miracle Court from within. With strong female characters, a vivid juxtaposition of the glittering and the seedy, and plenty of familiar names, The Court of Miracles is a dazzlingly inventive riff on Les Misérables.

Bruised by Tanya Boteju
The high-energy world of roller derby provides a colourful backdrop to the sometimes confronting story of Daya, an 18-year-old whose parents died in a car crash.  Daya enjoys the rough-and-tumble of roller derby – getting bruises helps her keep the hurt on the surface, so she doesn’t have to deal with the ache in her heart.  As she is further drawn into the sport, its diverse and inclusive community helps her understand herself, moving towards acceptance and emotional healing.  Bruised contains mature themes related to emotional trauma and self-harm and is recommended for ages 14+.

The Theft of Sunlight (The Dauntless Path: Book 2), by Intisar Khanani
The Theft of Sunlight introduces a smart and loyal heroine – Rae, who is disabled – in a tale full of political and magical intrigue.  When her best friend’s sister is snatched by child traffickers, Rae decides to fight back against this age-old practice.  She seizes an opportunity to visit the royal court, and there finds an ally in Princess Alyrra – thus continuing the story started in Thorn.  As Rae fights against corruption and danger, she learns to accept herself and overcome internalised shame.  The fast pace and immersive worldbuilding will leave you desperately awaiting the next (and final) book in the series!

Celebrating Australian Children’s Stories

2021, Australian Stories, Author, Awards, Characters, Children, Community, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, Ideas, Illustration, Learning, New Release, Recommended, Students, Top Books, Writing, Young Adult, , , , , , , , , , ,

Australians are spoilt for choice when it comes to children’s literature – Aussie authors have been punching above their weight for decades, creating iconic works, and winning literature awards from around the world.  From Ivan Southall, Libby Hathorn and Mem Fox; to Bob Graham, Shaun Tan, Sonya Hartnett, Philip Bunting and many more, Australian authors have been capturing funny, beautiful and distinctly Australian stories for and about our children.  Here are some latest ones worth celebrating, from both established and emerging authors:

My Shadow is Pink by Scott Stuart

This warm story about a father-and-son uses lively rhymes to introduce big topics to a young audience – being true to yourself, challenging stereotypes, and celebrating differences. Our main character is a young boy with a pink shadow – unlike the rest of his manly relatives, whose shadows are blue. His pink shadow loves ponies and sparkles and things “not for boys”, which worries the boy because he so wants to fit in. One fateful dressup day, everything changed… Scott Stuart wrote this story based on his experiences supporting his young son, who loves the character Elsa from Disney’s Frozen. He now actively promotes self-expression and challenges gender stereotypes as an author/illustrator and via Tiktok.

Hello Jimmy! by Anna Walker

Hello, Jimmy! works on so many different levels – it is a warm story about a father-and-son rediscovering their emotional connection to each other; it is a sensitive portrayal of a family going through separation, and is a good conversation starter about sadness, loneliness, navigating change, and diverse families; and Jimmy the parrot , being a cranky and irrepressible character, makes this a lively read-aloud. Once again, Anna Walker has taken familiar events from daily life, and used her distinctive style to create jewel-like moments brimming with drama and emotion.

Sing Me the Summer by Jane Godwin and Alison Lester

What a partnership!  Jane Godwin and Alison Lester are successful and beloved authors in their own right; in Sing Me the Summer they have combined their powers to produced a wonderful ode to the seasons.  The gentle rhymes and bright pictures celebrate the changing colours and fun activities of different seasons – picnicking on the beach, stomping through fallen leaves, bonfires on cold nights, and playing in lush springtime grass.  Also watch out for cameo appearances by beloved characters Noni the Pony, and My Dog Bigsy!

The Fire Wombat by Jackie French and Danny Snell

Jackie French knows a lot about wombats, as her bestselling Diary of a Wombat series can attest.  The story of Fire Wombat was inspired by a wombat she saw during the devastating 2020 bushfires.  In the hot dry countryside, the bush animals can see and sense the encroaching smoke and flames.  Led by a small wombat, they eventually find safety in the cool underground tunnels of a wombat burrow.  Fire Wombat has vivid imagery and is an ultimately hopeful story about resilience, courage and friendship.  It is also a great conversation starter about bushfires and their aftermath.

Our Home, Our Heartbeat by Adam Briggs, Kate Moon and Rachael Sarra

Our Home, Our Heartbeat celebrates Indigenous achievements across different eras, professions and communities.  Adam Briggs, better known as Briggs, is a rapper/comedian/writer/actor from the Yorta Yorta nation.  He wrote this story, based on his song “The Children Came Back”, to normalise Indigenous success, inspiring and informing all children of the contribution of Indigenous people to Australia.  Like many of great stories, this is one Briggs wished he had when he was growing up.  The vibrant illustrations show children doing the things they love, and convey a huge sense of fun and energy.

Bluey: The Creek by Bluey

Bluey is the little Aussie series turned worldwide phenomenon, for all the best reasons.  It has been praised for its relatable characters, realistic storylines, and for healthy depictions of emotions, gender identity and parenting behaviours – and last but not least, for being funny and adorable!  The Creek is inspired by an episode of the same name.  When Dad takes Bluey, Bingo and Mackenzie to the creek to play, they discover that it is a beautiful place with lots to discover and explore.  Enjoy the story for itself, or use it to inspire your little ones to enjoy and investigate nature.