Books are powerful tools for educating and empowering children about the histories, achievements and ongoing contributions of First Nations peoples to Australian society, writes reviewer Emerson Zerafa-Payne The best books are those written by First Nations authors that authentically recognise and celebrate culture. Often, they are...
Maxine Clarke takes up arms against the negative stereotypes and dubious role models in fairytales and children’s nursery rhymes. As a young child, I was always highly suspicious of fairytales. Not because I knew they were fantasy but because I realised, at least on some level,...
Librarians have good reasons to ‘weed’ books from their shelves, report Sarah Polkinghorn and Lisa M. Given Earlier this year, the removal of thousands of books to make room for renovations at Melbourne’s City Library prompted an outcry. Removing the books was “an absolute act of...
In preparation for her first pregnancy, Helen Kronberger ploughed through every parenting book available, but these days, she is a little more selective in her reading. The first time around, I treated my due date for giving birth like the date of a major exam. I...
Parenting educator and mum of four Gen Muir has helped thousands of families dealing with strong emotions and challenging behaviour in young kids Fancy eating, bedtime battles, school refusal, public meltdowns, sibling rivalry? Gen shows you how to work with your child through these issues without losing...
A Sydney council tried to ban books with same-sex parents from its libraries. But since when did councils ban books? asks Sarah Mokrzycki Western Sydney’s Cumberland city council recently reinstated a ban on all books depicting same-sex parents in its eight public libraries, after banning a book...
It's always hard to find interesting books for older readers because as they grow, they develop different interests and reading levels. It's also important to keep them interested and enjoying reading, particularly for older boys. Birdy by Sharon Kernot, pub. Text Publishing, p/b RRP$ 22.99. Ages...
Setting aside time to read during the week can be challenging. Fortunately, you only need 20 to 30 minutes of reading a day to boost your child’s literacy—and it’s up to you how you want to structure it! Here are six expert-backed ways to read as...
Here are some wonderful picture books written by Aussie authors just for the under threes. The illustrations in these books show just how talented children's book illustrators (and authors) are! My Dream for You by Ash Barty & Jasmin McGaughey, illus. by Jade Goodwin, pub. HarperCollins h/b...
It's great that so many of our books for small children have won Awards for their authors and their illustrators. Most authors will tell you it's hard to keep writing fresh books for kids that keep them interested and thinking about their world. Happy All Over by...
