Aussie Kids Books

Hooray for a new quality series of chapter books for newly independent readers! It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Melina Marchetta since I fell in love with Looking for Alibrandi, a YA novel which so beautifully and honestly portrayed the Italian family in Australia experience, and the rawness of adolescence, in a way nobody had done before. And now Marchetta has produced a new series for younger readers (5-7 years) about the high-spirited Zola, who lives with her mum a

This beautifully illustrated book, comprised of three linked short stories, is multi-layered. On one level it can be read as a story about the way in which the curious and friendly Willy Wagtail, through learning the different languages of the animals living in surrounding bushland, encourages the ‘bush mob’ to work together to save the community when devastating bushfires hit. On another level, this story illuminates the importance of learning about and preserving First Nati