I loved the first book in this spellbinding series and was super excited to read book number two which 'flies' into Australian bookshops at the beginning of February. So with a large bag of fluffmallows and some fizzy skullsquigglers on hand I dived right in…

Bea Black has settled into life in Little Spellshire and is gradually channeling her inner-witch at the local school for extraordinary people. She’s even getting to grips with levitation…finally! It’s exciting times, with the Grand Tournament and the Winter Solstice quickly approaching.

But after a minor frog-related mishap, Ms Sparks announces that the Grand Tournament will be replaced with an ordinary sports day against the local ordinary school, urgh. With magic not allowed, tensions mounting and everyone desperate to win, can Bea avoid being a total toadbrain…

The first in an exciting new series of watery adventures that brings Emily Windsnap, the half-mermaid, to a younger audience. So what are you waiting for, dive in!

Although she lives on a houseboat, Emily Windsnap has never learnt how to swim. She is desperate to glide through the ocean like the other kids but her mother has always warned against the idea. School swimming lessons mean her dream might finally come true but when she gets into the water something very strange happens and it feels like her legs are stuck together. The instructor is sure that it is just cramp but Emily isn’t so sure and a night-time swim in the ocean will lead to a very big discovery…

This is the third book in the ‘Welcome to Our Country’ collection, a series of titles produced by Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing and David Hardy.

Lucy and David live in Australia and today they are going on a very special trip to see and learn about where their nanna comes from. The children are going Back on Country. There are cousins and elders to meet, special and important places to see, new words and phrases to learn and understand, stories to be told and memories to be made that will last a lifetime…

I remember my dad once telling me about a book called The Day of the Triffids written by John Wyndham. I have never read it but from what I understand it is about some very dangerous triffids who threaten the human race. In Alex Evelyn’s debut children’s book there is a green-fingered baddie who is unleashing her own genetically modified plants into the world and threatening human existence once again.

Ten-year-old wild child Fern is used to life in the rainforest where she gets to run, climb, explore and talk to the plants that she calls her friends. When her parents ship her off to England to live with her eccentric uncle she is utterly miffed. Then she discovers that strange things are happening all over the city. Is the mysterious guerrilla gardener starting a green revolution? Along with her new plant ‘Special’ and botanophobe Woody, Fern sets out to uncover the mystery…

David Long, winner of the Blue Peter Book Award, and Stefano Tambellini combine their considerable talents again to bring two more incredible stories to life. Tutankhamun’s Treasure: Discovering the Secret Tomb of Egypt’s Ancient King and Everest: Reaching the Roof of the World are the latest titles in a superb selection of non-fiction historical reads that form part of the ‘Incredible True Stories’ series and now add up to a four book collection with Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission and The Sinking of the Titanic.

The 'Little Gems’ series are perfect for emerging and newly independent readers and are guaranteed to be a hit with children of five plus. Created by some of the most talented children’s authors and illustrators around, these fabulous reads feature vibrant illustrations, short chapters, bonus content (mazes, spot the differences, jokes) can often be found inside the front and back covers and are perfectly sized for small hands. Crucially, Barrington Stoke’s titles are accessible to all as they are published using dyslexic friendly font and colours.

‘This is our Sydney, the brightest and best of it,
North to the south to the east and the west of it.
Bats and cicadas, lawn bowls and the zoo,
This is our town. Let us share it with you.’

It has been ten years since friends and Sydney locals Antonia Pesenti and Hilary Bell took readers on a lovingly-created and fun-filled adventure around of one of Australia’s most-beloved cities. To celebrate the birthday, a special edition of Alphabetical Sydney has hit the shelves and if you don’t have it yet then now is the perfect time to grab a copy.

Being the youngest of five siblings isn’’t going too well for Bob Bunyon, especially when everyone in the family has been blessed with creative genius…dad plays the banjo, mum dreams up nature poems, and his siblings merrily dance, bake, sing and juggle their way through life. On the contrary, Bob is a normal boy who excels at watching TV, eating Hula Hoops, hanging out with his best friend Bill, and whose creative talents extend as far as creating pathetic animal sculptures out of mashed potato.

When Bob finally cracks it and wishes that his family would disappear, he didn’t expect it to actually happen. Have they been abducted by aliens? Is he the only survivor of a zombie invasion? Or has he turned into an evil genius with incredible superpowers? A more logical explanation points to Farmer Munty’s farm and the Green Yon Gathering. All Bob needs to do is get there. Simple, right…

The name Olaudah Equiano may not be familiar to you, it certainly wasn’t to me. But it is now a name that I will never forget. His life is one that everyone should know about and whilst adults can learn about Ola in his bestselling autobiography that is widely read today - over two-hundred years after its initial publication - children can now become familiar with an adventurer, activist and author thanks to Catherine Johnson’s remarkable historical non-fiction narrative.

Born in 1745 in Essaka (a town in modern Nigeria), Africa, Olaudah Equiano was a happy child; playing with his siblings, enjoying family meals and listening to the elders. Life changed dramatically the day the men with the guns turned up. Kidnapped and then sold like a bag of flour, Ola would spend many years working as a slave at the hand of brutal masters. A dream of freedom never diminished though and a deal offered the opportunity for a different life. The value placed on a life in exchange for freedom…forty pounds. But could a slave really buy their way to freedom and truly live as a free man…

1943; war rages across Europe. In the Netherlands, the Dutch people live in fear under the ever watchful eyes of German soldiers who seek out Jews and others deemed ‘undesirable’ by the Nazi regime. In the small town of Velp, Edda and her family do their best to live under the radar. With little food, no fuel for fires and with the constant threat of capture, or worse, life is grim.

Stirring quietly, a brave group of people are doing what they can to resist the Nazis and aid the Allied war efforts. The Dutch resistance are fighting back and after her uncle is savagely murdered and her brother is sent to a labour camp, Edda is determined to fight too. Risking everything, she will do whatever she can to stop the Nazis and to help liberate her town and country…