Books to cherish every day
It’s publication day for our new junior fiction title, Escape from Sherwood, and we’re excited! Written by Beattie Alvarez and illustrated by David Allan, it’s a fabulous, twisty, action-packed story that will have young readers on the edge of their seats! And it’s the perfect stocking stuffer for Christmas too 🙂 Available in all good bookshops.
Congratulations to Beattie and David, and here’s to Escape from Sherwood!
There are two fabulous new reviews of Sophie Masson and Laura Wood’s fabulous little chapterbook, Sabina and the Cats of Rome, in Kids Book Review and Read Plus.
Here are extracts from the reviews:
In a simple chapter book, Sophie Masson has created a captivating story set in Ancient Rome. It is exciting and action-packed and will be enjoyed by early independent readers aged 5-7. There are minimal clues about life in Ancient Rome, enough to pique interest but not enough to confuse a young reader. Mostly this is about a girl and a talking cat and their quest to rescue a royal cat, with the help of the family dogs. The illustrations are cartoon-like in simplicity and scattered through the chapters. (Carolyn Hull in Read Plus, read the whole review here)
Sabina and the Cats of Rome is an action-packed adventure perfect for younger readers. A feisty young heroine up to any challenge, leads an imaginative cast of characters….Excellent black and white illustrations fill the book, adding visual reinforcement of the text while enriching the story. (Anastasia Gonis in Kids Book Review, read the whole review here).
In its very first week of publication, two lovely new reviews have appeared for Lorena Carrington’s gorgeous Leaf Letters. One’s in Read Plus; the other in Reading Time.
Here are extracts from the reviews:
Leaf Letters is a small book, but a thoughtful and evocative one, with pathways to uncover codes and secrets….. Written and illustrated by Lorena Carrington, this interactive story for young readers told in words and pictures, has coded messages to decipher the mysteries. ‘Warning. Answers ahead.’ These words are at the back of the book, so there are answers if you can’t find them. I couldn’t find them all. (Susanne Gervay, Reading Time)
This delightful story is about friendship, the joy of solving challenging problems, and the beauty of natural world. The black and white photographs add another dimension to the story and the answers to the puzzles are a handy inclusion. There is also an opportunity for the reader to add their own treasures to the book. (Kathryn Beilby, Read Plus)
You can read the full reviews on their respective websites.
We are thrilled to announce that today is the publication day for Lorena Carrington’s gorgeous illustrated junior novel, Leaf Letters! This is the first novel Lorena has both written and illustrated for young readers and we are proud to be publishing this unique, beautiful book by one of Australia’s most original and gifted creators. We know readers are going to love it as much as we do, and in fact, already there have been two lovely advance reviews of the book, see here and here. And after the lovely pic of Lorena with her book, below, you can also see a young reader very much absorbed in it!
The book will be launched at Bendigo Library on Wednesday 3rd, 10.30–11.30 am, and if you’re in the area, you are invited to attend, meet Lorena, and grab your own copy of the book! She is also giving a special fun code-creation workshop for kids at Castlemaine library on Thursday 4th, based on Leaf Letters. More info on both events and to book here and here.
Congratulations to Lorena on a truly special book, and here’s hoping Leaf Letters finds its way into the hearts of many young readers!
Leaf Letters, author-illustrator Lorena Carrington’s first junior novel, is a gorgeous treat of a book which includes a fabulous story, wonderful photographs and illustrations, puzzles to work out and codes to crack. In anticipation of the book’s publication on Monday, and its launch on Wednesday, Lorena’s made this great little video introducing Leaf Letters, reading from and talking about it. Enjoy!
It’s publication day today for our latest title, Lucy Newton Messy Magic, by Phoebe McArthur, available now in bookshops across Australia!
Lucy Newton Messy Magic is the third title in the popular Lucy Newton chapterbook series, about a loveable little witch and her unusual friends, and we are absolutely delighted to bring another Lucy Newton adventure to young readers. Big congratulations to amazing author-illustrator Phoebe McArthur on another fabulous read!
About the book:
Lucy has to clean her room—without using magic. Only, every time Lucy returned from a well-earned break from cleaning up, she found her room tidier than ever. Lucy soon begins to think her house might be haunted…by a ghost who loves cleaning.
A sequel to Lucy Newton, Little Witch, and Lucy Newton: Cat Trouble.
About the author:
Phoebe McArthur lives in a run-down, yet cosy cottage in the middle of nowhere.
She’s not at all lonely thanks to her four cats, three chooks, two guinea pigs and her extensive library.
If she’s not tipping cats off her lap as she writes stories, she’s cooking all sorts of yummy food, such as scones with extra cream and homemade blackberry jam, or doing art at the table near the window, which has the best view of her garden.
Her first book, Lucy Newton, Little Witch, was published in 2018 and was short listed for the 2019 Speech Pathology Awards, and the sequel, Lucy Newton: Cat Trouble, was published in 2021. She has also published a middle-grade novel, Charlie Chaplin: The Usual Suspect, published by Eagle Books in July 2021.
In our tenth year, it’s wonderful both to look forward and back to our beautiful range of books, by wonderful Australian writers and illustrators–and how better to do that than through our fabulous new catalogue, which highlights this year’s books, looks forward to next year’s, and looks back at our fantastic backlist!
We hope you enjoy looking through it!
We’re delighted to present a fabulous activity pack for Four Up In Lights, the third and final book in the fantastic early readers series by Sophie Masson and Cheryl Orsini, published this month.
The activity pack, which includes story prompts, a word search, colouring pages, and more, was created by our talented editing intern Ash Taylor. Ash is also a student at the University of New England, studying Writing and Publishing, and hopes to have a career in the publishing industry later. Ash much enjoyed creating the activities, and says: ‘I look after some children who really like vehicles like trucks and cars and trains. So I thought about what sort of activities they might like to do or would come up with on their own after reading the books and went from there!’
Thanks, Ash!
We are sure everyone is just going to love these activities, which are free to download, print and use, for families, schools and libraries. Please note however that copyright remains with Christmas Press and that the activity pack may not be sold or used commercially.
To access the Four Up In Lights activity pack, just click below.
We have some great free, downloadable activities and Teachers’ Notes available for A Very Special Moon Mission, which can be obtained from the United Publishers of Armidale website. The activities outside of the Teachers’ Notes have been created by Lucy Eddy, who also edited the book, and the Teachers’ Notes have great input from author Rebecca Fung and illustrator David Allan.
Find the activities here and the Teachers’ Notes here.
Christmas Press 