Our chapter book list, for readers 5-9 years old, was launched in November 2018. On this page you’ll find information about the fabulous books, authors and illustrators who are part of a great line-up!
2023
Lucy Newton Messy Magic, By Phoebe McArthur, published November 2023, ISBN 9780645378870, 72 pages, RRP $14.99
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.
2022:
Four Up In Lights, by Sophie Masson and Cheryl Orsini, published in September 2022. ISBN 9780648815471, 72 pages, RRP $13.99
It’s a big day for Maxie, Flash, Fergie and Lady. The first day of the film shoot for the movie that is going to make them into stars! They’ve been through a lot to get here at last and they’re looking forward to a great time. But nothing is quite as it seems on the film set and when on the first night one of their co-stars, the great stunt plane Daredevil, is kidnapped, the four friends are flung into mystery and danger. How will they find Daredevil and defeat the bad guy before the humans come back in the morning?
From two acclaimed creators comes the third fabulous, fast-moving, funny adventure of four lovable friends who just happen to be machines. A sequel to Four All At Sea (2021) and Four On the Run (2020).
A Very Special Moon Mission, written by Rebecca Fung and illustrated by David Allan, published in July 2022. ISBN 9780645378801. 80 pages, RRP $13.99.
Phoebe and Elliott are best friends but Julia, the unpopular new girl at school, has tagged along with them on them on a visit to the local Space Station. There, they meet the three astronauts competing to be the first woman on the moon, and they’re also introduced to the magnificent rocket known as The Obsession, and its know-all super computer IMP. But when they start the rocket without meaning to, and IMP malfunctions, the adventure takes a real turn for the unexpected! Sure, a moon mission is great: but how do you get back to Earth?
Written with Rebecca’s characteristic verve and humour, this is a really fun read for young readers 6-9, illustrated with lovely pictures by David Allan.
Rebecca is also the author of Princess Hayley’s Comet(illustrated by Kathy Creamer), published by Christmas Press in 2018, and now also available as an audio book, produced by Spineless Wonders Audio in 2021.
2021 list:
Four All at Sea, by Sophie Masson and Cheryl Orsini: a sequel to the popular Four on the Run, also published by Christmas Press (2020).
Published by Christmas Press, September 2021
ISBN: 9780648815419 72 pages, RRP $13.99, trim size 190×140 mm
After the adventures of Four on the Run, Maxie, Lady, Flash and Fergie are set for a new life as film stars and a luxury cruise overseas. But when they are washed overboard in a storm and land on a desert island, it seems their troubles are only just beginning! Because somebody else is there–someone who is not very friendly—a rusty old tank that thinks there’s still a war on! They need to escape from the island and get back to their ship and a very worried Mrs Brown. …but how?
From two acclaimed creators comes the lively, funny sequel to the popular Four on the Run, about four friends who just happen to be machines.
Read a review of Four All At Sea here.
Watch a trailer for Four All At Sea here.
Lucy Newton, Cat Trouble, by Phoebe McArthur: a sequel to the acclaimed Lucy Newton, Little Witch
Published by Christmas Press, November 2021.
ISBN 9780648815464, 72 pages, RRP $13.99, trim size 190×140 mm
Lucy is spending the holidays with her grandparents at an old house near a loch. Thomas the cat disappears on the train trip there and Lucy is frantic.
Taking advice from her spell book and a talking library, Lucy casts a spell to find him. But when she does there’s something different about him…
Can Lucy Newton solve the mystery in her second magical adventure?
A fabulous sequel to Lucy Newton, Little Witch, also published by Christmas Press (2018), which was shortlisted for the 2019 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards.
Watch a trailer for Lucy Newton Cat Trouble here.
2020
Four on the Run
Written by Sophie Masson, illustrated by Cheryl Orsini
Publication date: 1 September 2020
RRP $13.99
ISBN 9780648194576
72 pages
Maxie, Fergie, Flash and Lady are good friends who live in Mrs Brown’s farm shed. Life isn’t exciting, but they’re happy. Until the day they learn that Mrs Brown wants to sell them–to the scrap yard! So they decide to run away, and life suddenly becomes very exciting for the four lovable machines in a series of adventures that puts them in more trouble than they ever imagined!
Written by award-winning author Sophie Masson, with lively, appealing pictures by acclaimed illustrator Cheryl Orsini, Four On the Run is a fresh, funny and original chapter book which is great fun both for reading aloud and for young readers to read by themselves. First in a planned series!
You can find a fabulous downloadable activity pack for Four on the Run here.
And an excellent virtual launch here, with four great videos to watch at any time!
About the author
Born in Indonesia of French parents, and brought up in France and Australia, Sophie Masson AM is
the award-winning and internationally- published author of over 70 books for children, young
adults and adults, from picture books to novels. Her website is at www.sophiemasson.org
About the illustrator
Cheryl Orsini has illustrated over 20 picture books, including Caravan Fran, The Tales of Mrs
Mancini, and The ABC Book of Cars, Trains, Boats and Planes. Her illustrations have also appeared
in anthologies including A Boat of Stars and she has also illustrated for magazines. Her website is at www.cherylorsini.com
2019:
Petal and the Really Hard Riddle
By Kathryn England
Cover and internal illustrations by David Allan
Publication date: August 2019
ISBN 9780648194545
RRP $13.99, Paperback, 72 pages, Trim size: 190mmx140 mm.
About the book:
Petal’s father likes to boast about his daughter. According to him she can do anything. One day, a particularly over-the-top boast about her spinning skill makes its way across the land into the King’s ear and Petal is brought to the palace. The King orders Petal to demonstrate her skill. With no hope of doing what her father says she can do, Petal agrees to a deal offered by a tricky old man who will carry out the task if she can answer a really hard riddle. But surely it can’t be that hard, can it?
A lively, funny take on Rumpeltstiltskin.
About the author:
Kathryn England lives in Penrith in Sydney’s outer west. She has been a secretary, part owner of a milk run, farm hand and sales rep for a book supply company. She has had a number of children’s books published ranging from picture books and easy reads to chapter books, novels and non-fiction. Other stories and articles have appeared in children’s magazines here and overseas. Some of her stories come from her imagination while others are based on fact.
About the illustrator:
David Allan is an illustrator and artist whose first picture book, Two Trickster Tales from Russia(retold by Sophie Masson) was published by Christmas Press in 2013. Since then, he has illustrated three other acclaimed picture books for Christmas Press: Two Tales of Twins from Ancient Greece and Rome(retold by Ursula Dubosarsky, 2014); Two Tengu Tales from Japan(retold by Duncan Ball, 2015) and Two Enchanted Tales from Old China(retold by Gabrielle Wang, 2017). He has also illustrated short story anthologies, including The Stuff of Tales, published by Arts North West in 2018, and several Christmas Press anthologies, as well as storybooks for reading programs. His work is in private and public collections, and he has participated in solo and group exhibitions. www.davidallanart.com
You can read a review of Petal and the Really Hard Riddle here.
2018
Lucy Newton, Little Witch
Written and illustrated by Phoebe McArthur
ISBN 9780648194507
Publication date: November 2018
RRP $13.99, Paperback, 72 pages, Trim size: 190mmx140 mm
Lucy’s mum is always busy, going to this meeting and that, leaving Lucy alone in their old house with one strict rule: NO MAGIC.
Lucy doesn’t mean to conjure the giant green slug. She only wanted a friendly kitten to keep her company.
Now, with the help of a talking spellbook and a grumpy cat called Thomas, she must race to get rid of the slug before it eats the prized cabbage garden of the witch next door — and before her mum gets home.
A lively, entertaining story for young readers.
SHORTLISTED FOR BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2019 SPEECH PATHOLOGY AUSTRALIA AWARDS (Five to Eight category)
Read a review here.
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.
Lucy Newton, Little Witch is her first book.
Princess Hayley’s Comet
By Rebecca Fung
Cover and internal illustrations by Kathy Creamer
ISBN: 9780994528070
Published November 2018.
RRP $13.99, paperback, 72 pages, Trim size: 190mmx140 mm
Princess Hayley has everything a princess could want … except a comet. It’s her only birthday wish. Comets are so sparkly and they shoot through the sky so fast – who wouldn’t want one? But then Hayley realises the only way she’s going to get her wish is to catch a comet for herself. Joined by the very best friends a princess could have, Hayley aims to build the biggest and best – the only – comet-catcher in the world and make sure her birthday dream comes true!
A magical, funny story for young readers by a talented new author.
Read a review here.
About the author:
Rebecca Fung works and lives in Sydney, Australia. She loves to write children’s fiction and several of those stories have been published in Christmas Press anthologies Once Upon a Christmas, A Toy Christmas and A Christmas Menagerie. She likes owls, mandarins and chocolates, and she is often found curled up on the sofa with her face in a book.
Princess Hayley’s Comet is her first book.
About the illustrator:
Kathy Creamer is a children’s illustrator and writer who has been published by Oxford University Press, Reed International, Christmas Press and Second Look. Kathy has been illustrating children’s books for a number of years. She has a Master of Arts degree in Children’s Book Illustration from the Cambridge
School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University in England, where she attended lectures given by many prominent illustrators, such as Quentin Blake, James Mayhew, John Lawrence and Martin Salisbury. She works mainly with watercolour, colour pencil, ink and wash. She has a varied style, and enjoys creating humour and movement in her images. Her website is at http://www.kathycreamer.com Her work can also be seen at www.scbwi.org
Christmas Press 