AustLit

'This is the story of the O. It’s an interesting sound, as I’m sure you know. The O in the Snow is a fun Australian-themed phoneme story that teaches young readers about the vowel sound O and where they can find it in different words. Beautifully illustrated by Janie Frith, the rich colours and vibrant use of multi-media enhance the magical experience.

'The book is inspired by The Man from Snowy River and celebrates the creatures of the High Country and the drovers that once mustered horses and cattle on the high plains. The first book from Judith and Janie, the Oo in Uluru, won a 2019 Book of the Year award from Speech Pathology Australia.' (Publication summary)

'Jon English was the original multitasker. He was the pop star with the raccoon eyes who sang such hits as 'Hollywood Seven', 'Six Ribbons' and 'Hot Town', and the rocker in leather duds who packed beer barns across Australia. Jon was also the swashbuckling Pirate King in the hugely successful Pirates of Penzance, and, in the words of Tim Rice, 'a brilliantly judged and truly exciting' Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. And on the small screen he was as comfortable portraying faded rocker Bobby Rivers in All Together Now as he was the brooding convict Jonathan Garrett in Against the Wind. It seemed that no role, or song, was beyond his reach. But there was a lot more to Jon English. He was a proud father of four who married his high school sweetheart Carmen when he was barely out of his teens. He was such a diehard fan of rugby league's Parramatta Eels that he wrote their team song. And Jon was also a composer whose rock opera, Paris, proved to be the biggest creative and personal challenge of his life. This authorised biography, written with the full support of Jon's family, friends and peers, Behind Dark Eyes tells   the complete Jon English story, swinging from the massive highs of Jesus Christ Superstar and pop stardom to his struggles with alcohol and depression, and his tragic, untimely death in 2016 at the age of 66.' (Publication summary)

'This is the story of the ee. A curious sound as you can see. The Ee in the Deep Blue Sea is a fun Australian-themed phoneme story that teaches young readers about the vowel sound ee and where they can find it in different words. Beautifully illustrated by Janie Frith, the rich colours and vibrant use of multi-media enhance the magical experience. The book explores many undersea and reef environments and introduces children to twenty of the creatures that live there.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'On a warm day in May 2004 Liz Byron set off from Cooktown with her two companions, donkeys Grace and Charley, on a self-imposed challenge to walk 2500 kilometres of the Bicentennial National Trail over 9 months. This epic journey was a rite of passage to mark leaving 40 years of marriage and embarking on life as a single woman at the age of 61. She foresaw that self-reliance, physical stamina and route-finding would be challenges but couldn’t have known how the environment in Queensland was to test her to the limit. Years of drought had left much of her route a dusty wasteland, without food or water for her animals. Years of suffering from childhood abuse and a family tragedy had left her unwilling to ask for help. Walking became a meditation, an exercise in being in the moment even when that moment was 43 degrees or she hadn’t eaten for 7 hours. In her moving memoir, Liz reveals how she healed herself step by step on the way to her new home in northern NSW – by learning to trust her intuition, the wisdom of her animals and the kindness of strangers.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Henry the emu wanted to FLY! But flying fish, eagles and launchers cant seem to help. Its only after meeting Wallagoot Jean that Henry learns about the science of orbit, and the importance of flying first with his mind...' (Publication summary)

''This is the story of the 'oo'. It's an amusing sound for all of you.'

'The Oo in Uluru is a fun Australian-themed phoneme story that teaches young readers about the vowel sound 'oo' and where they can find it in different words.' (Publication summary) 

'Meet Mrs Maver's Cat. Mrs Maver's cat is not your average cat. He is a cat with magical powers - or at least he thinks he has. He simply has to say one magic rhyme and doors magically open for him; another magic rhyme and food magically appears! But when one day, Mrs Maver's cat meets a passing rat who puts his magic abilities to the test, things take a somewhat painful turn. Can Mrs Maver's cat regain his confidence?' (Publication summary)

'Sometime after the mutiny on the Bounty, Fletcher Christian died ignominiously on Pitcairn Island – or did he? For how could he be dead when he was seen in England years later? Captain Bligh was cleared of all responsibility for the ship’s uprising – and the later ‘Rum Rebellion’ in New South Wales which followed.

'Was the controversy of both the reason why Christian’s rescue was kept a secret? Or did Bligh and Australia’s famous sheep magnate and politician, John Macarthur, perpetuate the story for personal gain?

'This is the story of these three remarkable men, of their love and loathing of each other and the fascinating part they played in the unsolved mystery of Christian’s fate. Its fact-based solution will enthral you.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This warm and lively biography provides insight not just into the life of Alf Pollard, but also into Australian life from the 1920s right through to the 1990s. Born almost 100 years ago in Melbourne, Alf Pollard spent most of his childhood on Norfolk Island where his family leased a banana plantation.' (Publication abstract)

'My Happy Sad Mummy fills a major gap: explaining to a young child the impact of living with a parent of a major mental illness such as bipolar disorder. Arising from Michelle Vasiliu’s own experience of bipolar disorder, her book uses easily understandable images and words as we see “mummy” through the eyes of the child.

'My Happy Sad Mummy is an engaging and sensitive picture book. It fills a major gap: explaining to a young child the impact on a parent of a major mental illness such as bipolar disorder.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Who knew that Australian convicts fought in the American Civil War? This is the real-life account of two extraordinary men John Mitchel and Thomas Meagher and the decisive part they played in shaping the future of three separate continents. After inciting rebellion on one side of the world, they survived the brutality of convict chain gangs on the other, before crossing the Pacific to fight on the bloodier battlefields of the American Civil War and Native American uprisings of Montana. For their astonishing victories, they became war heroes and won the respect of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. A story impossible to believe, but true.' (Publisher's blurb)

'This fascinating account of early Australia focuses on Governor William Bligh (famous as the captain of "Mutiny On the Bounty" fame). The Rum Rebellion has, for generations, been told to school children as one of the better stories of Australian history - how Bligh was a tyrant deposed by the New South Wales Corps and dragged out from his hiding place under a bed. It has even been said - and this is just as far from the truth - that the overthrowing of Governor Bligh was a victory for democracy and colonial self government.

'This book combines the historical with the legal in a narrative which illuminates Australian history and many of its famous characters. Years of attempting to make Australian history interesting for adolescent boys, and subsequently training to be a lawyer, have prepared Russell Earls Davies for the task of writing a readable account of Bligh's time in Australia.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Over the two centuries since his appointment, commentators have been as surprised at the choice of Arthur Phillip as some were at the time (the First Lord of the Admiralty, to mention only the most distinguished critic). But was it really so surprising? What did the Home Office and the Admiralty expect of a man who was to navigate a fleet to the antipodes, and when he got it there unload its cargo of unregenerate criminals and forge them into some sort of a working colony? Apart from the necessary seamanship, they needed a man with a cool head who understood men and how to control them, a man capable of governing himself, possessed of calm and understanding and a thorough grasp of reality, with complete loyalty to the Crown and Government and a determination to plan and carry through an enterprise unlike any other within living memory. Fortunately, there were one or two men at the Admiralty who understood that Arthur Phillip possessed all these credentials. This new biography covers Phillip's whole life, but has a particular focus on his selection for the role of Governor, the preparation of the first fleet, the journey from England, the establishment of the colony and Phillip's governorship. Covers Phillip's whole life, but has a particular focus on his selection of the role of Governor, the preparation of the first fleet, the journey from England, the establishment of the colony and Phillip's governorship.'(Publication summary)