Running Wild! (Ninja Girl 3)

Running Wild! (Ninja Girl 3) by Anh Do, illustrated by James Hart (Scholastic) HB RRP $18.00

ISBN 9781760269067

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

Niki is an ordinary girl who lives an ordinary life, except that she inherited ninja skills from her biological father. These skills come in handy, especially when taking on the evil Dr Kane, who is trying to run people out of Green Valley so that he can turn the town into a mine to search for lucrative ‘space gems’.

Niki (Ninja Kid) has an upcoming school excursion to the zoo, and her cat, Connor (Karate Kitten), is begging to go. Of course, cats aren’t permitted on excursions, so the answer is ‘no’, until…. the discovery of Mrs Gray’s ‘morph bracelet’ invention that helps turn Connor into a human.

The excursion to the zoo is not all smooth sailing. Niki experiments with the morph bracelet, which leads to some funny and embarrassing mishaps. Later, the pair realise that Dr Kane is at it again. As the sky turns grey and snow starts to fall, the animals grow into giant evil versions of themselves and break out of their enclosures to terrorise the patrons.

Running Wild! (Ninja Girl 3) is a humorous, action-packed, highly illustrated chapter book for readers aged 7 years and older. The full-colour cartoon illustrations and short text on each page would also appeal to reluctant readers. Running Wild! is recommended for audiences who enjoy fast-paced, good-versus-evil storylines.

Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost Review

Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost by Jeanette Stampone, illustrated by Jasmine Berry (About Kids Books)

Terry Fide’s dad is a brilliant ghost detective. When Mr Horry Fide is called to a haunting, he talks to the ghost to find out why it's so scary. Problem solved!  Terry wants to be just like him, but the trouble is, Terry is afraid of ghosts! All except his ghost dog, Bones. Terry didn’t inherit his family’s unique way of dealing with unruly spirits. Instead, every time a ghost comes near, Terry gets wobbly knees and an itchy belly that makes him feel like a thousand fleas have invaded his clothes. Worse still, he scratches and jiggles and simply cannot stand still.
 
But when Dad is called away to Sydney to attend to several meddlesome ghost sightings, he leaves Terry in charge to sort out the ghost in Miss Quibble’s bakery. Along with Bones and his best friend Max, he reluctantly heads over to the bakery. On the way, the boys see Avery, who is in the same class as the two boys and insists on coming along to ‘…check this out – like it’s even true.’
 
Chaos and mayhem ensue when they try to get the ghost to talk to them. Avery, now a firm believer in ghosts, devises a clever trap, and once caught, Terry can finally talk to the ghost and find out the true reasons behind this very messy haunting.
 
This is a fabulous, fast-paced, spooky adventure that will have readers hooked from the very first page. The language, settings and characters are all easily relatable for the target audience. Love the play on words for the main character’s name – Terry Fide (terrified) and his dad Mr Horry Fide (horrified) – and the way the author expertly has us emotionally invested in Terry from the beginning with sentences like - In fact, he feared anything remotely spooky – spiders, rats, creaking floorboards, even the dark and Terry felt sick. Even a spelling test would be more fun than chasing after ghosts. I know that’s exactly how I would feel!

Themes of kindness, bravery and friendship are embedded in this first book of the Ghost Detective series, with the other two central characters – Max and Avery - appealing to both boys and girls. STEM plays a part in the story, too, with Avery’s character interested in inventing and designing.

The black-and-white illustrations seamlessly support and enhance the narrative throughout, and readers will love their fun, comic-book feel. And the endpapers are delightful!
This will be a must-have series, especially for those looking for something engaging and challenging and a step up from early readers.

Teaching themes could include friendship, bravery, resilience, ghosts, design thinking, engineering, inventions, and problem-solving. 

Find out more about Jeannette Stampone
Find out more about Jasmine Berry

Published by About Kids Books
Release date March 2026
ISBN: 9870994642813
Highly recommended for ages 6 to 9

Forever and Ever

Forever and Ever by Allanah Hunt (Text Publishing Australia) PB RRP $22.99 ISBN 9781923058798

Talia is sixteen, pregnant and angry. Her family is broken. She’s looking after her unwell mother. Her dad’s gone. At school, she is shunned. And Johnny—the one person she thought she could count on—just walked away.

Johnny is Barkindji, smart and confused. He’s struggling with the weight of his parents’ expectations: he wants to please them, but is the future they’ve planned for him the one he really wants? He makes a decision he knows he’ll regret: leaving Talia behind.

But some love—no matter how impossible—never lets go.

Forever & Ever is a gritty, heart-wrenching love story set in a Murray–Darling River town simmering with deep-seated prejudice and long-buried secrets.

Book Reviews

Speed. Barq the Falcon by Eman Alblooshi & Judy Wollin

A coming-of-age story about two boys who, although coming from very different cultural backgrounds, bond through their desire to fly falcons. The desert setting and the falconry details give the novel a strong sense of place. The story and dialogue feel believable. It’s genuinely suspenseful and kept my attention throughout.

Goodreads (February 2026) By Suzanne W *****

Speed. The Haunted Island by Eman Alblooshi & Judy Wollin

An exciting cultural story from the perspectives of two young boys. They are keen for adventures and must persuade Ali’s family to trust them with a small fishing boat. They are confident, but are they ready for such a responsibility?
Well written. I enjoyed it.

Amazon.au By Fiona *****

Book Collaboration with A Friend

 

By Judy Wollin and Eman Alblooshi (see pictured above).                                                                                                                                      

My friend Eman Alblooshi and I have written and published two books together and are planning to release the third one, probably in the middle of this year.

It all started when Eman expressed concern about the loss of Emirati culture, and I was worried that boys were not reading confidently or for pleasure, even in Grade Six. After some brainstorming, we came up with the idea of writing books for boys aged 8 to 13, set in the United Arab Emirates, featuring two main characters: an Emirati boy and his friend, an Australian boy, both 13 and in Year Seven together. We agreed to write three books and publish them in Arabic and English.

Takeaway one. The idea was important to both of us.

We began writing in Eman’s dining room in Abu Dhabi while I was there on holiday. Ideas flowed, and a rough plot was pulled together for the first book. We decided that I would do the actual writing, and Eman would check my work, advise on cultural matters, and seek feedback from young readers in the UAE. I enrolled in several writing courses to improve my writing skills and sort critical feedback from young readers, writers and course conveners.

Takeaway two. We divided the work based on what each of us felt comfortable with.

The first draft of Speed. Barq the Falcon was completed, and critical feedback, editing, cultural-sensitivity review, and further editing were undertaken. How exactly was this done?

Eman and I met online and by phone regularly to discuss content. For example, one of our main characters, Ali, invited Dylan, the other main character, to a sleepover. A common enough occurrence in Australia, but not common in the UAE. Thirteen-year-old boys do not stay overnight. Eman and I came up with a house plan that could accommodate a sleepover. Ali’s bedroom was put on the ground floor, near his grandparents but away from other family members.

An Australian example of cultural differences was Dylan’s father's view when he realised that Ali had invited Dylan to stay over while extended family members were visiting. Dylan’s father was concerned his son would be a nuisance, an additional burden when Ali’s family had visitors coming. The Emirati view was that there were always many people staying, so what was their problem?

This process of ensuring the book reflected both cultures and was sensitive to both cultures took many phone calls and drafts.

Take away three. It will take longer than either of us suspected at the outset. It took us about five years to go from ideas to published books.

In our stories, there are two main characters, Ali and Dylan. We had to ensure they both played a pivotal role in the plot and that the story flowed smoothly. We decided to alternate the chapters to maintain the first-person point of view for both characters. This ensured that both boys maintained an important role, but it wasn’t without its problems. Chapter lengths varied to maintain pace and to change who led the chapter when necessary. This took a lot of phone calls and rewriting.

Take away four. It was harder than we thought to have two main characters contributing to the story. We had many meetings to discuss the story as we wrote it.

Once the manuscript was finalised, it was professionally edited and the final changes made. We chose a publisher who could publish the books in Arabic and English. This was trickier than we anticipated. We each paid half the fee needed. I checked the English manuscript, and Eman checked the Arabic version. It was slow and difficult dealing with a publisher who was reluctant to make changes. The main benefit of continuing with them was the book launch.

As many of you have already discovered, it is very difficult to break into the middle-grade book market. We have since relaunched the books ourselves and taken over responsibility for marketing. We have made very little money but have achieved enormous satisfaction from writing and publishing our books.

Take away five. It’s a tough world out there, but it feels so good to go from idea to seeing your books on shelves. That makes writing worthwhile. Both our books have been adopted by the Brisbane City Council library in both English and Arabic.

Speed. Barq the Falcon (English) ISBN 9780648646884

Speed. Barq the Falcon (Arabic) ISBN 9781764222839

Speed. The Haunted Island (English) ISBN 9798230006855

Speed. The Haunted Island (Arabic) ISBN 9780645398137

Eman and I collaborated on this article too.

 

At the launch of Speed. The Haunted Island in November 2023 in the United Arab Emirates.

 

How to Have the Best School Year Ever

How to Have the Best School Year Ever by Jess Sanders, illustrated by Andrea Onishi (Affirm Press 2025) HB RRP $ 22.99 ISBN 9781923135949

Reviewed by Sylvia Forbes.

School is where you learn, grow, and make friends,

and when you are doing all three, school can feel like the best place to be!

But when learning is tough and friendships are complicated,

school can feel like the last place you want to be.

That's when you need this book!

From the award-winning creator of the 'Life Lessons for Little Ones Series' - Jess Sanders - comes a guide for children who may be having issues or experiencing difficulties around going to school. Written in an easy, straightforward manner, with a warm, supportive voice, this book speaks directly to the reader. It gently encourages children to set goals and offers clear, simple tips for reaching them - whether they're having friendship problems, having trouble trying something new, or experiencing difficulties in managing school subjects.

The aim of How to Have the Best Year Ever is to help kids ease up on themselves, alleviate their fears, concerns and worries, and reduce negative thoughts and feelings. How to Have the Best School Year Ever. They will learn that many other children feel the same way, which will help de-isolate them and normalise their feelings. Most importantly, they will learn to embrace difficult days, be kind to themselves, choose positive self-talk and celebrate effort.

This book will also make an excellent reference point for parents who may struggle to find the right words to share with their kids and to help them resolve these issues.

Some of the (many) stand-out points for me are: 

That it acknowledges and celebrates individuality and diversity - both textually and visually. 

That it speaks to children about being their own inner best friend.

And it says: 'Being brave doesn't mean being fearless - being brave means feeling scared or worried and doing the thing anyway!' 

Andrea Onishi's joyful, child-friendly illustrations bring to vivid life all the positive, supportive and encouraging elements of the text. There is ease and optimism, and a heart-warming abundance of inclusivity, camaraderie, and support among the children, splashed across the pages. 

The overall message is that small gestures of care and kindness can quickly restore harmony and happiness. This truly reflects the resilient nature of young children. 

Reading this book may not give your child the best school year ever, but it will certainly go a long way in helping your child have a better year than he or she might have had. (And as a bonus, receive a little confidence boost along the way.) 

Kind and reassuring, How to Have the Best School Year Ever says to kids - you are not alone, it is reasonable and normal to feel the way you're feeling, here are some simple, useful tools you can use to help yourself move through those tough days - and you can revisit this book any time you need.

Recommended for ages 4-8 years.

Audrey Skips

Audrey Skips by Andrea Rowe, illustrated by Lisa Coutts (MidnightSun Publishing) HB RRP $29.99 ISBN: 9781922858719

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

Audrey, The Skipping Girl, warms the hearts of Melburnians every night, as her ‘hot peppered feet’ skitter across the roofs and straight into children’s dreams. She tries to cheer the adults when financial hardships bite, but her ‘bright glow dims’ and her memory is ‘lost to an inky sky’. However, the city misses Audrey’s dazzling happiness. People rally together to restore Audrey’s sparkle, and soon she is skipping over the skyline once more.

Based on the real-life story of The Skipping Girl, a historic animated neon sign in Melbourne, Audrey Skips leaps lyrically across the page and lifts spirits with every rope twirl. Andrea Rowe uses lightly rhyming text to reflect the reassuring rhythm of Audrey’s springs, with evocative phrasing that grips the soul. Kids aged four and older are sure to smile when they see what can be achieved when community and conservation come together.

Lisa Coutts makes the most of mixed media to construct a remarkable realm through which Audrey moves with ease. Audrey’s radiant reach stretches across emerald cupolas and into periwinkle rooms, where worry suddenly drains colour from the scenes. It’s only when hope sparks that flashes of red – reminiscent of Audrey’s renowned dress – begin to pop up in the illustrations, a visual clue to the story’s joyful ending.

A touching love letter to a treasured landmark, Audrey Skips is not just for Melburnians. It’s for anyone who seeks light in the dark, and the comfort of tradition in an ever-changing world.