Joey and the Junjardy by Allison Rocca illustrated by Brenton E McKenna

"I'd been cursed by the Junjardy ever since I moved to Coolibah Creek. But I didn't have hard feelings about it. I was glad the Junjardy had latched onto me, saw something in me living on ancestral land, showed me how to find my place ... to Country."

Joey and his family - mum, dad and sister have moved back to live with their uncle at Collibah Creek. Near the creek Joey hears some noises and later he sees a small hairy creature. Now Joey himself is somewhat of a prankster, but he seems to have met his match with the Junjardy. The question is how much is too much and why are the pranks escalating - is the Junjardy upset?

"Two eyes appeared, peering out among the leaves. Bright, unblinking eyes. Too big for a lizard. Too small for a stray dog. My breath stuck in my throat. A cold, prickly feeling crawled over me, from top to toes, like I'd stepped into a giant spiderweb. The eyes glinted at me. .... I dunno what I was looking at. I just knew it wasn't good."

"Could it be that Coolibah Creek was not some old, boring place like I first thought?"

"I looked closer. I could make out a head, body, arms and legs. The face had ordinary human features, if you could call them that. Poking out from a mat of dark grass-like hair was a flat nose and a mouth with jagged teeth. Somehow it was a face that managed to look young and old at the same time, both a boy and a girl at one."

"Some mobs believe that it's a protector of the land. For fellas on their native land, it can be mischievous. Stealing from them, hiding things, making a mess. But ... fellas who are not on traditional land or who are trying to hurt the land ... it can act aggressively towards them."

Adults can't see the Junjardy and nor can some kids but later Joey learns his teacher and mother do know about it. 

I had one small quibble with this book. I read the bio of debut author Allison Rocca and discovered she is a primary school teacher, so I was very surprised by her portrayal and character name for the school Principal of Collibah Creek Primary School - Mr Plodd. She also makes a small throw-away comment about teachers when she says describes the scene 15 minutes after the end of the school day: "We were the last kids around. Teachers were leaving the car park in droves." I have worked in five schools and I never witnessed teachers leaving so quickly after the bell. It is an awful myth/generalisation that teachers only work between 9am and 3pm. Here is a link to the teachers notes where you can read why Allison wrote her book. 

Thanks to UQP for sending an advance copy of Joey and the Junjardy. This book will be included if your school purchases the Lamont Standing order. 

Publisher blurb: Joey Gibbs is always up for a laugh. What isn’t funny: the ‘Big Trouble’ he caused at his old school that meant his family had to move back home to Coolibah Creek. Joey’s going to keep his head down this time. New school, new mates, new start. But trouble seems to have a way of finding him.

When his sister and cousin start getting mysteriously pranked, Joey looks for answers from his Wakka Wakka culture. He discovers he’s caught the attention of the Junjardy, a hairy little trickster. Joey can’t resist making mischief again with his secret partner in crime. But as the jokes spiral out of control, he must work out what the Junjardy wants with him before disaster strikes.

Joey and the Junjardy’, by debut First Nations author Allison Rocca, is a funny middle-grade novel featuring characters from First Nations storytelling. This represents reading for pleasure - and has the power to raise really positive conversations about storytelling and culture. Paul Macdonald

Allison Rocca is a primary school teacher who has taught in classrooms from the ’burbs of Australia, to remote villages in Asia and castle-like academies in Oxford. She is a descendant of Wakka Wakka and Kaanju people and her upbringing was rich in storytelling. Allison likes to draw on the stories passed down by her highly respected Elder grandparents to write fiction for children and young adults. She lives and writes on Yuggera/Turrbal Country, Brisbane.

Brenton E McKenna is a Yawuru artist and writer from Broome who fell in love with comic books at a young age. He studied visual arts at Goulburn TAFE, and in 2011 became the first ever published Indigenous graphic novelist with the release of Ubby’s Underdogs: The Legend of the Phoenix Dragon. When he’s not drawing, Brenton dedicates his time to educating young people through creative storytelling workshops.

The scenes in this story where Joey is framed for taking Bruno's precious pencil set reminded me of these classic Australia books:

Here is another Australian book about pranking:

Welcome: a book about friendship by Alison Green illustrated by Axel Scheffler

I know it is the end of the school year in many parts of the world and here in Australia it is Winter and we are about halfway through our school year but I'd like to suggest you pop the title or cover of this book onto your list as a perfect one to read at the start of the school year.

I worked in many different schools but one thing I really loved to see or meet in my library were class groups where it was so obvious the teacher took time to create a community with her group - kids who listened to one another, kids who were kind and respectful of each other, classes where every kid felt equally important - no social isolates or queen bees. 

The words say inside this book but really it could say inside this classroom or even better, albeit an ambitious idea, inside this school:

"Inside this book we make everyone welcome. Whether you're big or small, jumpy or flappy, stompy and noisy, or a little big shy and quiet, all are welcome."

And I love the conversations you could have around this line:

"Our best friend might turn out to be someone who's very different from us."

But this book is also not saccharine. There might be times when someone does not want to share or when someone is cross or upset or gets into an argument. Of course there are ways to resolve this. 

Then "we cheer everyone on and congratulate everyone when they've tried really hard. If things haven't gone so well, we're always there with a hug or a kind word."

This book comes from Three Peas - they are a charity with gives practical help to people who had to flee their homes - refugees. We have a politician here in Australia at the moment who has no idea about the concept of welcome. I would love to gift her this book even though sadly she probably lacks the intelligence to understand the importance of the ideas in this special book. I guess this book would be way too obscure for her.

‘Now, imagine if the whole world was like this book – if everyone was kind and helpful and welcomed everyone else. Doesn’t that sound good?' Read reading hub

This book follows on from Kind:

Kind

This is the third book - it is a board book for very young children:

You are 25% Banana by Susie Brooks illustrated by Josy Bloggs

All living things have "built-in recipes called genes." If you compare the genetic makeup of various things you will discover some surprising things expressed in this book as percentages such as the title of this book - you are 25% banana. Twenty-five percent is one quarter. This might shock a couple of my friends who do not like to eat bananas!

Genes are your recipe. I have my mum's blue eyes and her small feet and hands. I have light coloured hair from my dad. I know another dad with a chin dimple - it is a trademark for their family handed on to his daughter and grandson. I think talking with your library group or young reading companion about the 'traits' they can match with their own mum or dad would be the way I would introduce this book. I would also quickly display two important words - genes and jeans - just to make sure before reading that there is no confusion about the topic!

Have you heard of bossy genes? This explains why more humans have brown eyes than blue and why there are so few white tigers with blue eyes. I loved the discovery that size and genes are not related. For example this book explains that a tiny grain of rice has 36,000 genes, an apple has 56,000 and a sunflower has 52,000. Bamboo (32,000) even has more genes than the panda (21,000) who eats it.

Then there is the idea the humans have genes in common with some animals - we share genes for singing with songbirds and parrots; we share tooth growing with sharks (even though we only grow two sets); and we share our brainy genes with dolphins. But we are also related to dogs, daffodils and dung beetles. Oh, and also fruit flies which is why they were sent into space. with a group of older students this might be the opportunity to talk about why or even rise the issue of the ethics of using mice in science experiments designed to test things designed for use with humans such as medicines. 

I was pleased to read we are 80% like cows because I love cows and milk and I was not surprised to discover chimps are 99% like us. And if you have identical twins in your class that will open up another amazing topic. 

"You're 99.9% identical to every other person in the whole world. Nearly all your genes are like everyone else's. Just one in every thousand recipes in your recipe book is different enough to make you ... YOU!"

WOW! This is a book for young children about genetics. I listened to the Teacher-Librarian reading this in the library where I work as a volunteer and I was so intrigued.

Bookseller blurb: A brilliantly funny first guide to genetics that is perfect for children aged 5 years and over. This stunningly illustrated book will boggle your brain with astonishing facts, as it shows how we’re all related to every living thing on the planet. Did you know that a grain of rice has more genes than you? Or that you’re related to dogs, dung beetles and even daffodils? Luckily, even though you’re 99.9% like a chimpanzee, you’re still 100% YOU! The extraordinary world of genetics has never been explained so simply. You’ll be amazed at what makes you YOU.

In your library you will find other books about genes and genetics at [576.5]. Take a look at this post from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything about World DNA Day 25th April. 

You might these:

Using both bold fonts and illustrations, this is a fascinating early introduction to genetics that explains how humans are related to every other living thing on the planet, including bananas; that our closest relatives are chimpanzees with a 99% match; yet while our “recipe” is the same as 99.9% of everyone else on the planet now or ever, it is the 0.1% that makes us unique.  Only identical twins have the same recipe! The Bottom Shelf

This masterful look at genes and genetics for young readers had me hooked from page one, and there are many active minds out there waiting for information that is relevant, informative, funny and engaging. Illustrations in bright bold colours inform and intrigue as does the layout of each page, drawing the eye to take another look before the pages are turned. ReadPlus

I am not a fan of the NSW Premiers Reading Challenge but you might like to know that this is a PRC 3-4 title [886461].

Here is the webpage for the illustrator Josy Bloggs. Susie Brooks is the author of these art books:

Whale Song by Nicola Davies illustrated by Britta Teckentrup

"Listen! Listen! Listen! Somewhere in the deep, deep blue, a humpback whale is singing. The sounds shiver through the water ... through the timbers of our boat and we can feel them tingle in our bare feet on the deck, and hear them when we lay our heads against the hull. Sounds so strange, they seem to come from out in space, amongst the stars, not from here on Earth."

This book is partly a poem, partly a glorious work of art, and partly an exploration of the science we know about the songs of whales. Male humpback whales use sounds to communicate and they string the sounds together to create complex songs. There are fourteen places that we know of where humpbacks gather in their breeding season. In each group their songs are the same but different groups sing different songs (I love that idea). If the whales in one group hear a different song "they learn it" and add it to their own melody. Nicola Davies uses the idea of beads on necklaces as a way to describe this. 

"Scientists are still trying to discover the meaning behind humpback whale song. It's like trying to decode a language without a dictionary. Scientists have found that humpback song is more like human language than they first thought, but there is so much more to discover..."

Think about the lyrical language used in this book:

"to make an orchestra of sounds"

"He's stringing sounds together to make patterns, like threading coloured beads onto a string."

"The singing of the male whales is a big part of this jamboree."

And the illustrations are luminous:

I urge you to add this book to your library or to find it in a library to share with your young reading companion. It is available here in Australia from Walker Books and was published in April 2026. The publisher have combined the talents of two utterly splendid book creators for this book - Whale Song. 

Nicola Davies is an award-winning author and Children's Laureate Wales 2025-27. Her many books for children include Tiny, Lots and Grow with Emily Sutton; One World with Jenni Desmond; The Promise and King of the Sky with Laura Carlin; and A First Book of ... Nature, The Sea and Animals with Mark Hearld, Emily Sutton and Petr Horácek respectively. 

Britta Teckentrup has created over 120 books, translated into 30 different languages, including The Memory Tree (Hodder), Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright (Nosy Crow) and The House by the Lake (Walker). Her award-winning artwork has appeared on homeware, clothes and packaging. Britta now lives and works in Berlin with her artist husband, son Vincent, and their cat.

Companion book - this one is absolutely perfect:

The Whales' Song

There have been a few books released recently about whales. I urge you to look for this one:

Life after Whale: The Amazing ecosystem of a whale fall

You could link this news story with this book from ABC news where five whale carcasses have been found. When I heard this on the radio last week I sighed with happiness because I adore it when 'real life' and books, such as Life after Whale, collide. The report says:

Researchers explored the remains during multiple deep-sea submersible trips in 2023, collecting samples and mapping the extent of the necropolis. They found five carcass sites and fossils, including skulls belonging to beaked and baleen whales. The oldest bones date back 5.3 million years. Feeding and living on the carcasses were myriad creatures, large and small, including sea cucumbers, squat lobsters and saltwater clams. Many of them are likely species that have never been documented ... Why did so many whales die here? Maybe they were already living in the area and died of natural causes. A few could have perished from exhaustion or illness caused by deep-sea diving. The area's shape, akin to the letter V, could also have funneled the remains to their resting spot ... "

Read more here. And the BBC have a comprehensive article about this find. 

I also found a couple of other books that will be worth finding:

Read more here on the publisher web page - this book looks more suitable for 

Upper Primary readers - 80 pages

A new Australia title (2026)

Here is the Storylinks review

Here are the teachers notes

The Secret life of whales

Meet the Canadian author David A Robertson

David Alexander Robertson (born 12 January 1977) is a Canadian author and public speaker from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He has published over 25 books across a variety of genres and is a two-time winner of the Governor General's Literary Award. He will be a keynote speaker at the 2026 IBBY Congress in Ottawa.  I thought I should explore some of his books or at least familiarise myself with them before I hope to read many in Canada and at the Congress.

About the Misewa Saga: Morgan and Eli are Indigenous children who discover a portal at their foster home to another world, Askī; there they discover talking animal beings who connect them to traditional ways, as well as help them deal with the challenges in the real world. A fantasy for readers aged ten and up, the Misewa Saga (“misewa” is Cree for “all that is”) series reflects stories of the sky and the constellations held within its great canvas.

Here are some of his children's titles. 

Ispík kákí péyakoyak | When We Were Alone (2020)

On the Trapline (2021)

Strangers (The Reckoner Trilogy, Book 1) (2017)

Monsters (The Reckoner Trilogy, Book 2) (2018)

Ghosts (The Reckoner Trilogy, Book 3) (2019)

The Barren Grounds (The Misewa Saga, Book One) (2020)

The Great Bear (The Misewa Saga, Book Two) (2021)

The Stone Child (The Misewa Saga, Book Three) (2022)

The Portal Keeper (The Misewa Saga Book Four) (2023)

The Sleeping Giant (The Miswea Saga, Book Five) (2025)

The World's End is the newest title in this series - Book Six

You will find a longer list here. And you can read more about his adult books and YA titles here. 

Blurb: A picture book that celebrates fathers and grandfathers. A boy and Moshom, his grandpa, travel to visit a place very special to Moshom – the trapline his family used when he grew up. The boy imagines life two generations ago, and what is different and what is similar to his life now. A beautiful introduction to Indigenous culture, as well as – more generally – family histories.

Here is my previous post - meet the illustrator Julie Flett.

Blurb: When a young girl helps tend to her grandmother's garden, she begins to notice things about her grandmother that make her curious. Why does her grandmother have long braided hair and wear beautifully coloured clothing? Why does she speak another language and spend so much time with her family? As she asks her grandmother about these things, she is told about life in a residential school a long time ago, where everything was taken away.

When I attended the USBBY Conference in Seattle I read this book which opened my eyes to the experience of children in Canada who were placed in residential schools. Here is a list of other books complied by David A Robertson on this topic.

This book has just been released. Here is the bookseller blurb: When I'm a moshom, a long, long time from now, I will watch my grandchildren dance and play hockey, and I will be the loudest one cheering. I will take them on the trapline and teach them how to fish. I will feed them Bannock and share stories about our community. I will tell them I love them, just like my moshom did. This heartwarming story thoughtfully explores the legacy of love, traditions and heritage passed down from generation to generation. Through the eyes of three siblings and their moshom (grandfather), readers are taken on a journey filled with cherished moments, from cheering at sports events to sharing traditional Cree knowledge and language. This picture book beautifully captures the bonds between grandparents and grandchildren, making it perfect for shared reading and an ideal gift for special occasions like birthdays, holidays or family celebrations.

Perfect by Danny Parker illustrated by Freya Blackwood

Over the course of one day three children enjoy playing outside (no devices) using their imaginations and finding joy in small activities. By the end of the day, they all tumble into bed to enjoy a story. The premise is simple but these themes in our modern world are profound.

"Some sunshine and something to nibble. Some space with enough room to scribble. An apron and big bowls for mixing. Some glue and some things that need fixing."

I love to think about the text of a book arriving on one page ready for an illustrator to explore, imagine and create. I marvel at the imagination of a talented illustrator like Freya Blackwood. She creates a 'perfect' pace for her story especially with the inclusion of a wordless page.

My favourite illustration shows two cows - they are belted Galloways - my favourites.

Bookseller blurb: On a perfect day, the hours stretch endlessly ahead. Scribbling with chalk, running with kites, digging for shells ... paddling, climbing, dreaming. Hour unfolds upon hour, with reassuring comfort and sleep beckoning at the end. CBCA shortlisted author, Danny Parker captures the simplicity, spontaneity and freedom of an idyllic childhood. Kate Greenaway and multiple CBCA winner Freya Blackwood’s paintings of three children roaming a rolling beachside idyll capture the light—and even the smell and feel—of a perfect summer day.

Parker’s gentle words and Blackwood’s reflective illustrations take the reader back to a free, idyllic childhood that is easy to recapture as the children indulge in simple pleasures like flying a kite, going to the beach or just staring through the window at a stormy sky and letting their imagination run wild. Enjoying it as much as the children is the cat who accompanies them everywhere keeping careful watch and making the most of opportunities to snatch a treat or a cuddle. The Bottom Shelf

I highly recommend Perfect for young readers to slow down, lose themselves in the illustrations and explore the nature of happiness. Reading Time

Children reading it will be impressed with the freedom of the children depicted: allowed to make something in the kitchen even though a bowl is broken, making and flying their kites, climbing the biggest trees and sliding down the large branches, walking along the top of an old stone wall, until at the end of the day they retire back to the house, where more sedentary occupations keep them happily amused until bed time. They read and play, the smaller child wrapping himself in a small blanket and lying on the floor, the older boy snuggling the cat while the girl writes and draws. Read Plus

I wanted to add this book to my own picture book collection because last year I was so lucky to purchase a small post card sized piece of art by Freya Blackwood. IBBY Australia held their second Mini Masterpiece art auction at the end of 2025.

I wrongly assumed this sweet figure came from the book Perfect. My mistake does not matter at all because I am very happy to own a copy of Perfect and I have enjoyed the discovery of some interesting extras in the illustrations. One tiny image that made me laugh was the picture on the wall of the house from another Freya Blackwood book - Maudie and Bear. 

Other books illustrated by Freya Blackwood:

Afloat

A song for the King

The boy and the elephant

Banjo and Ruby Red

The Treasure Box

Davitt Awards 2026

Celebrating excellence in crime writing by Australian women.

This year, 126 books were entered into the 26th Davitt Awards, across four categories. The judges of the 2026 Davitt Awards have selected a longlist of 28 books that reflect the excellent quality and maturity of stories written by Australian women crime writers. These stories are notable for their originality, depth and high level of the authors’ skills.

I was pleased to see I have read several of the long-listed titles for this award which is one I had not encountered previously:

CHILDREN’S BOOKS 

Sarah Armstrong, Run, (Hardie Grant Children’s)

Jacqueline Harvey, The Girl and the Ghost, (Penguin Randon House Australia)

Amelia Mellor, Oceanforged: The Wicked Ship, (Simon & Schuster Australia)

Gisela Ervin-Ward, True South, (Midnight Sun) Debut

Jessica Townsend, Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow, (Hachette Children’s)

Sue Whiting, Promises and Other Lies, (Walker Books)

For a quarter of a century, Sisters in Crime Australia has been shining a spotlight on the incredible achievements of women crime writers – fiction and non-fiction. From the first year with its seven entries to the present day where around 180 books are entered, it’s been an astonishing journey, filled with inspiring talent and unforgettable stories. The Davitt Awards have always been about more than just recognising great writing; they’re about celebrating the voices that shine a light on society as a whole, push boundaries, and keep readers on the edge of their seats. From debut novels to well-established voices, the Davitts honour the diversity and power of Australian women writers in the worlds of crime fiction and true crime.

Here are two previous winners (Children's Books) that I have read and talked about here on this blog:

The Midwatch winner 2025

The Detectives guide to Ocean Travel winner 2022