From best-selling author Alice Pung and renowned illustrator Sher Rill Ng comes an extraordinarily powerful and moving book about how the past can shape the future.

Xiao Xin believes he is a red fire warrior but his family are always telling him to be careful. They believe the world is a dangerous place. Too dangerous for a little boy on his own.

They don't understand what I can do!

They don't understand what I can be!

Renowned storytellers Alice Pung and Sher Rill Ng bring to life a beautiful and tender story about learning to conquer your own fears - as a child, and as an adult.

PRAISE FOR BE CAREFUL, XIAO XIN!

'... a beautiful story by two masterful creators ...'

- Gabrielle Wang, 2022-2023 Australian Children's Laureate

At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her pram, her mother vanishing into the crowds. A year on, Kim Gillespie's absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family. Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems. Between Falk's closest friend, a missing mother, and a woman he's drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.

It goes without saying that all children believe their parents to be strange.
Mine were unusual for a different reason...

One boy's parents travel from far-off lands to improve their son's life. But what happens next is unexpected. What does it mean when your parents are different? What shape does love take? And what happens when your parents sacrifice a part of themselves for you?

In this heartbreaking and heart-warming story, CBCA award-winner Zeno Sworder reflects on his own migrant parents' sacrifices to create a universal story about what it means to give to those you love. Drawing from the sacrifices his Chinese mother made to raise her young family in a small country town, Sworder's drawings are full of beautiful detail and fairytale settings that explore his own journey from child to parent.

With humour and pathos, Sworder reflects on the strange nature of giving and receiving love and celebrates those parents who embrace a hard life for themselves in the hope of a better life from their children. Full of depth and generosity as well as insight and candour, Sworder brings this gorgeous fable to life.

What do you need to know to prosper as a people for at least 65,000 years? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding of the expertise and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians.

Plants are the foundation of life on Earth. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have always known this to be true.

For millennia, reciprocal relationships with plants have provided both sustenance to Indigenous communities and many of the materials needed to produce a complex array of technologies. Managed through fire and selective harvesting and replanting, the longevity and intricacy of these partnerships are testament to the ingenuity and depth of Indigenous first knowledges. Plants: Past, Present and Future celebrates the deep cultural significance of plants and shows how engaging with this heritage could be the key to a healthier, more sustainable future.


'Plants: Past, Present and Future calls for new ways of understanding and engaging with Country, and reveals the power and possibility of Indigenous ecological expertise.'
- BILLY GRIFFITHS

'An enlightening read on the power of plants and the management practices of Indigenous people.'
- TERRI JANKE

Some animals are part of a Gangly Gang whilst others belong to the Woolly Wanderers; there are also Legless Legends, Spotted Bottoms and Magic Mimics. These are just a few of the quirky groupings artist Tai Snaith uses to categorise over 270 of her favourite diurnal animals from around the world.

Each animal is drawn to scale and uses people and body parts as comparison. The Arctic bumblebee is the width of any eye, the sulphur-crested cockatoo is the length of an arm, and the wild yak is taller than a basketball player!

Including facts and information about the curious creatures found within, Wonders Under the Sun is a delightfully illustrated field guide for all the aspiring explorers, artists, environmentalist and taxonomists.

Grace Tame has never walked on middle ground. From a young age, her life was defined by uncertainty - by trauma and strength, sadness and hope, terrible lows and wondrous highs. As a teenager she found the courage to speak up after experiencing awful and ongoing child sexual abuse. This fight to find her voice would not be her last. In 2021 Grace stepped squarely into the public eye as the Australian of the Year, and was the catalyst for a tidal wave of conversation and action. Australians from all walks of life were inspired and moved by her fire and passion. Here she was using her voice, and encouraging others to use theirs too. The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner is Grace's story, in Grace's words, on Grace's terms. Like Grace, it is sharply intelligent, deeply felt and often blisteringly funny. And, as with all her work, it offers a constructive and optimistic vision for a better future for all of us.

Burning with the fires of hope and possibility, AS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW will sweep you up and never let you go.Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She was even supposed to be meeting a boy to talk about marriage. Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors. She knows that she should be thinking about leaving, but who will help the people of her beloved country if she doesn't? With her heart so conflicted, her mind has conjured a vision to spur her to action. His name is Khawf, and he haunts her nights with hallucinations of everything she has lost.But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, when she crosses paths with Kenan, the boy she was supposed to meet on that fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all. Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are--not a war, but a revolution--and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria's freedom.

We all have a soundtrack to our lives, songs that as soon as we hear them we're transported to a moment in time. As the youngest child, and only girl, in a family of creative types, Myf Warhurst grew up with the music in her. Whether she was watching Daryl Braithwaite on TV on a Sunday night or listening to the crackle of the needle across vinyl as Agnetha and Anni-Frid took her from rural Victoria to Eurovision, music has always shaped Myf's life. Later her love of music (and the realisation that a professional pianist gig wasn't part of the plan) would shape her career.
But music isn't just about memories. It's a safe place for people who feel different. Songs and lyrics helped Myf make sense of the world and deal with heartbreak and uncertainty. Music steered her hopes and fashion choices, cemented friendships and bonded family. In Time of My Life she shares funny, fabulous and occasionally fraught tales about growing up in a small country town with an unhealthy obsession with Countdown, then working in Australian radio and her experiences on the much-loved music quiz show Spicks & Specks. She spills the backstage beans on work, fame, feminism, failure, love and success. Like a sommelier matches food with wine, Myf matches hits with memory, and in the process reminds us all that, as Louis Armstrong said, 'Music is life itself.'

A captivating and joyous memoir of wisdom, humour and heart that unleashes the music within us all.

In a noisy, grey city, Sam and his Grandpa long for the deep, dark wonderful jungle.
But when their dream comes true, can they find a way to protect it?

A delightful story book for all generations about the magic of wild places and the amazing things we can achieve
when we all work together. The Tree at Number 43 inspires hope for the future of our environment without any sense of doom and gloom. A book for parents and grandparents to share and enjoy with kids, whether they want to create a garden at home or change the world.

Who is Iris Webber? A thief, a pervert, a killer, the most violent woman in Sydney. A wife, a lover, a daughter, a friend. A musician, a dancer, a big-hearted fool. A woman who has lived a big full life but is now trapped in prison cell. But is she guilty or innocent? Rollicking through the underbelly of Sydney in the 1930s, Iris is a dazzling literary achievement from one of Australia's finest writers. Building on a true story, here is a striking and vibrantly told story of a woman who went down fighting.

It's the start of 2020 and Harper is filled with anticipation about being in the final year of Riverlark Primary. She wants a leadership role, the comfort of her friendship group, and to fly under the radar of Riverlark's mean-boy.

But one by one things go wrong. When Harper's best friends are made school captains they are consumed by their roles, while her own role -- library captain -- is considered second-rate. Then something major throws life off course: her parents take overseas jobs as nurses in a war zone. Harper moves in with Lolly, a grandmother she barely knows -- and her five pets, vast collection of old trinkets and very different expectations.

Just as Harper is getting used to Lolly, the pandemic arrives, and her goodbye year is nothing like she'd hoped it would be. Strange things are happening: she wakes in the night in odd places, fixates on an old army badge that seems to have a mind of its own, and on a visit to the school library during lockdown she's convinced she's seen a ghost.

Who is haunting her?

Can she get through the anxiety of the pandemic without her mum and dad? And will Harper find a way to be happy with her goodbye year?

The Goodbye Yearexplores all the trickiness and confusion of the end of primary school and a new stage of life that looms with all its uncertainties and possibilities.

Emily Gale's books include The Other Side of Summerand its companion novelI Am Out with Lanterns, the Eliza Boom Diaries, Steal My Sunshine and Girl, Aloud, as well as her recent middle-grade collaboration with friend and fellow author Nova Weetman, Elsewhere Girls.

'Timely and vivid, this brilliant book is a warm hug, a rustle of autumn leaves and the last day of term all rolled into one. I loved every minute spent with Harper, her friends, her sometimes-prickly gran, Lolly, her persistent ghost and her dear little trench dog, Hector.' Fiona Wood, author of How to Spell Catastrophe

Tenderheart is a book about vegetables. It is also a story of unbreakable family bonds, love and loss, and the legacy of food as a way to stay connected to loved ones, including those who have passed. In this masterwork from Australia's most respected vegetable-loving food writer, Hetty Lui McKinnon takes readers on a vegetable-by-vegetable journey, packed with clever and inventive ways to combine ingredients, flavours and texture. With practicality, accessibility and economy in mind, Hetty devotes one chapter to each of her 22 favourite everyday vegetables, from Asian greens to zucchini. As is Hetty's signature, the flavours are globally inspired, with an emphasis on simple yet inventive weeknight cooking.180 new, inspired and always delicious recipes will change how you see the humble vegetable and what it is capable of, forever. This is the ultimate vegetable bible from Australia's reigning salad queen. Recipes include: Broccoli wontons with umami crisp; Cauliflower and kale pesto pasta salad with burrata; Smoky eggplant and lentil stew with baked feta; Tiger salad with green tea noodles; Torn lasagne with kale and kimchi; Southern fried mushrooms; Tingly 'cacio e pepe' snow peas with rice noodles; Salt and pepper potato gems; Seaweed burnt butter pasta; Spinach and mint ruffled milk pie; Carrot and almond polenta cake with lemon drizzle; Ginger and date sticky rye puddings; Spiced pumpkin doughnuts.

An original graphic novel about being the new kid in a different school, getting picked on by the class bullies, and what happens when a magical presence takes notice. Like, can things get any worse?

Starting out at a new school is tough, and Bridgette isn't having much luck, seeing as, well, she's not great at making a first impression. Or, maybe, any impression. Ugh, all these nervous feelings!

Will she fit in? Will she make new friends? Will they still like her once they get to know her better?

Nope. For now the best she can manage is... awkward. This is not going great.

That's when she sees it. Something dark and scary... something only she can see. And she should be scared. But she isn't. Maybe scary things just need friends, too. Maybe The Glim isn't so bad after all.

The Girl and The Glim is about accepting the fact that fear is okay, and that while letting other people see your vulnerabilities can be scary, it can also lead to closer friendships in the end.

Sometimes you need to delve into the past, to make sense of the present
Alice had not expected to spend most of the twenty-first century writing about Leonard Woolf. When she stood on Morell Bridge watching fireworks explode from the rooftops of Melbourne at the start of a new millennium, she had only two thoughts. One was: the fireworks are better in Sydney. The other was: is Y2K going to be a thing? Y2K was not a thing. But there were worse disasters to come: Environmental collapse. The return of fascism. Wars. A sexual reckoning. A plague.
Uncertain of what to do she picks up an unfinished project and finds herself trapped with the ghosts of writers past. What began as a novel about a member of the Bloomsbury Set, colonial administrator, publisher and husband of one the most famous English writers of the last hundred years becomes something else altogether.
Complex, heartfelt, darkly funny and deeply moving, this is Sophie Cunningham’s most important book to date - a dazzlingly original novel about what it’s like to live through a time that feels like the end of days, and how we can find comfort and answers in the past.​

On a sunny Sydney wharf, Stacey and Stanley watch enviously as customers feed on as many hot salty chippies as they want. Fed up with having to scab for scraps with all the other seagulls, they seek out legendary chippy thief Steve-O to help them pull off the ultimate heist . . .

But first they'll have to get past a seagull-hating chippy chef, deal with some bully bin chickens, and convince the World's Best Chippy Chaser to overcome his dark past and join the team.

A heartwarming story of resilience, homesickness and good Persian cooking in 70 glorious recipes.

Twelve-year-old Amari is a Junior Agent at the Bureau of Supernatural Investigations, where she deals with all kinds of weird and wonderful creatures and has a weredragon as a roommate. But that's nothing compared to her biggest challenge: being accepted for who she is. For Amari is a magician, and magicians are the sworn enemies of the supernatural world.​

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After finding her missing brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze.



But between the fearsome new Head Minister's strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton's curse steadily worsening, Amari's plate is full. So when the secretive League of Magicians offers her a chance to stand up for magiciankind as its new leader, she declines. She's got enough to worry about!



But her refusal allows someone else to step forward - a magician with dangerous plans for the League. This challenge sparks the start of the Great Game, a competition to decide who will determine the future of magiciankind.



The Great Game is both mysterious and deadly, but among the winner's magical rewards is Amari's last hope for lifting Quinton's curse - so how can she refuse?



An electrifying sequel to the award-winning Amari and the Night Brothers, this captivating fantasy novel is ideal for readers who love magic and mystery.

• Amari and the Night Brothers was on the New York Times bestseller list for 31 weeks!

The official and fully authorised biography of the world's most revered and celebrated drummers, and mainstay of The Rolling Stones

Early 1963. The newly formed Rolling Stones are on the hunt for a permanent drummer. Their sights are set on Charlie Watts, a jazz musician already well-known within London's rhythm and blues clubs. Fortunately for future Stones fans the world over, they persuade him to take on the job.

Once installed at the drum seat, Charlie would not miss a beat for the rest of his life. He was there throughout the swinging sixties as the Stones reached superstardom and for the well-documented debauchery of the 1970s, typified by the iconic album Exile on Main St. Battling his own demons by the eighties, Charlie emerged unscathed, cementing his reputation as the thoughtful, cultured but no less compelling counterpoint to his more raucous bandmates.

For almost 60 years - through all the band bust-ups, bereavements and changes in personnel both on stage and off - Charlie remained the rock at the heart of the Rolling Stones. Drawing on new interviews with his family, friends and former bandmates - including Mick Jagger and Keith Richards - Charlie's Good Tonight is the remarkable life story of Charlie Watts - official, authorised and as it's never been told before.

Bandits!
Buried cities!
Giant owls!

Welcome to the fast-paced fantasy adventure set in a broken, future England, following the further exploits of the outlaws Scarlett and Browne.

Scarlett McCain and Albert Browne have outwitted their pursuers and escaped into the wilderness once more, and it's not long before they become famous for their audacious heists across the Seven Kingdoms. Yet neither is fully able to escape the shackles of the past - as they discover when a dangerous job turns sour.

Soon old enemies and sinister new threats are pressing in on every side, and Scarlett and Browne must pull off an impossible mission and strike out against The Faith Houses and the Brothers of the Hand if they are to save the people they hold most dear.

The new novel from bestselling author Graham Norton

Carol is a divorced teacher living in a small town in Ireland, her only son now grown. A second chance at love brings her unexpected connection and belonging. The new relationship sparks local speculation: what does a woman like her see in a man like that? What happened to his wife who abandoned them all those years ago? But the gossip only serves to bring the couple closer. When Declan becomes ill, things start to fall apart. His children are untrusting and cruel, and Carol is forced to leave their beloved home with its worn oak floors and elegant features and move back in with her parents. Carol's mother is determined to get to the bottom of things, she won't see her daughter suffer in this way. It seems there are secrets in Declan's past, strange rumours that were never confronted and suddenly the house they shared takes on a more sinister significance. In his tense and darkly comic new novel Norton casts a light on the relationship between mothers and daughters, and truth and self-preservation with unnerving effect.

Come Over To My House is a delightful picture book that explores the home life of children and parents who are Deaf or disabled. Co-written by disability advocate Eliza Hull and bestselling author Sally Rippin, the inclusive rhyming text authentically explores the characters' various disabilities.

A cast of friendly characters invite friends over for a play - there's fun to be had, food to eat and families to meet!

In the "wildly, painfully, funny" (David Sedaris) follow-up to the best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning Less: A Novel, the awkward and lovable Arthur Less returns in an unforgettable road trip across America.

"Go get lost somewhere, it always does you good."

For Arthur Less, life is going surprisingly well: he is a moderately accomplished novelist in a steady relationship with his partner, Freddy Pelu. But nothing lasts: the death of an old lover and a sudden financial crisis has Less running away from his problems yet again as he accepts a series of literary gigs that send him on a zigzagging adventure across the US.

Less roves across the "Mild Mild West," through the South and to his mid-Atlantic birthplace, with an ever-changing posse of writerly characters and his trusty duo - a human-like black pug, Dolly, and a rusty camper van nicknamed Rosina. He grows a handlebar mustache, ditches his signature gray suit, and disguises himself in the bolero-and-cowboy-hat costume of a true "Unitedstatesian"... with varying levels of success, as he continues to be mistaken for either a Dutchman, the wrong writer, or, worst of all, a "bad gay."

We cannot, however, escape ourselves--even across deserts, bayous, and coastlines. From his estranged father and strained relationship with Freddy, to the reckoning he experiences in confronting his privilege, Arthur Less must eventually face his personal demons. With all of the irrepressible wit and musicality that made Less a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning, must-read breakout book, Less Is Lost is a profound and joyous novel about the enigma of life in America, the riddle of love, and the stories we tell along the way.