Peck Peck Peck   by Lucy Cousins   H/B $24.95  (9781406345100)

My Blue is Happy   by Jessica Young, illus by Catia Chien   H/B $24.95 (9781406351750)

Digger Dozer Dumper   by Hope Vestergaard, illus by David Slonim  H/B $24.95 (9780763650780)

Each truck and big machine in these enticing rhyming poems is different - and little readers are invited to find a vehicle that's like them. Sixteen boisterous, rhyming poems, each one highlighting the job and personality of a different vehicle, from a backhoe to an ambulance to a snowplow. Cheerful illustrations show each one in action, digging (or dozing, or dumping) away. Engaging visual details like an anxious turtle crossing the street just ahead of a steamroller are sure to keep preschoolers poring over the pages as they consider the question, "Trucks as far as eyes can see. Which truck would you like to be?"  

Snowy and Snuffles  by Felicity Gardner  P/B $14.99 (9780734413888)

Aust author.  When 13-year-old Matt is discovered impressing the livestock in an Aussie country town with his remarkable soccer skills, he's offered the chance of a lifetime - a try-out at one of Europe's biggest and most glamorous soccer clubs. His younger sister Bridie goes with him as his manager and tells us their story - warts, goals and all. The funny and moving story of a sister's love for her brother, and how it survives everything fate throws at it, including the millions of pounds and mountains of pressure at the top of the world's most popular sport. To read an extract click on the book cover.  

96 page novella.  "It's Book Week in Oakfield school and everyone is very excited - including all the teachers, who are making costumes of their own. Mr Keen says thre's an excellent prize on offer for best costumes worn on Book Day. So suddenly making a good costume is vitally important, but tricky and Delia's not much help (as usual). Then Marcus decides that he is a super hero and can't understand why 'Super Marcus' isn't the best name." To go to the Tom Gates blog site click on the book cover.   

Aust author. Third Eric Vale novel.  Eric is really in trouble this time. Principal Porter thinks he has gone completely off the rails! But Eric's side of the story must be told. It all started with a book called All About Aliens that his best friend Chewy borrowed from the school library. But it all just went downhill from there... To view teacher's notes click on the book cover.

Aust author.  Like Gran always said, 'Things don't have to be big to be special.' When Rose and Gran save a baby koala from a pack of blood-hungry dogs, he's named Smooch because he loves to cuddle. With the help of wildlife carer Carol, Rose and her dog Lizzie look after Smooch until he is old enough to make the trees on their strawberry farm his home. Rose is deliciously happy - caring for bush babies is her dream come true. But things change for the worse when Gran gets a letter from the bank. Does this mean they have to sell the farm? Then Uncle Malcolm mentions bulldozers and Rose realises it's not just her home that's at stake. Rose has a voice and wants to make a difference, but what can one girl and her koala do?  To view sample pages and teacher's notes click on the book cover.

Aust author. The room was full of moon shadows and dancing light. But it was the wall around the window that Lucy couldn't stop staring at, the one with the painting of Spring. It was as bright as a sunny day and the tiny yellow flowers that covered the fields were moving, as if a breeze had blown through the painting and set all the petals dancing.   Lucy McKenzie can walk through walls. Sent to stay with her Aunt Big in a hidden valley, Lucy discovers the old house is full of mysteries. One hot night, she hears a voice calling from inside a painting on the dining-room wall. On the other side of the painting, Lucy meets three children. Together they race horses through the bush, battle fires and floods, and make friendships that will last a lifetime. But who are April, Tom and Jimmy Tiger, and what magic has drawn Lucy to them?  To go to the author's website click on the book cover.

Aust author.  When her parents announce the family is going on the holiday of a lifetime instead of renovating the kitchen, Anna is convinced it will be one potential disaster after another. She wants to believe the lucky seahorse charm her gran gave her will be protection enough but when her gran falls ill and her dad must fly home, Anna begins to question her belief in luck. It's in Finland when the thing Anna has feared most actually happens - a real life and death situation - and it's up to Anna to save her brother and sister. To view teacher's notes click on the book cover.   

Aust author.  Hilarious book about a boy coping with puberty, family break-ups, friends, enemies and girls - all recorded in a journal that he has to keep if he wants the Xbox that is rightly his. According to his tyrannical teacher (and much to his parents' horror), 11-year-old Andy Flegg is a reluctant writer. So that's how he finds himself forced to write in a journal every day until his next birthday if he wants to get the Xbox that his parents had already promised him. That's a ridiculous number of Xboxless days! But somehow this writing thing seems to grow on Andy and he soon finds himself revealing all too much. To go to the author's website click on the book cover. 

Be careful which door you open. Everyone thinks Emily's house is cool. It has so many different doors and everything is mismatched and sometimes it feels like maybe the walls have moved. But that would be silly. Of course they couldn't have. But little do people realise that behind some doors lie other worlds, full of magic and wonder. And Emily is soon going to discover this for herself. To go to the author's website click on the book cover.  

Aust author.   Oriole's beloved Wishbird is dying and she must leave the Forest of Birds to save him. But in the City of Soulless there are traitors everywhere, and when Oriole is captured, only a street orphan can help her. Can Oriole and Boy save Soulless and its bewitched king, or will the city's darkness prove too great even for magic?
To read an extract click on the book cover.    

Aust author.  Sequel to Caesar the War Dog. Our canine hero is back on duty and back in Afghanistan for his most daring mission yet. When injured war hero Charlie finally returns to SAS service, he no longer needs Caesar's help as a care dog. Caesar can go back to what he does best, as a super-sniffing explosive detection dog in the Australian Army. On their first mission back together, Caesar and his handler, Ben, discover a bomb at the Sydney Opera House, targeted at the visiting Secretary-General of the United Nations. A little later, while on a peace mission in Afghanistan, the Secretary-General's helicopter goes down and he is captured by the Taliban. Caesar, Ben and Charlie join an international team to rescue him. Will they succeed? An experimental mini-submarine might help, and Caesar's famous nose is sure to sniff out trouble along the way. To read sample pages click on the book cover.    

Staying with their museum-curator uncle in Egypt, Callie and Nick Latham make a startling discovery: a four-thousand year-old hieroglyphic message written to them. These are not standard hieroglyphics, but a code only Callie and Nick can interpret. When they're kidnapped by an ancient sect they realise they're in way over their heads, but there's no turning back. And so the two race to unravel an ancient plot and follow a maze of lethal clues in search of life-changing secrets. A fast-moving thriller with breath-taking action scenes and some seriously evil villains that are sure to have young readers on the edge of their seats. 

Author of Pulitzer Prize winning novel, A Thousand Acres.  Abby Lovitt doesn't realise how unprepared she is when she takes her beloved horse, True Blue, to a clinic led by the most famous equestrian anyone knows. The biggest surprise, though, is that Sophia, the girl who never makes a mistake, suddenly makes so many that she stops riding. Who will ride her horse? Abby's dad seems to think it will be Abby. Pie in the Sky is the most expensive horse Abby has ever ridden. But he is proud and irritable, and he takes Abby's attention away from the continuing mystery that is True Blue. And then there's high school. Abby finds new friends, but also new challenges, and a larger world that sometimes seems strange and intimidating. She begins to wonder if there is another way to look at horses, people, and life itself.  

For four long months, ten-year-old Cass has been dreaming of the day her mum, Toodi, will come home. But when Toodi's welcome back party takes a turn for the disastrous, Cass finds herself stuck alone with her dull-as-dirt dad, who insists that they set off for the summer on a mysterious adventure - just the two of them. It turns out Cass's dad has some big-time surprises up his sleeve. Once they hit the road in an old RV named The Roast, he introduces her to the amazing power of Sway, a seemingly magical force that can bring inspiration and joy to people in major need of help. Cass can think of one particular person who could really use some Sway. If only she could track down Toodi, Cass knows she could convince her mum to come home. But with the help of a little home-spun magic, Cass realises that the things she needs most have always been within her reach.   

Mr and Mrs Grunt, who are neither clean nor clever, live with their adopted - in fact, abducted - son, Sunny, in a donkey-drawn caravan somewhere or other at some time that is a bit like now but not exactly now. Sunny is an odd-looking boy, what with his left ear being higher than his right ear and that kind of sticky-up hair which never goes flat, even if you massage glue into it and then jump on it. Together the unusual family find themselves in frankly improbable but very funny adventures involving bendy railings, double-barrelled shotguns, full-fat yoghurt and, always, a beard of bees.   

Sharat and his majestic white tiger, Emira, are two halves of the same soul. The thought of being separated is unbearable. So when Emira mysteriously disappears in the middle of their circus act, Sharat is devastated. He's also determined to get her back, despite the force of the Empire being ranged against him. His journey will be perilous and revealing, and shot through with magic.  

Billie Templar desperately wants her dad to come home. He's a soldier and has been away for seven weeks, fighting for 'Queen and country' - but how can the two of them possibly defend their four-year record of winning the three-legged race at the school carnival if he's thousands of miles away? Then, when one of the other soldiers in Dad's regiment is seriously hurt, the stakes get even higher. Billie needs her dad home, sharpish. There's only one person who can help - Her Majesty. She's in charge of the army, right? She can send Dad home! Billie tries to get inside Buckingham Palace to sort it out, but it's not that easy. So, with the help of shy Sarah and allergy-prone Jake, the school brass band and a motley team of enthusiastic old-age pensioners, Billie hatches a fool-proof plan to get the Queen to her little village instead. Both laugh-out-loud funny and utterly heart-wrenching, and featuring an unforgettable cast of sweet, crazy characters, Billie's journey will have you laughing and crying in equal measure.   

George and Harold (the co-stars of the enormously popular Captain Underpants series) are in big trouble again! Their mean principal, Mr. Krupp, has demanded that they stop making comics about poop. Always resourceful, the boys decide to create an all-new epic novel about a totally different subject: Pee! 

Two Boys Kissing   by David Levithan  P/B $19.99  (9781922147486)

Zac & Mia   by A J Betts  P/B $19.99 (9781922147257)

Dead to You   by Lisa McMann  P/B $14.99 (9781407137230)

The Drowning   by Rachel Ward  P/B $17.99 (9781908435361)

Dangerous Girls   by Abigail Haas  P/B $12.99 (9781471119149)

So Much Closer   by Susane Colasanti  P/B $16.99 (9781407130835)

The Mockingbirds   by Daisy Whitney  P/B $15.99 (9780316090544)

The Rivals  by Daisy Whitney  P/B $15.99  (9780316090568) 

Black City #1   by Elizabeth Richards   P/B $12.99 (9780142427224)