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Love your brain by Chrissie Davies

Love Your Brain is an informative, and light-hearted text narrated by Little Brainiac – a likeable children’s character - about the importance of looking after and understanding our unique brains. Love Your Brain empowers parents to talk to their children about the importance of understanding their brains, encouraging brain care and ultimately learning how this impacts on their emotions and behaviour.

Little Brainiac begins the story by reminding children that their brains are amazing, but they must be taken care of like other parts of their bodies and loved much the way they love their family members. For children 5-12. Published by www.chaostocalmconsultancy.com RRP $27.50.

The Ultimate Animal Alphabet Book by Jennifer Cossins

This is not your average animal alphabet book. D isn’t for dog. It’s for dusky leaf monkey and dromedary, dingo and dugong, danube clouded yellow butterfly and defassa waterbuck. D is for the Dorcas gazelle, douroucouli night monkey and dusky dolphin, the dashdot goat fish, the dalmation pelican and the defassa waterbuck. Discover why the American flamingo is pink, how emerald tree boas hunt their food, what a baby echidna is called and whether the dusky leaf money really has four stomachs. Published by Lothian Children’s Books RRP: $29.99

Jingle Bells illustrated by Nicola Slater

A delightful gift book for the very young! Join in with a Christmas classic with this interactive sound book with a light-up surprise ending Listen and sing along as the merry band of musicians go on a sleigh ride, playing their instruments along the way. Then join in as they all play together in the festive finale! Nicola Slater’s charming illustrations, and real instrumental music make this sound-button board book an irresistible Christmas gift. Published by Allen & Unwin. RRP $19.99

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals by Sami Bayly

Dangerous animals get a bad rap, but this beautifully illustrated encyclopaedia helps us appreciate the incredible features of some of our more hair-raising animal species. With more than sixty of the most deadly and dangerous animals from across the world, every page is more eye-opening than the last. You will learn interesting facts about these fascinating species such as how they have adapted to survive and whether we should be threatened by these animals or appreciate them for their incredible features. Published by Hachette Australia RRP $32.99

School Rules Are Optional: The Grade Six Survival Guide by Alison Hart

Jesse is in his final year of primary school and should be living it up, but he can’t even get his Prep buddy to follow school rules. A hilarious story of being undervalued and over everything for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire. Jesse will have you roaring with laughter as he navigates the rites and rituals of Grade Six including a disrespectful Prep buddy, a plumbing problem the size of Niagara Falls, and the dreaded compulsory school camp. Published by Allen & Unwin. RRP $14.99

Gargantis by Thomas Taylor

When an ancient bottle is found washed up on the beach after a ferocious electrical storm, all the residents of Eerie-on-Sea seem to want it ... but should they in fact fear it? Legend has it that the bottle contains an extraordinary secret that spells doom for the whole of Eerie-on-Sea. Could it be true that the vast sea creature Gargantis has awoken from her slumbers, and is causing the large cracks that are appearing all across the town? Finding themselves entrusted with the bottle, Herbie and Violet discover they will need to ride the terrible storm and pacify the creature if they want to save Eerie-on-Sea from sliding into the ocean and being lost for ever. Published by Walker Books RRP $17.99.

365 Real-life Superheroes by Valentina Camerini

365 Real-Life Superheroes is packed full of real stories about true superheroes: from Galileo to Greta Thunberg – or, in Australia, from Eddie Mabo to Lowitja O’Donoghue. Among the heroes profiled are sportspeople, scientists, journalists, explorers, doctors, astronauts, musicians, artists and activists. Each has been chosen because they display a particular heroic attribute: courage, intelligence, creativity, determination, justice or generosity. This charming illustrated collection of stories will entertain and, above all, inspire young readers. For readers aged 9 to 12. Published by Piccolo Nero. RRP $22.99

The Traitor: Wolf Girl 4 by Anh Do

In part 4 of this wildly exciting adventure series from bestselling author Anh Do, Wolf Girl and her trusty dogs are back for another hackle-raising adventure. On the run from sinister forces, Gwen rushes head-long into danger. With giant snakes, komodo dragons and a whole new wolf pack to contend with, Wolf Girl will need all her cunning... and all her friends. Perfect for readers aged 8-14. Published by Allen & Unwin. RRP $15.95

2020 sucked. It’s been a year of bushfires, floods, a recession, a global pandemic and Kanye West’s presidential campaign. But it was also the year we all watched Hamilton, baked sourdough, had dinner parties on Zoom and drank constantly - okay, so maybe that wasn’t such a great thing either. The 2020 Dictionary is an invaluable record of all we learned in the year the world turned to sh*t, helpfully collected in alphabetical order, with jokes where appropriate, as well as in some places where they probably aren’t. Published by Allen & Unwin $29.99

Help Self - Learn from my mistakes so you can make different ones! by Tanya Hennessy

From the bestselling author of AM I DOING THIS RIGHT? comes an honest, hilarious, entirely relatable illustrated guide to living life right. And wrong. There are no filters, no frittatas and no fake. In Help Self, Tanya gets real “ as she discusses food, love, friendship, careers and mental health, and (of course) she gets real hilarious too. From being mistaken for a pregnant woman when she’d just had too many Cheezels, to understanding whatever alien language your friend’s child is speaking, to overcoming an unexpected breakup with your best friend, Tanya Hennessy has all the life-hack, pro-tips for getting through this chaos we call life. Published by Allen and Unwin RRP $29.99

This Book Will Make You Kinder by Henry James Garrett

A sweetly illustrated examination of what makes us kind, this book will introduce you to your empathy and point out what limits that empathy. Not just the everyday kindness of taking out your neighbour’s bins - the strong, courageous, moral kindness of fighting cruelty. It’s needed now more than ever. Unkindness has been given new energy in recent years. So get to know your empathy a little better. Where it comes from, and why every human has it. Empathy is what makes us kind, but it must be combined with a conscious effort to learn about different kinds of people. A world in which everyone acted on their empathy would be a very kind world indeed. Let’s work toward that world. Published by Allen and Unwin RRP $24.99

Searching For Charlotte by Kate Forsyth & Belinda Murrell

For almost 140 years, the author of Australia’s first children’s book was a mystery. She was the subject of much speculation until 1980 when, after a decade of sleuthing, legendary bibliographer Marcie Muir discovered her name: Charlotte Waring Atkinson. And not only her name, but an extensive creative family history, connecting her to two of Australia’s most celebrated contemporary children’s writers, Kate Forsyth and Belinda Murrell. In Searching for Charlotte authors and sisters Kate Forsyth and Belinda Murrell unite to uncover the long-buried story of their great-great-great-great grandmother and pioneer female writer, Charlotte Waring Atkinson, whose life was a tale of love, grief, violence and triumph against the odds. NLA Publishing RRP $34.95