Leigh Hobbs: Australian children’s laureate for 2016-2017
Leigh Hobbs, our new Australian children’s laureate for 2016-2017, provides some great illustrations from Australian children’s literature that depict the concept of place. “What links all of the books selected for this gallery of Australian illustrators is a love and feel for place and, no matter where it is, it becomes the illustrators’ place through the telling of the story – coming from the heart and from memory”. Illustrators include Shaun Tan, Bronwyn Bancroft, Alison Lester, Bob Graham, Freya Blackwood, Armin Greder. There are some great titles here to add to our collections and to encourage students to consider the concept of place in books that they read.
A new Harry Potter book: Harry Potter and the cursed child
Announced 10 Feb – based on the play which opens in London 30 July 2016, from an original idea by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. Set 19 years after the last book, Harry is an overworked employee at the Ministry of Magic and a father of 3. Harry and his youngest son Albus learn that sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.
http://blog.booktopia.com.au/2016/02/11/breaking-news-new-harry-potter-book-to-be-released/
Australia’s bestselling book 2015: The 65-storey treehouse
The book by Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton, was Australia’s bestselling book in 2015, with other titles in the series taking the top 5 spots by Australian authors. The 78-storey treehouse is due in August. Old school: diary of a wimpy kid took second place. Adult colouring books took 4 spots in the top 10.
Nielsen BookScan Australia
Analyses sales from more than 1000 outlets, including online. See this month’s top 10 Fiction, Non Fiction, Children’s and the Hot 10.
The dressmaker by Rosalie Ham – number 1 Fiction title.
Harry Potter: the official adult colouring book – number 7 Non fiction title. Colouring books by Millie Marotta hold places 3 and 4.
Old school: diary of a wimpy kid by Jeff Kinney – number 1 Children’s, followed by The 65-storey treehouse by Andy Griffiths. The 13-storey treehouse and The 26-storey treehouse hold places 6 and 10. Very popular series!
http://www.nielsenbookscan.com.au/controller.php?page=108