In exciting news, last night the Children's Book Council of Australia announced its 2021 CBCA Notables list and The Fire Star (A Maven & Reeve Mystery) was named in the Younger Readers category! The Notables list serves as the longlist for the CBCA's Children's...
25 books to extend young readers 9+
"I'm looking for books for an advanced reader aged 9 – please help!" "I'm trying to help my 10 year old move on from books with pictures – please help!" When it comes to regular queries in the Your Kid's Next Read Facebook group, these two (or variations of them), are...
5 ways I can help you achieve your writing goals this year
As this blog approaches its 11th birthday, I can see a certain pattern in my posts. Each year at around this time, in response to reader enquiries, I write a 'how to achieve your writing goals this year'. I particularly liked this one, which is now five years old but...
My top 10 favourite podcast interviews 2020
If you follow this blog regularly, you'll know that one of my favourite things about doing the So You Want To Be A Writer podcast, beyond getting to chat to my co-host Valerie Khoo every week, is the author interviews that we feature each week. There's a lot to be...
Words and pictures – how to write a children’s book
Children's book author and illustrator Peter Carnavas puts big issues into books for little people. The four titles in his Little Treasures collection cover love, family, the environment and self-worth. Sarah must carry her heavy heart around with her. Jessica tries...
My top 10 posts for readers 2020
It comes as no surprise to me that book lists make up the top 10 of my top blog posts for readers for 2020. And even less of a surprise that books for the tricky 13/14-year-old age group dominates the search terms that bring people to my blog over and over again. It's...
My top posts for writers 2020
Each year I create a round-up of my most popular writing posts, and it's always fascinating to see what's resonated with readers of this blog. My top writing posts 2020 (stay tuned for a readers' post later this week) features a couple of evergreen favourites that...
MASSIVE BOOK GIVEAWAY: #YKNR12DaysOfBookmas
The Your Kid's Next Read 12 Days Of Bookmas book giveaway kicks off today! Every day from 1-12 December 2020 we'll be posting a new GIVEAWAY in the Your Kid's Next Read Facebook group, with a fresh chance to WIN some amazing book pack prizes thanks to Australia's...
10 writing tips you can start using today
There are a lot of writing tips washing about on the internet, in books, at conferences, in bars. Some of them are helpful writing tips, some not so much. In my role as co-host of the So You Want To Be A Writer podcast, I not only give out helpful writing tips, I also...