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I have never felt so exposed by a picture book as I did when I first laid eyes on Meet…Ned Kelly. The piercing stare of Australia’s most infamous bush ranger peering from the slit of his armoured headgear sliced through to the very marrow of my bones, anchoring the outlaw’s stare there as if to say, [...]

This review follows on from Random Romance Part 1 of 2: Breaking the Rules. In Bloom, 36-year-old married mother of three Emma Eddington feels fat, forgotten, and all-round frumpy. Her husband works all the time and her children see her as their housekeeper meets taxi driver. She’s also frustrated because the misbehaving family dog has [...]

The merger between Random House and Penguin sparked much speculation about what the new company’s title would be, with ‘Random Penguin’ a clear, outlying favourite. That the company opted for the less fun ‘Penguin Random’ was a slight disappointment to us all, and we’ve all continued to run with ‘Random Penguin’ instead. Random House Australia [...]

Love a good inventions book, me, and this wonderful compilation of fascinating info had my heart racing. If it can do that to a comparably jaded adult, just imagine what it would to for kids. Chris Cheng and Linsay Knight have put together an impressive catalogue of uniquely Aussie creations, sorted into categories like Communications [...]

What do Adolf Hitler, HG Wells, Leonardo da Vinci, Genghis Khan and dinosaurs have in common? They all find themselves in a rather precarious situation in this hoot of a book from the masterful Martin Chatterton. Mortimer DeVere and his sister Agnetha are 10,000 years old. Residents of Unk Island, the duo are tasked with [...]

As a fan of Jacqueline Harvey’s Alice-Miranda books, I was delighted to see a new little poppet land in my mail box – Clementine Rose – a precious and adorable 5-year-old who is delivered, as a baby, to the door of her heiress mother in a basket of dinner rolls. No one knows where young [...]

From: Random House Random House Australia Announces New Literary Prize We are delighted to announce that we will be sponsoring the National Seniors Literary Prize for 2012. Already in its second year, the prize is awarded to a writer over fifty who has not been previously published. In sponsoring the prize, Random House is hoping [...]

Selena’s mother died some time ago. She lives with her father, a nobleman of deep emotional weakness, in a grand old house with her wicked stepmother and two self-absorbed stepsisters. She is virtually enslaved to her stepmother, spending her days cleaning, sewing, running errands and copping the humiliation of a life bound with emotional and [...]

Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones may live in a hoity toity world of mega wealth and out-of-our-league boarding schools, but this down-to-earth seven-year-old (seven and three-quarters, actually) has the wisdom and clarity of a Buddhist monk. This sweet little girl is daughter to Hugh and Cecelia, owners of the stunning Highton department store – a luxurious establishment about [...]

It’s nearly Christmas Eve at the toyshop and every toy is hopeful they will be snaffled for the festive stocking. All the shiny new toys are the most popular, of course . . . they come and go quickly, and never last long enough to make friends of the other toys. At the very back [...]

What’s that noise in the deep dark night? Something spooky? That’s for sure. Creaking, whispering, something dropping. Could there be a stranger creeping through the house? When three little kids explore a creepy old mansion with torchlight and eyeballs wide with fright, they can never imagine their tentative meanderings may just be as scary – [...]

Random House currently running the “Teen Book Video Awards”, a competition which challenges student filmmakers to create 90-second video trailers based on 16 children’s and young adult novels published by Random House Australia. There is a total cash prize of $1,000 for the winning entry and also $1,000 worth of books for the winner’s nominated [...]

Random House sat Ian McEwan down to answer questions about his buzzed-about new release, Solar.

Another month, another giveaway. July’s is Ashes-tinged and filled to the brim for cricket fans and avid readers alike, so be sure to register HERE for your chance to win copies of: Cricket Kings by William McInnes  SIGNED Step into the lives of a team of regular middle-aged men who meet each week to play [...]