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Golden Bat is the sixth book in Sandy Fussell’s widely read Samurai Kids series and its lively characters, strong themes, fascinating setting and fast-paced action give the book sparkle from cover to cover. Golden Bat features Sandy’s popular characters; Kyoko the albino girl, Mikko the one-armed boy, Niya, the one-legged boy who narrates the story, [...]

CHOCOLATE! Is there anything in this world that can possibly compare? Well… okay… there is red wine and cheese, of course… and I’m sure that I’ll blog about them in the future, but for now — it’s chocolate! My last two posts have been about cookbooks and recipes, so it seems logical to conclude with [...]

When it comes to tie-in merchandise I don’t think there’s anything out there that could possibly top Star Wars. The words “Star Wars” have been slapped on to everything from bed sheets to breakfast cereals. And it seems that every time I walk into a shop there’s another piece of Star Wars merchandise. Amongst all [...]

The Samurai Kids and Sensei are on their way to the hwarang training village in search of Pak Cho, Sensei’s former teacher. At first, Kyung, the guide with the gun is determined to stop them, but he soon realizes that the travellers are more than a match for him. In their latest adventure, Niya,  Kyoko, [...]

Earlier this month, Fire Lizard, the much anticipated fifth book in the Samurai Kid’s series was released. I know my boys weren’t the only ones who were really looking forward to it. Today, Sandy Fussell is back at Kid’s Book Capers to talk about Fire Lizard and how she created this fascinating book. What inspired [...]

Jaguar Warrior by Sandy Fussell begins with slave boy Atl imprisoned in a box waiting to be sacrificed. When the Spanish invade a fast runner is needed to request help from the nearby city of Purepecha; Atl is released. However, the Captain of the Temple Guard believes Mexica is losing the battle because Atl has [...]

Since her first book was published in 2007, Sandy Fussell has had four educational and seven trade titles published. Sandy says she became an author after receiving some strongly worded advice from her son. When he was in Year 4, my eldest son abruptly stopped reading because ‘all books are boring’. I couldn’t find anything [...]

Last time around Sandy Fussell told us a little about writing historical children’s novels, such as Jaguar Warrior. Today, she’s back for Part 2 of the interview… My favourite character in Jaguar Warrior is the old priest Ichtaca. I especially love the passage where he explains to Atl that “A powerful religion must put on [...]

Today, Literary Clutter will be taking a trip into the past — into a time of slavery and blood sacrifice; a time of exciting adventure and thrilling dangers. Today, we go back in time to the Aztec civilisation with Sandy Fussell’s novel, Jaguar Warrior. Atl is a young slave boy in the Aztec city of [...]

Some other snaps from the Conference: Bob Graham took us through his life and his life’s works. He was then treated to orchestrated interpretations of four of his picture books (composed and conducted by George Ellis) including How To Heal A Broken Wing.  Ursula Dubosarsky and Tohby Riddle took to the stage to discuss the process behind [...]

In our house, reading is a big thing. I love that my boys love books and I love that family discussions take place at our dinner table about what is the latest ‘must read’. I love that even though he is eleven, my son and I can snuggle up on the couch together before bed, [...]

Those who have been keeping themselves up to date with our new blogs will already know the fabulous Dee White, she commands the good ship Kids’ Book Capers. Well, she’s going to be busy Festival-hopping in the coming few weeks, so new fans, it’s time to get better acquainted with Dee White, and here’s how: On [...]

Ness-philes, get excited – this month, each of our Boomerang Books Members are in the running to win a signed copy of 2008 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize Winner’s latest, and a signed preview of his upcoming trilogy-ender. The full prize list includes: The Slightly Skewed Life of Toby Chrysler by Paul Collins Jaguar Warrior by [...]

This month, Boomerang Books are giving you more chances to win! Alongside our regular monthly giveaway and our Facebook-exclusive giveaway, to celebrate August being the month of the Children’s Book Council Australia’s Book Week, we have a special children’s prize pack to giveaway. AUGUST MAJOR GIVEAWAY This month’s prize pack is an eclectic mix set [...]