Holiday Reading 2000: A selection of children's and young adults' books

  • Fiction for younger readers

  • Ahlberg, Allan. My brother's ghost - A poignant, from-the-heart account, of a boy who dies and returns to help his older sister and younger brother.
  • Binch, Caroline. Christy's dream - Christy longs for his own horse and finally manages to buy one. But will his mother let him keep it?
  • Cameron, Ann. Gloria's way - Gloria shares special times with her mother and father and with her friends Julian, Huey, and Latisha.
  • Carroll, Lewis. Alice's adventures in Wonderland - Illustrated by the great Helen Oxenbury.
  • Cleary, Beverly. Ramona's world - Follows the adventures of nine-year-old Ramona at home with big sister Beezus and baby sister Roberta and at school in Mrs Meacham's class. The first Ramona book was published 32 years ago in 1968.
  • Clement, Gary. The great Poochini - By day Signor Poochini is a dog, but by night he is the Great Poochini, the most acclaimed singer in all opera - dog opera, that is. One night Poochini's master leaves the window locked and it is only because of a cat burglar that he reaches the stage. Winner of the Canada Council Governor General's Literary Award.
  • Danziger, Paula. I, Amber Brown - Because her divorced parents share custody of her, nine-year-old Amber suffers from lack of self-esteem and feels that she is a piece of jointly-owned property
  • D'Ath, Justin. The upside-down girl: a gravity-defying adventure - Brittany and her brother Lukas reverse gravity and teach emus how to fly.
  • Doyle, Malachy. The Great Castle of Marshmangle - What are Sandcastle Stompers? Where would you find a Wooden Hill? What would you do with a Brainbox Banana? A small boy discovers that his Grandaddy is a most remarkable man! A story in rhyme.
  • Gleeson, Libby. Hannah and the tomorrow room - Hannah's new bedroom is almost ready. Tomorrow, she can move out of the room she shares with her sisters and into a special place of her own. But in a family, things don't always go as planned, and suddenly, someone else needs Hannah's room.
  • Hoban, Russell. The sea-thing child - Washed up on the beach during a storm, the sea-thing child clings fearfully to the shore until he discovers his true destiny. First published in 1972 and now newly illustrated by Patrick Benson.
  • James, J Alison. The drums of Noto Hanto - The people in a small village in ancient Japan manage to drive off the forces of a powerful warlord using only their ingenuity and the many different village drums.
  • Lowry, Lois. Zooman Sam - Four-year-old Sam's appearance as a zookeeper at his nursery school's Future Job Day leads him to a number of exciting activities and discoveries, including reading.
  • Miller, Sara Swan. Three more stories you can read to your dog - Humorous stories addressed to dogs and written from a dog's point of view, featuring such topics as going to the vet, making friends with a rock-like creature, and getting a bath.
  • Patschke, Steve. The spooky book - In a dark house, Andrew gets scared reading a spooky book in which a girl is reading a spooky book in a scary house.
  • Pilkey, Dav. Captain Underpants and the perilous plot of Professor Poopypants: the fourth epic novel - When Professor Pippy P Poopypants comes to Jerome Horwitz Elementary School to teach science, and he goes off the deep end because students make fun of his name, only Captain Underpants can save the school from the professor's perilous plot.
  • Platt, Richard. Castle diary: the journal of Tobias Burgess, page - Detailed journal of Toby's life in medieval times.
  • Thiele, Colin. Pannikin & Pinta - The story of a pelican family living at Lake Eyre, Central Australia, during a rare interval of flood, who must return to the ocean after the lake dries up. Moving without being sentimental.
  • Wild, Margaret. Fox - A profound story of friendship, betrayal, loyalty and loss. Probably the finest work illustrator Ron Brooks has produced.
  • Wild, Margaret. The robber girl - The robber girl lives in a cave with the animals. The emptiness she feels is filled when she rescues a lost child but is her love stronger than the child's mother's?
  • Yeoman, John. The heron and the crane - Problems arise when Crane asks Heron to marry him.