AustLit

'When you are very, very young or very, very old, you can see things out of the corner of your eye. In between, all you can see is all you can see. Unless you are very, very lucky. Then the corner of your eye stays awake forever.

'The story of an ageing man who has lost something. But what and where? His granddaughter, Sally, helps him find it. Subtle and touching, this is an emotional response to people trying their best to live in an imperfect world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Wait a minute, Earth isn't meant to be pink, and have three moons . . . The Contrast family just wanted to return home after their five minutes of fame living on the moon for the ultimate reality television show, Watch This Space. But it seems that despite rRego the robot being smarter than every human alive, something went wrong when he set their spaceship on a course back to Earth.'

'From the creator of FEARLESS comes a new canine tale. 'It was very quiet in Stanley's house. there were no brothers or sisters, no dads or grannies, not even a cat, a budgie or a goldfish.' Stanley lives with his human, Gerald, and Gerald's mum. Life is peaceful, but sometimes Stanley feels quite lonely ... But then one day another dog steals his favourite red rubber ball at his park, and sets in motion a chain of events that will change Stanley's life forever. Ages: 3-7' (Publication summary)

'Stark and Laura Contrast with their children Jack and Primrose, Granny Apricot who they have never met before and a super-powerful robot rRego are sent by a TV reality show to live on the moon.

'However it isn't long before they get bored and are boldly going where no family has boldly, or even timidly, gone before. As they attempt to get back to Earth they end up on many different planets. Some are friendly. Some are hostile. Some are just plain weird - actually they are all weird. And - HOORAY - some have bacon.' (Publication summary)

'Everyone's favourite scaredy-cat bulldog returns in a brand-new adventure!

'When we last saw Fearless, he had fallen head over paws for the beautiful Primrose. Now, they've got puppies to care for, and Fearless must figure out what it means to be a father.

'Fearless warns his children about the dangers lurking around every corner – things like vacuum cleaners and handbags – but when Primrose is in trouble, will Fearless put aside his fears or will it be brave pup Eric to the rescue? ' (Publication summary)

'In the final book of the Floods series, the job of running the Kingdom of Transylvania Waters is up for grabs. Who will replace King Nerlin?

'Nothing lasts forever, not even for Nerlin, King of the wizards. He is bored and tired and wants one of his children to take over as ruler of Transylvania Waters so he can retire to his holiday cottage in the Enchanted Valley and grow chickens. The trouble is, none of the children want the job.

'But then, out of nowhere, a long lost face from Nerlin's past arrives and everything is thrown into disarray.

'Who is Gertrude and who will end up ruler of Transylvania Waters? The answers to this - and more - are inside this book . . .' (Publication summary)

'What happens when the King goes Doolally? Find out in the latest Floods adventure.

'Everyone gets old, even witches and wizards. Their backs get stiff. Their feet get sore, and their brains go and live far, far away.

'Not even Nerlin Flood, the King of Transylvania Waters, is immune to the curse of old age. The rest of the family have noticed that Nerlin is slipping into total Doolallyness – he even has an invisible friend called Geoffrey-Geoffrey, who warns him not to eat broccoli because it will give him global warming.

'Will the Old Crones be able to cure him, or is Nerlin doomed to spend his twilight years talking to the wall, wearing a crooked jacket* and incompetence pants?

'*Which is actually a more accurate description of a straitjacket.' (Publisher's blurb)

When Peter and his friend Festival destroyed the book called How to Live Forever so it could no longer work its terrible spell, they didn't know that destroying such a powerful book would have unintended consequences. Now, the world is in the worst drought ever – major rivers dried up, and water rationed to a single litre per person a day with talk of less. Festival comes back from the world inside the museum to get Peter. The river they reversed is drowning Festival's world and they need to re-create the book to reverse the water flow. Neither can remember all of the book, but hopefully by working together they will be able to recall every word. Can they reverse the water flow so that it rains in Peter's world again? And if they recreate the evil book, can they entomb it so that it can never been accessed again? (Libraries Australia).

'One of the most important books of Wizard Stuff ever written.

'Now that they're safely ensconsced in Castle Twilight as the supreme rulers of Transylvania Waters, the Flood family of witches and wizards have decided to share their immense wisdomness, magic and bacon-orientated secrets and history with you - even though you are mere pathetic humans.

'From Winchflat's Wonderful World of Inventions to recipes from Betty's restaurant to digging up (literally) stories about the Floods' obscure relatives, this book will make fans of the Floods giggle, guffaw and chortle for hours.

'Fully illustrated and full colour throughout, FLOODSOPEDIA will improve your life in exciting and dramatic ways you never imagined, unless you imagined bacon, mildew, boils and germs.' (Publication summary)

'Betty and Ffiona cooking dinner? Run for your lives!

'Betty and her friend Ffiona love cooking. The trouble is, they are both so useless at it that their families make themselves ill just to avoid their meals. It isn't that their families are too kind to tell the girls how bad their cooking is - they actually tell them all the time. But Betty and Ffiona don't believe them, and now the girls are planning to open Transylvania Waters's first gourmet restaurant.

'Queen Mordonna forbids them . . . unless they can prove their cooking skills by winning TV's most popular cooking contest. Will they poison all the judges, or will The Cheffie Olympics be Betty and Ffiona's finest hour? ' (Publisher's blurb)

'"Being a king is never easy . . . Arthur has been crowned King and peace and happiness have broken out all over Avalon. Life has never been more peaceful and everyone is living happily ever after. So why are so many people planning rebellion? On one hand, the Dragons are planning an uprising. On the other hand, King Arthur's revolting little cousin Mordred is planning an uprising. And on the other, other hand, Brassica, the deposed fake King Arthur, is planning an uprising. It's lucky that Merlin, who has more than two hands, has everything under control. Or does he?"' (Publication summary)

'Sometimes it gets pretty crowded in the naughty corner.

'Babies George and Cleopatra, 14-year-old Peter, 38-year old Brian, Nigel the cat, Credence the dog, and Monique, the yellow bird all of them have spent time in the naughty corner. It's meant to make them think about their behaviour, but they've turned it into a place to have fun. The only member of the family who hasn't spent time in the naughty corner is Maureen, aka mum. She couldn't be naughty if she tried. She thinks being good makes you a better person but perhaps it just makes your life dull and grey.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The caves under Transylvania Waters are about to be explored for the first time ever. What will the Floods find?

'The Floods are back in their rightful place as rulers of Transylvania Waters and there is an enormous amount to do to bring the country out of the Dark Ages. But what does a country need to become part of the modern world? Well, it needs socks, PlayStations and seventy-three varieties of genetically modified sausage, but above all else it needs maps.

'Winchflat's new wife, Maldegard, has been appointed Transylvania Waters's first ever Official Map-Maker. What she and Edna Hulbert discover during their travels will astound, terrify, amuse and intrigue you.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Colin Thompson's stunning illustrations of 'home' have been linked to verse and comment which they have inspired from children who have seen them. The result of this meeting between the vision of an artist and the honesty of children is an unusually imaginative book, touching, funny, provocative - and always surprising. Home will never seem quite the same again!' (Publication summary)

'Sid the mosquito isn't the only one exploring the delights of house Number Fourteen and its overgrown garden. Derek the rat is sniffing out old socks for supper. Ethel the chicken is busy trying to persuade the world she is not an orange, while Arnold the mouse is spending more time in the trap than out of it. Frank the ant has a terrible headache and just wants to be left alone, and Joey the budgie is having a bath in the dog's bowl.

'[Thompson]'s acclaimed stories about the inhabitants of one particular garden are now collected in this newly illustrated special edition.' (from the publisher's website.)